Now it's time to put up or shut-up....we will see in 2010 which team will draw more fans to the stadiums Tampa or Miami? Then you will know which team and city is more viable for MLS...
I'm not saying Orlando doesn't have a chance, but Orlando doesn't have a team yet, and the trend so for is expansion teams are coming from USL.
man if only we played in the same league, we could have had bets to see who bring more fans in away games... i would love to drive up there, and watch yall lose, and meet Whitestar personally...
It's a shame MFC and the Rowdies won't be in the same league(next year anyway). I think the rivalry would have been nice. They should schedule a preseason match for sure though. Perhaps do like the Carolina Challenge and have the Ponce de Leon Cup be a preseason tourney between PR, Miami and Tampa(and Orlando if they get in). C'mon dude, you know Tampa and Miami's MLS "chances" were failures on the owners/league's part, not the market. Back in the NASL when our teams were run right, we had two of the most successful teams(on and off the field) around. In a perfect world Miami, Tampa and Orlando all have MLS teams(or at least a combo of MLS and USL/TOA).
Well im excited as hell now, that Tampe could be in our league next season, so as I want to be exigente, Can Orlando maybe pull one and get into the TOA maybe in a year?? A three way rivalry would be freaking SICK!! I would love to drive to Orlando and Tampa to watch the MAyBE MIAMI/FT. Lauderdale Strikers F.C.
My guess is that Tampa will outdraw Miami about 2 or 3 to 1. Then, Traffic will get mad and want to start another league, saying that the TOA league didn't do enough to market their team (i.e., didn't do their work for them).
Tampa or Miami? well Miami would be a good deal for MLS but i am not sure about this. We have seen what happened with Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny but lets hope that what ever Florida club does get a franchise will be run properly
Dingdingding we have a winner. Put a Hunt or an AEG in charge of the Fusion/Mutiny and they probably still exist and are playing to near sellout crowds in their own stadiums.
Tampa better market than Miami: potential MLS market http://www.soccersam.com/media/audio/20091212.mp3 29:00
MLS in Tampa? http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/26/more-details-emerge-fairgrounds-stadium-proposal/sports/ The developer proposing a massive entertainment complex at the Florida State Fairgrounds envisions a project worth up to $1 billion, with professional baseball and soccer stadiums and up to 2,600 hotel rooms, state and Florida State Fair Authority documents show. The second stadium is labeled soccer/multi-event and would have 45,000 seats. It would hold either a Major League Soccer franchise or international soccer games, as well as other events.
I can't see it. Seems like a pipe dream type development package. Most likely this is one of the projects that require quite a bit of public investment, and no way your getting that from a government entity in Florida right now.
Both the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion F.C. should return as MLS expansion teams sooner rather than later! -G
Sigh if only a billionaire in both markets had that point of view... I really wish MLS had more properly planned the Florida teams. They jumped into Tampa with no owner and never got one, and the owner of the Fusion was a bum. And both teams screwed up royally by abandoning the Strikers and Rowdies names respectively. Unlike San Jose and Dallas, Florida's clubs never got the chance to change their stupid names(although I did like Fusion, just not for a team that played in Ft. Lauderdale, at Lockhart no less, and should have been called the Strikers).
If only the Glazers would actually invest in soccer in Tampa, instead of wasting their time and resources playing with their Mancurian toy.
New soccer-specific stadium, MLS franchise coming to the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa? - MLS Daily
It looks like it will be a Baseball stadium. When a MLS franchise come to Florida it will be in South Florida.
I thought they'd turned Miami down for MLS expansion. I personally think the return of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers would be a much better bet, sports attendances in Miami are poor at best, Miami FC get terrible gates and the Florida Marlins, well for a top level baseball team their attendances are a joke. The only decent supported team down here is the Dolphins and take a ride down to Miami Gardens on I95 or Florida's Turnpike on game day from Port Saint Lucie, thru West Palm, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale all you'll see where the support comes from, the roads are packed with car after car showing their colours. I'm not saying that no one from Miami goes to any of these games but friends of mine from the Miami office tell me they know that people would much rather sit in front of their TVs than make the trek to Dolphin Stadium. Bring back The Strikers.