OK sorry, I recently started following @3pointsport on twitter, and he tweets so much stuff, I guess I confused the Oakland Roots with the Oakland Stompers. I'm still confused about all these new league acronyms. That was the real point of my post...
I mean it depends on if Miami FC and the Cosmos infect them with the insanity they infected the NASL with. If they accept they're a minor league and work to be the best minor league they can be, they might survive. Personally I hope they make it. They're the first pro league to actually follow through on putting a team in San Diego rather than paying our city lip service like USL, NASL, MLS...
======================== The proverbial alphabet soup of soccer leagues...... As much as we complain about what MLS & USL are up to, this is still the most stable time period we have had for quite awhile. I wish USSF would not certify anymore more leagues even if they are in the same division/level. Other than pure politics and personal differences of opinion on how leagues are run, this is why this keeps happening. If everyone would put the game itself first, I can't believe with the "new" MLS/USL pyramid, there is not a budget level for anyone who wants to run a team.
Soccer leagues have come and gone and even though we've all questioned MLS and their borderline legal or even some would say "crooked moves" , at least they and the USL are the only two leagues who have survived and to a point, thrived for an extended period. The ownerships and stadiums alone are something to be communed for. During the years of 1985 until 2005, if someone were to tell we would have 26 teams where the owners owned their own stadiums, I would have thought they were crazy. Throughout history, I don't think there was any soccer league that lasted as long as both have. If the next ten years are anything like what the last ten have been, with the coming of World Cup 2026, there is no telling where both leagues can become. I'm assuming they will turn into something big. Maybe not on a par with the EPL, the Bundesliga, the Serie A or La Liga but certainly the biggest league outside of Europe.
Stockton Football Club Joins the NPSL The leadership of Stockton Football Club includes Chris Hernandez, Dr. Bennet Omalu, and Abdelrahman Kurdieh. ... Omalu, who will act as Vice President, is the world-renowned neuropathologist that served as the inspiration for the movie Concussion. Wow, it's the guy from League of Denial
This new-ish league has a gazillion teams. And they've got multiple teams in some cities. There are two of these in Portlandia! And like a lot of lower division leagues, teams come and go every year. And this is fourth division! Still, I'm considering going to a match, though my local Community College are even closer, and they win a lot. I think it's cool that there are lots of soccer teams in the US now. Soccer is no longer the next big thing, we have arrived. (Actually, I'd argue that we arrived some time ago, between 2005 and 2009.) I don't see SF supporting a minor league team, but there are a lot of cities on the list that might do OK. Also, I think the criteria for success in this league is different than MLS or USL. They probably don't need huge attendance, but rather selling players on to other teams farther up the food chain. We'll see what happens, but it's good to see lots of lower division clubs. Go Quakes!! - Mark
San Ramon Futbol Club Joins the NPSL; Will be the 10th team in the Golden Gate Conference, 2nd expansion this off-season
Why are so many businessmen starting NPSL teams? Is their goal to break into the USL? Sorry for the dumb question, but Is there a pro-rel path to USL?
NPSL isn't even connected to USL, in fact it's a rival league that USL is poaching teams from. USL is USL Championship (second division) USL 1 (third division) USL 2 (fourth division, formerly PDL) No pro/rel between them right now, but teams do seem to move up and down based on the league that best works for them, for example the Richmond Kickers are "self-relegating" from the second division to the third.
I’m still having trouble understanding why businessmen are buying or supporting these 3rd and 4th division teams. There’s no money in it, right?
I think the upside is greater than, say, minor league baseball. How many minor league baseball teams catch fire like Cincinnati or Louisville? And there is certainly no hope of moving up to MLB. Also, the more teams that join, the lower the costs, as a major cost in minor league sports is the travel. Look at Phil Rawlins, in 2007 he started what was at the time a third division team, the Austin Aztex, for I'm sure very little money. In 2010 he moved them to Orlando and had immediate success on the field and in attendance, capturing MLS' attention and securing a MLS expansion team by 2013. They paid a $70 million expansion fee and joined MLS in 2015. As of the 2017 season the team is valued by Forbes at $275 million. Beyond that who knows. Especially for markets that have no MLS chances and low attendance like Tulsa or Charleston... In many parts of the world there can certainly be ulterior motives...
Maybe it would be better if they invest in another team further away form the When I look at attendance numbers of LA2 & NYRB2 and TFC2 , I'm not sure how long the MLS owners will want to go with this (second team) investment. Same goes for the academies. Garber stated last week in the SOL address that owners are spending $100 million a year on the academy program and sooner or later, they are going to want to see a return on it. The MLS second teams especially, certainly aren't making any money on attendance or tickets sold. Even though you won't make a lot of revenue by the amount of tickets sold, I doubt they are getting much money from TV or sponsors either. They are probably using the main stadiums so I guess they don't have to pay rent but when you see NYRB and KC's Swope Park Rangers playing in a final as they did a few years ago and drawing 800+ fans, you can't help but think sooner or later, they will be folding their operations sooner or later. Maybe it would be better if they invest in other teams further away from the main club as the Quakes are doing with Reno. I think it would be good for the Quakes to partner with a Bay Area team either in SF-Oakland or the peninsula. What happened to the Burlingame Dragons big plans?
I can understand why MLS teams have a USL reserve team. That’s how they develop players to someday sell. In theory, one big sale like Alphonso Davies pays for your USL team. What I don’t understand is the motivations for this new rapidly growing crop of non-MLS owners and affiliates.
I don't understand why anyone needs their own yacht or jet or tricked-out RV, but these nouveau rich want all of them, and sometimes several of each. Guess every rich kid wants a soccer team as a stocking stuffer these days so they can keep up with Merritt Paulson and Anthony Precourt.
I keep coming back to the same line that the "teams and leagues are losing money".... Why would any owner keep on investing in a sinking ship if he is losing so much money? .
ASL, USA /NPSL1, NASL 1, MISL ,AISA, USL1, WSA, WSL, ASL2, SWISL, SISL, SOSL,USISL, APSL, A-League, CISL, MISL 2, NPSL2, NPSL3 &4 , USL , USL Pro , D3, PDL, NISA, NASL 2 , MLS... A bunch? Out of all those leagues listed, only two are still going strong. The PDL & NPSL are amateur outfits and NISA I don 't believe ever got off the ground. The NASL 2 will probably never come back.
They are suing MLS and USSF. They expect to win. If they do, they might be able to bring the league back. I think MLS and USSF hope that they can delay trial long enough to make the issue moot. I expect NASL to win their lawsuit, but it might well be too late to make a difference. And what brought them down this time was that Traffic was the main investor, and they got caught in the FIFA/CONCACAF scandal, so the rest of the NASL owners had to buy them out on extremely short notice. It didn't go well. I'd be happy to see the NASL make a comeback, but I won't be heart broken if they don't. Go Quakes!! - Mark