Move just needs to be approved by USL board: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...group-taking-over-charlotte.html#.Utc95LRizKs They want MLS by 2020!
Did some reading on Twitter about this. New owners (MLL Hounds) have big dreams but won't take over until 2015. Eagles will play in USL Pro for 2014 then go down to PDL the following year.
I wonder if they will stop the Christian outreach that the team had as a 2nd goal. Success on the field, but also spreading the good word. I often wondered if that helped or hurt the Eagles. They had some good teams in the past, but never could really generate a following.
this is the greatest news ever in the history of the world...maybe there is a god after all. i will be first in line to buy season tix.
not necessarily a done deal it look like in this email sent out from there front office to Eagles Season ticket holder.
yeah you'd think that after nearly 15 years on Bigsoccer I would be used to things getting blown out of proportion! That said, new ownership might be what they need. they clearly are not currently set up to do much more than what they are doing now and probably punching a bit above their weight.
my views on the charlotte eagles have been expressed too many times in too many threads to rehash, but I truly believe that Charlotte can support a team - one that is totally focused on football and not "spreading the good word". We had 40+k for a gold cup double header a couple of years ago, and 60k for a mexico-iceland b team friendly... because of who they are the Eagles average less than 1k a game - while Charleston and Raleigh get pretty good crowds. I can continue to hope...
Unless I missed it there is nothing in that message to STHs that changes anything. - we already knew it was not a done deal - we already knew that the Eagles weren't being sold just their franchise/territory rights in USL Pro - we already knew that the Eagles will continue to do their thing even after they (hopefully) move to PDL. Was there something I missed?
I think you covered it facts sometimes get overlooked. i think Charlotte can support an MLS team as well. Marketing isn't one of the Eagles strong points.
I'm not really surprised with this sale. I think the league is moving to a financial level that it made sense for the Eagles to move to the PDL. They have been a good franchise for the league and good member of the community in Charlotte. I think they will be able to be just as effective with their mission with a team in the PDL as in the USL Pro. And the cost for them will be much less.
So essentially, the Eagles are going down to PDL (where they belonged anyway), and Charlotte is finally getting ownership in USL Pro that actually cares about developing a professional team.
I don't have a problem with the Eagles' mission, but there is no doubt that it was never likely to be a breakthrough success.
Effective marketing is not cheap. To be fair, it really wasn't one of their priorities, either, and if it had been, they would have been unlikely to find the funds to make it happen. Yeah, those bastards, damn them for not having their priorities in order.
That was a turn off for me, since i'm not religious, when I was younger I went to one of their camps and they pushed the religious stuff a little too much, felt uncomfortable
It's more MLS related but interesting http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...harlotte-usl-pro-franchise-want-make-leap-mls
How are you defining "breakthrough success" exactly? They've won their division or conference 4 times in 20 years. They've placed 2nd 3 times and 3rd 5 times. Another 5 times they placed 4th. They've won two USL championships while also being finalists 7 other times. So, in 20 years, they've been a top-4 team 17 times... With the budget they had, it could arguably be the best "success" story in USL. It is unfortunate fans didn't partake in their soccer regardless of how one viewed their mission. They definitely put an attractive product on the field -- and had quality dudes playing. Again, unfortunately, they never received the same support they tried to show the Charlotte soccer community. The club even decided to abandon their youth club system after it "spurned" local clubs around by "taking" kids from others. They've had a number of strong players there too, most recently, Clint Irwin was there before he joined (and starts for) the Colorado Rapids (and even spent some time training at Everton this offseason). Their mission was clearly stated. It was your fault, or whoever sent you, that failed to read what the camps were about. Their camps are outreach. There is no "pushing." It is public knowledge that's what their camps are about.
not all of us agree with your views regarding their mission, but I am not going to jump into that debate again - you can do a search if you want to see how i feel. They had years of opportunity to expand their market base - it is entirely their own fault that they did not achieve market success; in fact their failure to do so speaks volumes in a city with more churches per capita than almost any other. that they perform good deeds in the Queen City is undeniable - but the cold fact is most of us don't like religion forced on us with our professional sports teams. If we did they would be drawing more than 800 a game in a metropolis of almost 2 million. I wish the Eagles luck in their operations going forward; but I am excited about the possibility of another team here in Charlotte.
I'm not arguing your stance against their mission or anyone else who may have an issue with it. I said it is unfortunate that fans did not partake in their soccer regardless of what their mission is. Fans can still enjoy soccer while not caring about their mission. It's pretty easy to avoid, it's done all the time. Anyone can go for a 90 minute game and not hear a word about religion. Recently, I went to an indoor game where it was "Family and Faith Night." The only time anything regarding religion happened was pregame (didn't have to show up) and halftime (coincidentally, a former Charlotte Eagle was speaking...not one word about religion, but rather his work in Zimbabwe). And I can be just as critical of religion as the next person, but just because there are churches doesn't mean that a specific religiously-affiliated organization will "thrive."