New Team for South Florida

[bobbyfusion]

Rumors are out there that Lockhart will be home to a new A League team next year-The Strikers. I will be the first to purchase season tickets.

Screw MLS.

[soccer4sFlorida]

me 2


mls NO FUSION
mls poopoo

meanwhile B there

http://dataleague.com/

lockhartSSS oct 15

[chichi]

I'm in too, we'll show those MLS idiot's the mistake they made!

[onefineesq]

well, it was a financial judgement. I for one think that a team has to be put back there when they get a financial backer in the area. I really think that will happen someday in the relatively near future as well. it's just a perfect place to have a team. It's all about finding someone with money who is willing to invest in a team down there.

[jd2084]

Maybe if more people down there had shown MLS that they supported the Fusion when they were there you'd still have them.

[Motterman]

Originally posted by jd2084
Maybe if more people down there had shown MLS that they supported the Fusion when they were there you'd still have them.

Maybe I am mistaken, but didn't they hold the Supporter's Shield when they folded?

[Crazy_Yank]

Originally posted by Motterman
Maybe I am mistaken, but didn't they hold the Supporter's Shield when they folded?


That doesn't mean that people came out and actually watched the games.

[chichi]

Originally posted by Crazy_Yank
That doesn't mean that people came out and actually watched the games.

The last year attendance went up almost 50%...

Right when people actually started showing up they pulled the plug.

[akimmel]

I don't think it was a lack of attendance or public support that led to the club being folded, it was more about a lack of leadership/ownership. There will be a team in SoFla one day, but I wouldn't hope for an A league team. That might make it harder to get an MLS franchise down the road. You know that if you had your choice you would want MLS over A League.

[chichi]

Originally posted by akimmel
You know that if you had your choice you would want MLS over A League.

true, true

[Stuart]

Attendance didn't really have anything to do with it. The owner wanted out because the league-wide losses were too great. After all, we got more than San Jose, and they are still there.

Let's face it, only a billionaire can afford to bleed the necessary money to support MLS.

[AndyMead]

Considering the second largest crowd ever at Lockhart was still under 15,000, I find it hard for anyone to say that attendance was part of the problem. It was.

[onefineesq]

I'll repeat what i've said before. MLS will be back in Miami. It's too rich a potential market to not have a team. The issue is getting an ownership group together. As MLS becomes a better financial deal for people, someone is gonna want to put up the money there, and there will be a team.

[Stuart]

Part of the problem, yes. But, given that we had more than San Jose, and they are still here, clearly indicates that attendance is not the major factor that determines whether a team stays or not.

Look, the Fusion has a 50% increase in attendance, so the trend was very positive. But, it just didn't matter. It wouldn't have mattered if we doubled attendance.

Remember, that idiot Horrorman stated that the Fusion would have "more than the Dolphins" (last count they averaged just under 80,000). He just had such unrealistic expectations that it was never going to work out. MLS is well rid of such an investor, and have stated that they will not consider people like him again. That is a good decision.

[Stuart]

I don't believe MLS will ever be back in Miami. The goal of the league is only to have a small footprint (16-20 teams max) and there are more than enough cities they have not tried yet - or cities with successful A-League teams with immediate support.

We all hope they will, of course, but not in our lifetimes - assuming that MLS even survives, that is, and looking at the meagre attendance increases that is far from given.

[soccer4sFlorida]

Apparently Vergara did get our emails… and must have been a few !!! to make the trip,
and mention Miami

http://www.ussocceruk.com/news/?CatTypeId=2&ContentId=991

eventually we’ll be back.. sooner than later would be better,

for the talented kids of S. Florida


Fusion forever

[river]

Originally posted by jd2084
Maybe if more people down there had shown MLS that they supported the Fusion when they were there you'd still have them.

There goes another uneducated response!

Get your facts straight why don't you!

[river]

Originally posted by Crazy_Yank
That doesn't mean that people came out and actually watched the games.

Yet another stupid one!

Why don't you morons ever get your facts straight instead of blowing out your A$$es.

[onefineesq]

Originally posted by Stuart
I don't believe MLS will ever be back in Miami. The goal of the league is only to have a small footprint (16-20 teams max) and there are more than enough cities they have not tried yet - or cities with successful A-League teams with immediate support.

We all hope they will, of course, but not in our lifetimes - assuming that MLS even survives, that is, and looking at the meagre attendance increases that is far from given.

I disagree with your final analysis because i think that your premise is wrong. the goal of the league is to make money. period. they can say whatever they want in public, but everybody involved is looking at pulling a profit someday. rich guys don't get rich by running their businesses philanthropically. with that being said, if/and when the league becomes profitable, guys will be jumping at the chance to own a team, and there will be more than 20 teams in the league. I'm not talking about tomorrow ......... i'm talking down the line. Forget what FIFA has said about having no more than 18 teams in their top division. That was said because European countries are much much smaller than this country. FIFA actually qualified that by stating that they were speaking of EUROPE. I'm sure that FIFA would not have any problem with a country of this side having a much larger pot of teams (especially with the money in this country. once again, this IS a business). In my final analysis, that means a team for Miami in the future (assuming that the league does in fact turn around their fortunes).

[river]

Originally posted by onefineesq
I'll repeat what i've said before. MLS will be back in Miami. It's too rich a potential market to not have a team. The issue is getting an ownership group together. As MLS becomes a better financial deal for people, someone is gonna want to put up the money there, and there will be a team.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do want pro soccer in Florida. But MLS in its current state is a joke, it needs to expand to become more interesting. They would have done much better, embracing the FUSION style of play instead of folding it. It just shows how near sighted league was. Other countries were just starting to look over here and see what MLS was doing and it was the FUSION style of play that made the MLS what it was
The league needs a major in-FUSION or it will collapse of bordome.

For those of your who are ignorant or uneducated and that think you know everything about SF. 15,000 fans is pretty good if you consider that it was all word of mouth that got these 15,000 fans in their seats. There was very little marketing if any, Very little promotion of soccer in SF, very few people even knew it existed. The following year by word of mouth it would have grown to 18,000 to 20,000 fans. Did you know that hardly any people in Miami that love soccer and have a passion for it even knew we had a pro soccer team?
Yeah! I know its hard to believe.

Hey, if you truly believe that the MLS is better off without the FUSION or without more teams and without a team from were there is a high concentration of soccer players and fans from all parts of the world. Then you're wearing blinders too and you need to open your eyes and see what is really down here. I think you'll be surprised!

We have English, Irish, Germans, Spanish, Mexicans, Colombians, Canadians, Hondurans, Peruvians, Argentinos, Brazilans, Chilenos, Jamaicans, Iranians, Koreans, Haitians, Slavs, Ukrainians just to name a few. We have a $hit laod of soccer fans down here and guess what? They all came from where you live now or from South America, Europe and down under.