Schlitterbahn Fort Lauderdale/Lockhart Stadium

SW Flys to Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood Intl. The executive airport next to the stadium does not have any commercial flights.

 

MLS is not coming to SoFlo/Strikers. Ever.

 

Well there you go. That's settled then.

 

I hate the Strikers, but even I think you should gtfo.

 

Because I don't think the Strikers will ever turn into an MLS franchise?

I've gone to games at Lockhart, I've mingled with players, I follow how the team is doing, etc. I just don't see it happening. Team is too minor league with no dreams/real moves of becoming major league.

 

You may be right. I hope not. I've been discouraged constantly since the 1970s, at least, by the constant failure of leagues and teams in this sport in So Fl. It does make me very skeptical of anything good ever happening. But, what else have we? The Don told us flat out that if we ever want MLS back here, which is something the league would like, we must support our local team. Guess who that is.

Did you also listen to one of the last Ultras Alive broadcasts where Tim, and Aaron, both said they'd love to move up, but it would take time to do it.

There are also strong, strong rumors afloat that there is at least one European investor interested in purchasing the team and moving it to MLS ASAP. However, we had a somewhat similar song and dance from a SA investor not so long ago & it turned into a pipe dream, a fart in a hurricane, so let's discount that considerably until we see something substantial in the local media from the parties involved. Still, if this proves to be true, how sweet would it be to see the Strikers on national TV whoopin' on the Galaxy & Beckham - he's just signed on w/LA for 2 more years - from time to time....


In the meantime, please continue to go to Lockhart & mingle and follow like the rest of us do. Do that and hope that everything will finally go our way for once and we actually will see our So Fl team, hopefully the Strikers, join MLS. Wouldn't it be nice if you were proven wrong?

 

DR and Antique or dead on. The only way, and more importantly, as has been mentioned countless times, in Garber's words the only way to get MLS to South Florida is to show strong support for our local team - the Strikers. One aside here, I'd LOVE to hear more about these potential investors Antique has mentioned and I know Uncle Ed has mentioned in a number of places as well.

If we support the Strikers in a big enough way, it's only a matter of time before MLS does in fact come here. MLS is a national top level sports league in the US. Eventually they will need at least one, and preferrably more than one Florida franchise. Recently MLS took it's first big step on the path to big time sports money - tv deals. The tri-county area of South Florida is a MUST tv market. You're not going to capture any significant portion of it in MLS without a local team. This isn't any of the other big four leagues where a lot of the local ratings can be attributed to transplants watching "their" teams. There's a reason why the Yankees or Mets are ALWAYS the baseball game of the week down here if the Marlins aren't on, and even sometimes if they are! In MLS you don't have that. People in South Florida aren't dying to tune into the Red Bulls or the Revolution. Ratings of any significance can only come from a local team, and we have one that already has an established history in this area that Traffic has brought forth and started to rebuild again.

Anyway, I'm off topic. LOL One thing I'll disagree with you on DR is the Schlitterbahn deal having little impact on MLS possibilities. Being in F19 as you are, I'm sure you've got much better contacts and info with the club then I do about these things, but here's my reasoning based on nothing more than examining the situation from the outside.

If the Schlitterbahn deal falls through, the mayor and other local politicians have already shown a willingness to go to bat with the FAA for the Strikers. The main allures of the Schlitterbahn deal for the city were a) tax revenue b) jobs c) upgrade of Lockhart along with a deal for the area high schools to continue playing there under reasonable terms. For a second let's go with this investor situation with the Strikers, and assume their intentions are indeed to try and take them to MLS. I only see two possibilities for that. Either you try and work out a deal to play at Sun Life, or you get Lockhart into MLS shape.

Sun Life is wrong on so many levels. Cost of renting, not getting full revenue from matches, playing soccer in a stadium that holds 70,000 people, the list goes on. With Lockhart, you've got a place that could house an MLS team if it's upgraded, which should be much less expensive then having to build your own stadium. If Schlitterbahn happens, you've got a thrid party paying for some, if not all of the upgrades to Lockhart. Even if it doesn't go through, if this investor is serious about MLS, and has the pockets capable of being the kind of investor MLS wants, then paying to upgrade Lockhart and strike an everybody wins deal with the FAA (with the help of the city and local politicians again) is a much more cost effective way to get into the league. And it would be even more cost effective if Beckham could be enticed to be involved along with his discounted franchise fee...............

