Sometime BigSoccer makes me doubt that people are truly educable. The Sacramento is a small market nonsense has been debunked over and over again. Yet it still reappears on a regular basis.
There's a strange perception in much of the country that Sacramento is small. I think there are a few reasons for this: it used to be small, so there's not the historical presence of somewhere like Cincinnati or St. Louis; it's much smaller than the LA Basin or the SF Bay and somewhat smaller than San Diego or the Inland Empire, so it's overlooked for other areas in California; and it only has one major league franchise right now.
Very true. Good post. And even you got it somewhat wrong. Its hard to compare the different metro areas using the popular MSA/CSA, esp. IE, SD, and Sac. IE is spread over three counties. SD is the most concentrated, only in SD County. Sac loses all of San Joaquin County (Stockton) to the Bay area (an MSA/CSA aberration).. This is why there's a big disparity between Sac's MSA size and its Nielsen media size. If you add Stockton to Sac's numbers, they are right with San Diego. Its all semantics and lines in the sand regardless. One thing unique about California is that all the major metro areas are close to each other, with some creating mega metros (LA, Bay area). Sacramento literally butts up to the Bay area; San Diego with LA. There is a ton of media market slop over along those borders. I spoke to a Sac kings marketing exec a few years ago. He said that Sac/Bay area was one big mega market due to the amount of overlap.
They dont need to have it, but they may want to be a little further along than a memorandum of understanding. I hope they make great progress on their plan. They are still asking for 100 million dollars.
Unless they go to the Kentucky side of the Ohio, in which case they can use existing government funding. See Inverted Triangle Podcast interview with Cincy president Berding
I don't get it. They just pick a number and the government hands it over? No approval process? No economic study?
I listened. It sounds promising, but as far as I can tell, it's not approved. He sounds very confident, but may simply be posturing to spur Cincy leaders into action.
I'll go out and say Miami is now a lock @ #24, entering in 2019. Sacramento & Cincinnati will be #25 & #26 entering in 2020. Detroit & Nashville will be #27 & #28 with San Antonio & Tampa just missing out. Now whether they both enter in 2021 is unknown, but I definitely feel by 2022 the league will be at 28 teams.
If you don't think Nashville is "sexy" or flashy," you didn't catch the NHL playoffs and haven't seen the media (NYT, for one) crown it as the "It" city. Nashville's bid has the Mayor, Governor and state legislature all on board. Solid ownership group and former MLS executive as CEO of USL team It's one of the fastest growing cities in the U. S. - especially with millennial and Hispanic populations Huge crowds for CONCACAF Gold Cup (47,622) and International Champions Cup North America (56,232) matches A potential downtown area stadium site with close to 200 acres available
“There just seems to be a desire to take this city and just make it bigger and more international and to provide value to the people who live here. It’s part of why there’s such a disparate group of people to come together to try to bring MLS here.” Garber on Nashville.
We can dredge up similar, if not even more effusive statements by Garber for every single candidate city.
All of this can be applied, in some iteration, to all the expansion cities. None of it makes a city "sexy or flashy" Supported, solid, desirable- those are applicable. Sexy and flashy are reserved for those markets whose reputation transcend what the city actually offers. Cities with name recognition internationally. Cities that are concidered "destination" locations domestically and internationally. Miami, NYC, LA, SF, DC. Nashville ain't in that group. Neither is Sac, Detroit, Phoenix or Cincy
If we keep with the 28 team end point then I would say just keep in mind conference balance when positing potential teams. Then the next question is Market Size vs. Market Penetration, I.E. do we focus on smaller rabid areas like Cincy and San An or do we go for larger areas like PHX and Motown. I still say 32 is the end game by 2026.
I would drop DC and add Toronto. First tier NY, LA, Miami, Toronto Second tier Montreal, San Fran, Chicago Regardless the list of "sexy" - gotta have for sponsors/broadcasters/cash flow is list
yup sexy is london paris nyc la sf dallas...miami not nashville unless your grand and an opera. Portland is sexy......if you are the NWSL 18,000+ yesterday
Agreed. Those "first tier" markets you listed stand apart from the rest. One thing that differentiates Nashville from the rest of the expansion candidates is its importance in the music industry. Behind NY and LA, I can't imagine there's another place in the US where more musicians go to record. That connection (potentially) gives the market a little more star power and national attention. Who knows how much that will matter in the eyes of the expansion committee; not much, I hope.
Actually, all the expansion candidates don't have all of those. Several have stadium hurdles and have seen a lack of government support, etc. I'll agree that Nashville isn't NYC, LA, SF, or even D.C. but it is a young, growing city on the rise and that is "sexy" to companies (including sports leagues) Those of you who think it's only about Country Music are sadly mistaken.
Thanks, I used to be on here but it'd been a few years and I just created a new profile rather than try to figure out my old stuff.
I'll say this again...I want Sac in but it is not a "sexy city". Nashville is sexy because of the cultural aspects of it as well as its "up and coming" nature. Sacramento just doesn't have that unfortunately.
For what it's worth, readers from around the globe determined that Nashville was the #5-ranked destination out of the "Top 10 Cities in the United States" in Travel + Leisure magazine's 2017 "World's Best Awards", a repeat performance of the city's ranking in the 2016 edition of the annual awards. Additionally, the city's Urban Cowboy B&B garnered the #7 ranking out of the "Top 15 City Hotels in the United States" in 2017. Nashville may not strike you as a "sexy and flashy... destination", but it is certainly resonating with others.
A magazine "asking readers" to rank US city destination favorites is not equal to the actual number of domestic and foreign travelers to US cities. Nashville does not make that list. And a quick search found Nashville absent from other "magazine polled" lists. Nashville is a cool city. I've never argued that, but its definitely a niche city. To put it up with NYC, LA, Miami, Vegas and the other big hitters as "sexy and flashy" in that vein, is a complete exaggeration. To each his own, I guess