Ten Reasons Why I think San Diego is where FC Barcelona will place their Expansion Team. 1. San Diego is ranked as the 8th largest city in the US 2. Only one major sports franchise left in operation in San Diego, the San Diego Padres. 3. Place of first Barca Academy on the West Coast. 4. Already has a working relationship with the City of San Diego and School District. 5. Want be treading on any MLS's club's designs on having their own NWSL team. 6 Close to rich concentrated areas for youth soccer, So. Orange Co. & So. Riverside Co. 7. Take full advantage of the void the Chargers have left. 8 .While no current desires for MLS team now, leaves the door open should minds change. 9. Could be better location for expanding their Academies across into Mexico. 10. Prospects of building some of their fan base out of Mexico
I'm still not one to think Atlanta is likely, but there was an article about two months ago with some new tidbits and dates: https://www.soctakes.com/2017/04/09/atlantas-equivocal-status-indicative-improved-vetting-nasl/
I hope Atlanta is still a possibility. The WUSA & WPS Atlanta Brat drew well. I think another team in Atlanta would do just as well.
The WUSA Beat drew very well (comparatively). The WPS Beat - not so much. It all comes down to ownership and execution. If it's owned by the minor league/amateur outfit in Atlanta, you're probably looking at another Breakers or FCKC. If it's owned by Atlanta United and is able to leverage the fan base and supporters, you're possibly looking at something in the Dash/Pride/Courage mold - which given where most of the NWSL is, would be acceptable.
Looks like FC Barcelona's primary focus for an expansion team is California. https://www.angelsonparade.com/2017...resident-wants-nwsl-team-california-expansion
Never thought about them teaming up with a MLS team(San Jose). I still think they should look at San Diego. Let LAFC get their own team in 2019 & San Jose their own team in 2020.
Nothing new, just more or less why the league should be pushing for an Atlanta team ASAP while Atlanta United is hot. https://www.soccerroundtable.net/single-post/2017/09/09/Possible-NWSL-Expansion-Cities
Didn't read. Where would they play? Atlanta's training facility? KSU? It probably costs 100-200k just to turn the lights on and staff the Mercedes-Benz.
To be fair, if a women's team gets even 10% the support the men's team does and GA tickets are $20, that would cover it easily enough. And I was under the impression that MBS tickets would likely be more expensive than that, plus women's teams in the US generally do better than 10% of their respective men's team. I do kinda think that striking while the iron is hot would be a great idea at the moment, considering just how much that market has suddenly popped. Granted, you have to wonder if ATLUTD's support will be constant or is just a bubble, but it's still impressive enough to deserve some serious discussion. That said, options 2-4 on that list read more like a wishlist than anything based on real grains of interest. Nor do they discuss anything (outside of Atlanta) that has seen previous hints of expansion. Finally, they give "Saint lours" as an honorable mention, which pisses me off more than a little bit.
Yeah, I don't buy it. I'm pretty sure the bargain basement break-even for the Revs at Robert Kraft owned Gillette Stadium is in the neighborhood of 12-15k And if any women's team other than Portland charged $20 for GA, they'd be lucky to get four figures attendance at this point.
...preeeetttyyy sure that at least half of all NWSL teams currently have $20 GA for single-game tickets. Season tickets are cheaper, of course, but that's balanced by non-GA tickets being more expensive. Also, that's the Revs in an old stadium. IIRC teams like Chicago and Houston have much lower break-even attendance figures.
Compared to most of the other stadiums in MLS, yes. Admittedly, maybe a poor measuring stick, but it's still a bad venue in multiple ways for MLS.
As I mentioned in another thread, I doubt the league will expand the number of teams this year but I do think a team may get relocated. I think they will try to prop up the existing franchises first.
Definitely agree that expansion looks very unlikely, considering a lack of visible interest (outside FC Barcelona) and a lack of commissioner to oversee it properly. But a relocation? Not so sure. Just a feeling on my part, though - I certainly didn't see WNY->NC coming at all.
Actually it's a great venue for MLS. It is a very modern stadium, and Seattle and Atlanta have shown that MLS can succeed in NFL stadiums. If Seattle or Atlanta had been 1996 teams and the Revs were a recent expansion system, we might very well be looking at 15-20k in Seattle or Atlanta thinking that there's something wrong with the franchise while New England is crushing it. The Revs routinely had very large crowds for really crappy teams back in the first couple of years. The biggest problem with Gillette is 20 years of operational neglect and missteps combined with an empty trophy cabinet.
Expansion seems more likely for 2018 than 2019 as it's a World Cup year. The schedule in 2019 will be altered with a large break in June. Same in 2020 for the Olympics(July 22 - Aug 8). Just think it's easier for an expansion team to start in 2018 than in 2019/2020.
Disagree on three fronts. 1) It's easier for a new team to launch with a big event to propel it forward. 2) It's probably better for the league to have "stabilization years" between the big events instead of being in flux every single year. 3) Even without comparing it to other years, expansion for 2018 seems very unlikely at the moment since there hasn't been any real expansion news or even rumors at all in a long time aside from FCB (which I still think is a longshot).
I hope so. I definitely seems like the Barcelona group is ready, just a matter of where they'll play. San Diego seems best. I hope the Atlanta group comes through by 2019. Then LA & others can follow.
I'd actually prefer and it's likely doubtful. 2018: San Diego(Barcelona) & Atlanta. 2020: Los Angeles & either San Jose or Salt Lake City.
2001 - 11,092 in a league that averaged 8,103 2002 - 6,784 in a league that averaged 6,969 2003 - 6,958 in a league that averaged 6,667 2010 - 3,690 in a league that averaged 3,588 2011 - 4,840 in a league that averaged 3,518