News: One year after meeting with the Miami Ultras. South Florida has answered Don Garber.

Pretty sure they'd want to see a few seasons of consistent support. One season of improved support and attendance doesn't mean much.

But then you have orlando who after one season get meetings with MLS and are on the inside track if they can put together a stadium plan and the money for a franchise fee.

So there you go, your support means dick all unless Traffic either coughs up a couple hundred million for a franchise and a stadium or they sell to a billionaire who is willing to do so.

 

i was thinkin' about this and was unsure which thread to put it in, but i'll put it here...
it seems to me the best way to ensure that at least one Florida team, if not two or three, eventually make it to MLS is to build a grassroots supporters movement together around all three teams, Tampa, Orlando and South Florida. and the first step there is to get all three teams playing each other in the same league for a three-way Florida Derby... if that means Orlando joining NASL or whatever.
has there been any effort from Tampa, Orlando and South Florida supporters to petition Orlando to change leagues? if not there ought to be. i've never even been to Florida so it don't concern me, it's just a thought...

 

Love the passion as always Uncle Ed. I'm not sure we've answered The Don's call, or if that really is what is important in the end anyway. We've talked a number of times, be it here, twitter, facebook, and I still think you're casting your net a bit to far so to speak. I realize you're a Dade guy, but the plain truth is that you are a small minority in Dade County of people who will consistently support American pro soccer. It's never worked there, and I can't see anything that would change that short of Barcelona leaving Spain and moving to Miami and joining MLS. LOL

I just think that if you narrowed your focus to the Strikers, you'd wind up being able to eventually realize the dream. There are threads and posts all over BS and everywhere in cyberspace about MLS expansion. But the fact is MLS has reached the point where who they let in and when can be determined to fit the needs of the league as it stands now, rather than just trying to expand the footprint of the league and gain relevance. The TV market that is the entire tri-county area in South Florida HAS to be on MLS's list. Just no two ways about it. So, the question becomes, how do you make the market viable for the right money to come along and fill the void.

The answer to this is the Strikers. From the moment Traffic made the change there has been a buzz building in South Florida. It more than tripled the attendance in the first year, and if not for that monsoon for the first Tampa game and horrible weather again for the championship final, I think it would have been even better. Tim Robbie is huge for this club, his ties to the community, his ability to build the sponsorship, just his presence as a part of it means something in South Florida. If money is spent to actually advertise the team this year, I think we'll see an even bigger number at the gate. The ability to bill the Tampa games now officially and truly as the return of one of the greatest pro soccer rivalries in North American history - Strikers vs. Rowdies - will for certain give us our biggest crowds of the year. Who knows, maybe even 10,000 if the team is also performing well on the field.

What I'm saying is, last year the foundation was laid for a lot of possibilities. I know you supporters hate that Traffic won't say, "Ok, we want to bid for MLS if you guys come out and support the team!" but I don't blame them for that, on a number of levels. Frankly I kind of doubt at this point that Traffic will ever attempt to take a team to MLS as a majority owner. That said, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to sell the Strikers, or at least the majority ownership of them, to investors who would be willing to try and make a bid to get them to MLS. To me that is the only way MLS is going to come, and stay, in South Florida. But that's not going to happen if we can't show potential investors that the market is worth the risk. The ONLY way to do that right now is be supporting the Strikers. We need all soccer fans in South Florida to come to Lockhart this year. That's how we show Garber, MLS, and most importantly, prospective investors that this market will support MLS. We don't need to average 30,000 people to be attractive to the league, just enough 15,000 - 20,000 to be respectable because our market will command huge TV dollars down the road.

 

A numbr of fans have floated this very proposition Evan. A three way derby between the Strikers, Rowdies, and Orlando could be very intriguing. Currently there doesn't seem to be any way to make it happen. Orlando seems content to operate what is basically a D2 team with a D2 budget in a D3 league, with no regard for the potential advantages to joining what is already a historic rivalry between the Strikers and Rowdies, which can now officially be rejoined this season with the acquiring of the Rowdies name by Tampa. As Striker fans and Rowdie fans, all we can do is work hard at regrowing our rivalry. Both fanbases would love to include Orlando in it, and I think we all feel that we could by just as compelling a derby as the Cascadia Cup, but Orlando's ownership doesn't seem at all interested in this idea.

