Next Cities In MLS?

[prymetyme]

well mr. rochester I did some homework and I agree with you that rochester deserives a MLS team, but im not so sure about toronto

[Black and White]

well mr. rochester I did some homework and I agree with you that rochester deserives a MLS team, but im not so sure about toronto

Rochester 220000 People, City of Toronto 2.5 Million people.

Oh ya Rochester deserves a team. Its a hick town, not what a Major League needs. What other Major league has team in Rochester.

[DCunited11]

Hampton Roads

[DCunited11]

at least somewhere in a NEW state.....as in NOT in a state that already has a team. they already get enough excitement....RICHMOND or HAMPTON ROADS

[WALDO]

what I think MLS should do is stick to larger cities until they grow in fan support. Its safe to say that everyone here wants the MLS to survive and hope that one day it can become just as large or even larger then European or South American or any great soccer countrys program. Once they get support then they can go to other cities like Rodchester, but I think NYC or Austin and not to put a lot of teams in a small area so that means no more for SoCal. But maybe one on the Northern Pacific Coast. Seattle, Vancouver?
Atlanta would also be a good choice also.What do you mean no more for SoCal? Have you checked the population of our cities? Your contradicting yourself. Now I don't know if it's a good ideal to put another MLS Team at this time in SoCal. But as far as big cities we have some more in So Cal. What about San Diego or Anaheim (O.C.) The Orange County and the San Diego County are large populated areas who probably not going to drive all the way to Carson to see the Galaxy or Chivas play. On second thought the O.C. is not too far away but they have their own identity. Hell I live in Burbank and Carson is more than 30 miles away. I wouldn't mind having a team representing the San Fernando Valley. There are millions of people that live in the SF Valley and were next to the San Gabriel Valley where Pasadena is. And further East is the San Bernadino County which has over a million people as well and it would take over a 100 miles to drive to Carson. I think what we need is another soccer built stadium here. Chivas or the Galaxy need to get out of Carson and get their own home.

[WALDO]

Judging by the fan support when the USMNT played in Portland,OR that might be a good city for an MLS team. We need a team in the northwest. It looks like Orlando, FL might get a team, as Ajax is interested in putting a team there. I know other Florida teams have failed but it might work with Ajax at the helm. San Diego is another good place for an MLS team but maybe not until another 5 yrs. It might be unfair for California to have 4 teams while other states have less than 2.

[Palermo10]

Judging by the fan support when the USMNT played in Portland,OR that might be a good city for an MLS team. We need a team in the northwest. It looks like Orlando, FL might get a team, as Ajax is interested in putting a team there. I know other Florida teams have failed but it might work with Ajax at the helm. San Diego is another good place for an MLS team but maybe not until another 5 yrs. It might be unfair for California to have 4 teams while other states have less than 2.


First off, it's "fewer" than two.
Second, California dwarfs a lot of other places in population; it has year-round sunshine, which is why sports in California are so popular; soccer is enormously popular.

MLS had said that they were considering another team in Southern California, but if they did, they would put one in Tijuana, not San Diego, and they weren't about to do that any time soon. So then LA got another team.

[Schapes]

Saint Louis? You have got to be kidding! They would never support it!

Where would they play? Not at the new baseball stadium-Saint Louis U said they will not expand theirs.


The Edward Jones Dome-no way you ever fill that place!

[Palermo10]

They could do what WUSA did here in San Diego at USD... take an existing stadium, make it for soccer, and save a lot of money.

There is an existing stadium. Rebuild some of the stands and you have yourself a SSS.

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/stlo/non-sport/facilities/slu_facilities_soccer.jpg

[DaniCrew]

If the question is what cities would we LIKE to have MLS teams, then i would agree that i would LIKE to see MLS participate in the bigger cities in the U.S. (similar to the NFL)...

However, i don't think this is where MLS can be successful... i don't think that MLS is a "big city" sort of league... i realize that luxury suites and sponsorship are more easily achieved in a "big city" location... but MLS (like american soccer in general) is a suburban league... the families of the kids that play soccer in this country are in the suburbs... they are used to going to fields (indoor and outdoor) in other suburbs... they'll drive forever to get Johnny or Jaimey to their game... and on the way home they'll stop at Applebee's for dinner... the families are intimately involved in the "soccer life" of the kids if for no other reason than they have to transport them to and from the games... these families are not wont to take the kids into the "big city"... they want to be in something closer to their environment... they want to avoid the "element" that is perceived to exist in "the city"...

Even if we want to have our teams with "big city" names, the location of the stadium should be in the suburbs outside the cities... in "Cleveland", the old Force (indoor) averaged ~15K in their heyday at their Richfield location drawing families from Cleveland and from the suburbs... they averaged closer to 20K for their playoff games (they could draw from a bunch of Cleveland suburbs and from Akron)... they had a comparable advertising budget to what an MLS team would have at this point... they had very good coverage in both major newspapers and even struck a local TV deal... and that was back in the early 80's when soccer was nowhere near what it is today... all three "major" Cleveland sports teams existed at the time and people still found a reason to go watch this "soccer" team...

