Why doesn't Claure team up with Traffic Sports/Miami FC and buy the 5,000 season tickets saving Miami FC and then give out the tickets for free, then you will know how many soccer fans exist in Miami?
At the draft, which was in St. Louis, Garber stated that he wished the St. Louis bid had more capital. At the same time, he obviously felt that it was strong enough to at least keep in the running, since he didn't throw the bid out of the running, the way he did to Montreal. The most recent quote from him on the subject, however, was more positive: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2009/02/11/1105039/garber-barcamiami-team-would-start-in-2010 Now, this quote doesn't necesarily mean that St Louis' bid has now met some secret financial threshold, if there is one. But it's funny how everyone who wants to discard the bid is quick to point out the comments from Jan. 15th, but seem to forget that his most recent comments, made about a month later, were much more positive. You've clearly never dealt with all the red tape it takes to get anything built in Atlanta. You also probably aren't aware that the Atlanta Falcons/Arthur Blank are in the early stages of trying to get a new stadium built, which will cost about $1 billion. Because of the time that must be committed to such a large endeavor, Blank realized that the soccer project would be taking a back seat. As a sound businessman, he realized that it would be best for him to save face, by not wasting MLS' time now, with the thought being that if he can launch a bid later, he will do so from a fresh start, rather than by putting himself at a disadvantage, which he would have done if he kept his sub-par bid in the running too long. First off, there are five current bids; Miami, Ottawa, Portland, St Louis, Vancouver. Second off, three of them have NOT expressed financial concerns. In fact, only one has, Miami, and even then, it was in vague terms, coming from FCB. In the case of St. Louis, as stated above, at times, the league has stated that they may have concerns. But A) that is not the same thing as the league stating they have concerns, and B) as quoted above, more recent comments from the league seem to indicate that progress is being made on that front. In the case of Vancouver, Ottawa and Portland, all three of those cities have sound ownership groups. All three of them face a variant on the same issue, in that all of them are in the midst of dealing with their respective municipalities to get facilities built/renovated/land approved for them to build. It's quite simple. If the votes go the right way in all three cities, all three of them have sufficient funds to operate a team. If the vote goes the wrong way, they don't have a place to play, and if that's the case, it doesn't matter if you lowe the expansion fee all the way down to $1, the bids still won't be sufficient, because they won't have a place to play.
For the upteenth time, Vancouver DOES have a place to play!!! BC Place Stadium! They signed a 5 year lease! Read the facts! Another fact! The $ 365 million in renovations and Retractable Roof has been APPROVED by the Government! Done deal. Contracts issued. Do you honestly think Kerfoot would lock himself into a 5 year Lease if he didn't get a good indication that the MLS would be moving in his direction?
Yes, I am aware of the facts. I was oversimplifying, because it wasn't really the main issue. That's why i said, All three of them face a variant on the same issue, in that all of them are in the midst of dealing with their respective municipalities to get facilities built/renovated/land approved for them to build. It's quite simple. In Vancouver's case, they have a place to play from day 1, and for the first few years. However, long term, it is his preference (and the league's) that he have abuilding of his own, that he controls. He is attempting to get that done, and it hasn't been settled. If it is settled, and in his favor, their bid becomes much stronger. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't kill their bid, but it does hurt it. But, if you would have read the whole post, you could have taken that in context, and realize that I wasn't railing on Vancouver, or their venue, I was actually highlighting the fact that, for their bid, money is not an issue. Don't get your panties in a bunch, you would have realized that it was actually a pro-Vancouver statement.
Garber already told Vancouver officials that BC Place will suffice as a temporary venue. End of story. BC Place is suitable as a temporary venue. Why else would Greg Kerfoot sign a 5 year Lease with Pavilion Corporation, operators of BC Place, if he didn't have an indication from MLS that Garber would approve the venue? The $ 365 million is a substantial investment the BC Government is making to bring BC Place up to standards
WOW!!! all I can say is WOW, Seattle has so much pride in thier team, I wonder how the hell Miami doesn't have the pride they have?? Look at the commercial they made also, Claure should have made an advertising campaign with something about Miami and how we can grow to become a good city for soccer and the whole 9 yards, just watch the video makes me want to be a Seattle supporter with or without Miami MLS..... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WI3Dfj9NCM"]YouTube - Seattle Sounders FC Introduction Video and Crest Unveiling[/ame]
They sure are good at marketing campaigns and a lot of people will buy into that kind of stuff. But as someone who appreciates the sport and loves my own home town, I'd hesitate to jump on the bandwagon of anohter city's team until I saw what their fans were like and how the team played. Otherwise, all you have to go on is marketing, commercials and press releases and that's not the type of thing I'd expect the more educated soccer fans to buy into. Soccer moms, sure but not you guys.
