Says the guy who said someone could buy the 'Backs because they'd already have all those people working for them and all those contracts that would instantly go with them to the new city and it would save them time and money.
I'm sure its been mentioned over and over but I really don't have time to sift through the threads. Excuse me for asking the question: Will the new MLS Atlanta club buy the Silverbacks Park?
I personally have not heard that they would. Maybe for practice fields or something, but they are going to play in the new NFL stadium in down town Atalanta.
No, If I remember correctly the NASL got snookered by the previous Silverback owners who brought the team AND the stadium then turned around and said they have no interest in running the team forcing the league to take over.
No, Mr Blank has found suckers in Cobb County that will pay for his team headquarters and practice facility. Originally is was going to be in DeKalb County right down the road from the old HS stadium the Back's played in before SB Park. As a Dekalb resident I was amazed how fast that deal got railroaded through the county government. It fell apart due to the costs of site prep being twice the estimate. I think the county leaders and the team walked away after all the negative press. Not correct. Silverbacks Park was built by the original owner of the team, Boris. During the economic downturn he folded the team, but retained the park. When NASL came into existence He can back as a minority owner under Traffic. I think the league was really desperate for teams after the USL split. The park has made money and most likely continue with out the pro team. With amateur leagues, High school games, and even rugby the park is pretty busy. There was even a rumor the park lost money during the pro events. Could have been true. They had to add a ton of staff and could not rent out on Saturdays for the season.
So It seems that the NASL had made a bad choice in going to ATL from the beginning. I feel bad for the fans that had to follow a lame duck franchise for so long. People invested time, emotion and money into that club and they got very little in return.
I don't think it was a bad choice on NASL. They needed teams. ATL still had some team structure in place, there was still a small fan base to build off. There was a facility in place. They had a new ownership group in Traffic ( that in hind site might have been the bad choice). If MLS had not come into the market the team most likely would have continued. As far as the fans, we had fun going to those games. What more return can you get as a fan? As for the 'lame duck', most of us longtime fans pretty much new the situation when the team came back. Every spring I would look at my friends and say, "I guess we have something to do for another season." Every year we wondered if this is the last. We kept coming back because we enjoyed going to games. We made friends with other fans, players, coaches, and staff. That doesn't happen in MLS.
You realize the Legion is only in its 3rd year, right? Sounds a bit harsh. The site in Dekalb was found to contain a landfill (C&D type, IIRC) that was the source of increased prep costs. Depending on the rumor you follow the local govt. rushed the process to cover up that fact or was simply negligent in not realizing it was there. As to Cobb, that whole Franklin Road area is part of a special district that the County has been anxious to see redeveloped. It was basically 1,000+ apartments from the late 70's/early 80's that had grown old and degraded, becoming one of the County's poorest and most crime ridden areas. The special tax and development district to spearhead change was officially kicked into high gear when the Braves moved in just south. Which is all to say, Cobb didn't bend over backward to lure AtlUtd, they simply had an area already offering incentives for new development. I wouldn't say that. Atlanta has for the most part been involved in pro soccer since the 80's and is clearly a large market with great potential. Without a clear indication of MLS coming soon the area certainly seemed promising to NASL. I think it merely fell between the cracks as an effort that wasn't big enough to endear more local support. For as well as the franchise was run it's not like they broke their banks trying to win fans over, either. at the least, plenty of NASL franchises have an air of greater promise than the 'Backs have often shown.
If this team starts a USL team and plays at their training facility are you more likely to attend those games since it won't be downtown and will likely provide a more cost effective option for you?
We used to get free beer. I know TL just started, but most of the TL members have been in ATL for longer than that. Kind of got the feeling second division was beneath them. You know the 'I only watch Prem League' crowd. Same guys that would sit home on Sat night bantering on Big Soccer about 'I wish we had a team' when there was a Silverback's game live in their town.
