But seriously, folks, indoor teams change hands through actual sales so infrequently, it would be hard to peg a value. Sue Black "bought" the Wave, for hell's sake. I THINK the sale of the Blast in 1984 was the high water mark.
Investing in a Jimmy John's store or two (or any of a hundred other franchise companies) would have a better chance of profit than an indoor soccer team. A lot of owners are probably using their indoor teams as a tax write-off, though we have the occasional rich guy who owns a team because he likes the sport (San Diego). Most MASL teams wouldn't sell for much if they did go up for sale. Being a winner on the field doesn't help much either - the KC Comets have changed owner groups twice in 2 years. The Wave nearly folded in the wake of Sue Black's 'ownership' a few years back. Utica has benefited greatly from new owners and a move to an adjacent city. That is the exception rather than what usually happens, though.
And, not an attorney or tax professional, but my sense is that the benefits of the pro sports team as tax write-off bit are slightly overstated, that it's best put to use when an owner has a lot of other interests that make money, and that any team set up for that purpose eventually gets discarded.
I'm sure there are some people rich enough that they could just do it because they like it. Even if it isn't profitable. As a hobby.
There are much easier hobbies. Tell me how many people have done this over the last 20 years of indoor soccer. Most have been less than rich. The guy who owned the Wave after Krause...he had a bunch o'money. How long did he stick around? There have not been a lot of Thomas Guerrieros (luckily) who were complete scam artists, but there have been a lot of under-capitalized people. Not a lot of "rich guys having fun" that I can recall. The owners of the Ironmen had loads of money. Stuck with it what, two years?
Even Bernie Rodin, who is considered one of the best owners ever and was highly successful on the field and in the stands, only owned the Blast for four years, Rich Paschette reminded us recently.
How many current MASL owners fit the "rich guy/fun thing to do" or "rich guy/tax write-off?" Salvaggio is the former. Who else? And who is in the latter group?
I don't know how many? I mean Ed Hale is likely a billionaire, CEO of a bank if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure there are some here and there.
Then you should be able to name them. Their names are not secret. If you're sure, produce the names. Else you are not actually sure. Ed Hale is not a billionaire. Plank, Biscotti, Lerner...those are billionaires in Maryland. Ed Hale is not. Delmont is not. I'm not going to do your work for you, YOU say you're sure they are "around." Look at the teams, tell me who fits the profile.
The whole bank only had $1 billion in assets (money that belonged to other people) before its stock became literally worthless.
I guess I could name them if I really cared that much to do the research, but I don't. I also never knew that Hale stepped down 8 days or 8 years ago, because I didn't pay attention and don't care, he may not be a billionaire, but I'm pretty certain he isn't primarily living off the Blasts profits, but I won't go research that because I don't care enough to do that.
https://www.maslsoccer.com/news/mesquite-outlaws-will-join-major-arena-soccer-leag This is an odd choice for expansion. Mesquite is a burb of Dallas and will get a different attendee. It is a generally lower income area as opposed to Allen. and is about a 35 minute drive south from Allen. Was thinking Fort Worth would come along with their new stadium before anything like this would happen. Curious to see how they do!
Mesquite actually has an indoor soccer heritage of sorts. The Mesquite Kickers played 3 seasons in the USISL I-League. 94-95, 95-96, 96-97. Their all time record was 11 wins, 19 losses, 202 goals for and 317 against.
Wow so even if the margin of victory in their 11 wins was only one goal that means they lost 19 times by an average margin of AT LEAST 6.63 goals.
mesquite is an interesting expansion. if anything they will be a local rival to Dallas and will help will some calendar dates. assuming of course Dallas is still around next year. i think its safe to say the Missasusauga ( or however you spell it) experiment has failed
Not so sure about Mississauga. I attended a game there and they had some cross-over of Toronto FC supporters with drums and chants behind one of the goals. I think they have potential if they can get more youth teams to the games. It's tough to compete against hockey in Canada.
Besides the same floor bit that the Lakers and Clippers employ and the same stadium bit that the Rams and Chargers will put on, is this the closest same league opponent in sports? The only other one I can think of is Everton/Liverpool as I have seen that firsthand, and Everton is moving so I don't know what that distance will be once they move. Now of course those are "Major" sports but I can't think of anything minor or major other than what I listed.
Ed Hale, owner of the Baltimore Blast, announces that his team will stay at the SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University, at least through 2025. Broadcast on Facebook Live.
Here's the Blast press release: https://www.baltimoreblast.com/news/baltimore-blast-announce-extension-with-towson-uni