Maybe. Submitting the bid doesn't mean that the requirement for city participation has been written out of it. Maybe he's hoping they'll change their mind down the line.
Marcus Smith confirmed Monday he will move ahead with his bid for a Major League Soccer team by Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, even though Charlotte City Council last week declined to consider spending $43.75 million to help fund the stadium. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article129570719.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/02/01/mls-exec-impressed-by-clt-bid-group.html http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article130188904.html Sounds like the usual "they're a good candidate" talk, I'm honestly dissapointed that Smith has not involved the USL side in any way. That would have been a great FO to have run the soccer side of things, since Smith addmitedly has no experience (or desire apparently) for the game and, he has an arrogance to him that screams "Give me a team because I am a billionaire!!!". I hope we get the team but would not be mad if Independence could get in on the fun, I mean you get a group of people who love the game and have experience running a team AND a lacrosse team to fill some extra dates.
http://www.heraldonline.com/article130188904.html "They also believe that having a stadium site and agreement approved with Mecklenburg County is a plus, even if the City Council hasn’t agreed to help pay for the stadium."
Mecklenburg County will move ahead with Charlotte MLS stadium funding with speedway owner Marcus Smith, as the city of Charlotte will not contribute to $175 million in updates to Memorial Stadium. The specifics of the deal have not been finalized, but broadly speaking the county is looking at spending $120 million toward what’s basically a new facility, with the MLS team — owned by Smith — paying for the rest. http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017...y-goes-solo-on-charlotte-mls-stadium-funding/
That is so much, unless they do it like the BOA stadium deal idk if this will happen. Granted I don't live at home anymore and would not pay a single dime but, you still have to feel some kind of way about a city/county spending $100+ million. My hope is for Smith to give in and get Independence involved for the sake of his bid, he has the financing/money part but they have the soccer/football part of the formula. Whether this goes through or not I hope he and dad find some selflessness.
Speaking to Herbert White at The Charlotte Post last week, Charlotte City Council member James Mitchell said that Marcus Smith and MLS4CLT will have to wait until Fall 2017 at the earliest for funding approval. “If they can wait until probably 2018, I think you can have a council that would be willing to be back at the table.” Mitchell sited last year’s death of Keith Lamont Scott and the ensuing protests as the largest deciding factor for why the City Council didn’t vote on MLS stadium funding in January after the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners voted to spend their share of the $175 million cost. https://soccernsweettea.com/mls-charlotte-vote-city-council-memorial-stadium-e88662b322e1
http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/05/charlotte-mls-bid-still-without-citys-financial-support/ Really starting to lose hope in the QC getting an MLS team...between the lack of interest in the Independence, Smith's ignorance towards the game and his bravado that he doesn't need any of Charlotte's current soccer enteties to be involved (Clt United, CSA, Indy, and the Eagles have all been left out so far), and the cities hesistance to fund this stadium, Charlotte is way behind a majority of the 12 bids that have been submitted. If only I had hit that billion dollar powerball a year or so ago...
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...anager-says-mls-decision-needs-more-time.html Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to remove the money for MLS from the annual capital budget and reconsider the matter at their Aug. 2 meeting. By then, commissioners hope to have a better sense of whether the city will invest any public money into a proposed $175 million, 20,000-seat stadium to be built on county-owned property near uptown. Memorial Stadium and the adjacent Grady Cole Center would be demolished to make room for the MLS stadium.
http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/06/city-to-discuss-new-charlotte-mls-stadium/ Hoping that this could mean that we get a chance to force a relationship between the City, County, Smiths, and the Independence. That would be the best possible scenario for MLS 2 CLT.
No, I am Twitterless and only see what is shared to facebook. I do know that the city is supposed to be voting on the topic soon, maybe that plays a role in all the buzz you mentioned. Anything you can share here with us non-tweeters?
Official Charlotte MLS Twitter page: https://twitter.com/mls4clt?lang=en (well at least for Smith's bid) - of their 144 tweets half were in the last week. New articles: Decision on MLS stadium heads for overtime in Charlotte http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/06/26/mls-stadium-decision-heads-for-overtime-in.html Charlotte MLS franchise bid launches website outreach Goal is to galvanize support for expansion http://www.thecharlottepost.com/new...-mls-franchise-bid-launches-website-outreach/
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...&utm_content=KickoffStory&utm_campaign=071217 MLS4CLT, the ownership group seeking to land a Major League Soccer expansion club for the city of Charlotte, announced details for an upcoming July 18 visit by MLS league officials. On that day MLS4CLT and MLS executives will meet with officials from the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, visit the proposed MLS stadium site, and meet with civic and business leaders as well as prominent members of Charlotte’s soccer community.
Until all efforts are combined (MLS4CLT, Clt Independence, QC Outlaws, and local Gov't) I do not see us getting in on this wave.
They seem to be working together on anything but this funding plan, I really wish Independence was involved in it all.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article162490343.html https://www.bizjournals.com/charlot...s-stadium-decision-heads-for-overtime-in.html http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/07/mls-makes-a-visit-to-charlotte/ Seems like the event was a success, I was hoping for more than 200-250 turnout but that is not bad for a Tuesday night event promoting an non-existent team. At this point it looks like it is on the city to open up that tourism tax fund so we can greenlight this thing. I honestly feel MLS would prefer Charlotte over any other southeastern market (save Miami) and that the league may even hold off on SE expansion until the final wave.