I like how people argue in this thread about why one city is better than another like they are trying to persuade someone who actually gets a vote.
Yeah. The Board of Governors voted a long time ago. New York and LA will have two teams, Miami will get a team, and San Diego will get a team. That's pretty much the list. It looks like later rather than sooner for San Diego, but once Beckham nails down the details, that's pretty much the only market that MLS, itself, seems to be trying to land.
Here on the west coast we don't don't associate the words "sexy" & "up and coming" with a city like Nashville. Go ahead and pump Nashville but don't say its sexier than a Sacramento. Neither are sexy whatsoever. No disrespect, I'm originally from Fresno which is considered the "arm pit of California", so I'm not bashing any city. There there are only a handful of cities that are sexy in the US
Looks like somebody just strengthened their bid. http://www.espnfc.us/major-league-s...innesota-vikings-join-nashville-franchise-bid
If you are looking at purely an economic perspective, there is a ranking system for cities in the world and how much impact they have on the world economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization_and_World_Cities_Research_Network If you take that and compare them to the MLS footprint (and expansion candidates), it's interesting. Alpha ++: New York Alpha: Chicago, Toronto, Los Angeles Alpha -: Washington, Miami (San Francisco would fit here as well) Beta +: Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston Beta: Montreal, Philadephia, Vancouver Beta -: Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, St. Louis, San Diego Gamma +: Detroit, San Jose (Cleveland would fit here as well) Gamma: Phoenix, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Tampa Gamma -: Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, Columbus High Sufficiency: Portland, Sacramento, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Salt Lake City Sufficiency: none. Surprisingly, Nashville is the one City that's not on that list (though Memphis is). Even the following Canadian CPL city candidates are on this list: Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Hamilton, Quebec City, Halifax, and Winnipeg. So would this be a possible way of handicapping the expansion race?
Agreed.....how Toledo and Buffalo have been left out of the expansion race is beyond me. Talk about oozing sex.
I am from San Diego.....I get what you are saying but to say Nashville isn't "sexy" is living in a bubble. It is the "home" of country music which leads to lots of tourists and they have more Fortune 500 companies than Sac.
No bubble.. I just can't in a million years associate the words "sexy" and "Nashville" in the same sentence. Now I will give you "up and coming"- this is definitely possible. But sexy??? What is sexy about being known as a haven for country music???
I dunno, but there are a lot of sexy female country singers that have gone through Nashville. I figure a good number of women will tell you that the male country singers are quite sexy as well. Modern country sells sex in a way that old-time, classic country never did.
The problem is with you. Nashville is sexy enough. Not Miami/LA/NY sexy. Or Paris/Milan. We are talking about what is left on the board. If you count Miami as in, only SD & Tampa come close, and that is because they are on the beach, not the character of the city itself. Or Vegas if you like trashy as sexy.
SD is more than just beach though..its the whole surfer/great weather vibe as well (not to mention ComicCon, Zoo and closeness to Mexico). But I am biased but I agree we aren't really "sexy". I'd say Nashville is more sexy in terms of cultural aspects (music scene, theater etc.)
I have been following expansion news on and off since about January. I always thought Detroit had a really good shot at getting the second spot behind Sacramento in this round. Based on what I read on these forums (Yes I know its just speculation by us all) they are pretty much out and have no shot! What gives? Am I missing something? I mean they have billionaire owners, a land deal/swap that seems to be going in the right direction and no further behind Cincinnati or Nashville stadium wise, and seemingly, the demographics that MLS is looking for. I get the draw of Nashville somewhat, especially now that the Vikings owner has joined their group, but even then, I feel like Detroit is still ahead of them based on what they bring to the table. Someone please enlighten me...... Long time lurker first time poster btw.
I'm pretty sure Detroit has actually moved up to the top with Sacramento. They now have the most advanced stadium plans of any of the non-Sacramento bids. Wayne County accepted the Gilbert/Gores plan for the jail site. I can't imagine MLS turning down what would be a showpiece stadium in the heart of a major city's downtown and entertainment district.
Yeah that's what I've been thinking. Just kind of threw me for a loop after reading through most of these forums where everyone is completely convinced that it's going to be SAC and Nashville or Cincinnati. Also, I google mls expansion articles every other day or so and all I find is articles talking about Nashville this and Cincinnati that but nothing about Detroit. After Wayne county stated they intend to try to work with Gilbert on the downtown site, I figured that's what everyone would be talking about. But it's been crickets. Just a little surprised is all. Thanks for the response.
Agree that in terms of market, Detroit is the biggest one left on the board after Miami (counting them as in). Sacramento has the fan culture & the stadium ready to go. Cincy has the culture and has done an incredible job marketing. I think those are your leaders. Nashville moves to 4th but is a bit behind the top 3. Other cities could still leaffrog them with better stadium or ownership plans (Tampa, SD, Carolina, STL). At the moment, if I had to pick 24-28, I'd go: 24. Miami; 25. Sacramento; 26. Cincinnati; 27. Detroit; 28. Nashville. If Miami flames, move everyone up a spot & add Tampa.
Having watched professional sports leagues and teams for the last four plus decades, I can't see any benefit to MLS in putting Cincinnati in the 25/26 pair. They instantly lose a lot of the leverage and pressure they can bring to bear next year over the 27/28 spots, and they lock in what would be one of the smallest, if not the smallest moving forward markets in play. MLS is looking long term, big picture. The era of "you're building a stadium and you want to pay us $10mm to join? Great!" is long gone. Fair? Nope. I think there's currently a very good chance Cincy is 27/28.
