I just read a tweet that showed a picture of Blazer's testimony to the Feds, and it's enough to bury a lot of people by itself. Platini is already dead in the water despite his faux outrage during the last few days. The best hope for the NASL is that it's such a small fish that guys like Davidson get away with a slap on the wrist by flipping on the big guns in FIFA, and the casual fans don't remember it or at least don't associate it with the league.
Best for NASL to buy out Traffic's B stocks (66% as of a few years ago, may be less now) and get Carolina, the last club they own sold so they can move forward fresh from this.
Easier said than done. Especially since I believe the government has frozen Traffic's assets which presumably would include their NASL stock.
I'm not sure the USL new about the traffic mess before hand. It certainly weakens the NASL's position from the outside looking in. I'm beginning to think that the USSF will grant the USL D2 status and drop NASL to D3 status but possibly leave the door open to the NASL to get back D2 status when they begin to meet the USSF requirements. Honestly I think there should just be a merger of the top USL teams and the Top NASL teams and THAT should be D2. The smaller teams should just be dropped into a regional D3.
It is more likely the USSF also gives D2 status to the USL. I don't see the USSF not sanctioning the NASL. Even with the Traffic/Davidson mess and the lack of west coast expansion. The USSF won't be the one to pull the plug on the NASL. How do they plan on doing that? Who is buying out Traffic? Are they going to ask the NASL owners to spend a lot more of their money to buy Traffic out? Which cannot even happen right now because everything is frozen. Never mind trying to find ownership for the RailHawks and possibly folding the Silverbacks. None of this is going away easily. There is no magic pill.
But what benefit is it to the USSF to have a D2 league that does not meet its requirements? Having two D2 leagues makes little sense but I wouldn't be surprised to see it. I know the USSF could force a merger and I still think that's the best way to go.
No benefit whatsoever but what does having two D2 leagues hurt? What is the real difference between D2 and D3 other than a designation? I think it would be difficult for the USSF to force a merger and why would they? If the two league were in direct competition and that was hurting one league or the other then maybe you could see some action. But I don't see that. The only things that I see the leagues could compete over are players, ticket sales, and TV/sponsorships. Are there fights over players? Haven't heard of much anything like that. NASL has the ESPN streaming deal and USL has YouTube but everything else is local. I can't imagine too much conflict over sponsors. Ticket sales? Right now NASL and USL both have teams in the same market in only one city: New York with the Cosmos and Red Bulls II. Are they competing for ticket sales? Doesn't seem like it. San Antonio and Austin are close but they have completely different TV markets. I'd be surprised if either draws fans from the other. I guess you could cite the fight in Oklahoma City as a conflict between the leagues. Is that enough?
Well, the overwhelming majority want the merger. Just all the BS and bad blood that went on. Taking out Traffic may well be the last step needed for this to happen. Let's hope. I'm sure USL knew nothing, but Sunil probably had an inkling. Never know....feelers might have been sent out, or USL might have been encouraged because of wha might happen. All speculation of course. Still, anything that can combine the leagues is all I want. MLS is set. Time to clean up the mess that is lower division soccer in the US...one way or the other, I care not how it is done.
Yup...no magic pill. Interesting how NYC has been dead silent on this stuff. Only reason I bring it up is because their owners have a lot more in common with how the Qatar's of the world do business, and how let's say a Peter Wilt does. I have little respect for OBrien. It only makes sense to fold Atlanta at season's end, and here's hoping Carolina get's an owner.
I've said it for a while, and believe this is the end game for USSF. If NASL was able to add a half dozen teams and owners where needed USSF wins, and if they don't USSF can force the issue of a merger and wins.
But if you give the USL D2 sanction then you are creating two competing leagues, which is unnecessary. It weakens both leagues overall instead of strengthening. No I think the Traffic mess is an out for NASL teams, why buy out Traffic when they could all en mass move to USL for less money and create a really strong D2 to boot.
The leagues are competing now anyway, so no big deal. Traffic is an out, but there is the Cosmos. It was reported that NASL and MLS were very close to signing a working/affiliation agreement. Then NYC came into the picture, nixed it, then insane rhetoric started and that was that. That is the last domino IMO.
They may have no choice in the matter, lets say Indy, SA and Minn U decide its a good idea to move to the USL instead of kicking in money to buy out Traffic then what happens to the rest of the teams? They're not going to stick around in a crippled league I think they'll just move. Even the Cosmos, It would be insane for them not to. Mind you its all hypothetical but you'd only need two or three teams to create the momentum for it to happen.
