That does raise an interesting question. As the league owns the contracts all they really have to sell is the name and the rights.
Well they are in the same stadium this year, but ticket prices are reduced: Section20142015 General Admission1613 Fieldside2218 Elite32-5025 Premium4035 So it will be interesting to see if there's any positive effect on attendance (though if there is, how much will be due to reduced prices and how much will be due to winning the championship?).
And I think its the last year they r committed there. Regardless, as they did draw well the first year I think they will make every effort to fix the problem before hanging them up.
Yes, they only committed to UMKC for 2 years. So 2016 could see them player elsewhere. But where? Back to Shawnee Mission District Stadium? I think that'd be a shame (was much nicer watching them play on the UMKC turf). But what other option is there? And would any be guaranteed to pull in more fans than SMDS? What if they have poor attendance this year again, and then Sporting KC were to offer to buy the team? Do you not think they would sell?
I think if they have the MLS team as owners, that would undoubtedly be where they play (unless the new USSF training center gets a small stadium) regardless of attendance. But as an independent team, I don't think they'd be able to draw enough to cover the cost unless Sporting KC gave them a really sweet deal on rent.
I didn't really have a problem with it. Most of the time the camera was zoomed and aimed so that only the lower bowl was visible. Maybe if I was there in person it would've been different, though. Sporting Park, however, doesn't have a smaller lower bowl, only the one bowl and it looked really sad for the CONCACAF matches.
In the Paulson Q&A someone asked him if the cameras could be moved to the other side of Providence Park so they werent always focused on the sparsely populated KeyBank Club seats. Maybe most of the Houston crowd is hiding on the camera side.
I think they were pretty evenly spaced. I guess the problem you see is that even though it was limited to the lower bowl's 7000 seats, when there are 4000 fans or less, you'll see around 3000 empty seats. So that's 43% empty. If they can draw in 5000+ for every game, it'll look much fuller.
There's another city/team that might be heavily in the discussion behind the scenes, and they aren't even really mentioned here. They could be an expansion team as soon as 2016 even.
What started out as a pet project seems to have become another opportunity for RSL's owner, Hansen. Hansen's done radio interviews and spoke about his daughters and granddaughters growing up playing soccer and tennis, and he wanted a way to help grow the women's game. He built a soccer training complex in Logan, UT, a while back to help the Cache Valley area teams. RSL Women (Salt Lake United) approached him and Bill Manning a couple seasons ago about sponsoring the team to help them out. It started out with RSL donating jerseys and equipment, but then Hansen became more involved and started paying for travel and other items. My cousin plays for the team (she had a contract to play for Boston Breakers last year, but a lingering knee injury from college kept her out for the season), and she said Hansen treated them like part of his family and acted like a grandfather figure. I don't remember if RSL assumed control and bought the team, but it was part of the plan. Speaking with my cousin last night, she said RSL has officially submitted a bid to join NWSL. The current team would be moved from their current league to NWSL. This move will also include a shakeup of the coaching staff. She said an announcement about the plans and changes is forthcoming, but didn't indicate when. She didn't say anything about the status of negotiations with NWSL. I haven't been able to find anything to back her claims, but she's a current player and does a lot with RSL, so I assume she knows what she's talking about. The stadium that is being built for RSL Monarchs would also serve as the home for RSL Women, but there are several good locations that could serve as an interim home if the stadium isn't complete by the time RSL joins NWSL (if it happens). University of Utah recently renovated their soccer stadium, so that is an option. RSL Women currently play at Jordan High School, and I assume they could remain there. BYU and U of U also have good facilities and aren't too far out of the way. It'll be interesting to see what happens. My big question will be attendance. Will adding RSL Monarchs and RSL Women over-saturate the market, or will there be enough of a demand to provide proper attendance for a NWSL game? I haven't been able to make it to any of the RSL Women games, but US Women's games have generally had good attendance in Utah, and BYU and Utah women's soccer games are attended well (I went to a BYU game two years ago that had 5k people in attendance). If it's marketed right and priced right, I think it'll do well, but it still seems like adding two more pro soccer teams in such a short amount time is a tall bill to fill.