The Phoenix bid is looking to be in quite an advanced stage too. They already have their stadium site and look like they have their financing in order too. My biggest problem with Nashville and Cincinnati both is that these are still groups in search of public financing. You can have the mayor on board with a project as you do in Nashville, but that's not the same thing as actually having a stadium project ready to proceed. Neither Nashville or Cincinnati really seem to be in contention for spots 25 and 26.
Ranked by 2017 Nielsen Rankings plus July 1st, 2016 US Census Estimates Code: Mkt NR Nhomes CSA 10-16rate NY- 01 7.35mh 23.69 +_2.65% NYRB NYCFC LA- 02 5.48mh 18.69 +_4.54% LAG LAFC CHI 03 3.46mh 09.88 +_0.42% CHI PHI 04 2.93mh 07.18 +_1.58% PHI DAL 05 2.71mh 07.67 +12.55% FCD SFB 06 2.49mh 08.75 +_7.34% SJE WAS 07 2.48mh 09.67 +_6.78% DCU HOU 08 2.45mh 06.72 +14.03% HOU BOS 09 2.42mh 08.18 +_3.59% NER ATL 10 2.41mh 06.45 +_9.15% ATL --- TPA 11 1.91mh 03.03 +_8.94% x PHX 12 1.89mh 04.66 +11.18% x DET 13 1.85mh 05.32 -_0.01% x (does not include Windsor) SEA 14 1.81mh 04.68 +_9.59% SEA MIN 15 1.74mh 03.89 +_5.70% MNU MIA 16 1.70mh 06.72 +_9.03% Beckham DEN 17 1.63mh 03.47 +12.27% COL ORL 18 1.52mh 03.20 +13.65% ORL CLE 19 1.50mh 03.48 -_0.92% SAC 20 1.38mh 02.57 +_6.32% x --- STL 21 1.22mh 02.91 +_0.67% x CLT 22 1.19mh 02.63 +10.80% x PIT 23 1.60mh 02.65 -_0.96% RAL 24 1.54mh 02.16 +12.73% x POR 25 1.44mh 03.16 +_8.18% POR BAL 26 1.12mh (WAS/BAL CSA) IND 27 1.09mh 02.39 +_5.28% x SDG 28 1.07mh 03.32 +_7.19% x (does not include Tijuana) NAS 29 1.01mh 01.99 +11.15% x HAR 30 0.96mh 01.48 -_0.66% --- SAT 31 0.94mh 02.43 +13.40% x COL 32 0.93mh 02.44 +_5.84% CLB KC- 33 0.92mh 02.45 +_4.41% SKC SLC 34 0.92mh 02.51 +10.70% RSL MIL 35 0.92mh 02.04 +_0.84% CIN 36 0.86mh 02.22 +_2.31% x GVL 37 0.85mh 01.44 __5.87% WPB 38 0.82mh (Miami CSA) AUS 39 0.77mh 02.06 +19.82% LAS 40 0.76mh 02.40 +_9.52% NR - 2017 Nielsen Market Rankings CSA 7/1/16 US Census Estimates and changes since 2010 Here are the 12 teams bidding for MLS Expansion Code: Mkt NR Nhomes CSA 10-16rate TPA 11 1.91mh 03.03 +_8.94% x PHX 12 1.89mh 04.66 +11.18% x DET 13 1.85mh 05.32 -_0.01% x SAC 20 1.38mh 02.57 +_6.32% x STL 21 1.22mh 02.91 +_0.67% x CLT 22 1.19mh 02.63 +10.80% x RAL 24 1.54mh 02.16 +12.73% x IND 27 1.09mh 02.39 +_5.28% x SDG 28 1.07mh 03.32 +_7.19% x NAS 29 1.01mh 01.99 +11.15% x SAT 31 0.94mh 02.43 +13.40% x CIN 36 0.86mh 02.22 +_2.31% x Four cities are much larger than the others: Detroit, Phoenix, Tampa, and San Diego. Four of the other eight cities are growing like weeds, and will likely be inching up these lists: Phoenix, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, and San Antonio. I contend that there is no way Cincy gets in this year. If nobody else steps up to match them, they do get in next year. They'd pretty much start as the smallest MLS market (competing with MLB/NFL for sponsorship/local interest), and the Cincinnati is more likely to drop in the various lists than climb as faster growing cities (with no Big 4 teams) continue to explode in population over the next couple of decades. I may sound negative, but I do like Cincy's chances. But I also expect them to be put through the ringer and being used as bait for larger, more desirable markets. But luckily for them, quite a few cities on this list of 12 are pretty much out of the running at this point.
The money is there in Newport, Kentucky (directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio) with a clear site in mind. The debate is more about location than it is funding or building. The club has been laying the groundwork that it is the front runner site unless they can make something work in Cincinnati. If forced I could see breaking ground in Newport next year as that site is primed to be used (imagine a desolate field in an urban area).
http://www.tennessean.com/story/new...-look-stadium-proposed-fairgrounds/564469001/ John Ingram, chairman of Nashville Soccer Club Holdings and the man heading-up the city's bid to land a Major League Soccer franchise, unveiled the preliminary plans for a 30,000-seat, HOK-designed stadium at Fairgrounds Nashville last night. The presentation took place at a special Metro Council committee meeting. Ingram was joined by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry's COO Rich Riebeling, who told council members that the mayor's office hopes to finalize stadium financing negotiations with Ingram within the next 45 to 60 days and file legislation governing a stadium deal by October. Vanderbilt University Vice Chancellor David Williams, who has been involved in ongoing talks with Ingram about making the proposed stadium a dual-purpose facility that could play host to Vanderbilt football, was also in attendance. He mentioned that the stadium would need to be capable of holding between 33,000 and 35,000 attendees for a shared-facility scenario to work. Apparently, architects have designed the stadium in such a way as to keep said option open. Metro Council members said they plan to fully vet the proposal. Let the financial wrangling begin.