 

Nice dreams re: Lockhart. The FAA owns it and calls the tune. The County, the schoolboard and the Strikers must dance to that tune, no matter the beat. That makes Lockhart a temporary solution at best. MLS wants teams with SSS that the team owns. Not teams that lease from a rather unpredictable entity like the FAA; remember how they wanted the Strikers out last season?

Where in the central tri-county area is there affordable land for an SSS? Keep in mind that Broward County is built out. We would almost have to destroy something to build any stadium anywhere. The cost of a stadium alone could scare off any foreign involvement and give pause to any local that has the loot and the dream of bringing MLS here.

AFAIK, any foreign investor has looked here with starry eyes at the number of futbol loving latinos that live in Miami-Dade and visions of financial sugar plums dance through his head as they flock to his sold out stadium in Miami. There is surprise when the truth is told to them about Miami and the beautiful game. Or any game for that matter. I've heard they leave the conversation a bit surprised and subdued.

And Beckham has at least 2 more years in LA. He'll probably not be part of anything we get here. Still, one can hope.

After all the crap that has gone on since the Toros/Gatos/Stikers of yore to this Striker team I'll believe in sugar daddies, domestic & foreign when they step up and put their millions where their mouth is. When I see the red & yellow hoops playing the Galaxy or Red Bull or DCU or KC or Seattle in their distinctive blue/green then I'll believe. Until then I'll be an aging, but very hopeful, skeptic.

 

Hang on my friend. The FAA owns the land, but I belive the city owns Lockhart itself. That's an afterthought anyway. For Schlitterbahn to build it's waterpark, the FAA would need to either sell the land to Schlitterbahn, or negotiate a long term lease (I heard 25 - 30 years, with an option of another 20 years was the initial speculation). If the FAA was willing to negotiate with Schlitterbahn on one of these options, why not a potential investor who buys the Strikers and wants to renovate Lockhart for MLS? That was what I meant with my everybody-wins comments above.

I agree with this 100%. All the more reason why I believe the road to MLS in South Florida must wind up at Lockhart, or at the very least, the land on which it sits. Buying this land from the FAA, or negotiating a fair lease along with upgrading the stadium itself, would still have to be less expensive than buying land and building an SSS from scratch, if you could even find a spot to put it.

Bottom line is, I'm definitely skeptical just like you. But unlike a lot of other Strikers fans, I'd be perfectly happy continuing to go to Lockhart and watch the Strikers be a D2 team in the NASL. Would I love to see the White Caps, Timbers, Sounders, and Earthquakes come in here as regular season opponents in the MLS? You bet your arse! But I don't need that in order to continue being a season ticket holder and bringing my son to Lockhart just like my dad brought me 30+ years ago. But either way, I feel like I'm doing my part by purchasing my five season tickets, bringing my family to the games, trying to get friends and co-workers interested in coming to games, buying merchandise and concessions, and enjoying the hell out of being at Lockhart again and watching my team. I've even got my speech to the wife all prepared for this year when I need to buy what I'm hoping is an even more "traditional" looking Strikers 2012 jersey!

 

The FAA sets the price. Not the city, not the county, not the state, not the school board; the FAA. Maybe the lease is for land use, but every body pays them.

Maybe no team owned SSS, then maybe no MLS. Maybe. Especially if the FAA continues to play games like they have in the past & may in the future. I read in the Miami Herald that they need to replace the tower at the airfield. Gonna build one twice as tall as the current one & give it all the bells & whistles to get it up to 21st century standards. It's gonna cost @ $13,000,000. In this world of shrinking budgets they gotta finance it somehow. Maybe by jacking up the lease?

Me, too...

Word is that the jersey will be kinda a cross between the traditional and last years w/fewer hoops and a black neck band, but no collar. We'll see. I'll like it as long as it's hooped red & yellow and has the Striker crest.

