... http://www.tennessean.com/story/new...rts-authority-goes-to-council-next/757125001/ casual observer over here in Norway but I'll be f5ing on Nov 7 for updates on this council vote.
Yeah, now the fun starts with local government. I just hope they don't decide to table the vote. That could affect the strength of the bid and MLS's timeline.
Not exactly. Lots of professional sports franchises in the US barely make money and some lose money. It's not a great ROI compared to other investments. Billionaires and ownership groups that buy teams or start expansion franchises often do so for the challenge or prestige of it. There are MUCH easier ways to increase their bottom line and in many cases, they end up losing money. And that's especially true in MLS. The old saying is... Q: How do you make a million dollars in soccer? A: You start with $10 million In fact, right now MLS is losing money as a whole because of the massive debt payments on all these $150-$250 million stadiums and relatively low value to their TV deal (just $90 million per year, shared among 22 clubs). As a pure financial investment, it really only benefits a few owners (aka investor operators). I strongly suspect that the reason Atlanta now has a MLS team is because the owner, Arthur Blank, knew he was about to spend $1.6 billion on a brand new football stadium and wanted to have guaranteed revenue for more than just 8 NFL games per year. You can only host so many concerts, conventions, bowl games, etc. in a venue of that size. So, MLS made perfect sense. 17 extra days of revenue for a stadium he was going to build anyway. Since the NE Revolution and Patriots have shared a venue dating back to 1996 in Foxboro, I suspect Robert Kraft had similar motivations. But that's the exception, not the rule. Most MLS owners are barely recouping their investment and many are losing money on their clubs. Meanwhile, although MLS does have a much different ownership structure than other soccer leagues, it does at least have developmental academies which makes it more like soccer clubs in other countries. Best US comparison would be MLB and its minor league system, but even that is very different, because it doesn't go down to the youth level.
Seems like. It's govt agencies are rubber stamping this. Besides pesky lawsuits and anti-public fund lobby, is there anything standing in their way?
Well, it sure looks like Nashville has their act together compared to other cities. Gotta help their chances.
Pro sports teams are worth about three or four times what they should be as purely economic concerns. Because they're cooler to own than a mall or a construction company or multi-point restaurant franchises. For example, people knew Larry H Miller because he owned the Utah Jazz, not because he had hundreds of car dealerships stretching from Colorado to Washington.
Well, they have the major favoring their proposal. But so did San Diego; it was the city council that voted to delay. And St. Louis had political support, it was a public referendum that failed. So while right now the Nashville bid looks strong, it still is predicated on a proposal that hasn't passed yet. I think November 7th is when the decisive vote is.
They say they are losing money, yet continue to pour money into stadiums and training facilities. I don't buy it. Between sponsorships, merchandising, ticket sales, international TV rights, Domestic TV rights, etc, the revenue going into SUM, MLS and teams is a lot more than they let on. Plus, very few teams paid $150 MM out of pocket to build. Most took advantage of some kind of financing mechanism to make it viable.
Loss just means spending more than receiving. Spending includes investment, like building new facilities, expanding youth programs, and such. If a business is losing money because it's investing in future growth, that's not a problem. That's mostly the case in MLS. If it's losing money because it cannot currently break even and there is no reasonable path to breaking even, it is bad. Further, revenue received by SUM is not counted as MLS revenue. Neither is revenue from stadium management or local broadcasting if a team owner has separate corporations for those functions.
That's what I'm saying. On a whole, MLS owners are profiting, and in most cases, even on top of capital debt. Obviously in cases where the team is paying the stadium out of pocket, like in Minny or Orlando, no.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/new...ancing-275-m-nashville-mls-stadium/835596001/ So there's that hurdle cleared. Now we wait.
really hoping theyre the last three, let em all in, screw miami. let them languish in 27-28 territory. nothing in beckhams contract that says they cant do that. There is a realistic chance San Diego has a stadium before miami
the league has revealed four finalists for the first two expansion spots, which will be announced before the end of the year: Cincinnati Detroit Nashville Sacramento The finalists will make presentations to the league's Expansion Committee and Commissioner Don Garber on Dec. 6, and the MLS Board of Governors meeting on Dec. 14 will include additional discussions on expansion with ownership representatives from every team.
My money would be on Nashville and Sacramento. Then if that bastard succeeds in moving the Crew to Austin, I think Cincinnati would be a good bet for the next round.
The first part I can see happening, but I don't think our (Cincinnati) fate depends on Columbus. There are three expansion bids I'd deem "elite" so it is a shame there are only two slots.
Perhaps it doesn't. I would love to see MLS in Cincinnati. I was just thinking that if Columbus is vacated it might be a plus to put the league back in Ohio.
And of course this is the kind of thing I have been waiting to happen. I knew someone would step up to try to torpedo the deal. http://fox17.com/news/local/group-t...irgrounds-land-to-be-used-in-mls-stadium-deal
he he he blah blah "giving it away for free... " aahhhhh someone trying to save the flea market. i know when i see the invisible all powerful hand of the flea market.
we have a winner, winner, chicken dinner??? Kevin TragerVerified account @KevinWSMV 50m50 minutes ago #BREAKING #MLS commissioner Don Garber will be in #Nashville for an announcement tomorrow afternoon. This is big for our city.pic.twitter.com/Uwo1EH8yoY