Miami, Florida

support the teams you have first....

 

Why not "Real Inter Miami United FC"? So you could also catch the people of spanish and english decent.

Stop euro-poserism !!!

 

how is international Miami FC euro-snopism besides the FC part. its just creating an international brand that could be built on in the future. good marketing i think.

 

LoL... Typical Euro mentality -- The whole world wants to be Euro.

I guess... (just to name a few)

All Boys (Arg.) est. 1913
Argentinos Juniors (Arg.) est. 1904
Banfield (Arg.) est. 1896
Boca Juniors (Arg.) est. 1905
Newell's Old Boys (Arg.) est. 1903
Racing Club (Arg.) est. 1903
River Plate (Arg.) est. 1901
Everton (Chile) est. 1909
Santiago Morning (Chile) est. 1903
Santiago Wanderers (Chile.) est. 1892
Internacional or "INTER" (Brazil) est. 1909

... all are being Euro-posers!!!

 

Same way as anybody else. $40 million for the expansion fee, an ownership group with the ability to absorb years of losses, a facility situation the league finds agreeable, and plans to be in a stadium you control sooner rather than later. That's about it.

After the FCB/Claure thing went south and now that Miami FC is moving to Ft. Lauderdale...just paints a negative picture. If there are local businessmen willing to step up, you're in. If not, you're not.

 

Please look at the years these clubs were founded

I concur with this statement. The reason Montreal, Vancouver, Philadelphia and Portland are getting teams is because there was a fanbase in place. Hell Philly didn't even have a team, but still had a fanbase. If I were to look at Lockhart and see hundreds of supporters, I'd think damn they should make the jump. The problem is, like most pro Florida teams, I count more empty seats than people.

 

Soccer was still in its infancy in Latin American when those clubs were copying European club names or choosing names that sounded English/British/European, etc (that's not the case with the Brazilian Inter, but it is the case for Latin American clubs with English names). Similarly, soccer is still in its infancy (relatively speaking) in the USA, so it is hardly surprising that some of our clubs are going to have so-called "poser" names.

It's different though in the case of Ft. Lauderdale, as that city has a real pro soccer pedigree and shouldn't be using any other name except Ft. Lauderdale Strikers.

But right now you do see a mostly full stadium (5,000 average even in bad weather) in Tampa and hundreds of supporters (ie Ralph's Mob), and yet all people want to talk about in Florida is Miami, Miami, Miami.

Miami has always been a complete disaster in pro soccer, for the past forty years. The only success South Florida pro soccer has ever had has been at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale.

Activity of Miami soccer fans here on Big Soccer and elsewhere on the internet, has no relationship to the number of soccer fans that actually show up for games, unfortunately.

How many more years of solid support in Tampa before the Rowdies start to be taken seriously? Five years? Ten years? Seriously, it's like the Rowdies have to return to their original NASL era levels of attendance to be noticed and we all know that can't happen in D2.

 

It does not have to be a local businessman, though.

Claure ain't necessarily out of the picture, either, which is why Garber keeps talking South Florida.

At some point the Rowdies success in drawing support with minimal marketing effort to a minor league baseball stadium for D2 level soccer has got to get noticed somewhere by someone.

It need not be the Glazers or even the Steinbrenners or anyone local.

 

But the flip side is that the reason Toronto, Salt Lake and to a lesser extent Seattle have MLS teams is because that's where the money was.

The only thing D2 support would decide when it comes to South Florida MLS is where the team would play and potentially what it would be called.

If next year, when the Strikers name returns to Lockhart Stadium, we see crowds like the APSL Strikers got(3-5K), that would only further prove Miami's inability to support pro soccer, as the very same team drew crowds that barely broke 1,000, if that, in Miami. If not, then if MLS comes back it will probably play somewhere in Miami-Dade County, which to be fair has not had a chance to support D1 soccer since the Toros moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1977.

 

World Cup=/=MLS

 

That's true, but with the overwhelming support for the World Cup(South Florida is #1 in ratings and also the GOUSABID petition signatures), the foundation for a successful MLS team is there.

The hispanic community supported the cup strong as always, but bars and pubs were also packed with USA fans for those games. Not just flag waving, bandwagon poseurs, but actual USA fans.

With over 5 million people in the tri-county area, and the highest ratings in the nation for the World Cup(top 5 for USA games), you ought to be able to get 20K a game for a properly run MLS team.

Every team that has played under the name "Miami" has come in with the "if you build it, they will come" approach, assuming the Latin crowd will flock to see any live soccer. That's obviously not the case. Ask the Gatos/Toros, Freedom/Sharks, Fusion and now Miami FC. You have to put effort into it and put a quality product out there(whether the team wins or not), or people won't care. That's why the Fort Lauderdale Strikers did the best. Both the NASL and APSL teams were class organizations people could get behind.

 

Maybe Beckham can bring a team once he retires?

 

Maybe they can wear this?

 

There are four main criteria for a city to be considered for MLS expansion:
* Committed long-term ownership with deep pockets.
* Approved plan to build a soccer-specific stadium where the team would control revenue streams such as parking and concessions.
* A healthy media market
* A strong soccer fanbase




So which of these points does Miami have? 0

 

There is a strong market in Miami, but only if star power is present. What other cities out there can boast over 1,000 kids three times a week playing pickup soccer games at just one park in Kendall, Miami? I repeat: that's just at one park. The thing is, they all have their Messi and Ronaldo jerseys on. Obviously players of this caliber won't be making it to South Florida to play in the MLS, but if a Miami team were to pickup a couple of DPs on the level of RBNY's recent acquisitions, then Miami support would begin to emerge.

The problem is that you can't field the Kansas City Wizards lineup here in Miami and expect people with ten thousand other things to do on any given night to either watch the game from home or attend. This isn't Columbus. In order for an event to flourish here in Miami it has to be sufficiently attractive. With a couple of high quality/big name players, it could be done. The World Cup was absolutely massive down here.

But yeah, the owner and the stadium issues still loom large.

 

I agree, there has to be some level of star power. But I think it would have more to do with a quality product overall. A decent, playoff-contending team would do just fine. As a bonus though Miami would be as big of a draw as anywhere for DP-caliber players.

We have the media market, population, and facilities. And MLS knows why the Fusion failed, and probably knows it was a mistake to bail on Florida and prop up equally struggling markets like KC, Dallas and SJ(no offense to Wizards, FCD and Quakes fans out there).

We just need the right pieces to fall into place. Best chances IMO lie with Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium owner Stephen Ross, who wants more events at his venue, especially after the Marlins leave in 2012. And they want renovations to the stadium. It'll be an easier sell to local officials if there is a soccer tenant there too, as opposed to just 10-12 Dolphins games, 6 'Canes games and an occasional Bowl game/Super Bowl:



If they do a Seattle setup, limit capacity to 20-30K with tarps, and market it right, it would work great.

 

There are rumors swirling that USSF may force some D2 teams to play in D3.

 

HAHAHA, probably both teams will play in D2.