This is a new club with a new owner, there’s really no way to tell… Even using data from the last NPSL club here, there are mixed results. In 2012 at Byers Field in Parma they averaged a few hundred a game, but had a few over 1,000. Other stadiums had mixed results, but the National Championship game in 2016 had 2,300-2,400 people at it in Independence High school. These numbers were without significant marketing or community outreach. I hope the new club learns from this and is able to find a way to have the city and surrounding area embrace it. Several NPSL teams in similar markets do very well and pull thousands to matches regularly, so it’s really up to the process at this point. All of that said, 6CS will be there and we sincerely hope that people will have as much fun at these games as we do.
http://www.crainscleveland.com/arti...orce-sports-lofty-goal-return-cleveland-force "The next step is a complicated one, because it involves building or acquiring a facility that will house a United Soccer League team."
Well theres our confirmation that something truly is in the works. How do we feel about all this? I know nothing of the people involved. Sounds like they want to go forth with the Force identity? Is this wise or should they let fans pick a name? Regardless. USL in Cleveland is good news.
Based on the condition of their current indoor facilities, we can expect Force Stadium to fall apart faster than Mapfre
Jokes about this group going forward with the team are just too easy with the conditions of the Force facilities. I wish I could say I was confident. Hopefully they are willing to work with good investors. I like the idea of "Cleveland Force", but I still hope they go with "Cleveland Force FC" to align more with the international and outdoor game and to separate it from the original team. "CFFC" even has a decent ring when shortening it.
I (Greg Abrams) have been following this chat room for years. I am not only the founder of Force Sports, but a huge soccer fan – and an even bigger Cleveland Fan. I am 48 years old, so I not only watched the Cleveland Force in their ‘heyday’, but I also worked for the club and played on the juniors team. So when we talk about brining professional soccer back to Cleveland, it is something that is my passion. This past week Crains Cleveland business wrote a great article on Force Sports, and more specifically our intentions of bringing a USL team to Cleveland. Unfortunately, I can not discuss any more details than what was already said in the article, but I promise this – if there are announcements I make – or rumors you hear – I am NOT a ‘hide behind the scenes’ kind of person. I will let you know details if the situation allows, or say nothing if not appropriate. Bottom line, I am doing everything I can to bring a team to Cleveland – and I need to decide when/if making announcements help the cause – or if it deters. I have been to enough professional soccer games to know that the Fans/Supporters are the key ingredient, and I will never lose focus of that. I am available by e-mail at Greg@Force-Sports.com anytime. One final note to those that have commented on the condition of our indoor facilities. When we founded our company 8 years ago, we started with our two eastside buildings (Northfield and Richmond). Since then we have acquired four others for a total of six. Each and every one of our facilities are over 45 years old (some pushing 50). When we took possession of them, they had been neglected in every aspect for decades. We decided to make a tremendous investment into these buildings to make them useable for thousands of youth and adult athletes who would otherwise have no place to play. So while I certainly understand that our buildings do not have great ‘curb appeal’, and will never look like a ‘brand new facility’ - we do take tremendous pride in creating a safe environment for our customers in great locations. And trust me, we make large investments every year into places like the roof, hvac, etc – that just don’t get noticed (nor should they). Again, no excuses – just the other side of the same coin. All the best to everyone and I look forward to working with every single fan to make professional soccer a reality. Greg Abrams President & Co Founder – Force Sports
This is really cool of you to post and I have been to your facilities a number of times recently and they are great. Don’t mind these comments as this is mostly a place for negativity and people to say things they don’t otherwise mean. Keep up the good work and i hope you can bring soccer to Cleveland. As someone in sales i truly believe with the right targeting and messaging it can work. I am watching FCC now on ESPN2 and most forget they have had other versions of USL teams that have failed and now look at where they are. Good luck and keep us posed!
Been a couple months since any talk about the prospective team. Any news? Got any updates @Force Sports by any chance? If not...would be great to just know that work is still indeed in progress, no details necessary. I want a Cleveland team to follow in today's USL so bad! So many good rivalries possible!
Haven't looked at this thread for a long time. From what I hear a USL 1 team and a new stadium is still very much in the works and very likely. Very solid and reliable people are working on the deal. Just the USL deal and the stadium, I'm not speculating at all positively or negatively about the teams ownership group. Although if it is the Abrams and Force Sports, I think that would be fantastic and 100% support that choice.
