A sports league putting teams in markets already occupied by a rival league? Unfathomable! Has that even happened before? Short answer: yes. Long Answer: Baltimore Stars - USFL Boston Breakers - USFL Chicago Cougars - WHA Denver Gold - USFL Houston Gamblers - USFL Houston Mavericks - ABA Minnesota Fighting Saints - WHA New Jersey Generals - USFL New Jersey/York Nets - ABA New York Jets - AFL New York Raiders - WHA Los Angeles Chargers - AFL Los Angeles Express - USFL Los Angeles Stars - ABA Oakland Invaders - USFL Oakland Oaks - ABA Oakland Raiders - AFL Philadelphia Stars - USFL Pittsburgh Maulers - USFL Tampa Bay Bandits - USFL Washington Federals - USFL
The American League's New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox seem to be doing okay - having seen off the incumbent National League teams.
True. On the other hand, you shouldn't plan on transfer fees being a measurable part of your income stream if all we can do is come up with a handful of players for all D2 teams in recent memory cracking the six figure mark.
The point of that post was that the concept of putting new teams in markets already with a team is not such a new concept that it can be considered a shady venture, or a "game" as you put it. It's been done before, and it's even a bit strange if it isn't done. Actually gauging how well WHA, USFL, ABA, and AFL teams did to forecast how this USL "intrusion" will do is comparing apples to oranges.. The NBA, NFL, and NHL were already well established and without question the dominant entities of their sports. The new teams' survival depended on if it could find a niche and milk it enough. Neither the NASL or USL-Pro is the dominant established D2 league, so it's a different situation. I thought this would have been kind of obvious, but once again your fetal alcohol syndrome makes you completely oblivious.
I'm not the only one who thinks USL is playing a "game": Episode 35 55:00 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/feuersteinsfire
Well at this level that's going to pay for 3 - 5 players on your rosters. Heck if they could find a player that sold for 1 mil, that's probably at least half your budget. And if you get the reputation for developing players you'll also probably seel more. And you could always put a sell on % in the sales agreement where you could get more down the road if they sell on for even more. So nothing really to sneeze at.
Honest to God: Feuerstein as your expert witness is like posting Charlie Sheen's opinion on clean living and monogamy.
Except that, while it's a great plan, it's not going to happen. Young potential players haven't been (and won't be) signing their futures away to minor league soccer teams in the United States. MLS is just starting to get into the business of signing "home grown" players. But then, MLS teams have the resources to invest the millions needed to get academy systems up and running, then wait the requisite number of years for talent to develop. All of this can lead to tens of millions of expenses before the first player is sold. D2/D3 teams don't have the proven track record of surviving long enough, much less the financial resources to invest in that kind of long term play. And if a D2/D3 team doesn't develop a youth player with potential, they're not going to sign him once he gets to 18 years old. At that point, any player with the potential to be worth a sizeable transfer fee is going to have better options than pretty much anything a D2/D3 side can offer.
If there was a player worth being sold for $1M, he wouldn't be within a hundred miles of a D2 team unless there was some really, really strange extenuating circumstance.
These teams are still around: New Jersey/York Nets - ABA New York Jets - AFL Los Angeles Chargers - AFL Oakland Raiders - AFL The LA Chargers moved to San Diego. The other three are still in the same city. ... Not sure that I understand the point of this thread. I support FC Tampa Bay. I dont support the NASL or any other D-2 League. If FCTB had moved to USL PRO like the Rhinos, I would still support them. My support of FCTB would not have vanished if they had moved to USL PRO.
So they got him for $175,000? Is that a million, or is that less than a million? Math is Hard, Barbie.
I agree that the chances are pretty slim. But who knows you could sign some kid that's just moved to this country or maybe a college international. Agreed, not probable, but possible in a win the lottery kind of way. Best odds would be to sell players in the 150 - 300 k range and hope you can somehting from a possible sell on. But you can't build a budget on possible player sales.
And frankly, I think the NASL would be very fortunate indeed to find one player per season - league-wide - that could be sold on for $100k. And that's definitely not going to affect anyone's balance sheet. The more I look at it, the more I think the end play is some sort of minor league system where much of the player and technical staff costs are incurred by MLS clubs. Yes, that means that control of players would be ceded to some outside interest, but as a 25 year fan of the Durham Bulls, it certainly doesn't trouble me. Especially if it brings the financial stability to let me be a 25 year fan of my local minor league soccer team. And let's be honest. D2/D3 rosters undergo tons of turnover in the current system. Other than precluding some pro/rel fantasy, I don't see any real barriers to an NHL style system of minor league affiliations. You want some sad reading, check out this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_developmental_and_minor_sports_leagues The ones that are successful are the ones that have forged tight links with the dominant major league. The others feature a steady stream of expansion, contraction, relocation, rebranding - in short, they look just like D2/D3 soccer leagues have looked. If having half the RailHawks players owned by DC United and the other half by the Houston Dynamo means the team would have the financial stability needed for more or less permanence in the market? I would gladly welcome our new MLS overlords.
True to that. Unfortunately, the reserve league may end up turning into a developmental system, but I would take a reserve squad if it guaranteed a stable league.
I'd be perfectly fine with that, too. If the City Stars were owned by the Crew (or Montreal or Philadelphia or any other relatively close MLS team) and they supplied our players, I'd be perfectly fine with that. Just don't tell WSW that, he'll start ranting about how we're really just afraid of NASL taking over MLS.
An American minor-league style setup would be a great way to provide stability and longevity to NASL. As AndyMead said, there is already a good deal of turnover in terms of players anyway. The better, more expensive guys move on to greener pastures, the crummy ones don't get re-signed, and the cycle goes on. Why not have MLS pay some of those players' salaries? Guys come and go all season long regardless, so if it means MiLB-style stability, I say being an official minor league would be great.
I don't see the Reserve Division as competing in the same space as D2 minor league. The Reserve teams are going to be mostly younger players and "can't miss" prospects. Players on hand to train with the big team, available at a moments notice. A D2 minor league team would likely feature the "long shot" prospects, the tweener players (22-28), and the project players. Just a guess. Frankly, if most MLS teams get their U16/U18 academy teams up and running in full gear, there are going to be more than enough players to spread around. And that doesn't include the plethora of Caribbean and Central American players that currently play in D2, and likely would continue. I'm still trying to figure out how the RailHawks wound up with a Maltese international.
If you're going to have affiliate relationships, the only way to do it would be to have MLS pay for player salaries like MLB does with MiLB. You just have to have MLS be able to afford to do that. I think it's a great solution, for what my opinion is worth.