Watching the Ron Newman Cup Press Conference, the Commissioner Josh Schaub announced that 4 expansion teams have put a bid in to the MASL for next season. Any predictions, on cities? Also he did mention a national TV deal. Any prediction which network?
Completely a guess on my behalf, but I could see the Colorado Blizzard (Denver) of M2 coming up into the MASL next year.
Expansion Bids Toronto (I have a suspicion they would be counted for that) Rochester Atlanta Phoenix, AZ Network ESPN
I also would love to see Cleveland (Force) back in indoor soccer. Also I would like to see the Wichita (Wings) back too. I want to see the MASL move into new markets which never had professional indoor soccer before like Bakersfield, California and Boise, Idaho. Teams that I would like to return to the MASL Dallas Sidekicks and Rochester Lancers.
The cities listed are good guesses. There was talk of a possible Georgia team a while ago that never went anywhere. Soccer Sam tried to restart the Lancers before this season but failed to find a workable arena with available weekend game dates. Of course Toronto is already slated to begin play at some point soon. As for the network, I heard a rumor it might be BEIN sports . The thing about the sport is if you don't like the rumors today, wait 15 minutes and it will change. It's a long way from applying to the league to actually fielding a team. I welcome new teams with well funded owners . I hope at least a couple teams start playing next season.
Toronto is not a part of the 4 bids for a team. Since they already have been approved. Florida , Rochester . Dallas, I am not buying the line of a national TV deal has been agreed to because nothing was signed yet.
I really hope it isn't BEIN Sports. The MASL gets more viewership on MASL TV on YouTube then they would ever get on BEIN Sports. I hope it's ESPN or FOX Sports.
Rochester Atlanta Orlando Dallas Stadium Sports Network...new over-the-air network from Sinclair Broadcasting that launched a few months ago. They've got a few mid major college sports conferences and things like Pro Ultimate. Lots of MASL markets.
...Though BeIN would make some sense, now having a vacuum of American soccer coverage with the NASL gone. They need some live content in the late afternoons and evenings now.
If your picks are true, what a shame. Rochester and Dallas would just be re-joining the league (example Monterrey and Rio Grande Valley). Orlando, if the rumors are true. Cedar Rapid Rampage will be moving there so not a expansion team. So only one team that would be true expansion team, Atlanta. And if it is the same owner that try to put that Georgia Attack team in last year. Well we will just have to wait and see what happens with that.
I think this is a whole new group with potentially a new name and logo here in Dallas. Not sure the guys from before will relinquish the brand to anyone else.
These sort of situations annoy me greatly. The current owners of the brand were pulling in like under 2k average attendance. What worth did they bring to the brand? They think they're sitting on some sort of massive asset. Holding out for some big figure makes little sense.
For teams, I would predict: Rochester - Soccer Sam has been talking about this for a while and will hopefully pull it off this year. Bakersfield - There's a Facebook page called "Bakersfield Pro Soccer" that claims a team is coming there in 2018. Dallas - Rumors have been floating around about their return since they didn't come back for this season. Georgia - There was supposedly a team being put together there a few years back but I haven't heard anything since. Obviously, these are just predictions and we won't know for certain until teams are actually on the field. For TV, I have no idea but BEIN Sports sounds reasonable.
Wouldn't mind having the Mustangs back especially if Cedar Rapids is gone from the division. The Wave and Mustangs have had some pretty great games. I thought i saw somewhere that the Georgia team bought the Waves old carpet. Hopefully we can expand this league and not loose any teams on the way unless they need to be let go.
I hope no one uses the Sidekicks game unless it's a properly funded venture in a suitable facility. One rumor I heard involved a beat to hell rodeo arena. A "Sidekicks" team would be DOA in a venue like that.
Here's your first one: Orlando http://www.maslsoccer.com/news/orlando-awarded-major-arena-soccer-league-franchis
Looks like Orlando will get a new team. Doesn't say that Cedar Rapids is relocating, but the same owner as the Rampage, Chris Kokalis, will serve as general manger of the Orlando team. http://www.maslsoccer.com/news/orlando-awarded-major-arena-soccer-league-franchis
I have been to that arena in Kissimmee for Hockey. It is a horse show arena. Most of the seats will be back from the field like in Harrisburg.
Lakeland and Orlando are about 56 miles apart, making them very close rivals. Even closer than Baltimore is to Harrisburg (79 miles).