They likely do, but it is not quite the same franchise based rights. League membership doesn't devoid you of ownership. For example, if the Cosmo's membership in the league was revoked because of some rogue actions or they won't come in line with the TV deal's for the league, then the ownership group still owns the asset's of the club. The USL seems to be different, in that the independent ownership groups are running franchise's of the USL and can be stripped of their ownership rights. The Rochester event is an example of the USL stripping the owner of everything and taking over the team. Most leagues in North America are franchise based.
NASL ran Boris out of Atlanta and tried to find someone to replace him. It was league owned for a bit before folding entirely.
Boris sold the team to the league, kept ownership of the park and the NPSL team. That's not the way it went down in Rochester at all. I'm trying to stay away from a pissing match about the tenants of each league's model here. I'm not advocating one model over the other, I'm just going by what went on in the TOA vs USL split and how each group chose to operate its clubs differently. Why I brought it up was in regards to the stadium requirement thing and why there isn't more of an effort from other clubs to be compliant with the USL's requirements. Then we got info from an insider that the SSS isn't a set in stone requirement, teams just having a stadium plan in place is adequate enough for the league. The statement that is was a requirement was likely misreported by the journalist.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/busine...rity-may-return-cashman-center-city-las-vegas Las Vegas mentioned here in a possible ground-share with the Las Vegas 51s AAA baseball team at Cashman Field.
Article a little dated, the convention board already agreed to transfer land to the city. Nothing mentioned about soccer though. http://m.reviewjournal.com/business/vegas-council-oks-transfer-cashman-center-back-city
Have just been reliably informed that the @USL will announce some new franchises in the coming week... (no idea where)— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) May 15, 2016
Very interesting. I imagine we'll start hearing some more rumbles as the week goes on. Over/Under on a Thursday announcement?
Bronx/Yonkers based Lansdowne Bhoys look to go pro by 2018: http://thesoccerobserver.com/2016/0...o-to-pittsburgh-without-fear-in-u-s-open-cup/ Fordham University's Coffey Stadium would make the most sense for them
And then this detail: "Substantial growth on and off the field has led to a partnership with Glasgow Celtic that will see the Scottish champions send their academy coaches to the New York area to run summer camps this year. Lansdowne benefits from the backing of local business owners within the Irish diaspora concentrated in the Woodlawn area of the Bronx and neighboring Yonkers in Westchester County." Celtic are looking at NASL. Lansdowne want to go pro by 2018. Might be looking at the wrong league here.
However if it is not the Celtic initiative, then I would expect they would head to USL as it is an easier jump for amateur teams than NASL.
Email from Nashville FC: May 19, 2016 (Nashville, Tenn.) - Nashville FC is discussing an agreement with DMD Soccer that would outline the relationship between the two organizations in response to the United Soccer League (USL) franchise announcement in Music City. Three years ago, the idea of professional soccer in Nashville was purely a dream. Today, that dream is closer to reality. Our members' support for the past three years has had a tremendous impact on the community, and on the semi-professional platform of soccer across the nation. We thank them for their support. As Nashville FC Board Chairman Marcus Whitney worked on our behalf to bring professional soccer to Nashville, he has kept our board apprised of the developments with DMD Soccer. We are all excited about the news that DMD has been awarded a USL franchise for Nashville! Due to Marcus' integral involvement to bringing a USL franchise here, he felt it was best to step down from our board to ensure there are no future conflicts given his new responsibilities to that organization; the Nashville FC Board has since elected Chris Ferrell as chair. Because our non-profit organization does not meet the financial requirements to be the majority owner of a professional franchise, our board intends to discuss an agreement that outlines the relationship between DMD and the current Nashville FC organization. -- Chris Jones, Nashville FC President I found this on reddit it appears they are including Nashville FC
That's good to hear. Best case, Nashville FC becomes the name/logo/colors of the USL team, while the Trust side switches to PDL and produces local talent for the USL squad. Keeping the continuity would save DMD Soccer a ton of time, likely a lot of money, and they can pick up all of the NPSL teams existing fans.
Rarely can a pro team and a amateur team live in the same market, unless there's no need for financial success/break-even status for the amateur team. This is why DCFC fans are so nervous. And in this case, the main connection from the NPSL NFC to this USL team was its chairman, who resigned.
I'm not convinced that NPSL NFC is all that connected to the USL ownership group. And regardless of that connection, having a NFC club in PDL or NPSL will be problematic with a pro team in town. Clearer?
Well the President said this, "As Nashville FC Board Chairman Marcus Whitney worked on our behalf to bring professional soccer to Nashville, he has kept our board apprised of the developments with DMD Soccer. We are all excited about the news that DMD has been awarded a USL franchise for Nashville! Due to Marcus' integral involvement to bringing a USL franchise here, he felt it was best to step down from our board to ensure there are no future conflicts given his new responsibilities to that organization" What is going to most likely happen is Nashville FC is moving up - and the current version will move to PDL under the same supporter model as the U23s. They are working out how that will happen, but in the end that is what I believe will happen. Two of the three majors in the ownership group has ties to NFC. One was chairman and the other was a sponsor.
Chattanooga FC ownership has met with USL...though since there has been no rumors...there have to be issues somewhere.
It's more than fan support. The USL has amped up the requirements for expansion clubs. The expansion fee is $3,000,000 now ( according to the article announcing the Nashville expansion). Then there's the USSF requirements for d2 and d3 clubs which makes it impossible for supporter owned clubs to step up to fully professional. Then there's the stadium requirements that both the league and USSF have. The days of starting a club on a shoestring are over. I guess it costs between $10 million - $12 million to start a USL club and that's being generous, and you have to have money to sustain it after you start it. Chattanooga FC in its present form wouldn't meet USL standards. Nashville FC didn't meet them in their present form hence the reason why they had to form a completely different ownership group to accomplish it. Even still it's not a done deal because it's contingent on a stadium plan being in place yes the next few months will be interesting