I don't think it's too early to start discussing the stability of NWSL and what it may look like in 2018. I have a feeling one or two teams may not be in the same location as in this season. I don't think anyone will fold nor do I think there will be expansion but clearly a couple of teams have had not so good attendance comparatively and maybe "questionable" operations decisions. Any thoughts by the faithful here as to what we may see next season?
rsl expansion not happening any more? if not, I expect another consolidation year. ...slow and steady.
I doubt there will be any expansion next season. I think what they will do is prop up the existing teams that may need some propping up.
I think you're probably right. How do you see Chicago's situation? They seem pretty secure to me, but you would know way better. Kansas City seems a little doubtful, although maybe the current owner will bring about a turn around. NJNY is another question mark. Beyond that, the teams seem pretty solid.
would they turn down a top attendance mls team wanting to come in? even if they have to mess with an unbalanced schedule?
Same here. No expansion just propping up existing teams, and I feel that maybe a team may get relocated.
If KC were to be relocated, can you think of a city near Chicago that would make a good natural pairing? I thought maybe Madison might have the right culture, but looking at the Badgers' attendance, it doesn't look that great. Maybe somewhere in Indiana?
I was thinking Minnesota or Milwaukee. What if Barcelona buys them out and moves them to Bay Area? I never wish a fan base to loose it's team they root for every game no matter how big or small the fan base is. I know how it feels to be passionate about your team and invest precious time and money and emotion. But I don't see FCKC staying in KC. Maybe I'm wrong.
Just curious, but why are you so suspicious of FCKC? It's not like the city hasn't shown support before - remember, they had the best attendance in year one outside of Portland. With that in mind, IMO it's all down to what decisions the new owner wants to make with the team, and I don't think you can blame anyone for not hitting the mark in their first year working a job. This is someone who hasn't been involved in soccer before, so there's going to be a bit of a learning curve.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...urce=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_m_medium=t - Article basically says that if Sporting KC doesn't buy...the league will allow relocation/new ownership. - SKC getting involved seems unlikely - As a KCitian I am crushed but not surprised. KC doesn't have a suitable venue / location for fans aside from Children's Mercy Park. - I'm sorry the players have had to go thru this. It just baffles me that SKC won't bite on buying FCKC but still call themselves the "soccer capital of america" - Basically Vlatko is keeping this team together. Interested to see if the team moves, whether or not he follows....
Well that answers my question... About an hour after I asked it. X-D Very courteous of FourFourTwo! That sucks though... Lots of behind the scenes stuff that wasn't obvious. Salary issues, ownership... I thought the new owner had moved to KC or at least bought property there; didn't know he just appointed someone who isn't even there all the time. And very odd to see Seattle mentioned but not NJ.
Sorry for not responding soon. So far as of moving into next season , I feel confident in Chicago. The owner is committed. There is a good fan base (again, not a Portland fan base), but comparative to other NWSL teams a very solid base and growing, just need to grow it more. I feel they need to get someone in Sales and Marketing that does a better job of putting the word out. Red Stars used to have a tent at every youth tournament, I haven"t seen that this year. Red Stars are a well known brand now and I would love to see it continue to grow. I will renew season tickets and so will everyone that sits around me.
Great! I actually think of the Red Stars as the Thorns' best rivals. I know Seattle is nearby, and most Thorns fans wouldn't agree with me, but I love Red Stars/Thorns games -- they're almost always really well fought games that are great to watch.
So, this is more "moving on after 2018" than "moving toward 2018", but after their expose' on FCKC, FourFourTwo had also done a feature on the situation in Seattle and the looming problem of when Memorial no longer meets NWSL field standards after next season and - worse - simply ceases to exist in the near future anyway: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...e-or-just-survive-nwsls-cloudy-future-seattle @Blaze20 how likely do you think it is (I'm assuming not very) that the planned high school's new stadium would be built with the Reign in mind and fit NWSL's growing field & facility standards?
Can you really consider it a rivalry? Chicago only has one win against Portland all time. A true rivalry should be more competitive.
More competitive... like a widely disproportionate amount of the matches ending in draws, none of which were 0-0, and no multi-goal losses since year 1? That aside, I think you can throw "competitiveness" away in terms of what defines a rivalry. Mutual hatred/respect from both sets of fans and players is more important, IMO, especially when it's defined by multiple memorable incidents. And you also have to consider that generally equal rivalries can have multi-year swings in them as rosters evolve. I've seen plenty of rivalries (not just in soccer) experience one-way multi-year swings and not lose any of that rivalry feeling. At the same time, I think calling Chicago Portland's biggest rival is a bit too, uh, "soccer-academic". Seattle still gets way more player and fan reaction. The only thing Portland-Chicago has that Portland-Seattle doesn't is a playoff match.
