Foothills won with a 100% Canadian team (I think!) Think of how many of those guys could have played at a high NCAA level if they were Americans and scouted. There's talent in Canada. Looking forward to seeing some of them in the CPL.
Not everybody in the PDL plays at a high NCAA level. There are many guys from small colleges. Not everybody's going to play at one of the top NCAA schools, whether they are American or Canadian. And given how many foreign players are on NCAA soccer rosters, I don't think people are overlooking them.
PDL expansion is well underway. Four new members have been announced for the 2019 season. Cedar Stars Rush (New Jersey) Discoveries SC (South Carolina) Wake FC (North Carolina) Florida Elite Soccer Academy
--------------------------------------- With the PDL and NPSL seemingly always expanding and also contracting, what exactly am I to make of this? As we work really hard to have MLS , USL2 and presumably USL 3 teams be stable, should we not expect the same of the PDL and NPSL or is that simply the nature of that level? Do we simply let it be and have them somewhat continue as the companion to players who also want to play NCAA or should there be another mission for these 2 leagues?
The NPSL does far more expanding and contracting than the PDL, first off. It's not uncommon for the NPSL to admit 20 new teams and lose 18 in a given off-season. The PDL has gone from 64 teams five years ago to 74 this past season, while the NPSL has grown from 57 teams to 97 in the same time. But here's the thing with expecting amateur leagues full of teams ( a ) bought on the cheap by ( b ) people with few resources, many whom just ( c ) want to provide an opportunity for local players to play to be stable: it's not likely to happen . And, at the end of the day, who cares? Except for the very few exceptions in both leagues where their summer league team is somewhat relevant, most are not and are not likely to be, just because of the nature of the beast. If "There's so much better soccer on TV, so why would I watch MLS?" is an actual thing, it stands to reason that being eons removed from even MLS would garner you even less interest. These leagues provide a somewhat valuable service to some part of the development process of the American player. How much credit to give them, precisely, is an open question. But to expect more of them, boy, I don't know.
It's near-time to start the season for PDL/USL2 teams to add more and start dropping some. Expected loss, that I know of: Lansing United. The strong NPSL side moved to PDL for the 2018 season. They have always been upfront about trying to go pro. All reports are they have been bought by the Lansing Lugnuts (MiLB team) ownership and will be playing in USL1. They reportedly will not be operating a USL2 side.
The Michigan Bucks move to Flint. And won't be the Michigan Bucks, pending a (re-) name the team contest. I just think this is dumb.
It's a shame the "Bucks" will be gone. Such history there. The move to Flint, no issues with that...except for the water. Not sure playing in a 10,000 seat stadium will be good. Maybe Flint has a fan base to support such a historically strong USL2 side. But, where the money comes from, one must follow.
I figure it was the idea of the new co-owner, but I have no info on that. Just a guess. Worth remembering, I guess, that the Bucks didn't always play in Pontiac. Those of us old enough to remember when they played in Saginaw know the move isn't exactly upending the team's entire history. They averaged an announced 682 fans per game this year and 739 the year before. Historically, it's been 16 years since they even got close to 1,000 a game. I understand they don't need to average 4,000 or even 2,000 a game to break even without player expense and extensive travel, but unless the new stadium provides a really good fan experience, it's really ambitious to move to a place that seats 10,000 in a market with 8.5 percent unemployment and its own issues. If someone invests in a club (which was, some seven years ago, rumored to be going pro), they can pretty much call the shots. So, whatever. I just think Flint is a dumb place to consider the promised land.
The Mid-Michigan Bucks! Also, had multiple locations in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and even a "home" game in Columbus, Ohio before. Pontiac's Ultimate Soccer has been their home since 2008, many won't be disappointed they won't be playing indoor anymore. This is an absolute lie. Nowhere close to either of those numbers. I cannot believe anyone would say anything close to that.
Not sure if been mentioned, but Green Bay will be launching a USL2 (PDL) team for 2019. Article. Being owned by the same owners that are launching Madison's USL1 team. These owners also own at least 4 teams in the Northwoods League.
The USL strategy has seemed to be: figure out a way to place USL1 and USL2 teams in minor league baseball stadiums.
I don't think that's the strategy, Madison isn't going to play in a minor league baseball stadium ... the strategy is to find ownership groups that have experience in running professional sports teams and have access to stadiums ... that often leads to ownership groups that already own minor league baseball teams. Some issues of the past is ownership groups had no clue how to market/sell/operate a sports team ... ideally this is helping some issues with past inexperienced groups.
Lansing - baseball Memphis - baseball Green Bay - baseball Nashville SC - baseball Fresno - baseball Las Vegas - baseball ATL2 - baseball Tampa Bay Rowdies - baseball (obviously, around before this expansion) Louisville City - baseball (obviously, around before this expansion) Penn FC - baseball Tulsa - baseball Reno - baseball El Paso - baseball New Mexico - baseball Kokomo Mantis - baseball (PDL/USL2 side in 2016) Seems like a pretty good trend of USL1/2 teams playing in baseball venues. Yes, I get it that they target ownership groups, but utilizing baseball ownership/venue appears very trendy. Must be a coincidence?
My guess is that there are more professional baseball teams/ownership groups with a history of success than pretty much any other sport. The second part of that is that having a stadium that is capable of holding soccer (even being less than ideal) makes the ownership group much more attractive to the league than owners of minor league basketball, hockey, or arena football. I'm sure if we had a minor league football structure that was in any way comparable to the minor league baseball system, we'd have a bunch of those owners on the list.
What are the other options in these cities? Are there a bunch of SSS laying around in this places? Better in many ways to the High School football stadiums of the past.
Rio Grande Valley's ownership group owns a NBA D (or G?) League team ... so it's not exclusive. The connections aren't a coincidence ... it's the most obvious connection out there for reasons you mentioned as well as others (hard to sell alcohol at colleges and high schools and that's the other "field" options).
I laid out a hypothesis, you negated it. I brought back "proof" that there was a "trend" in baseball ownership for soccer. Now, you move the goal again? How is a baseball field better than football stadium (HS or other)? Six of one, half dozen of the other? If anything, at least the football fields give better sight lines. Owners can build (Austin, Phoenix Rising, FC Tucson), renovate (Madison, Detroit City, Dayton Dutch Lions), or partner (Birmingham Hammers, North Carolina FC, Long Island Rough Riders). Not necessarily one way to do any of it. All I did was say it was a trend that has appeared.
I would take a baseball stadium , even with some odd sight lines, as long as grass and reasonably sized field. Beats a plastic field at a high school stadium with lines IMO
The thing is, unless you're talking Texas or Pennsylvania or Ohio, your garden variety minor league baseball stadium has far better amenities than the local high school football stadium. (And likely far more parking.) That's because the National Association required teams to upgrade their stadiums in the mid-1990s, resulting in a boom of modern yards that continues to this day. While school districts outside of those football factory states are not building a lot of brand-new, 8,000-or-so-seat stadiums without crowns and with grass. And the fact is, unlike Madison, most of these second and third-tier cities don't have a ready-made, 8,000-seat rectangular stadium just sitting about, available.
No worries ... I agree it's a trend, just not sure there can be some sort of conclusion that USL is "looking for baseball stadiums to play in" as a target or sorts, I think it's just an occurrence that is happening at a high rate due to the reasons I've stated. Some of the clubs/or markets started out in other stadiums as well and got to that point (of building or renovating or whatever). So the same could be done in these newer expansion markets. I'd say a bigger "trend" is that stadium situations aren't permanent.
For a while there was a trend of building one stadium for both the cities NFL and MLB teams. At the time it seemed innovative, now it's looked down on.