Absolutely right....good point. If a couple of teams say enough is enough it will be the beginning of the end. Minny will be gone anyway, but if Indy and a Jax say bye bye....then game over. As USL gains traction, and if NASL even just stagnates, what will be the point for new NASL investors? Interesting that the pitch NASL has always used....don't spend on fees, build your team here (even though there is a fee to join NASL)....is what the USL can use now. Don't spend that much on a team, MLS support, and you can still build from scratch and join MLS one day. Without Traffic "support", in whatever forms, what is the pitch now? Spend more on a league that lacks stability? The quality is clearly better than USL....ummm, not this year.....and we will challenge for D1 status....and I poop rainbow sherbert. This is gonna be a very inetersting year for NASL.
I think you guys are making a much bigger deal of this than it really is. Some money will change hands, some new people will be put in power, and the league will go on.
Traffic owns 66% of the NASL and are now forbidden to have anything to due with something they are majority owners. The common sense thing to due is for the league teams to share the cost and buy them out but if you're Indy or SA or JAX you may use this as an opportunity to jump ship and join a future D2 league for less then the cost of buying into the NASL. JAX and Indy already paid an expansion fee why would they chip in anymore money that should be spent on the club? I'm sure the USL would love to have most if not all the NASL teams so they'd probably get in for very little or possibly free. I'm just saying this has the chance to be trans-formative thing for the lower division and most importantly in a VERY positive way.
Just playing out scenerios. Traffic was the big money player here. traffic is done. To just assume someone will decide to come in, or existing teams will just simply agree to pony up more money IMO is naive. To be clear, I am not saying you are, just that this is lower division soccer in the US. I have seen over forty plus years of it, been involved, seen balance sheets, etc...lower division soccer is hard... ...I will make no assumptions.
A combined USL/NASL league could be great as a D2 league, just keep the MLS reserve teams out of it, put them in a regional D3 league...they have far different motivations than the stand alone professional clubs that are trying to run a soccer business at that level. Looking at the NASL in the wake of the Traffic situation, I see their continued involvement with the league in any meaningful capacity as untenable. This of course would likely remove the chief barrier between NASL and MLS, the conflict over Traffic v SUM. I would have to assume league leadership that is free from Traffic's influence would no longer have any real vested interest in having an adversarial relationship with MLS (SUM). NASL is going to have to take a real long and hard look at their long and short term strategies. While I do admire their conviction to establish themselves as a rival top flight league, i just don't see the economic here working out for them in their favor. If the NASL was full of franchises like the Cosmos and with their resources, then sure i can see where that starts to get some doors open for direct competition. But sadly the Cosmos are really the exception in NASL and the few teams with resources to approach them have or are going to MLS as expansion teams these past few years. As much as they don't want to do it, I suspect they will have to eventually get with the USL and prop up a D2 league, and all the other teams unable or unwilling to meet the requirements will be regional D3. MLS's partnership with the USL would open up some marketing and sponsorship avenues via SUM and they could benefit from the economies for scale built up by MLS over the years. Some of these teams may not be able to muster the financial requirements of a D2 league, but: Sacramento Republic FC OKC Energy FC Tulsa Roughnecks Austin Aztex Edmonton FC St. Louis FC Wilmington Hammerheads FC Rochester Rhinos Charleston Battery Richmond Kickers Pittsburgh Riverhounds Charlotte Independence Louisville City FC Hartford FC New York Cosmos Carolina Railhawks Indy Eleven Ottawa Fury FC San Antonio Scorpians Ft Lauderdale Strikers Tampa Bay Rowdies Jacksonville Armada Miami FC Atlanta Silverbacks 24 teams, and some pretty decent markets ( i am sure a few of those clubs may be D3 candidates), relegate all the reserve teams to D3 and as more teams become interrested in the USL/NASL merged model maybe even flirt with pro/rel between D3 and D2 as a test case.
Why keep the reserve teams out of it? NASL wants to be like the rest of the world. Most in the world have their reserve teams play in the lower divisions.
They will join the New Canadian soccer league And then some other league after the CSA screws things up up north.
They could. But why would they? Why would USL be their only play? Could they not start their own league? I mean....it's been done, right? Minnesota is (pending a stadium solution) in the same boat Montreal was when the TOA split happened. They probably could have spent a year playing friendlies against international clubs and Rochester and such, but they threw their hat in with the NASL as their best option in the interim. I would say knowing who's running USL that it might be a 50/50 proposition that the clubs you mention start yet another league. Joining (back, in some cases) with USL is not necessarily their only option. If you have strong clubs (and Indianapolis and San Antonio and the Cosmos are obviously strong clubs), you bring something of value you can either leverage for favorable merger terms or to start your own league. They can do this without Traffic, Traffic was essential at startup, but may not be as essential now. I mean, they have all that lovely ESPN3 money coming in.