One caveat: they knew the DeKalb facility was a landfill beforehand and estimated clean up costs to be around $6 million. Once the contamination studies were complete they realized it would be in excess of $20 million to clean up. I'd agree Cobb didn't bend over backward. If they had then they probably would have been picked over DeKalb to start with. That area of Marietta needs this development. Between that and the new Braves multi purpose complex that should hopefully revive that area. Just read the google reviews of apartment complexes in that area to get an idea. As far as training for the youth teams, hope the parents have fun getting to training every day! Absolute nightmare. Silverbacks Park makes a LOT of $ for Boris. It is busy 7 days a week. And yes, the stadium actually lost money hosting pro games due to a variety of costs. Boris bled millions for Atlanta soccer fans to have the Silverbacks while we did. The season Boris had semi ownership of the team with other investors, he actually charged the pro team to rent the stadium out for games. Essentially partially charging himself. Brilliant. Thanks for believing everything you read on the internet. I have some beach front property in Kansas for sale, you in? I'll stick with what my own eyes see in the stadium though and what a friend that worked for the team knows. No where close to 3800 for the final game, unfortunately. Would have been nice to see a sell out for that match since it was the final game. From the second Atlanta was awarded an MLS franchise, an NASL franchise was never going to survive. Hypothetically it could if properly run as there are plenty of fans like @RutgerATL that either don't have the $ or just don't want to spend the exorbitant amount that MLS charges for their product. Even if you have enough of those fans that would support a cheaper product at a lower division, no multi millionaire is going to invest in such a risky endeavor unless they just love soccer so much they don't care about pissing money away. It's just a risky and poor investment. Long term hopefully AUFC will create a locally based USL Pro team that the cheaper fan get behind.
The problem is whether or not that business model will truly fly, which is why lower league soccer struggles in the US. (And why soccer in general struggled in the past here.) What would we expect as a gate from a 5k crowd in the lower leagues? Maybe $100k, putting the team revenues at somewhere around $2M for the season? Is that enough to fund a roster, front office staff, field operations & maintenance, etc? I don't know, but I could see where it wouldn't endow for great players because the money may not even pay enough to warrant exclusive full-time employment. Now consider that many markets don't draw 5k, or where the take isn't as strong on a per-guest rate. Put simply, lower tier soccer in the States remains something dependent on an investor willing to write off excess funds out of charity or a real long view. As such, I don't disparage any owner for balking at the prospect. This is also why I think the current USL model will prove more favorable than the NASL option, by leveraging its MLS connections and resources. Thus, I think it will take some time, and a trickle down affect from more TV money, before the lower tiers really take off. But that's just me.
Revenues aren’t just gate receipts. There is also money from ad sales, sponsorship deals, concessions, parking, team merchandise sales, etc. Of course, how much you make on some of those depends on your arrangement with the facility (whether you’re operating it for the owner, or are just a tenant). If you have the pockets to build and own your own place, that’s obviously better. But yeah, minor league sports team owners don’t go into it expecting to make windfall profits (unless they’re completely delusional), and are usually lucky to break even year to year. If you’re not profitable, it becomes a question of how much can you afford to lose, and are you getting enough other enjoyment out of the venture to consider the losses worth it. The current USL model is currently more favorable due to lower operating costs (especially travel), as most average folk don’t pay much (if any) attention to levels of minor league. Outside of diehard fans, the rest see minor league as minor league, period. It is what it is.
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/silverbacks-arent-done-as-a-soccer-franchise/np6tH/ Boris Jerkunica, who owns the Silverbacks name, said he and partners John Latham and John Hardin are considering starting a men’s team in the United Soccer League or continuing the team that is in National Premier Soccer League. Its roster is currently composed of reserves players on the Silverbacks team (the reserves would be dropped from the NPSL team’s name). There are also ongoing discussions about starting a women’s team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
Don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back there you "real fan." You can't blame people for wanting top division soccer. And I'd imagine after the first year the novelty of AUFC will wear off, especially since they are going to be terrible (expansion team with no core to build on) and tickets on the secondary market will be very affordable.
As stated above (I believe) the Boris guy who was part owner of the Silverbacks own it. It's heavily used by youth leagues, amatuer leagues, etc. It makes good money. The park willbe around for a long time. Frankly without the Silverbacks they can knock down some of that seating and put more fields in which will make them more $$$.
Trying reading the thread again. Multiple people have answered your question. It is owned by Boris. He can do whatever he wants with it, which is running lots of amateur small sided leagues and making tons of $$ for the most part.
Apologies but as I stated in my earlier post, I really don't have time to sift through the threads..... Thank you, I appreciate your response!
701950372986937345 is not a valid tweet id @THEChrisKessell Formal announcement tomorrow, but I will tell you he is an ex-Silverback player, current agent, well connected.— Gorilla Talk (@AtlGorillaTalk) February 23, 2016
So....if you are really attached to "the club," and not the plastic MLS team, you'll all be grassroots-ing it out to Dekalb, right?