SoccerCity is pretty much dead now. It was a land grab, simple as that. And when it did not go according to the plan, the developers left. Regarding Sacramento, it isn't the league not wanting Sacramento in, it's Kevin Nagle managing to blindside everyone, including MLS, as to his group's actual financial strength. The guy wanted to call the shot but does not have the money, simple as that. Sacramento is a decent market and will fill a hole in the map, but their owner F it all up for them.
Not sure it was as much Nagle blind siding the league. I think the league saw through this, which is why they didn't give Sacramento a team earlier. It just took until the "put up or shut up" moment when this became public. Maybe Nagle thought that winning the expansion bid competition meant that they had to take him. Apparently not. I feel bad for the fans in Sacramento. For the most part, I agree with what you are saying. I am not convinced Cinci's holdup is the Columbus situation. Short answer it that the Crew situation will resolve itself one way or another well before FC Cincinnati would join the league. There has been a lot of drama around the league in terms of expansion. Much of the issues have been more or less put to rest and the league can settle in to calmer times. What is left is Miami, Cincinnati and Detroit. If they take all three, that's 3 conferences/divisions with 9 teams each. Not too shabby.
He used to have a pretty good blog that covered lower division soccer, but shut it down to become Communications Director for NASL. A year or two later he quit the NASL job, but started consulting with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. He has a major hard-on for the Cosmos and NASL and is a peddler anti-MLS/pro-NASL conspiracy theories As far as his reliability.. He’s usually not bad for lower division, but I would definitely wait for someone else to confirm for MLS related rumors.
Hey! Well, TBF, I really got into City during that transition period. Before that it was simply "whoever plays ManUre".
Really news to me? As of right now the Soccer City initiative is still set to be on the ballot in November and if it passes the project will be a go, unless you know something I don't.
This is innacurate. The initiative is on the ballot this November and the prospective ownership group is actively campaigning. 954102391393026048 is not a valid tweet id
In response to a report about MLS announcing next expansion team the first week of March, @fccincinnati source told me: "Don't believe anything unless it's from us or MLS." #MLS2Cincy @fox19 Announcement could still come sooner.— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) January 18, 2018
Two thoughts: I don't necessarily think the Crew relo situation has to be fully resolved before they make the call on Cincy, but they will want to be sure they are clear of any eminent domain action from the state. MLS isn't going to award an expansion team to a state that is threatening to sue them. MLS has openly-stated they plan to expand to 28, so I can't see how they'd suddenly stop at 27 and break into three 9-team conferences. That said, I could see geography affecting scheduling in some form. With 28 teams, round-robin is either too short or too long. Even playing your own conference rivals twice and each of the other conference rivals once would mean 40 games which either extends the season by 6 weeks or compresses the schedule. Either would make it hard to conduct playoffs and/or accommodate international breaks. So, whether there are more than two conferences or not, I could envision proximity determining which teams face each other twice rather than only once.
They can't eminent domain a company. We aren't a socialist state it would absolutely never fly. The law was never challenged in court, it's a completely ridiculous notion. Could they owe the gov some money for deconstruction of the stadium site? Yea. That's about it
Wait....so If I'm reading this right (not sure I trust that source) each of the 4 "finalists" will get in? What about the other 8 bids that didn't make the final cut that were supposed to get another shot?
27 I don't think this will take that long. PSV not getting back with Austin about the potential sites is telling. 27 works as a temporary stopping point until 28 is found. I suspect that MLS didn't expect the wheels to come off of 9 of 12 candidates.
I agree that it's ridiculous and won't prevail. Even so, if the AG in Ohio tries to get an injunction, it could trigger a series of expensive legal challenges that cost the league a bunch of money and put a major delay on any final resolution to the Crew situation. And more importantly, no business is going to expand to a state that is suing them. So, until that threat is eliminated, it could affect Cincy's bid.
There are a million ways the relo to Austin could unravel which is why I still think a sale is possible. Either that, or Precourt joins the ownership group of an expansion city and they move the Crew there instead. How about Sacramento for example? Don't they need another billionaire investor to get their bid over the line whereas Precourt wants a new market? He even lives in NorCal. Just sayin'. As for getting to 28, I don't see that changing. An awful lot can happen in a year and they've actually got until 2023 before it would be necessary for #27 and 28 to begin play as that's when the new TV deal would go into effect. Look how Nashville came out of nowhere in just 1 year. They went from being around #12 to #1. The same could happen for any number of other bids, particularly San Diego or St. Louis. If the SoccerCity initiative gets approved next November, San Diego bolts right to the front of the pack. Same goes for STL if they can recruit investors and build the stadium without public money. In fact, don't be shocked if St. Louis comes back with a bid to use the Edward Jones dome after-all. They downplayed that possibility a year ago based on an assumption that a SSS with natural grass was a must for MLS. That's not necessarily true anymore and could put that option back on the table. And keep an eye on North Carolina FC. Been saying all along that they could be the next Nashville in this race. Growing area with high average incomes and desirable soccer demographics that would fill a giant hole in the map between DC and Atlanta. Plus, they have a very amicable working relationship with their city and could probably put together a stadium bid with a lot fewer headaches than we've seen in other towns. So, there are still plenty of possibilities for #28.
Outside of the sudden switch to Ford Field there is nothing wrong with Detroit's bid. Which is why I don't believe it would be them because they would have been announced already. Cincy will probably be the winner because its much easier to find more money, which isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, than to find an entirely new ownership group. Once we are set with 26 teams, including Miami, I believe everything will reset and cities will get to submit new, updated bids. Like Bilbo said, "no need to rush."
https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2018/01/city-parkland-vanish-soccer-stadium-consideration/ The resistance is predictably mounting
Just in: @fccincinnati approached Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority to buy land in the West End on Jan. 16th. The CMHA board will consider an option agreement with the team on land in the West End @WCPO pic.twitter.com/HneLrZzaq9— Amanda Seitz (@AmandaSeitz) January 23, 2018 As I thought, FC Cincy is making a move on the west end; where everyone wanted to go in the first place. That'll add another 3 months of waiting if the mls were in fact waiting on cincy (not convinced of that). Also of note, the name of the club seems to be getting a rebrand to fussball which imo is a mistake. If you're going German to honor the heritage go full German. Fussball looks dumb, fußball is the only appropriate way to write it. Hopefully it's just someone in the county not having a German keyboard and they don't actually go with fussball.
Holy shit, they actually call themselves Fussball Club? This madness has to stop. 04 PSV Sporting Racing Deportivo Cincinnatispor Associazione Calcio Football Club 1756
I prefer it to Futbol Club as it at least acknowledges the cities' German heritage and differentiates us from anyone else. In the end I don't cheer for a name, I cheer for a club and a city.
I'd just prefer all the neckbeards who suddenly have Garber's ear shut the hell up and drink their Imperial Sour IPAs without adding a bunch of pretentious shit to team names. And if you're going to honor German heritage, why not also the Scots and Scots-Irish (Rangers and/or Celtic!), Jewish (Maccabi/Hapoel!), or West African (<insert name here> Stars/Hearts of Oak!)? Or Lithuanian, or blah blah blah. You reminded me that I forgot about "Futbol", but then again, "Deportivo".
What ever happened to putting the stadium on the Kentucky side? I thought if they couldn't get a deal worked out with the city they were going to go that route? I understand wanting it in the city but they are risking not getting a spot at all when they have a perfectly good site waiting for them, what am I missing?
MLS's hold-up for giving Cincinnati an expansion club is reportedly the stadium location.. So, it's in the city or bust..