Thanks. This is why we didn't rush into posting about how AC had new rumors. We took our time to verify all information before saying something like this, or that Jeff Cooper never had a contract with the Vaids.
The NASL Fanatic stands by what we post and the sources we use for information. Thanks to all our readers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers.We appreciate your interest.
I the 2 front office staff individuals I spoke with at the game last night are still concerned that no additional investors have been found yet and they think it's very possible that Oct. 2nd will be in the end. Obviously they hope for the best, but fear the worst.
based on what I've read and heard, I'm guessing there are probably new investors who bought in for the majority of the team, but not the type of new owners who are buying the team straight out. Which is still great, but there is a difference.
I hope that's correct too, but I don't think even that's the case. But who knows? Who's sources are better? Who's the got the right information? I sure as hell dunno...I do know that I want a strong and last team. When my daughter clambers up into my lap to watch Arsenal in a few years...I want to be able to tell her, you can go to a game with me if you want.
I don't even hope they're right. If the report that the new owner is "not a soccer guy" is true, that could be the worst thing ever. I agree with Steve- I bet this is all about new investors buying into the team. NASL could very well be vetting them and that would be entirely appropriate given the Vaid fiasco. I would bet that Cooper is still standing at the end of this and involved with AC STL either as a majority or a minority owner.
a non-"soccer guy" is not always a bad thing... sometimes it just means he'll keep out of the way and not cause problems and just enjoy owning the team and putting his money towards improving it nothings worse than owners that want media attention and constantly say the wrong things and put the wrong kind of unneeded pressure on coaches and players i wish the most true part were the words on mls, but i wont get my hopes to high for that one again
An owner with money who stays out of the way of the soccer operations would be fine. The problem is when some non-soccer guy starts expecting an easy road to MLS or a quick return on his investment. Honestly, an investor may not ever make a dime on this team, and I'm not sure that a non-soccer guy would stomach that very well, which could mean going through all of this again every season.
Or the rumor (which is what it is, still) could be about a guy who is not a "soccer guy" in the traditional sense...i.e. hasnt been involved in the game before, but is either a) a fan, or b) just becoming a fan. I personally hope that its somebody that knows a bit about the game (like Cooper), but I dont think a non-soccer guy is necessarily a bad thing---a lot of us were non-soccer folk at some point.
Just to throw it out there, Joe Roth wasn't a "soccer guy" when he became the owner of the Sounders and he's worked out pretty well so far. Prior to being the majority owner of the Sounders his only involvement in soccer was going to a few USMNT and Galaxy games. He just made sure that when he got the team that he also got "soccer guys" to actually run the team. If your new potential owner does the same thing the "soccer guy" vs "non-soccer guy" label isn't that important.
From August 13, 2010 St. Louis Business Journal: Ryan Woods and Chris Dornfeld, who worked with the now-defunct Lipodissolve company Go Fig. Inc., have teamed to redevelop the Hadley Township site in Richmond Heights. The partners at United Plaza LLC are the latest to pursue the redevelopment, which would transform about 60 acres of land just south of Highway 40 and east of Hanley Road into a mixed-use commercial and residential area. Can either one of these men be the "deep pocket" owner that has been rumored??
IMS is now saying (on Twitter) that it's Ryan Woods. From the minuscule amount I know, he's a plausible candidate. (Floodplain Footy hasn't dispelled shit, as far as I can see - there's no information in the linked post other than "It's got to be false because nobody told me about it." And unless you work for the team or something, I wouldn't expect to be told before the deal is final. Not saying I think it's absolutely gotta be true for sure, since it's not like IMS has shown any real sources yet either, but they've been right about a lot of things before and FPF is not an established trusted source yet in my book.)
Actually its starting to look like Woods is an investor, not buying the team outright. Also, he is not the buyer that was talked about in the earlier rumor that IMS and AC Fanatic were reporting that was supposedly meeting with NASL. So, they kind of did dispell the rumor that everyone was running with. Still, its just a rumor, but the current rumor fits a lot better with what those of us actually in St. Louis have heard. But you wouldn't know that because you're not in St. Louis. I won't comment on Railhawks rumors, K.
As far as I can tell, the IMS version was that he was going to buy the team outright, and that has not been confirmed or denied by any actual evidence I'm aware of. The earlier FPF claim that the mystery investor didn't exist at all hasn't, either. Of course, if Woods is investing heavily but not buying the team outright, it'll turn out both versions were wrong, but both rooted in reality; there's certainly plenty of room for the IMS version to be a distorted version of the facts without being entirely wrong and worth a flip dismissal. Also: how do you know Woods is not the person rumored to have been meeting with NASL, given that the rumor didn't exactly assign some other name? I'd assume any new majority investor would want to meet with the league he was signing up for, and if Woods is investing heavily it would shock me if he weren't doing exactly that. Eh, public information is public no matter where you are, and the internet keeps rumors and nothing I'm posting about is based on anything but those two. That's exactly what you're doing also, right? (If you've got inside information, I wouldn't expect you to share it - presumably anything that isn't public has a reason for not being so, and I can't blame you for not wanting to be the leak - but I'm not seeing anything that implies you do.) And as a fan of NASL soccer, I'd be a fool not to pay attention to the public information coming out about a team that seems to be one of the linchpins of the league. If the RailHawks ever have stuff going on that's so big it affects you in St. Louis, I damn well hope you guys will care enough to keep abreast of the latest developments and comment intelligently on the matter.
fair enough. I don't think IMS is wrong in reporting what they hear or believe to be happening. Same goes for Fanatic. I just think they're not 100% right and people were celebrating the sale of the team a little prematurely. I'm glad you are concerned about our future as I would be about yours. But I would also trust that people in your area would know more about Railhawks news than I would. friends?
Agreed. ...and frankly, total sale of the team to "not a soccer guy" would have been ambiguously good news; having somebody new putting serious money into it but keeping some continuity (which is starting to appear to be the reality behind the rumors, but we really don't know yet) is probably the best of all worlds. So, premature hurrah? Honestly, there's a lot to know about goings-on with the RailHawks that aren't of any interest to you guys (like what the ticket prices are going to look like next year - the COO has made some noises about the answer in the bar a lot of the fans go to after the games), but I like to hope that when it's a big deal you'll hear everything there is to hear (that isn't being kept private by the office). But maybe I'm just optimistic. Hell yes - at least, until the next CAR-STL game.
At the end of the day all any fan wants is the best for their club. As much fun as it is to argue with opposing fans, I love and appreciate that we even have clubs to argue over. I can only assume and trust that all IMS, Fanatic and FPF want is the best for their clubs and the league as well. Otherwise what's the point of even concerning yourself with it? Certainly isn't the money. I contribute to FPF because I love AC, and while I can appreciate keeping some kind of "journalistic integrity" in place, a journalist I'm not, so any info that's out there, you report it to spread that word. Arguing and bitch fighting over who's wrong or right gets downright ridiculous. All I can say that is 100% fact is that the FPF was created by and maintained by AC St. Louis fans. Can't say the same for anyone else.
Here's what I'll say about what we've been told vs what's been going on. I believe that the team told us the truth, but not the subtlties of the what was going on. The original report was that AC St. Louis was sold, and it appears that's not going to the be the case, but that a new investor will come in and Cooper will remain a part of the team. Needless to say, we're pretty frustrated about the info we were given.