http://wrongsideofthepond.com/2014/09/26/exclusive-dayton-dutch-lions-moving-to-cincinnati/ Cincinnati vs Louisville?
I honestly hope they have some money to do some major-league promoting in Cincinnati. Or maybe get an investor there.
In Vancouver they have put together a similar plan where they have investors and partnership with the city of New Westmisnter for their USLPro side. So that could be a real possible model. Taking a AAA baseball type model where the big league club runs the on field operation's and player movements. While the city and Local investors market and profit from a great product in many cases. Seems to be a perfect median between the affilated clubs with no interest in the big league club and the team owned clubs in LA, NY, and Montreal who just place a reserve team in the league and play on a practice field
Ha yes it is. I just looked it up. I did not realize it was voted down officially by the council. At the time there was a lot of support but ultimately again politics played its role. According to the club it was one of a few sites and cities within the extended Vancouver area that they were in talks with. So while that site may be out another may come to place. NOW RSL on the other hand will have their own USLPro club playing in Rio Tinto for 2015 with a new stadium built on the fairgrounds with possible NWSL club playing their and being part of RSL organization. Article on Vavel.com dated 09/10/2014. Remeber also that TFC put in an official bid to use THF in Hamilton to fund a USLPro club with Toronto Lynx. The City of Hamilton rejected the official request do to the contract that the CFL Ticats owner Bob Young had it in writing first dibs on a pro soccer franchise to play out of THF with a specific time frame put on it. For Vancouver Whitecaps and an already popular Victoria PDL club is a main rival of the WC's U23. So whether the Highlanders and Cap's could come to an agreement to partner for a USLPro club would make sense location wise but unlikely do to the rivalry. Victoria would fit nicely in a western regional division with already in place and future clubs with in the west also looking into it.
Could be a lot of reshuffling of affiliates as well as the way they will be doing business with their MLS affiliation. All three Canadian teams have pulled and formed their own teams. Vancouver will just be WC2 for now but still are looking for a hybrid ownership in a nearby suburban of Vancouver. Coumbus would be a better match with Pitt for distance. Pitt did have some financial problems and have gotten a richer majority owner. Who could run and promote the Pitt club while Coumbus could not only loan roster players but also add coaches and players that they have drafted and finance some of that in coordination with the PITT owner. The model that Vancouver almost had in place with New Westminster. I dont see Philly, DCU, or NE Revs stop their affiliation's and start their own club. Rather rework the model to even more control the players and staff with the clubs. Right now Dallas has no affiliate and Tulsa has no players, so their could be an agremeent worked out since the Tulsa club has the same owners and stadium as the minor league baseball Drillers who already have that type of agreement with the MLB affilate Dodgers. JMO so we will see how it plays out
Columbus just affiliated with Austin, and distance is not the determining factor. If the Dodgers and FC Dallas had shared ownership, you might have something there. But they don't. That's where your scenario falls apart. Dallas is rumored to be affiliating with Arizona.
Rumors of Dayton pulling a Charlotte- shutting down their USL PRO team in favor of the PDL- http://wrongsideofthepond.com/2014/12/01/dayton-dutch-lions-shuttering-usl-pro-franchise/
Author here: there's something called confidentiality that I'm neither obligated to break or required to name. I don't get many scoops, and I'm not about to burn bridges for the ones that I do. Trust me when I say that the sources are well equipped to comment on the situation.
I would assume...the same sources are also NOT supposed to say much about the situation anyways. Snitches get stitches.
With the Crew not renewing their affiliation and the change in what the USLPro has become, Dayton just may not have the ownership or model to succeed as a USLPro club. Columbus is affiliating with Austin for now. In the future partnering with a closer franchise with the Crew having a more interactive role with their affiliate would seem to be the direction of where things are going. A USLPro club playing out of a stadium specifically made for HS football may not be what USLPro clubs will be holding as a standard now. The Aztec are playing at a Texas HS football stadium with no track may better be suited for a USLPro club. Once all the Affiliations are all ironed out over the next few season's could be a better chance that Aztec's with the right affiliate and model could also have a better chance of building a smaller SSS.
I wonder how exactly losing the Crew affiliation broke their back? Do MLS teams pay a certain percentage of the op cost of USL Pro teams they affiliate? I thought they just provided free players. No?
I don't think any of this had to do with the Crew. It seems it was just not being run like a pro soccer team.
I may not have made this clear enough in the article, but that was a speculative comment on my end. From what I was able to ascertain from the sources I spoke with, the move to Cincinnati was a carrot DDLFC were dangling in order to persuade Columbus to renew the partnership for 2015. When the Crew didn't bite, that meant the move was off. And with Dayton not providing adequate revenue streams to support the USL PRO model, that likely lead to the conclusion that they couldn't field a team in that league any longer. All that said, it's still entirely possible -- though unlikely -- that Dayton find a new revenue stream and they field a USL PRO team after all. But from the various sources I've spoken with, the grave is already dug.
While that is entirely accurate, years of sports journalism proves that sources leak things out all the time. And nationally recognized and respected media members like Brian Straus, Steve Goff, Grant Wahl, Taylor Twellman, etc. use confidential sources all the time. It's just a part of the business.
I do understand this. Do two wrongs make a right? Shouldn't we try to be "entirely accurate" when we are journalists...especially in a world where the media gets such a bad image?
I had season tickets for 3 years. The first year in the PDL was great, atmosphere was fun and exciting, but I think that is expected for a first year team. The 2nd year (first in USL-Pro) was just too much of a step up too soon and attendance seemed to dwindle, going to games was not fun anymore. Out of habit I bought tickets for a third year but only went to one or two games, they also changed high school venues. I also became fed up with all the talk of a move to West Carrollton, having games there, etc that never seemed to go beyond talk. I know they set up a lot of things with the youth academy/teams there but nothing happened from the pro side. A move to Cincinnati would make sense and set up a great rivalry with Louisville but I'm still reluctant if that would be enough to help DDL. I think they've dug themselves into a hole with the Dutch branding, although I understand because the owners are Dutch. Would it work in Europe? Probably, but I don't think casual or new soccer fans understand the origins of the Dutch style of play and philosophy and are a little confused as to how it all ties in with the city of Dayton.
I absolutely agree that we as journalists should try to be as accurate as possible. And it's for that reason that I always try my best to nail down multiple, unrelated sources before dropping any potentially sensitive news. But that still doesn't mean that I or any other journalists should be obliged to name them.
Be as accurate as possible? How accurate was your first piece about DDL? Not very... What about this one? I know MANY holes in it. So...where's this accuracy? Maybe your sources are off and you need new ones? Maybe one shouldn't write about things that one doesn't have full information on?