Future of soccer in FL and MLS

First of all, I'll say I'm not from Florida. However, I think the comment that Garber made about Miami not having enough fans show that they wanted a team is crap. This never came up for what, 4 months? All of a sudden, the ownership group pulls out and it's the fans' fault. I just don't buy it. It sounds to me like Garber and the MLS doesn't want to admit that Barcelona didn't think that an MLS team was a good investment, so let's blame the fans.

I think that Florida will eventually see an MLS team, but probably not very soon. There seems to be more and more sentiment to push back future expansions, especially with the current economy. When expansion does come again, it will be even more competitive. I'm from the St. Louis area and we may well be in the same boat, if we don't get picked this time around.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

 

I think MLS will return to Florida in the future, probably to Miami first. Based on where I think the league will top out(24-26 teams) there may only be room for one other Florida based team, and Tampa and Orlando seem to be the most logical choices.

Until then, hopefully we'll have a strong presence in USL. Hopefully Traffic decides Miami FC is a worthwhile venture and keeps the team going. They may not have hit their 5,000 season ticket goal, but the number they did get is somewhere in the area of 10 times what they had last year in terms of season tickets, and that's something to build on for sure. The longer they stick around and embed themselves in the community the more support they will get.

 

FYI: 5,000 is a huge season ticket base, what kind of walk-up are they expecting, none? i mean 5,000 is capacity isn't it

 

Depends on the venue. MFC is looking at Tropical Park(7,000) and/or Ted Hendricks Stadium(5,221) in Miami and also playing some games at Lockhart Stadium(20,450) in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

WOW..I have a very busy schedule so correct me if am wrong. I love my soccer and I was crazy to have MLS back since I moved to Fl from Chicago. I DO NOT recall seen any advertisement in Miami any TV spots newspapers adv. about the MLS coming to FL to gather interest. You can't expect a buzz in the community if we don't know a website is not enough.

 

You sir apparently have more business sense than FC Barcelona, Marcelo Claure, and also Traffic Sports. If only you were a billionaire investor we might have a team.

 

That's pretty much what amazed me about the entire Miami thing. My uncle in Miami Beach, a retired guy who basically does nothing but watch sports and call into radio shows, kept emailing me to ask me if there was really a Miami team in the works- he'd seen and heard nothing. My issues with Barca's supposed "vast soccer knowledge" aside, it amazes me they couldn't drum up any kind of interest down there. I know there have been 850 discussions on BS about whether Miami is or is not a bad sports but rightly or wrongly this is why those ideas persist. I can't blame the fans totally however.

As a New England fan, it amazes me how Bob Kraft took a terrible NFL team that couldn't give tickets away into a sports powerhouse but lacks the ability (or the will) to do the same for the Revs. I am equally stunned that Traffic, who rolled into USL touting their South American soccer bonafides (Copa Libertadores), cannot seem to be bothered to try to make Miami FC into something. I am stunned the mighty FCB got cold feet when they heard Beckham might not show up and got back on the Iberia Air jet faster than you can say "Mes que un club." I feel bad for Claure but he should have known all along FCB's interests were dubious.

 

I agree with you 100%.

 

Traffic Sports reminds me of Ned Flanders' Beatnick mother from The Simpsons: "We've tried nothin' and we're all out of ideas."

I don't think pro soccer is a hard sell in Florida. Growing up with the Rowdies in the 1970s it was an easy sell, and that was in a market that knew zero about soccer and where youth soccer was just getting started. I think what is hard is getting ownership groups who are serious about marketing their teams properly and who have the long term commitment to stick with it. Imagine if we had a billionaire owner like Lamar Hunt or Phil Anschutz, who wanted to see soccer succeed in Florida? Does anyone really think that, for example, Kansas City would still be in MLS, if it wasn't for Lamar Hunt? Blaming the fans is the easy thing to do (and of course, its all the haters want to do) but it's entirely comparable to a badly run corporation blaming its own customers when it goes out of business. If you are blaming your customers, then you're the one who failed, not your customers. MLS blaming fans in Florida for its own incompetence is unacceptable.

