I was with you until you said this... That's simply not true. Riccardo Silva gave Bob Williams an interview in November of last year where he was laying out things the club planned to work on for 2017 and beyond. Hardly the talk of someone who planned to shutter the club. Say what you want about his spending on the Richie Ryans of the world, but you have to say the man who personally got the TV contract with CBS Sports Network and beIN Sports is pretty committed to the cause. And they did draw pretty well at the end of last season, for reasons that we've debated on these boards. The ONLY way Miami wasn't going to play this season was if the NASL collapsed out from under them.
A TV contract that a league pays smallish sports networks in need of content isn't as impressive as a getting a TV contract we're you generate revenue. So Miami is still a question mark IMO, their attendance was also admittedly padded so again not that impressive. I hope for the best for the NASL but the news of putting a team in ATL is not giving me the warm and fuzzes at the moment.
The irony of course is that the more we hear from rebooted NASL (sans Cosmos), the more they sound and act like early MLS. ...and we know what a failure that model has been according to Commisio.
The more I hear from him the more concerned I get as he's obviously the owner for the nostalgia and not any solid reason. I realize he may have the financial wherewithal to sustain big losses for a few season but I'm concerned he'll cut in run after a few seasons after seeing the actual losses first hand.I also think its HILARIOUS that he slags Yankee stadium when his club plays in the mets A teams ball park!
Except for the fact that there was no soccer team averaging 15k/20k/40k in markets they were looking to put teams. And the fact that teams are separate and own their player contracts. And that there's not Salary Budget. And that there's no centralized and coordinated funnel through which teams acquire talent. Exactly like early MLS.
You can't fault the league for trying to get on TV. Unless that contract is detrimental to the league monetarily then its fine. Being on a smallish sports network is better then not being on one at all. I can't recall what network the AHL or Triple A baseball is on because its not. All those games are streamed online but have no TV deal. A good portion of teams pad the attendance stats. Whether its a bunch of different colored seats to make it look like there are people in them or announcing tickets sold instead of actual attendance. I agree with the last statement though.
Oh I don't fault them at all, as a matter of fact I think its a good move on their part. It's just that it isn't a hard move to make since all you need is the cash to make it happen and it doesn't prove any intent or solidity on the league's or teams part as some will have you believe. If Riccardo had somehow swung a PAID TV contract then boy that's a good sign but he didn't so this TV contract isn't that great of an indicator of health.
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that "tickets sold" is a common method for reporting attendance. English soccer certainly does it. It's a bigger issue if they're doing what the Rochester (Raging) Rhinos did at their attendance peak by simply giving away a huge number of tickets. That creates a false impression about the strength if the market. If you sold the ticket, at least you know the purchaser had a somewhat serious intent to attend, even if they ultimately don't turn up.
Yeah, tickets sold is the default number that everyone uses when reporting attendance at every level of professional sports. Anyone who says they are reporting actual numbers are either lying, or are going against the norm.
The default, in pro sports, is tickets distributed. Not sold. That includes sponsor tickets (often giveaways/contests). In European sports it often includes the media - which are usually ticketed.
Local (mostly) news coverage from the first weekend of games Three things we learned: SF Deltas home opener SFGate (blog) NASL Week 1: Back on the Field Empire Of Soccer Canadian midfielder Kyle Bekker named NASL player of the week after historic goal The Province Deltas get Deserved Point in Inaugural Game Midfield Press Fast and Furious: North Carolina FC, Miami race to 1-1 draw WRALSportsFan.com North Carolina FC opens NASL season with 1-1 draw against Miami ... Triangle Sports Network North Carolina FC Home Opener Ends in Draw CaryCitizen
So two teams in Edmonton? I don't see that going over well at all. Talked with #FCEd front office today. Confirm that the Edmonton team indicated in Halifax document is NOT them.— Steven Sandor (@stevensandor) March 28, 2017
Apparently the prospective owners of a Halifax team in the CPL made a presentation last night to the city. They showed a map with 6 teams in the CPL including Edmonton. But that is not FC Edmonton according to the NASL team. http://www.wakingthered.com/2017/3/...er-league-revealed-halifax-documents-edmonton
I'd like to officially thank the NASL website for removing our Strikers (and OKC I guess) from their page... Seems like they finally figured out that having two defunct teams on their site was, shall we say, minor league...good night and good luck.
This CSA CPL thing looks like it's already destined for failure. Even if there are MLS teams in the big 3 markets (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) it would at least serve the interests of the league to have CPL clubs in those markets. Even if they're inferior looking in status. It's like having a EPL league with no teams from London, Manchester, Liverpool. It just wouldn't work.
The CSA really wants the CPL to work. These new teams will get to play against the MLS teams in the Canadian championships, so the fact they're not in this league isn't a complete death sentence. Then again, they probably can't get a good National TV deal because of that, which is probably what is holding up this entire process of league announcement.
EPL seems to be going along just fine without teams from Birmingham and Leeds............the numbers 2 & 3 most populous cities in England......
But....Duane Rollins just said it can't fail because something something big crowds for MLS something something Women's World Cup I TOLD YOU SO. Two teams in OKC was dumb. Two teams in the Tampa Bay Area* was dumb. The prospect of two teams in Atlanta is dumb. But two teams in Edmonton is dumber than the dumbest guys you went to high school with. *Plant City was, and is, a marginal Tampa Bay Area city.
Toronto FC for example have been using tickets scanned at entry for a few years now. There's about 5 other pro teams that do the same but yes you are right it's not common.
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