 

Do they really need to own the SS?

I know the Fire does not own Toyota Park, but obviously we were already in the league, also isn't the Push in DC for the city to pay (and I assume control) the S.S. for DCU?


Not they would be a contender for expansion anytime soon, just saying an SS may be required, but owning the SS, may be negotiable.

 

See, this I agree with. I thought of that area out west, even thought of putting it in one of my responses above, but decided not to. First, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't Huizenga own that land? If not anymore, I'm pretty sure he did at one time. Anyway, I'm guessing it would be very expensive. Now, it seemed last season that the Sunrise mayor was very pro-Strikers, so that could be of benefit (I'm pretty sure that's within Sunrise's boundaries) but I'm still skeptical of this simply due to the price tag. Someone would have to come in and be REALLY interested in buying the Strikers and taking them to MLS.

All of this always has me going back to my statement of the road to MLS in South Florida eventually having to wind up at Lockhart. The only obstacle to what needs to be done to make it happen is the FAA. Granted that's a huge obstacle. But it's not impossible. Tim Robbie is the right guy to have at the table trying to work out the best possible deal for the Strikers, no matter who the other players are or what the situation is. If anyone can find a way to get something in place that works for the team now, and could lead to something bigger and better down the road, it's him.

At the end of the day, money always talks. If an investor is interested in coming into this market with the intention of bidding for an MLS expansion franchise, what is ultimately his best option, his path to the best chance of success? What would appear to be the most economical approach? To me the answers to these questions are the Strikers and Lockhart. If you're going to have to open your wallet to address a stadium after buying the Strikers, then all things considered, doesn't it seem better to try and get ahold of Lockhart which would need to be upgraded for sure, but far less expensive then trying to buy land from someone like Huizenga or whatever private person or entity owns that land out west, and then have to finance with private funds only for sure, the construction of a brand new SSS?

To me this is pretty simple. Either someone buys the Strikers, negotiates with the FAA to either buy the land Lockhart sits on, or get a long term lease with terms that will allow the club to still be plenty profitable, and takes them to MLS - or we never get MLS. The only exception would be some billionaire with a huge desire for soccer and spending money to buy some piece of very expensive real estate, build a SSS with his own money, and pay the MLS expansion fee of I'm guessing, what, $50 million? $70 million? How likely is that scenario? Less likely than the one I laid out I'm thinking. Unfortunately the most likely one is no MLS. But we can still hope, and in the meantime, enjoy our Strikers, wherever they are forced to play.

 

DR, you're looking at the one place I can see (Sawgrass Mills) that makes sense. My preferred spot would be to have a stadium at the corner of 136th Ave & Sunrise with parking surrounding. If you'll remember the thread that existed for European Stadiums, the one in Holland that many of us like was also a shopping center, RR station, etc. That would make for a nice fit at Sawgrass.

The mayor of Sunrise seems to be all for the Strikers in Broward. I've heard he's said he'd not attend a Striker game at FAU. I do not know why. Keep in mind that he is elected & he may have term limits. Will the next regime be as excited about another sports team in town?

HA! If Traffic has a change of regime will they continue their support?

We need local owners with their own stadium. Only then will we have any degree of security. Maybe.

I'm all for this. Let's hope that they can continue despite whatever BS may be going on.

Now to go and savor the 2012 schedule....GO STRIKERS!!!

 

Could, might, should, may, would. All hypotheticals. Nothing concrete. It is pretty much just wishful thinking.

You think so? With MLS trying to go to NY at #20 and stop expansion for quite some time after. Orlando, Vegas, Minnesota, all have better plans for MLS expansion bids. Shoot, they at least have expansion plans.

Not disagreeing that, but we all now how the SoFlo sports fans are. Unless you have the big three like the Heat, going to be tough to draw a very good crowd.

No he didn't. He was basically forced into a corner to say that. He never really wanted to say yes MLS is our goal until he had no other choice as hosts were pleading for him to say it. Listen to it again.

Look, I'd love to be wrong. I really would. Nothing would thrill me more than to have an MLS team back in SoFlo. Nothing.

