I think you forgot to include a link: http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/201...ew-york-cosmos-minnesota-united-bill-peterson
Not a lot of lead time to set up a team for 2016. Unless they are planning on poaching teams from USL, and I do not see that happening.
Not surprising. LA was a bad idea from the start and would just be a money sink for any investors. If they are going to do SoCal they need to find a niche not being served currently. LA is taken. OC is an outside possibility. San Diego and the Inland Empire are where they should be focused.
LA is a big market, you could probably find a place to put a team and have it draw 5-10k like most NASL teams.
Courtesy of this SI article - http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/201...ew-york-cosmos-minnesota-united-bill-peterson “We’ll have more teams playing next year than we do this year,” promised Peterson, who confirmed that negotiations have concluded unsuccessfully with a group hoping to bring an NASL team to Los Angeles.
Article mentions in the next paragraph that they are looking in Southern California as whole now. So...Maybe?
The LA/OC Blues too. Hey, the LA area is a massive market! So many soccer fans here; we can easily draw fans and be successful! Then watch as they draw hundreds the past four years and bleed money. LA is a tough market so I am not surprised at all it fell through. If there was anything there to begin with. It wil be interesting to see how LAFC does over the next few years. Done right, a second MLS team could be very successful. We have already seen it done wrong. The David Downs mantra is the one the NASL must follow. Go to markets that MLS is nowhere near and not serving. Eventually MLS might see 25, 28 or 30 plus franchises, but there are still plenty of smaller second or third tier markets. Of course that means you have to give up your fantasy of competing with MLS or ever pretending you are just as good. But that fantasy would only have brought ruin and being practical is the only way to survive.
The issue with being in a big market as a minor league team is you have to look major league. Sharp marketing, good stadium. Cosmos have the former but not the latter. This is why I've said repeatedly that if they are to go into Southern California, it has to be the right position and the right stadium. You can't just follow the Downs mantra. Markets MLS isn't serving? Like the Twin Cities and Atlanta? Like Indianapolis or San Antonio? How about Sacramento or Austin or Oklahoma City or Tulsa or Las Vegas or any number of places in the >750k bracket that are either looking to get into MLS, are in another league and looking to move or have been nabbed (or will be nabbed) by the cheaper and less regulated USL? Wouldn't Jacksonville have met Downs' criteria? Wouldn't Hartford? A classic tripod can stand anywhere. One plan doesn't cut it, they need three. Second tier, 750k to 1.5m, "used to AAA" markets are one thing but there needs to be other types of markets to sustain this league, especially when their best markets are leaving or being expanded into, following the path trod by the Canadian cities and the Pacific Northwest from D2 to MLS. The others options have to be looking at niches within big markets and/or where the on-the-ground realities don't tally with the orthodoxy of MSAs, μSAs, CSAs, TV markets and any other metric they come up with. If that means trying to play in Pomona, CA or Evanston, IL or San Francisco then that's what needs to be done. If it's decided that a CSA better represents how a market works than the two neighbouring MSAs they are currently designated as, they need to go for it if they have ownership ready to put money in.
Saw these posted to Reddit a while back. It's a neat idea, but I'm not sure who it's designed to appeal to, or what it's supposed to reflect. For starters, the crest is more of the NBA 70s-80s throwback style than what's popular in US soccer right now, and it's using an Adidas/MLS template rather than NASL (who actually own the trademarks). And beyond the second option, they're all pretty uninspired.
Well Thanksgiving was going on, this article came out: http://www.soccernation.com/la-wolv...-possibly-becoming-professional-club-one-day/
The Wolves are led by a former San Diego Flash investor - Yan Skwara, who I believe was guilty of securities fraud several years ago.
We see a lot of these types interested in the game here now. In one way it is great because people like this don't do anything unless they clearly see that a buck can be made someway, somehow. Of course the downsides of why they are involved, and what their main motive and commitment is remaons to be seen.
Noticed there wasn't a thread for this yet. Anything new on the NASL to Orange County Rumors? So far the rumor is Musician Sting is involved and there were rumblings of Everton but I feel the toffees would be looking at San Diego given their ties to the area. Other rumors were that they are looking to play at Cal State Fullerton with a hope to eventually move to Downtown Santa Ana.
Came across these pieces on the same website that had the wolves story: http://www.soccernation.com/san-diego-will-be-a-lot-less-flashy-in-2016/ http://www.soccernation.com/north-county-battalion-enlist-unlikely-reinforcements/ Seems like the Flash folded and were absorbed(??) by another NPSL team. Not sure what to make of the apparent links to the old Padres owner who bought into Everton. I'll believe when I see shovels in the ground and scarves being hoisted.
Peter Wilt says NASL in Orange County 2018 is 99% happening. Wynalda likely coach. Will play at Cal State Fullerton. Discussing renovating Santa Ana Stadium which would cost $5million. City Politics also presents issues. I failed to get info on ownership group.
Is he actually going to coach (as in, give up his Fox Sports job), or is he going to be literally phoning it in again like he did at Atlanta?
Where'd you get your info? Not that I doubt any of it since everything about this NASL to SoCal thing has been in whispers and rumors. I mean the location at Cal State Fullerton makes sense, as much as putting yet another team in the LA area makes any sense. The 2 MLS teams and LAG2 are up closer to LA proper in LA County. The USL's OCFC were at UC Irvine and appear to be poised to stay near there with their new location at the old MCAS El Toro. Which would put the NASL team between 25 and 35 miles away from any competition. Santa Ana Stadium, if that ever happens, is a little closer to the competition however. Did Wilt say anything about either of the two San Diego based groups? After all, OC without more west coast teams makes about as much sense as SF does this year.