I think the point is that he needs to take a page from the Sounders playbook and start marketing to the potential fans.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-flsprusnak02sbmar02,0,336151.column I've been back and forth on this Miami Barca idea. Mostly not very excited about it. But if this report has any truth to it at all, I'm disgusted at Claure and Barcelona. Not about the economic downturn, but about the "we're not interested if Beckham leaves." What a crock of shite. If I were MLS, I'd make a decision on who gets the expansion slots... then lower the price tag for the lucky winners, as a gesture thanking them for working hard and being willing to ante up without being whiny about it.
Still, the people that made that did an excellent job of selling the Sounders. Congrats to them on a remarkable piece of marketing. If that is Lucho's point he is exactly right. With all of the incredible "salesmanship" that floats around here certainly someone can concoct as good a piece of propaganda as that Sounder's piece is. We could probably do it even better, since we'd have to do it in at least 2 languages... .. In any event, it would at least get the word out that the attempt at getting a MiamiMLS franchise is being tried. Even if the word is getting out a bit late, all things considered, that would be a positive.
Are you saying they don't "really want" all of the other cities? If so, why have the process at all. Why not say Miami and Montreal are our next teams, we will work out the details later? MLS would be a total joke if they were to cut the price for some cities. Good luck getting anyone to bid in the future if they did that.
I am not saying that they don't want the other cities. I just think the cities that are willing to pay that high price tag are not the ones they prefer. And if they cut the price, they would not cut the price for some cities, they would cut it for all of them. They would also have good luck in the future because all they are doing is adjusting the price because of the changing economic climate. Trust me, they wouldn't be the only company that is currently doing so. It really makes no sense that the factor that is slowly weeding out the bids (especially the one's that MLS wants) is the unproportionately high price tag (for the reasons that I explain in my prior post). If you think that this is not so, then MLS should increase the money of the expansion fees, why not keep increasing it until you have two teams remaining. After all, if this is the most important determining factor, why not make more money off this expansion (in the short term) and keep raising it until only two teams could pay?
Latest news is that there's no news -- yet. But things aren't looking good. Marcelo Claure: 'Today, I would say that (Barca Miami) will not happen.' - Latest news is that there's no news...yet. But things aren't looking good. Marcelo Claure was quoted in El Deber, a Spanish newspaper, saying: "The economic picture changes if David Beckham does not return to MLS. Today, I would say that (Barca Miami) will not happen. Being optimistic, we have a 50 percent chance to get the franchise.'' Beckham has been on loan from the LA Galaxy to AC Milan, and wants to stay in Italy. The Galaxy was not satisfied with the fee Milan was offering, so now there are talks Beckham will play for BOTH teams. The Los Angeles Times reporting Becks would play in Italy until May 31, when the Serie A season ends, and then return to LA July 15, missing more than half the MLS season. Added Claure: "We wanted to form an Ibero-American team, with players from Bolivia, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, etc..To succeed in Miami, you need to form a team including Latino players, reflected in the fans, and obviously the team should have a Spanish touch with players from Spain, and of course players from the USA. We have to include the Americans, because the League only allows eight foreign players per team.'' Stay tuned. Should have a verdict by week's end. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/soccer/
this is just the Miami Herald reporting on yesterday morning's story from the interview by that Bolivian source.
The most interesting bit of this piece was the last part about Miami FC intending to play at least half of their games at Lockhart Stadium - if they play at all. It seems that the idea of a "Miami only" team may not be all that viable & the folks in Broward have been very helpful. My, my... ...who'd a thunk it! Maybe the Blues should give this clue to Barca/Claure. They may be able to find some more help in securing a place in SE Florida for their franchise. Maybe... (we need a :roflmao: smiley on BS....it would be most useful... ...)
Close this thread http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090303&content_id=221343&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp
Damn its long but it says everything that has to be said about the MLS, Miami, credibilty to MLS, fakeness of MLS, and everything Else. Viva USL hueputa!! LEts support the USL team and if they qualify to the US OPEN cup hope that they play against an MLS side, and fill that stadium up nasty to shut up the MLS naysayer that we are a abd sports market. Well just read this I like what it had to say and had everyhting down packed http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/2346/2346