In hindsight it was probably a good thing this deal fell through; if FC Barcelona thought that all they had to do was set up shop in Miami and that the fans and money would start pouring in, then they are no better than Traffic Sports. We don't need any more of this type of owner in Florida; we need people committed to the long haul, we need deep pocketed ownership who have patience and a reasonable long term strategy for success.

IMO the jury is still out on Marcelo Claure; it may be that he had the best of intentions but was simply blindsided by FC Barcelona's sudden case of cold feet. He wanted to put together the perfect deal, and including FC Barcelona looked like it would be a perfect deal. Now he knows better. What does he do? He can still save Miami FC if he wanted to; given his experience working with FC Barcelona, though, I can understand him if he is wary of working with Traffic Sports. If he does nothing then it's "seeya" and everyone can try to forget him like they try to forget Horowitz. If he makes a long term commitment to pro soccer in Miami, however, he moves up a lot in my estimation. It's all very well and good to say "no more sugar daddies" but the naked truth is that nothing is happening with pro soccer in Florida (or anywhere else in the USA) without the big money investors. We have to have the deep pocketed, long term investors to make MLS, or USL for that matter, a reality in Florida.

 

I think for a successful team in Miami, you have to advertise the team, advertise the important games like the clasico's (say against rochester [Miami vs NY rivalry], or against the champs Impact) and also advertise US open cup games especially against MLS sides (these games should bring in big crowds because these are the games that can be upsets, and bring out the pride in you b/c your team beat a supposed superior team from MLS). We need like a radio commercial from 790ticket and 560WQAM. A good time to tune in to 560 is 2-4pm with Orlando Alzugaray, he is always open to soccer, we have to find a way to try to bring some of the USL games on tv, maybe atleast the U.S. Open cup games against MLS sides, the game last year against FC dallas was good we lost by one goal, or i think a penalty dont remember, but yea we have to help our Miami FC if they plan to stay, - I say we make a website that talks about Miami FC and thier opponents, news, thier league, and events... get some sponsors as well, I mean on the spanish channels when they would show the Islanders play, in the CCL, they would talk about Miami FC, but not in the way I would like (they were talking about MFC possible folding). And with the success USL is having in the CCL, we have to feed off that and show the people in Miami that we can make it that far, hopefully that success can bring more credibilty to the USL, and Marcos can win the petition to get USL a direct spot to the CCL through the Champion of the USL, If Miami can win they can play in that tourney, beat some mexican sides, make it far in the tourny and Miami will start to gain respect for thier team.

 

A conspiracy against Miami

There is nothing left for Florida.
http://football-miami-n-beyond.blogspot.com/2009/03/mls-is-evil-conspiracy-against-miami-by.html

For those that remember Burrito.

 

Good post overall, but, the line is no more sugar daddies that come here with visions of massive income and profits and other sugar plums dancing through their head. The requirement for an owner(s) with deep pockets is universally recognized. The reason that they are needed isn't. Consequently, not only must this owner, or owners, have deep pockets but the willingness to reach into them early and often to start the team, plus the commitment to do so for an extended period of time to keep it alive. This could take a decade or 2. Damn few folks have the $$$ or the commitment to do this.

I thought that Claure was that guy, and he may yet be the one, but, I think a lot stronger local commitment is needed that what he has shown.

 

They said they were shooting for Tropical Park and Lockhart this year, so that would be 2k and 15k respectively. I think thats fine. The problem isn't not having enough walk up seats in Miami.

As for 5k being a bit much. Only 3 teams average more than 5k, with Vancouver doing 5k but being at capacity so I'm sure they could sell more.

The only team with 5k season ticket holders is Montreal who average 13k a game. They are up to 7/8k season ticket holders for next season though.

So I guess 5k is lofty and pressing but not completely impossible. I mean Miami is like twice the size of Montreal. Granted the lack of advertisement makes it really tough.

 

That may be your line, but I've seen plenty of people who simply say "no more sugar daddies" without any qualifications, as though it were up to the fans themselves to make things happen. That's what I disagree with. Fans can do a lot but there are limits.