Things are still very much moving forward. I do wish I could say that these things move quickly, but the goal is to keep them moving forward - and that it is. There really are no major details to announce, but our goal to bring professional soccer to Cleveland remains our focus. Thanks again for taking an interest! Enjoy the weekend!
So unless our, as of now, "hypothetical" USL team doesnt debut until it has it's own soccer specific stadium built.....where could/would they play in the meanwhile? USSF division 2 rules mandate that stadia must have 5000 minimum capacity. That would allow for a handful of local football stadiums like John Carroll (Don Shula), Parma (Byers)...but exclude some candidates like Case Western (DiSanto) or Cleveland State (Krenzler). I would hope a Cleveland expansion team at this level would be ambitious enough and well funded enough to enter the league with an excellent stadium plan. I'm still of the opinion that Cleveland State should be in on this......and that it could be a catalyst for a future football program for that school. Feel like there's a lot of room for cooperation between USL Cleveland and CSU.
Why Division II? That's what collapsed the City Stars. Might as well be in Division III and that opens up more possibilities for facilities.
Good point. I guess I just assume it makes sense for them to be in the league with other similar sized cities....(Pittsburgh, Louisville, Indianapolis, etc) because the close rivals would appeal more to new fans I would think as opposed to us taking on such opposition as Madison or Greenville. But I can see some merit to the idea though. D3 (League 1 now) would let Cleveland test the waters too to see how big of a following can be amassed and to gauge demand. My selfish reason for not wanting Cleveland in D3 is I'm from Toledo and theres talk of us being a candidate for the league so it would be a conflict of interest for me.
Based on the market sizes USL has been talking about for D3, I'm not sure they would let a market the size of Cleveland in D3 (unless we got an MLS team and had a same-city reserve side in USL D3).
Honestly I don't think it matters. Once League One (that's just weird to say) get started and stable I'm fairly confident there will be pro/rel in-between them and the C-ship. There are too many large cities without a USL team and the Championship is already over 30 teams; Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit, San Diego, New Orleans.
The stated intent of the prospective ownership group is to be in the Chanpionship (can’t believe I had to type that, ugh). Starting lower, as well as playing temporarily in any existing college or high school facility, would be a mistake. They need to come in and make a splash. Once it sets, it is hard to shake the minor league image in this city.
It would be far from ideal (and not more than a little contradictory to my earlier statement) but could Spremger Stadium (Lake Erie Crushers, Avon) potentially work as a temporary venue? It’s unfortunately far enough west that you would be losing a lot of east siders, but is the only sports facility outside of Progressive and First Energy that seats required capacity. No idea about field dimensions, but there is more than one USL team making a minor league baseball stadium permanent home.
I dont see why it couldn't work as a temporary home. 5000 capacity is great. The distance from the central city for me would be a no-go though.
They sure will. But you don’t think a club that competes with teams from Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay etc. will be perceived differently than one that plays against Greenville, SC and Statesboro, Georgia?
Does grass berm count? Much of Sprenger's capacity is a grass berm that is mostly unusable in reality due to steepness.
I hope not. Pro/rel will be very harmful to soccer's ability to work in America. It will also harm both the promoted (see Cleveland City Stars for an example) and relegated (major attendance/revenue drop) teams.
USL is not going to turn anyone away that wants to be in a certain league. "Hey, here's your expansion fee for a team..." "No, we don't want your money, your city is too big." Never. C'mon now. That's pure speculation -- just somewhat like pro/rel will be the savior. There's plenty of stats out there that support pro/rel working. The numbers aren't great with how "franchise" soccer is doing in the US. Attendance isn't great. TV viewership is bad. Ticket prices are high (USSF). Youth soccer numbers are down. It's easy to see that soccer has somewhat stagnated in the US.
I agree with this. Playing in a HS or college football stadium for a few years would only lead people to believe this is less than a professional team. We all live in a soccer bubble and think there are more people interested in soccer than there really is, leading some to believe fans will show no matter what. With that said, the only way I see forward is a new stadium built for soccer or with soccer as the primary tenant, in the city limits. I realize that may be a tall order but getting people interested is an even taller order and showing off a shiny new stadium for your new pro team will help.