Trust me, if there was something a bit more concrete, I'd be buying into it hook line and sinker. But I refuse to get optimistic over something that just does not exist. And MLS to SoFlo right now simply does not exist.

 

You do NEED that because guess what? The Robbies are not going to continue to dish out money into a no-win business. If this team does not draw more fans and does not get a bigger standing within the community (media, fans, etc.) by the next half-decade, I could see the Strikers being nothing more than a memory...again.

 

That's all we've got right now. The Strikers existing is the only thing we've got to hold on to. Sure there are nibbles from the UK & Claure still seems to be somewhat interested, but the only thong visible wears red & yellow hoops. As it sits right now their success is our only ticket to MLS.

They have them for now. I think that Traffic & Tim have them for later. Possibly as an alternate Div 1. I hope we get to see it. Whatever it is. Any plans for MLS will be for the time after team #20. As you say, that puts it into the future, several years away. Maybe as much as a decade.

Still, you have a good point. If there is any plan available it would be nice to know what it is. That way everybody down here get get on the bandwagon to try to make it a reality.

I did. Several times. See above. He's got nothing against it, but, I think there's an alternate on his mind, too. Best of luck w/that. You heard one thing, I heard another.

Welcome to the club.......There are folks around that agree with you.

Have you done anything to push the issue? The supporters groups have. We need all the help we can get...

 

Sadly, this is true. I also think that if that were to occur it would be the death of the sport here at the pro level. If MLS can afford to do that they can kiss their TV ratings here goodbye (do they honestly think anyone here would support a team in Orlando?....I can't see it......)

I can only hope that Tim can push the visibility of this team locally to the point where he media must pay attention, and that there is a push to get folks from the south (Miami-Dade) to come north every once in awhile. I think that that is a tall order. He'll need a team that is a constant title contender to do it.

I also think we need local ownership to do it.

We'll see. I'll remain optimistically skeptical about all this because I want so desperately for it to work out for all of us, bu I'll not be shocked if it all falls apart. I've seen it happen all too often not to think that it can't happen again.

 

A couple things here. First, you do realize you could say the above about any lower level soccer team in North America, right? Why go out of your way to harp on this with the Strikers? Do you have a post just like this in the forum of every other NASL and USL Pro team on BS?

Second, Tim Robbie is the President of the club currently, not the owner. Traffic owns the Strikers, although from what I've heard recently, both of those things could change in the near future. Tim Robbie knows what he is doing trying to run the FO of a professional sports team in this market. You could not ask for a better person to be in his position for South Florida. He is doing a teriffic job so far with the sales and sponsorship aspects of this club, and it was readily apparent to those of us who were out at Lockhart last year. I firmly believe he is going to improve on those things again this year, plus he now has had an entire offseason to find ways to do more with advertising as well.

There are things going on right now at this moment that you, me, and most everyone else are completely unaware of that could lead to an MLS bid tomorrow. None of us knows the future. What we do have control over is supporting the Strikers. With continued growth of the fanbase will come expanded media attention, such as when the Strikers made the finals last year. We were on the evening news broadcast of every local channel that week. More interest = more relevance = better coverage = better possibilities for the future. Garber didn't say it to blow people off, he said it because it's the only way to get things headed in a direction that could possibly lead to future expansion and MLS. Instead of coming on here and being cynical, write an e-mail to a friend or co-worker and attach the Strikers schedule to it. Invite them to a game. Get them hooked. Let's see what happens when we really get Lockhart rocking. My money is on good things coming from it. There are too many reasons for it to be the case if we build this fanbase to the point that it can't be ignored.

 

I was probably there for that one.

Funny how some of the guys were wearing different shirts than the others. It was the year of the changing kit. Kind of like in the early 70's when some of the Dolphins had one logo on their helmets and others had another.

 

Capacity topped out around 19k. I was there in '80 i believe it was for a tilt with the Rowdies that drew over 18k.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8PsxfsPaA"]NASL: Tampa Bay Rowdies at Ft.Lauderdale Strikers 6/8/1980 - YouTube[/ame]

Brilliant run by Nene spoiled by an OT sudden death goal by Baralic.