 

I'm not sure this is a valid question unless Orlando were willing to move up to NASL, or if circumstances would up being the NASL failed, but the Strikers and Rowdies lived on and somehow found their way into USL Pro. Without all three teams being in the same division, I don't think there is any meaningful way to incorporate Orlando into the picture. Things are looking worse at USL Pro this year than last year, while I think the NASL is looking to be in a better position. I just have to wonder why Orlando ownership won't even consider making the jump. It would be of huge benefit (for reasons we've spoken of at length on these boards and elsewhere) for both Orlando and the NASL.

 

Orlando's ownership keeps feeding their fans the MLS line, their fans and supporters only have MLS on their minds and we don't see any interest at all in the growth of a meaningful rivalry. Their fans do seem to want to play us, and we want to play them, but as far as joining the NASL and helping to grow a 2nd tier of soccer in the U.S., it isn't going to happen until MLS either shuts the door on them for expansion or the ownership fails to come up with the money.

Until then, all we could really do is try to persuade the three teams to get together and formulate some kind of preseason cup. Maybe start out with a four team group, invite someone else, and eventually expand it to eight teams like the Disney mickey mouse tourney.

Of course the whole point is to play each other, so a two group tourney would mean all three teams might not play each other every time.

I know there is bad blood between Orlando's owners and principles within the NASL over how things went down with the original NASL bid and Austin being non committal after counting themselves among the teams that would break away. And while I think fans would welcome Orlando to the NASL, especially Florida soccer fans, I'm not sure the NASL would be open to it without alot of pressure or if they were desperate in order to meet sanction requirements or something.

Rawlins is only thinking of himself and his franchise, as evidenced by how he treated the fanbase in Austin and how is he using USLpro for his own ends rather than for any apparent legitimate concern with developing lower division soccer.

The Mob would love for a chance to let him know how we feel about him in person.

 

Again....

The USSF standards promulgated in August 2010 apply to all professional leagues. There were codicils at the end that apply specifically to Division II.

They include the number of teams, a plan for expansion and a percentage that have to be US-based. USL Pro actually has more teams than the NASL, so I don't know quite why the fact there is no minimum number for a third-division league is an issue, quite frankly.

USL Pro also has 10 of its 11 teams in the US. A time zone minimum would be ludicrous at the third division level - forcing a third division league to have teams in three time zones would be counter-productive.

Similarly, saying they should have 75 percent of their teams in markets of more than three quarters of a million in population doesn't seem to make sense in D3. The entire point of D3 would be to be in markets smaller than that.

Minimum stadium capacity is 5,000 for DII. Does it make sense that it should be the same for a league lower than that? And I'm going to guess most (but not all) USL Pro stadiums are about that size (Pittsburgh's new yard won't be, but you wouldn't kick it out of bed if they come up with it, will you? Charlotte might not be, don't know for sure. Harrisburg might not be. And I don't know if Dayton is moving or not.)

The other standards are about team-specific economic viability, and I'm 100 percent with you in terms of the need to have standards for that. That just makes sense. Seven of the 11 teams appear to be viable, so that's a good thing. But if they wanted to say teams at Division III have to demonstrate a certain amount of financial viability (though at a lower level than the DII standards), that would be completely sensible.

So when people continue to throw the "lack of D3 standards" out there, most of the time they're just pissed off that the NASL has to put on big boy pants (which, to their credit, they're making good progress on) and that they have to pay for the sins of the past. That's unfortunate. But if we're going to make progress as a soccer nation, that's going to have to happen. Sorry if your league has to take the brunt of that, but if they pull it off and stabilize D2, that's not only good for everybody, that gives you something else to crow about, doesn't it?

So, please..."the lack of D3 standards" is largely a canard. The only differences that really matter are ownership financial viability. The other stuff is just window dressing.

