Guess the Lucky 2 - Decision Day Poll

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Mod Note:

As of 5:44 EST, 12/16/16:
Poll fixed and all votes reset.

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Garber said, following a board meeting Thursday (Dec 8th) in New York, "we'll announce a process and a timeline for our next round of expansion" for the league's 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th clubs. Garber stated MLS will announce the plan for 25 - 28 today (around 5). This gives us one last chance to guess the lucky 4.

Assuming the next 4 are (21 - 24)
21 - Atlanta 2017
22 - Minnesota 2017
23 - LAFC 2018
24 - Miami 2019?? - (If Beckham/Miami cant get there sh#t together then one of the Lucky 4 slots in here)

Guess the Lucky 4 (25 -28). Vote for 4... if you chose other post your choice in this thread. This poll will be closed today at 4:30ish.

 

Don't forget if you vote other to post what other city you voted for.

 

It's possible I misinterpreted what Garber plans to announce today. He might be announcing just the expansion plan and not the 4 teams???

Read for yourselves to interpret what he plans to announce... here is what he said:

"Beyond our two newest clubs, there are the things in 2017 that we’re very focused on: As you probably know, it is strategic expansion. Following our board meeting on Thursday in New York, we’ll announce a process and a timeline for our next round of expansion which will add clubs 25, 26, 27 and 28 to Major League Soccer. And contrary to what’s been reported, we are not announcing our expansion process today (this was quoted from last week). It is one of the key topics for our board meeting next Thursday and we do plan to announce the full details of our process, our timeline, pricing and everything else relating to expansion as early as the 15th, hopefully by four or five o’clock in the afternoon."

 

I was wrong about the poll yesterday, but Garber has made it clear that 2 teams will be announced in late 2017 and the next 2 will be announced at a later date.

From MLS...
Interested applicants for teams 25 and 26 will have until the end of January 2017 to submit an application to the league. After reviewing expansion applications and visiting each potential expansion market, Major League Soccer will announce the four expansion teams in groups of two, with teams 25 and 26 selected by during the second or third quarter of 2017. Those teams will being play in MLS by the 2020 season, and will pay a $150 million expansion fee.

Two additional expansion teams will be announced at a later date. The timeline for selecting clubs 27 and 28 will be decided following the filing of applications. The fee for those clubs will also be set at a later date.

This poll is based on these key aspects from MLS, use these 3 to help determine your choices...

1. A committed local ownership group that has a passion for the sport, a deep belief in Major League Soccer and the resources to invest in the infrastructure to build the sport in their respective market.
2. A market that has a history of strong fan support for soccer matches and other sporting events, is located in a desirable geographic location and is attractive to corporate sponsors and television partners.
3. A comprehensive stadium plan that ensures the club will have a proper home for their fans and players while also serving as a destination for the sport in the community.

This poll will close in October of 2017.

 

We have 2 of these polls going now... @catfish9 when did you set this one to end?

 

I think Detroit is close too...

Owners:
Tom Gores, Detroit Pistons owner (Platinum Equity owner located in metro Detroit)
Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavs owner (Quicken Loans founder located in Detroit)
These guys are teaming up for combined net worth of 8.8 billion. They have the resources and the experience in building sports franchises. Tom Gores apparently has a passion for soccer. He played as a youth and he has coached his kids teams.

Market:
Detroit is one of the best sports towns in the country. Hockey Town USA, home of the Tigers, Pistons are moving back downtown, and we still root for the Lions, even though they have won one single playoff game since the 1950s. A grass roots level semi-pro team started in 2012 and DCFC has some of the best attendance in the NPSL. The fans of this team raised over $700k to fix it's current stadium. Detroit will be the only city to have a NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL team all downtown. MLS will be a good addition to the entertainment district of Detroit. Detroit is the #13 TV market in the US, only 1 city of these 10 has a better TV market (Tampa at #11). Also, Ann Arbor, just outside Detroit, holds the US record for attendance at a soccer match in 2014... the record was almost beat at the same stadium (the big house) in 2016. There are also 4 or 5 more grass roots semi-pro teams all over the state of MI.

Stadium Plan:
Gores and Gilbert proposed a plan this spring to convert an unfinished county jail project into a stadium/business district. This location is near Ford Field. This is the site they want, but if they can't make it work with the county then they are open to other sites. Also, the current Mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan is the brother of Dan Duggan. Dan runs the Michigan Bucks (amateur PDL soccer team in metro Detroit) and his brother, the Major, wants to bring a MLS team to Detroit too.

Here is a rendering of the proposed plan...

 

More info on the Detroit bid (pulled from the Detroit News)...

They (Gores and Gilbert) have proposed building a $1 billion mixed-use stadium complex on the site of the stalled Wayne County jail project in Greektown.

and...

They have proposed a 500,000-square-foot, 20,000- to 25,000-seat stadium with an estimated cost of $225 million to $250 million. The development proposal includes three glass skyscrapers — one hotel, one office building and one residential tower — ranging from 18 to 28 stories with retail, bars and restaurants.

 

MLS stated they are looking for a comprehensive stadium plan. Gores and Gilbert stated they hope to have the stadium built by 2020 and they clearly have a plan. I bet they even have a back up plan if the jail site falls threw.

What DCFC accomplished is great. Just because a few vocal Northern Guard members are against a MLS team in Detroit doesn't mean all DCFC fans are against a MLS team. What's more important is a soccer culture is clearly present and grew organically at a grass roots level in metro Detroit. Also, some of the fans of DCFC are against the MLS bid, but the owners are not. It's possible that DCFC could team up with Detroit MLS. Maybe they work out a deal so DCFC becomes a development team for MLS and the Northern Guard supporters could root for both teams.

 

Well one of them is closed already (the one from yesterday)... and the other 2 were made at the same time by 2 different people.


Deleted section has been taken care of

 

@Sport Billy The polls got messed up in the merge. Sacramento should have 10 votes Raleigh/Durham I think is at zero.

Edit: there are other errors I think St. Louis was at 7. Both polls had similar votes. Sac was the clear winner st. Louis, Tampa, and Detroit were all close in one poll, but Detroit was farther behind in the other poll.

 

@Sport Billy It wasn't Tampa it was Cincinnati. I think the problem is you included the votes from the first poll. A lot of these cities did not get any votes when just voting for 2 teams. Also you are closing this in dec 31 2016 and mls won't announce the teams until the fall of 2017. It would be nice if this was open until the fall and if people could change their votes.

 

Well at my end it looks like I voted already. And I haven't had a chance to vote again since you merged all 3 polls.