 

It's entirely possible, someday, but certainly not after just 3 seasons and certainly not in 2 weeks. Sheer numbers dictate that even USL ought to be able to draw decent crowds of 4,000-10,000 in South Florida. There are waaaaaaay to many soccer nuts here to have another team(or any team for that matter) fail. With just a few more seasons of decent play(or any play) and a bombardment of advertisements and marketing, and Miami could easily become one of the strongest towns in USL in my opinion.

 

I am not from Miami but I have been to Miami numerous times. I feel that soccer can succeed in South Florida just for the fact that Miami has some many people from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Equador, Bolivia, and the carribbean.

Besides marketing and advertising I believe that the immigrant community still has "ties" to the clubs of their homeland. This right here is consquence of a lack of interest. I get the notion that if Boca, River, or Deportivo Cali are not playing then they wont go. The immigrant community is so used to seeing quality soccer from their homeland that they "snob" any club that comes to Miami.

Also, how far is the stadium in Miami from immigrant communities? This might also be a factor. Here in Phoenix we have a huge Mexican population but everytime we have an exhibition match involving a FMF team nobody shows up. The complaints that I have heard from the Mexicans here is that U of Phoenix Stadium is too far away, $26 for a game involving "Chivas B team"" is not worth the trip, or in the case of 2007, rumors of immigration doing deportation blitz at U of Phoenix Stadium.

 

the only factor i could say was the lack of advertisement. I mean there was not even one tv ad saying anthing about the possibility of Miami having an MLS team by 2010-2011 ok. There were no billboards saying anything about it. Unless you were on the internet then you wouldn't know anything about BarcaMiamiMLS010. So to say that there no fan interest seems kinda bull to me.

 

If there's a stadium anywhere in South Florida, it's in an immigrant community lol. The problem is quality of venue and marketing, not location for Miami FC. At FIU stadium, about 8 miles west of downtown Miami, I'm sure MLS would have done fine.

The ties to teams from people's homelands is something that has hurt attendances, but again, with proper marketing, you could get a lot of those people out because they no doubt love soccer, and they can't go to Buenos Aires or Mexico City every weekend.

 

Great post. Florida has gotten a bad reputation as a soccer death zone. Like you said, soccer did very well in Florida during the NASL days. Even in the late 80s with the low-budget ASL/APSL, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale led the league in attendance (5,000 and 3,500 respectively). Interestingly, the Miami teams in the ASL/APSL never did well.

I believe Miami's biggest problem beyond ownership is an adequate venue. People don't show up just for the soccer, the atmosphere/amenities at the stadium are equally if not more important than what is happening on the field. That's why I'd move Miami FC to Ft. Lauderdale and let them play at Lockhart. Regardless, even if Miami FC goes under... with a USL1 club in Tampa and if one pops up in Orlando, I think Ft. Lauderdale will return. Bring back the Strikers!!!

 

I would love for Miami and Phoenix to have teams. I just think that the homeland syndrome and marketing are hurting both of us. Today, there is going to be a game between the Chicago Fire and La Galaxy here in Tempe at Sun Devil Stadium. The marketing was very poor for this event. If it werent for bigsoccer.com I would have never heard about this game. What is worst is that the promoters are charging $40 per person. Way out of the price range of most people like me who is struggling with the economy and other priorities.

 

Let the above comment sink in: sending emails is never "a waste of time". It may not change minds about decisions already made, but it does have an impact at some level.

The real problem here, however, is not the fans in Miami in spite of what the haters say, but the owners or potential owners. Really apart from a press conference and a website, what did Claure and FCB really do to promote their MLS bid in Miami? The vast majority of soccer fans in Miami still don't know about the MLS bid for Miami, or about Miami FC for that matter. The recent successful new MLS teams, Seattle and Toronto, both had ownership groups who made a serious effort to go out there and find their fans and sign up sponsors and the like. Claure and FCB (and Traffic Sports for that matter) act like they expect the fans and sponsors to come to them.