Hopefully VSI will get something solidfied. Especially if Rowdies get a deal done with St Pete to have Al Lang remodeled for soccer. VSI could take over a good portion of the Tampa market.
Yeah, I gotta agree with Kenn. When teams like VSI, Dayton, and LA Blues don't draw flies, there are people who rush to rush to their defense by saying things like, "Well, they're more interested in their academy than selling tickets..." And they say this like it's supposed to make me go, "Oh, well that explains it. Carry on." Nope. Unless someone at VSI decides that it's worth their while & money to advertise/evangelize then they will never grow. Not that it means anything, but if you went out on any major Tampa street and stopped 100 people and asked them if they had EVER heard of VSI Tampa, how many do you think would say, "Yes"?
I don't know if "they're more interested in their academy" is a defense, per se. I mean, it's a rationalization, sure, but if you want to run a soccer academy, I'm not 100% sure it needs to be attached to a(n alleged) professional team to be successful. In LA's case, I think it's a case of a bit of vanity on the part of a rich guy. Dayton was (check me if I'm wrong) started by a couple of ex-lower-level players, so I don't know what their motivations were exactly, except it was unlikely to be "create a superclub." I haven't figured out VSI's actual game in all this. A player development deal is a long-term scenario that would take years to pay off in anyone you could realistically sell somewhere (assuming you didn't lose the rights to them through any one of the multitude of machinations possible there). So I'm not sure how much of their complete inability to sell tickets is ambivalence about doing it and how much is an inability to put the strategy in place to do so (coupled with some strange 1970s thinking about winning solving everything or favorable demographics or something). I do know that one common thread in all three of those organizations is a complete and utter lack of anyone with any actual soccer business experience in any position of authority. That may explain some of it. As for these guys in Plant City, they've shown they can put together a team on the field that can be competitive in the third division. They were able to pull together a reasonable side with some players who weren't going to play for $100 a game. What they haven't shown is that they can or will put forth the effort to actually act like grownups and sell and market what they have. They're absolutely NOT just going to become "Tampa's team" just because the other guys are on the other side of the Bay unless they actually DO something.
Let's see if they actually try to do some of the big ideas they had before this season. Of course, I've learned enough from the USL to know not to expect anything. They could definitely use a few people who actually know what they're doing.
New member here. This has been a great thread, especially for someone new to the area like me! My question is regarding VSI next year. Is there a deadline regarding when they would have to make their decision to keep playing or not? This may be league-mandated or a result of practical circumstances (e.g. finding a stadium).
Welcome! I am not sure that there is a hard set time frame, aside from the start of the season. Since USL did not seem to care much about VSI's stadium ambiguity even after the season had started I doubt they would care too much this year if the same ends up the case. That said, they have not made any new announcements since August and their Facebook and Twitter accounts have been silent on any new season for the pro teams. But that does not seem out of character for VSI....
USL is pretty flexible with teams when it comes to enforcing timeline violations, as they have to be. Tampa Bay looks like they're going quietly into the night though. After disasterous attendance in season one, and not looking like they have anything going for 2014, I'm not too optimistic about a return. Same with Phoenix FC Wolves who got their owners kicked out of the league, and USL announced new ownership, but won't say who. I think it's possible we could be seeing two, one and done teams for 2013.
there is a Annual General meeting (AGM)the beginning of Dec with all the club in the league. We should know who will be back for 2014 at that point with the schedule typically come out the first part of the year.
I'm curious about a lot of stuff for next season, will there be Phoenix FC, VSI Tampa Bay, OKC? Do the LA Blues want to continue to bleed money for another season?
Side note, the project website www.vsi-stadium.com does not seem to load any longer and the website for PRI Partners is for sale and is currently just for some aggregate/link site and not for the company any longer.
Thanks for all the responses, you're all on top of your game! Another question I have, and I apologize in advance if it was discussed upthread (only started reading from about page 15), but are there territory restrictions between NASL and USL? In other words, how did VSI get a team so close to the Rowdies?
That actual structures of the NASL and USL don't work together at all. See the current legal battle for a team in Oklahoma City as an example.
think for NASL and USL PRO as Burger King and McDonalds (Or maybe a better analogy would be to mom and pop diners, across the corner from one another)
Heard on very good word that VSI will be pushed out of the USL Pro this offseason, but they'll continue to operate their PDL and W-League clubs. Announcement coming soon!
I may be out of my depth here, but my understanding was that NASL is the officially-sanctioned 2nd division of US soccer and USLPro is the officially-sanctioned 3rd division? Edit: Also wanted to ask if anyone knows if there is a territory restriction given to NASL teams? Not trying to hijack the thread, but it seems pertinent to the discussion.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I guess we'll know for sure by the AGM what's going on. On the question franchise territory restrictions. I'm sure each league has territory restriction for each franchise. That's some thing that is determined by each league. It's a common business practice for any type of franchise. If for example you buy a Subway franchise, no one else can open up another one within a certain distance. These tend to vary from company to company. From a ULS stand point I'm curious to know if the restrictions are just for a specific level or for all levels. For example I buy a ULS Pro franchise in my home town of Butler PA. Can someone come in and also start a PDL or W-League team in the same town or area? On a side note, Butler is probably in the protected territory of the Riverhounds.
Well the LA Blues are going to start selling season tickets in January, so there's a sign that they will be back.
At one point the territory you got with your franchise was 90 miles. I remember that when Syracuse started their team and they were just inside the Rochester territorial rights. That said, they may have relaxed that some. I don't think it is 90 miles from Orlando to Tampa Bay.
Yes NASL is official D2 and USL Pro is official D3. VSI Tampa Bay was/is just a bad idea, they drew hundreds only with a good team and the competition NASL Tampa Bay Rowdies increased their attendance this year from just over 3000 per game last season to just over 4000 per game this year. It would be equally as stupid for NASL to try to expand to Sacramento for instance. They both don't need to waste resources competing in the same markets.
Actually it is 85 miles between Orlando and Tampa (downtown to downtown). But its only 63 miles between Plant City (VSI) and Orlando (and 45 miles between Lake Buena Vista and Plant City).
just read on usl pro website that tampa is no longer in the leaguehttp://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/767338.html