OnGoal (SKC's ownership group) has been sniffing around women's pro soccer since the WPS days. You could find SKC executives at the draft every year. I think it's in their long term plans, but they've got a whole lot of irons in the fire right now, and it's not likely that a Sporting Women's team would replicate what's going on in Portland - and I'm not sure 4-6k is enough to justify turning on the lights at Sporting Park. As far as venues, that's a problem that the Wizards used to face when Arrowhead wasn't available for USOC games. There really isn't a decent 5-10k venue in Kansas City that holds a full sized soccer field. Currently Swope Park is the best option. That said, I haven't seen what the capacity of the main field at the new National Training Center will be. If that stadium is at least 5k, and I would think that both the USSF and OnGoal (the partners in building it) see the opportunity for a 7-10k stadium in the region would bring. I don't see the Swope Park Rangers (SKC's USL minor league club) will ever leave the Swope Park facility. Their attendance is what it is. It's a developmental club, not meant to draw large crowds. But a new stadium at the NTC would be ideal for a women's pro team. I also wouldn't be too dismissive of SKC if they don't buy what is apparently a management train wreck that has been FCKC the last few years. As best as I can tell they've been somewhat subsidizing the team with absorbing most of the costs of the few games that FCKC has played at CMP - as well as letting them use Swope Park for training and games at a discounted rate. My guess is that they do know all of the numbers, and until they can do it right, they're not going to do it, but they'll facilitate FCKC as long as their owners put in the effort. From what I can tell about the saga with the Comets and FCKC and the ownership mess and the shoestring budget the team has operated under this summer, I wouldn't be shocked to see someone try to lure Vlatko away. He's got the chops, he's proven that. I could see him going somewhere where he also gets the resources.
I think one outgrowth of the NASL's lawsuit against USSF is that moving forward we're going to see that waivers to divisional standards become much more judiciously granted. To stop granting any waivers to the NASL while not tightening the noose elsewhere (WUSA/USL) would only play into the NASL's legal arguments. With the NWSL all but assuredly moving into a sixth season next summer, I think we're really going to see the granting of waivers reduced and all but withdrawn in the coming year or two. And the waivers that will hit the NWSL hardest are the facility waivers.
I'm not being dismissive of SKC for not buying FCKC. If by some small chance it does happen I understand that it would basically be charity. I am dismissive of them using the "soccer capital of America" That's just not true. You can't have a professional women's soccer team in your city and completely ignore their attendance numbers and standards. Thanks for your post, I am a huge fan of FCKC (and SKC to a lesser extent) but it's been hard to come to terms with the fact they will be leaving. I'm just bitter, SKC does so well...and I feel like SKC could do a women's team right...and actually make that "soccer capital of america" claim true. But as you said the timing seems to be off.
Doing well - as in "painting the wall" and "building market awareness" is not the same as Doing well - as in breaking even or earning a profit. By all measures I'm aware of, SKC is still losing a ton of cash. SKC's losses are almost certainly larger than FCKC's entire budget. I hear the numbers have been getting better, but I also don't see a rush to take on yet another money losing business while you're still working on your main business. Throw in the untimely passing of Neal Patterson, and I wouldn't expect any big moves as Cliff, Greg, Pat, and Robb sort things out.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...urce=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_m_medium=t Some positive news about SKC, FCKC, and Vlatko. Just when I was ready to let it go. Toying with my emotions.
Very interesting reading also for a Seattle Reign's fan like me. I adore Laura Harvey, but after her 4 years tenure the team looks a little stagnant and it can't seem to manage the ending part of games in a correct manner. I wish Harvey to land on England NT bench. Menwhile Settle could use some new high-caliber coach.
This seems to be Seattle's problem for a couple of seasons, mainly due to key injuries. Despite though injuries they managed to be in 5th place, just outside looking in. They need a quality forward to score goals from what I watched. Megan Rapinoe can't be a one-woman show. In my article about the Chicago Red Stars on www.kickingitsports.com, I mention on Portland, North Carolina, and Orlando could occupy three playoff spots for a couple of years. It may be one spot to fight for all year and Seattle, for now, is the only team that can contend for that position.