News: USL and NASL News 2016

It almost would make sense to have 4 or 5 regional leagues around the country like minor league baseball does. Given the healthy interest, perhaps Florida could have its own league.

In addition to grassroots development of the sport in communities around the state, the goal could be to work hard to develop kids through that system (perhaps working with IMG in Bradenton and similar academies).

The benefits would be teams having limited travel, making it easier to turn a profit for these smaller clubs, enhanced local marketing efforts and an opportunity to perhaps evaluate each league's development efforts separately to see what's going well and what's not.

Perhaps replicate this approach regionally around the country then report the best players to the national level. The teams drawing the most and with the strongest org could then be on Garber's shortlist for eventually moving up to MLS. Kind of merit-based promotion.

 

I have been advocating some type of regional based development for years - yeah I know, as if someone cares what I say . Baseball is a great example of developing players. The Sox have 3 all stars 26 years old and under. And more in the pipeline. We need that kind of output and development in the game of football (soccer).

 

US women's pro soccer should do that - and then have regional "all-star" teams play a regular schedule against each other (kind of like a Champions League for US women, making up the "premier league"). That way the USWNT stars could play in a lot of regional games with their local teams, helping to bring interest and raise the level of play and then play in bigger-draw national events, targeted at the bigger audiences/national TV.

It's a different concept that any US sport (or world, AFAIK), but why not try a different way?

 

Good idea on the women's approach. The status quo approach to development simply is not working. Something needs to change. The best way to tackle a large challenge is to break it down into smaller manageable parts. This is one potential way to do that.

MLS teams owning lower division clubs is a mistake. The league is in a growth stage still and there simply isn't enough capital and resources to properly market,and manage lower division clubs, which is always a challenge even for the well established sports. NYRB is the perfect example. Better to run them as a separate entity at this point in the league's evolution.

 

Well said. Baseball would be great to emulate from a development perspective.

 

That's a great idea, and would solve a number of problems. Right now, the ridiculous lawsuit the USWNT is pushing has shed some light on what a ludicrous, top-heavy system the women's game has. The salaried players are guaranteed their NT spots and it is nearly impossible for an outsider to break their way in. The class of 99 fought for gains that benefited this generation of players, but these ones are only out to line their pockets as much as they can, with no regard for the future NT players.

Having a viable pro league is the best way to ensure a strong NT, and that fresh players can get in every cycle and it doesn't become a closed club.

 

NPSL playoff preview:

http://www.npsl.com/news_article/show/669593?referrer_id=2168389

 

Boston City FC
@bostoncityfc1
41m
This storm is so frustrating.
There was a good-sized crowd, an even and competitive 0-0 #playoffs match.
10pm earliest possible restart

 

wow and they are only at the half...

 

ouch...only one hour of sleep...but they have landed back at Logan:

Legacy rallies to win 5-4 in kicks from the spot after 0-0 game in @NPSLSoccer playoffs.
Boston City FC had led 3-1 in kicks. twitter.com/Legacy76NPSL/s…

 

There is kind of a Kraft snub in this article as well.

"
MLS’s model certainly took time to gain traction. At the end of its sixth season, the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion folded and the league likely would have died if not for Phil Anschutz and Lamar Hunt. In 2005, its 10th season, MLS finally returned to 12 teams with the additions of Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA, each of which paid all of $7.5 million to get in. Next year, it’ll add Atlanta (team No. 21) and Minnesota (No. 22), who each paid an expansion fee of more than $100 million. The NASL can only hope that it weathers its seventh-season storm in similar fashion.
"

 

That they didn't mention Kraft along with Anschutz and Hunt? Hunt had 3 teams, Kraft had one, plus a couple of years where he paid the bills (but did not operate) San Jose, and Anschutz owned the rest. Not to take anything away, but of the 3, Kraft did the least.

The whole NASL is a mess and soccer as a whole would be better off if the remaining teams ended up in the USL. There would be enough teams to create 4 regional leagues to cut down on the travel expenses so they could actually survive on a gate of 4-5,000 per game. As for the Cosmos, I laugh in your general direction! Good riddance!

 

Going regional makes the most sense at this point given the financial issues they're facing. MLS technically went out of business in November 2001 so it was damn close - and the NASL has nowhere near the same clout with investors to weather the storm. The smart and strategic move would be to consolidate and make sure the business is sound before doing anything else.

 

And now he has 15. So why did the Revs just cut the guy, and not send him to Rochester?

 

Well, I don't know what talent he has around him in Cincy, plus the competition is obviously not as good. It's possible their coaching staff are able to optimize his strengths. While he was here, he was the poster child of Heaps's inability to develop young guys, forwards in particular. Okoli was pretty raw when he came here, didn't get minutes and looked pretty bad when he did. I don't think any of us shed a tear when he was released.