Wow, to me that's two really good new news items today about the NWSL. Utah has been one of my preferred sites for a new NWSL team for some time because of the very good support in Utah for women's soccer. As a matter of interest, there's a good argument based on the numbers that Utah produces the greatest number of high level female soccer players, in proportion to youth population, of any state in the country.
it would be really nice for the NWSL if they can add three teams for 2016: Utah(Salt Lake City), Toronto & Los Angeles would be my 3 picks.
Serious question: I'm wondering how Toronto could be expected to be on the list of possibilities. From what I've read here on BS, they didn't bid to be a WWC site. That would seem to be a pretty big negative.
They didn't bid to be a venue because of the PanAm games happening in Toronto this year. It really has nothing to do with whether MLSE is interested in a NWSL team or not. Though, with Tim Leiweke leaving, it doesn't seem like launching a NWSL team is something they would be focusing on right now. We'll have to wait and see who his replacement is and whether his replacement has any interest in the NWSL.
How does expansion change things in year #4 in this league (2016)? -Expansion Draft will be held -Current teams will only be allowed a restricted # of players that they can protect from the Expansion Draft -With the possibility of "multiple" expansion teams entering, teams will be allowed less "protected players" than before -College Draft will still feature 4 rounds, but more picks per round = more rookies in the Ligg (dilution benefits them) -Rules will change or at least be slightly altered on the # of internationals allowed, discovery process, etc. -More internationals in the league, with Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Costa Rica, and even European players -The schedule changes. It's possible each team will only play each other team twice (Home and Home format). -There's the possibility that a Rivalry crossover will be instituted (i.e. you play against your two biggest Rivals 3 times, & everyone else twice). This protects the Portland vs. Seattle rivalry, and Portland vs. Houston MLS rivalry, etc. Not to mention, WNY vs. Sky Blue, Chicago vs. FCKC, etc. Just some possibilities after expansion is official. *Expansion benefits NCAA Women's Collegiate Soccer as well. More players can now realistically dream about playing in this Ligg.
Any idea of expansion for 2016 may have a lot to do with the upcoming season. A lot of it will hinge on things like the financial stability of the league and it's existing teams at seasons end. Can they show a healthy increase in attendance from the previous season especially with the situation with the WWC, due to the loss of key players participating with their National teams during that time. I would be curious how season ticket sales are going for all the teams so far? Hopefully, there are no significant drop-offs occurring? How would an early exit for the National Team effect the overall attendance? I think for more MLS teams to get involved, Houston is going to have to step up and really show they can build off of last season. An early indication might be their season ticket sales. Better then last season would be a good sign. Then there is the Olympics in 2016. How will that be handled, should this season not turnout all that well? These two years with the WWC and Olympics being back-to-back will put the new league to the test.
This is one thing I don't get. They said they couldn't expand this year because of the WWC. Yet somehow 2016 with the Olympics is supposed to be alright even though there will be a pretty similar situation with players missing a signification portion of the season?
RSL has reached an agreement to fund and build the 8,000 seat stadium for their USL Pro team, Monarchs. Hopefully this clears one more hurdle for landing a NWSL expansion team. http://fox13now.com/2015/01/26/deal...ium-for-real-monarchs-at-utah-state-fairpark/
Another possibility for expansion? Talking on #SoccerSaturday, @PeterWilt1 says new @IndyEleven stadium would allow for women’s soccer team to come to Indy in 2017. @NWSL— Matt Glenesk (@MattGlenesk) January 31, 2015
If he's tossing around "2017", I think that gives a fair amount of credence to the idea idea. Indy seems like an odd location to me, though, but Wilt is usually good about due diligence. Of the five soccer teams he's helped start/run, four are still active.
I think he said 2017 because that's when they're hoping to open the stadium. From http://wishtv.com/2015/01/28/plans-for-proposed-indy-eleven-stadium-unveiled/ It does look like they intend to have a smaller lower bowl, similar to Houston, which would lend itself well to a smaller capacity for NWSL games: