While watching TV, I would open the MLS app on my phone, tap the screen twice and the game comes up on my TV. I'm not sure it could be any easier in my experience. Compared to navigating the Fios user guide it was a breeze.
The Union reddit was been swarmed by 'optimistic' apologists for the FO recently, and it makes me wonder if the team's interns are keeping busy.
A lot of them are teenagers who haven't followed the team for very long. Forgive the naivety of youth, for you were once as they were.
Union scouting report from Czechia (you'll need to put Google Translate to work). https://sportrevue.isport.blesk.cz/...-a-pet-dalsich-opor-philadelphie-union#part=1 Happy to see that Ilsinho is really only 23. Doesn't show though.
A special pre-season “hey don’t be too hard on us” pep talk for the media on Wednesday. Busy Wednesday at the Power Training Complex pic.twitter.com/CkwYXVOf1L— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) February 26, 2018 My prediction: 50% buy into the propaganda, the other 50% roll their eyes.
I'm amazed that the two narratives are "the team restricts credentials/access based on coverage" and "no one covers the team [and therefore no one needs or wants credentials/access]". They can't both be right, right?
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20180304/SPORTS/180309865 "That brings into view one of the other potentially questionable aspects of the original deal: If after 10 years, the Union’s attendance lags in the bottom 25 percent of MLS for two consecutive years (which it has, the Union ranked 19th out of 22 teams last year), the club can choose to relocate, paying Delco a stipend of $10 million to exit the lease. In a climate where a prominent owner like Columbus Crew’s Anthony Precourt is strong-arming his way toward Austin, clubs have the leverage and precedent to leave, which would leave the stadium a white elephant even more marooned." How does this make everyone feel? We could potentially be Columbus.
Always seemed weird that numerous real estate developers are involved in the ownership group yet there’s been no development....
I think many are making too much of that part of the story. First, I think the clause was perfectly understandable in 2008 when you could legitimately see the league and a team here struggle. The stadium capacity is low, but so was 2008 attendance. If you have 18,500 seats to fill and you rank low based on 2008 numbers, you're talking really bad. MLS is a much different beast now and it wouldn't surprise me if selling out all 17 games would put the team in the bottom quarter. Second, the article notes that the club, not the real estate group, now owns that land, it's invested heavily in the practice facility, and it earns rent on the office space. Those do not appear to me to be things you do when you're going to move. Buying that property does not make a whole lot of financial sense if you're going to leave it sit next to an abandoned stadium.Third, Philadelphia is the fourth largest US market. MLS is in every one of the top 10, there is no other city that can better the potential offered here. This is a league where we are going to start seeing market size matter much more. Even Seattle, which is much smaller, has alluded to this. I guarantee you MLS wants to be in this market so I do not think there is any parallel with Columbus. I do not think a Philly team starting today would be in Chester. This team could very well be more valuable somewhere in the city itself or in Camden. I could really see a desire to leave Chester, but I also don't think getting another stadium built in this area would be easy because of Chester. The state has already paid, the County paid, and there's no way the City signs up up paying for another one. Even fully funded, I don't think approval for a stadium in Philly would be easy but I can see the desire is trying to move north. Having the land in Chester to continue to host training and the offices would allow the team some flexibility in getting that done I would think but they'd have to develop the land there and deal with what would be an empty stadium. I see the organization making a number of changes that support growing the business and the academy helps provide solid local roots. I don't think it does those things if it's looking to leave. I think its easy to look at Sugarman's lack of spending power and link it to this but I also think that's kind of lazy. Sugarman is not in this long term and I think he will sell, but the value he'll get is much higher selling at team that's in the 4th largest US media market.If I think this through, it'll be tough for MLS to come back after screwing over one of the poorest cities in PA, especially at what I'd expect to be $300m expansion fee. The potential is definitely here, we've all seen it. The key is really finding ownership to fund it and/or a way out of Chester and into Philadelphia to really unlock it.
I doubt the league would allow the Union to leave Philly as it is such a large TV market. If anything, I could see an attempt to move to a Philadelphia location. There would be no public money available for such a move, so the only possible way I see it happening is if they can convince Temple to let them use their proposed new stadium. Realistically, I don't see it happening for all the reasons billf listed.
That would be, in may ways, worse than now and not something I'd see the league being keen to support. We're about to blow past MLS 3.0, sharing a college football stadium as a tenant is so MLS 0.5. Now if the Union developed the stadium with Temple as a tenant, that could be better but not seeing it. You'd still have to deal with the fact Chester is absolutely screwed here. There is no graceful way out of that.
Training facilities, high schools, youth academies, etc. can't be moved. No way the team invests money in all of those things if the plan was/is to move. Check out where the Crew train... not quite Chester Park, but not far off.
Possible situation in another 10 years+ is to move the USL team to Chester, use Talen as the training center, USL games, and Open cup games. They would need to build up the area more to bring in more events (conventions, shows, etc) to make it work. This would allow them to get a stadium in Philly proper and not screw Chester completely. This would have to involve significant growth of MLS and US soccer pyramid. Not sure this is realistic, but just an idea.
The real question is where and how do you get a stadium in Philly? Even if Sugarman or some future owner had 300-500m to drop, getting the land and all of the approvals would be ridiculously complex. I'm not noting that as reason to stop but more as a set of challenges to overcome. I think that situation would be ideal for the Union, but its tough.