Garber has been adamant about a couple of things for potential expansion cities: thou must have thy own stadium... no stadium, no team... thou must have a long-term investor... no investor, no team... that's why cities such as Philly, Seattle, and Houston, which are attractive due to their market size and their geographic location, are starting to fade as contenders for an expansion team... MLS needs to have the ability to control their schedule... they need to be able to keep revenues from the gate, concessions, and parking... they need to be able to have the game played (and viewed) the way it was intended...

So while i want MLS to be at the level of the NFL (and it will be one day), i believe the suburbs are where MLS will grow...

[DCunited11]

Judging by the fan support when the USMNT played in Portland,OR that might be a good city for an MLS team. We need a team in the northwest. It looks like Orlando, FL might get a team, as Ajax is interested in putting a team there. I know other Florida teams have failed but it might work with Ajax at the helm. San Diego is another good place for an MLS team but maybe not until another 5 yrs. It might be unfair for California to have 4 teams while other states have less than 2.

excuse me, "less than 2"??? some don't have ANY. i am one of those less fortunate that don't have ANY

[Black and White]

If the question is what cities would we LIKE to have MLS teams, then i would agree that i would LIKE to see MLS participate in the bigger cities in the U.S. (similar to the NFL)...

However, i don't think this is where MLS can be successful... i don't think that MLS is a "big city" sort of league... i realize that luxury suites and sponsorship are more easily achieved in a "big city" location... but MLS (like american soccer in general) is a suburban league... the families of the kids that play soccer in this country are in the suburbs... they are used to going to fields (indoor and outdoor) in other suburbs... they'll drive forever to get Johnny or Jaimey to their game... and on the way home they'll stop at Applebee's for dinner... the families are intimately involved in the "soccer life" of the kids if for no other reason than they have to transport them to and from the games... these families are not wont to take the kids into the "big city"... they want to be in something closer to their environment... they want to avoid the "element" that is perceived to exist in "the city"...

Even if we want to have our teams with "big city" names, the location of the stadium should be in the suburbs outside the cities... in "Cleveland", the old Force (indoor) averaged ~15K in their heyday at their Richfield location drawing families from Cleveland and from the suburbs... they averaged closer to 20K for their playoff games (they could draw from a bunch of Cleveland suburbs and from Akron)... they had a comparable advertising budget to what an MLS team would have at this point... they had very good coverage in both major newspapers and even struck a local TV deal... and that was back in the early 80's when soccer was nowhere near what it is today... all three "major" Cleveland sports teams existed at the time and people still found a reason to go watch this "soccer" team...

Garber has been adamant about a couple of things for potential expansion cities: thou must have thy own stadium... no stadium, no team... thou must have a long-term investor... no investor, no team... that's why cities such as Philly, Seattle, and Houston, which are attractive due to their market size and their geographic location, are starting to fade as contenders for an expansion team... MLS needs to have the ability to control their schedule... they need to be able to keep revenues from the gate, concessions, and parking... they need to be able to have the game played (and viewed) the way it was intended...

So while i want MLS to be at the level of the NFL (and it will be one day), i believe the suburbs are where MLS will grow...

You are sadly mistakin. The suburbs is not the future of MLS. They need good locations in well populated centers with lots of stuff to do around the park.

[prymetyme]

waldo, I do know the populations because Im orignally from orange county but I think that other cities shoudl get teams before southern california has 3 dont get me wrong i love socal and laguna beach but they already have two teams unfortunitly they both play at the home depot center in carson so they should have some other one in the furture in san diego or anaheim or around orange county because when I go back to visit laguna beach I go with my uncle to work the president of the carson companies and its a bitch to go from laguna to carson. It must be worse to go from san diego to carson.

[Palermo10]

waldo, I do know the populations because Im orignally from orange county but I think that other cities shoudl get teams before southern california has 3 dont get me wrong i love socal and laguna beach but they already have two teams unfortunitly they both play at the home depot center in carson so they should have some other one in the furture in san diego or anaheim or around orange county because when I go back to visit laguna beach I go with my uncle to work the president of the carson companies and its a bitch to go from laguna to carson. It must be worse to go from san diego to carson.


Hence the "only in groups of 4 or more" and the "once or twice a year" themes :p

I had an epiphany on why MLS attendances struggle... which if I find time I will post in it's own thread... so be on the lookout...

[Black and White]

Toronto is next then possibly Houston. No more teams in California for a while. 3 is enough for now.

[elcombo]

the reason why the foxboro stadium look so deserted is because its so far away and the transportation is so difficult.if the were in boston they would have more attendance.

[prymetyme]

i diss agree about foxboro, number 1 theres no space in boston number 2 you can take the train to foxboro if you cant drive and its not that far away from all of massachusetts there are a lot of people from the cape that wouldnt go if it was in boston

[PsychedelicCeltic]

the reason why the foxboro stadium look so deserted is because its so far away and the transportation is so difficult.if the were in boston they would have more attendance.
The Fleet Center is the only new stadium built in Boston since 1927.

Think about that.

A new football stadium in Boston would cost over a billion dollars. Plus, not all Patriot fans are from Boston proper, and even New Hampshire fans only have to make a drive of about an hour and a half - there are literally thousands of 49er fans who make a longer drive than that.

[Palermo10]

Didn't the city of Boston also just spend an amazing amount of money on that underground interstate system?

[MountainHawk]

Yes, and the damn tunnel system still leaks. By the time they fix that, I think the total spent will officially be 'infinite'.