Sunday 17 Nov 2019

I’ll take Zlatan, Chad Marshall and Nick Rimando to start.

Thx,

Jay!

 

I don't get it. Why or what’s the point of teams including the names of Nick Rimando, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Tim Howard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic if they have all declared they either retiring or moving on?

 

Because teams retain their rights for a set period of time, so Miami or Nashville could claim their rights in the draft.

Now it would be the dumbest roster move since Salt Lake permanently traded a international slot for Adolfo Gregorio but they have to account for the possibility.

 

Would they all keep playing if Beckham or the Nashville people make them all a great offer?

 

Probably not, but they are still rostered players until their contract expires at the end of the year. So, their names are on the list as being available.

 

Just looking at the headlines, I know how the Quakes would approach this.

 

I could see Ibra joining Beckham in Miami.

 

Because they want to either get the player, or hope to get something in return for them.

As an example, the Portland Timbers selected Robbie Findley and Jonathan Bornstein in the 2010. Findley's contract with RSL had ran out at the end of the season and, while he was a free agent at the time of the draft, he ended up signing with Nottingham Forrest at the end of the year. 2 years later he was released by Nottingham and signed with RSL. However, before doing so, RSL had to give the Timbers a pile of allocation money. Bornstein had signed a pre-contract with Tigres during the 2010 season. Three years later, the Timbers traded Bornstein's rights and allocation money to Chivas USA for Ben Zemanski.

At the time, the Timbers were given a bad time for "wasting" two draft picks on players that were leaving the league, while others used it to show just how useless the Expansion Draft was. However, in both those cases, the Timbers got some value out of taking players in the expansion draft that weren't going to be in the league the next season.

 

Lot of good stuff here. From the article:

"The Fire have to pay a minimum $145,000 for operating expenses for games with 15,000 attendees or fewer. The fee rises based on attendance. It’s $162,500 for up to 20,000, $176,500 for up to 25,000, $201,875 for up to 35,000 and $253,000 for any crowd larger than 35,000.

The Fire also must pay the district a per-game “use fee” of $10,000.

...

The Fire can set their own ticket prices, but they will include fees remitted to the Park District. These amount to a $4 per ticket facility fee and, for larger crowds, a “capital improvement” fee. It will range from $1 per ticket for crowds larger than 25,000 to $3 for crowds larger than 35,000.

In addition, the Fire were required to post with a major bank a letter of credit covering the operating expenses and use fees they paid for their final season in Bridgeview. That amount was $2.635 million. The Park District can draw from it if there’s a breach of contract.

But the agreement gives the team a substantial cut of revenue from parking and concessions. For parking, the lease sets the per-vehicle rate of $35, higher for premium ticket holders and adjusted each year at the Park District’s discretion. The Fire will get 60 percent of parking revenue for crowds of 10,000 or less. The team’s share will gradually fall to 50 percent for larger crowds.

The same applies to the Fire’s cut of food and beverage money."

So if I'm reading this right, at 15,000 fans a game, the fire will have to pay $10.33 per attendant plus and additional $4 per ticket in facility fees to cover rent.

Similarly, they would have to pay $9.58 + $4 for a 18,000 attendance game,
$8.63 + $4 for a 20,000 attendance game,
$7.46 + $4 for a 25,000 attendance game,
$7.06 + $5 for a 30,000 attendance game,
$6.05 + $6 for a 35,000 attendance game,
and $6.58 + $7 for a 40,000 attendance game.

Lets hope either attendances are north of 20k or average ticket prices are high enough to take the hit.

 

I’m not trying to be facetious but what can you possibly get for two 40 +year old GK's in Nick Rimando and Tim Howard who are done?

 

Not much? But that would also be a reason why Miami isn't going to take Rimando or Howard in the draft. But basically, a players inclusion in the expansion draft is based on their contract status prior to the end of the season, not after the season. Rimando and Howard are definitely done playing soccer, but what about a player that is a regular starter whose contract ended at the end of the season and who is currently in negotiations with the team on a new contract. Should that team get to essentially protect an additional player because they don't have the starter under contract at the time of the expansion draft?

 

Probably nothing, which is why they won't be picked. But the league can't just decide to not list them in either category, their status (protected or unprotected) has to be declared.

 

FWIW, the per-game ticket prices have already been listed on the Fire's website.

 

Oh I get it so instead of of exposing a player they want to keep, they leave those guys unprotected and not lose a potential starter or reserve....Got it....