I love this quote: “I think my feeling today is that I am more encouraged than I have been in several months by the progress,” Steinberg said. “It’s just a matter of hopefully finalizing at least one of those (investor) opportunities.” SEVERAL MONTHS!?!?!? Exactly how long have Nagle and company known their ship was sinking?
The one good thing I take out of that is this: The fact that Nagle is the one saying that is a positive sign. He's realized that ain't gonna be him.
Sacramento are extremely, extremely lucky detroit shot themselves not just at the foot, not just at the knee, but in their femur by moving their bid to Ford Field. Garber's silence towards them is glaring while Sacramento and Cincinnati trudge through their problems. Cincinnati has seemed to have waded into a hornets nest by gambling on West End (a gamble i think they made knowing how much time Sacramento was going to need), but again, that one may be backfiring. Its Oakley or Newport or bust for them. West End is going to be a quagmire and a long drawn out fight they dont want, need, or can afford. Hopefully sacramentos savior comes soon.
Meanwhile, in Miami ... The new plan for a David Beckham soccer stadium may not fit on the Overtown site
Noooooo, you think? I mean the Overtown site is such a great location, doesn't matter if there's zero parking or mass transit within 5 blocks of the stadium vicinity!
It shows how much BS is involved in "checking all the boxes" to get an expansion team in the league. Sacramento literally has the best stadium site available of any expansion city, site is ready to build immediately and has been for years... but Miami trying to pigeon hole their stadium into a residential neighborhood where there is obviously not enough room nor parking/transportation, is just salt in the wounds.
Especially considering that the pigeon-holing is happening in a blighted area of Miami in a desperate effort as to satisfy the presumed criteria for a sweetheart $25 million expansion fee, while Sacramento is saddled with a $150 million fee. If MLS shaved $125 million off Sacramento's entrance fee, perhaps the wherewithal of its ownership group would look that much better.
I would also be much less likely to get repossessed if Mercedes would shave $75k off the sale price off the vehicle I'd like! Oh and if McDonald's would give me an essentially free franchise license, I could open up a store!
Or McDonald's agrees to sell you a license to own a franchise and, when you arrive to pay, they inform you that theyve quadrupled the fee for no reason.
When did MLS agree to "Sell" Sac Republic an expansion spot? I seemed to have missed that news release........ This isn't MLS' fault. They laid out the criteria. Sac Republic (Kevin Nagle) submitted and presented their bid, and as of now it does not meet the criteria for running a successful team long term. Neither does FC Cincinatti, or Detroit's. And yes I am fully aware that if Jay Sugarman were submitting a bid during this round of expansion Philly would not get a team either. Fortunately (Un-Fortunately?) he submitted a bid back in 2008 when MLS' standards weren't even close to as high as they are now. Hopefully Nagle and company can find a committed investor (or investors) to get you're bid over the line. Sac Republic would be a good addition to the league.
This is where my tongue-in-cheek jokes are taken seriously and picked apart. Touche. Yes, MLS didn't agree to give sac the expansion. But the expansion fee did rise to 250mil in a really really short span of time. What was it before? 20mil? I don't have the numbers in front of me but it was far less than the current. Most would likely agree it would be tough to find that sort of capital with a near zero chance return of investment. But go ahead and toot the league's horn.
It was $20Mil back in 1998 when Miami joined. It was $100Mil when NYCFC and Orlando joined in 2015. LAFC reportedly paid $110Mil. The Don set the fee last year at $150Mil, changing later to $200Mil once they realized so many cities wanted in. These are the numbers I found in a super quick search. I can try to find the actual timeline later.
At the risk of being seen as "that guy"... Now that Nashville's check has been cashed, and FCC is just waiting on somebody to authorize them playing at Nippert "temporarily", Sacramento's usefulness to MLS may well now extend to keeping franchises with struggling stadium leases in line. Current examples #1 and #2 are Chicago and Philly. If the Crew gets cockblocked from moving by the Modell Clause, then the "we need a better stadium deal or we'll move the team to Sacramento" gambit may well be soon upon us, I fear.
Do you have a link to the $200 million number? I don't recall it ever being anything other than $150 million.