USL 's Winter summit started Wednesday in Florida. http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210573534 some news about improving broadcast
Frank Yallop to coach and run soccer ops in Arizona. The last ten years, Yallop has coached 284 MLS games and made the playoffs exactly once.
I can't think of too many guys (Preki is one) who have coached in MLS and went to D3. Curt Onalfo doesn't really count.
Well, this ain't good ... USL Terminates Rochester Ownership Group https://t.co/DQGL0Vilid pic.twitter.com/RPRgU4T0Ws— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) January 5, 2016
Whoa. Looking forward to reading more about this one. Getting rid of a delinquent ownership group seems like a good thing, though, as long as new one can be found.
Yeah, this should be interesting. I noted on MLSN&A that Rochester is New England's USL affiliate. I think New England should just outright buy the team.
You'll all want to read this: http://www.democratandchronicle.com...-rhinos-owner-usl-looking-new-owner/78316180/
I'm hoping New England follows suit with Philly Union and makes their wholly owned affiliate a little closer to home... Fall River Marksmen.
How does this even work? The Rhinos must be worth a few million, and I can't imagine USL can just seize them. Did the other owners buy them out? Do They get the revenue from a sale? I'm scared and confused.
From the articles posted it sounds like the Rhinos might not be worth anything. Especially once the USL revoked the current owner's franchise rights. The City had already terminated the stadium lease. That's mostly what a new owner would be buying. What else is there besides the name of the team? The current owner seems OK with the league taking over the franchise probably because he gets out from under ongoing shortfalls.
Or, maybe the ownership deserves better support? Supposedly he's bleeding "several hundreds of thousands" every year. Granted, that is nothing considering Austin lost over $1 million in a $2 million operating budget. I don't know much of anything how each were owned and operated, but to win USL...ownership must have been doing SOMETHING right.
I expected USL to lose a couple of teams in the midst of its expansion and new vision. However I thought HCI would go before Rochester, although I admit I didn't know all the struggles Rochester was going through.
Rochester isn't going anywhere, the USL took over control of the team until new a new ownership group can be found. No guarantees on the latter part obviously, but that's the plan going forward. They'll be playing this season.
There is no way the club is worth nothing. the USL will never sell a team worth nothing because it will make the league look bad, especially the champions being sold for nothing. Clark bought the team for 2 million and did win a championship. My guess is the sale price will be around that number.
the silverware alone can sell. remember out of all North American soccer clubs/teams, the Rhinos probably have the most silverware. if not, top 3 at least.
I probably overstated the case but I was mostly answering in terms of who gets any money when the league finds a new owner. What assets does Clark have that he would be selling? Looks to me like the new owner would mostly be acquiring debt if they are acquiring the company running the team. Back when Clark bought the team for $2 million it had $10 million in debt with $3 million of that to Clark's bank. They announce a sale price of $2 million but what does that really mean? Is the team worth $2 million more than the debt or was that just Clark, the bank, and the creditors shifting money around? The original question was who gets the money from a sale of the team. That is only loosely connected to the "value" of the team in this case. You are correct in that they will announce a sale price. Some money will change hands: Clark will probably get some of it depending on who takes responsibility for the debts and the league will get some of it.
my guess is that clark will get some money from the sale. i think the new owner/owners will have to pay some back to the city as well as either buying the stadium from the city or working something out with a lease where money is paid upfront instead of during or after the season/year. so the total cost will include both. for example the team sells for 4 million, clark gets his 2 million back and eats the rest while the city gets the rest of the purchase price. In my opinion, the rochester rhinos are in a better spot than other new USL clubs that dont have a soccer specific stadium. for an investor that wants MLS (not saying that will happen, it will take to alot of money and time) they are getting a SSS that only needs upgrades, not the long process of trying to get a SSS. the investments needs to be in the club and the community not a SSS. fixing the issues is far easier than the process of building a SSS.
I'm not sure any of this matters. The city essentially "forclosed" the lease Clark, the league "forclosed" their franchise rights. Clark doesn't look to be putting up much of a fight. That might be because he's already agreed to the terms of what he gets (doesn't owe the city the money he owe's, etc) and just wants out. This sounds like the best for all parties and I hope someone steps up that will own the team (ideally locally).