Only to finding decent dates in which to play each other. I'm sure you could have midweek games, if the three corners of the troika were all willing, though.

 

It is our understanding that Orlando's FO approached FCTB about a possible Friendly (for charity) Match last year and Tampa rejected the idea.
Is this not true?

We'll meet up soon enough. And you guys can defend the honor of all those wronged Austin fans. We look forward to it.

I'd also like to comment on Uncle Ed's article on the link posted at the top of this thread.

Orlando- too small of a market. Really? Explain (someone, please) how little 'ol Orlando drew over 6K average per match and Ft. Lauderdale drew 4K average. And we are, as you guys love to point out, D-3!

The Don is coming to Central Florida in February. We'll keep y'all posted.

 

I addressed the animosity towards Austin's ....er excuse me, Orlando's ownership in my post. Maybe Orlando shitty did ask FCTB for a friendly, I can't confirm. I've heard the same as you, but the way I "heard" it was put was more of an "up yours" response.

Way to make light of how shitty the Austin deal was for their fans and supporters. We don't need to defend their honor, we'll have enough work on our hands making fun of your dumb air noodle man.

We'll see what higher ticket prices and (hopefully) fewer ticket giveaways do to attendance this season. But then it won't compare at all to how much more expensive the games will become if you do somehow swindle an MLS team. So enjoy!

 

I'm not making light of the Austin situation. I'm just questioning the real reason why you and other Rowdies supporters (I've spoken to) attack Rawlins so much. He's a businessman. Nothing more. And he opened up shop seventy miles down the road (from your favorite business) and is doing quite well. He stated his goal was for Orlando City to, one day, be an MLS franchise and he and his people are working on that goal. If it doesn't happen...oh well. We'll all get over it.

I'd love to see Orlando, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale compete. These matches would be epic. But right now, Rawlins doesn't feel his club needs to be in the NASL. That doesn't mean he's engaged in a "swindle" to land an MLS franchise.

And BTW. You think our air noddle man is funny?
1. You guys didn't think of it.
2. The St. Petersburg Baseball Commision probably wouldn't let you bring something like that into the stands.
3. Your team's mascot is a sock.

 

1) We didn't think of it because its ********ing ridiculous.

2) I wouldn't blame them if they didn't allow it, as it is ********ing ridiculous.

3) Not anymore, so suck it noodle man.


And I wont be asking for forgiveness for asking owners of soccer teams in this country to be a little more than "just businessmen".

Do I understand the business decision? Of course. Do I still think it could have been handled with a little more heart? Yes.

So enjoy your cold blooded owner. I hope he doesn't stab you guys in the back one day like he did the Austin fans. Or at the very least, I'd hope he'd stop taking season ticket orders when he knows good and well that he'll be pulling up the stakes and skipping town. lol

 

Oh, you have no idea how ridiculous we can get Speed. This IS Orlando after all!

 

Hey, what good is a supporter group that no one can hear? Was the the final over there last season, could barely hear the Iron Lion Firm, much less you guys.

What sayeth you?

 

Fair criticism. It's a big place. Alot of unorginized noise. The players have told us they can hear both groups loud and clear but the fans in the sideline seats say the same thing about the SG's getting drowned out by the PA, random cheering, etc.. .

We have a Supporters Summit coming up. It is hoped the two bigger groups begin to work together this year on songs and chants, TIFO, etc.... Preliminary casual meetings, I'm told, are going well.

 

Well that's good. Having multiple groups, in different parts of the stadium, just doesn't do it for me.

Good luck unifying the factions.

 

No it doesn't. The support in stadiums with multiple groups in different areas vs in ones with one large group isn't comparable. Not even close.

nice try though.

 

Well in Chicago, Sector Latino has their own section away from Section 8.

 

Is it a big section? do they matter? can you hear them over Section 8?

never heard of them.

 

Checking them out on youtube. I see like 12-20 people in all these vids, tops. On the scale of MLS supporter groups, these guys don't count.

You'd have to use the example of a team like the Galaxy. Support split at both ends of the stadium and the atmosphere, at least on tv, is sub par because of it.