To me the best way help bring a team in St. Louis is to unite all the supporter groups in the St. Louis Metro area and unite and show the support is here. I believe we need to follow the Model that the Sons Of Ben, Crocketteers, and the Brickyard Battalion. We need to find out how many people we have and expand. Go to Soccer events in our areas and grow the support. Any thoughts?
Well yea, but what i'm saying if we bring it all together it would help to show investers that it would be worth bringing a team in St. Louis.
With the MSL expanding to NYC, I read an interesting story from the Cosmos front office that I did not realize. It says that the MSL owns the players and the contracts. He insinuated that the NASL model is better. Does anyone (NASL fans) believe that the NASL could become THE major soccer league in America? MLS has a lead, but if the teams in the league can play in better venues, get stronger financial ownerships, I just wonder if the NASL could surpass the MLS as top dog in American Professional Soccer.
BTW, St Louis had a great crowd for the friendly last night, and I can see why they want professional soccer in their area.
There is an interesting thread worth reading in the NASL forum: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/nasl-evolution.1981220/ Basically, some fans think so, some executives like to think so....but who knows. It is rather unlikely, the NASL has a long way to go to really compete.
Yes, people tend to say these things when they cannot afford to get into MLS or have no shot at a MLS franchise. I urge you to read the fable about the Fox and the Grapes. Just change it to "The Cosmos and MLS" and you'll understand. Nope. Unless you tell me that MLS is going to spontaneously explode. Even if the teams play at better venues and get stronger ownership, it is not going to make the NASL surpass MLS. It will just mean the NASL can survive. And MLS just doesn't have a lead. It has a 15 lap lead and their car isn't stopping. It is still racing around the track at a good clip. Let me ask you this. Whose model did Man City and the New York Yankees decide to invest hundreds of millions of dollars? The NASL's or MLS? That answers your question. The NASL neither has the market presence, infrastructure, or finances to compete with MLS. And doing so would destroy all of the work they put into creating a viable D2 league. MLS will also continue to pick off existing NASL markets. As you have seen the past few days, really rich people continue to invest in MLS. No one is challenging them. They are not going away. The actual question is how far can they take domestic soccer in the United States? We will know over the next 10 years.
Sadly, people showing up to see two glamour teams from Europe kick the ball around in a friendly, is not a good indicator that they will show up to support an inferior local side. But if it convinces someone with money to try and put another team in St. Louis, then good for Stl soccer. The problem is the local media seems focused on getting a MLS side, when they should think NASL or USL-Pro first.
I agree that if St. Louis could get a NASL or even USL-Pro that maybe St. Louis could build their way up depending on ownership group. Preferably I'd like to see St. Louis in NASL. The Production quality is alot better in NASL vs USL-Pro and it seems to me that the NASL is a little more careful then USL-Pro is about awarding franchises.
I can think of a bunch of New York area soccer fans who would like to give you our Austrian energy drink overlords or Emirati Sheikh backed EPL brand extension franchise in order to clear the way for a team with a real New York identity.
MLS, not MSL. (And not "the MLS," either.) It's probably neither "better" nor "worse," just "different " MLS' single entity structure (one facet of which is player contracts signed with, salaries paid by and player cards held by MLS, LLC) was seen as critical to keeping teams from spending themselves into oblivion (as many original NASL teams did). Obviously, the free-range model is what is used (and, largely, what works) elsewhere in the world, but those other leagues aren't dealing with the same issues we were in 1994-1996 (and, in some cases, continue to deal with). Single-entity is probably the major reason (along with the stick-to-it-iveness of a handful of billionaires) why MLS survived long enough to be able to thrive long-term. There are some. They are morons. If NASL venues improved 300% overnight, they would still lag behind MLS'. (Cary has a nice one, though, and San Antonio is nicer than most). Minnesota's owner cold be an MLS-level investor/operator,but there is a pretty big gap to be bridged between most of the rest of the DIi owners and the MLS level. You could do all those things and MLS would still have almost all the markets you would want, the experience and ability to attract investors and players, the stadiums, the TV and sponsorship contracts and a 15-year head start. Any DIi league that aspired to be "the top dogs" would have to make a level of investment that is simply unrealistic.
Yes. And they would need $20M for a NASL team at a minimum per the USSF guidelines for D2 soccer. I hope you have patience for your St. Louis team, if you worry too much about it you will end up living with mental patients. It nearly happened to me with Jeff Cooper's bid to get in MLS a few years ago. I wanted to see St. Louis get the team that went to Philly. That is why I'm MLSinSTL - I joined BigSoccer during that time. I think MLS made the right choice based upon the ownership group at that time.
I agree with you and I share your frustration as a former St.Louis resident. Jeff Cooper really gave the city a black eye in the way he handle the team. Right now, a this point the best bet for St. Louis is with a USL Pro team.
Develop a grassroot movement, let potential investors know there is a market for professional soccer in your city. Have interested investor hire Peter Wilt. Well, I don't think we are ready to let Wilt slip away yet here in Indy.
Yes indeed. Affiliate with a league that is about to lose three more teams due to incompetent league expansion and ownership vetting, coupled with zero standards for teams once they have signed the expansion check. I do hope St. Louis gets a pro team, and asap, but I sincerely hope it doesn't involve the USLpro.
Stay Tuned? Don't hold your breath, you might pass out. For the love of God, IF St. Louis gets a USL Pro team, will you then stop posting crap in the wrong forum? Probably too much to ask, I know, but I still believe in miracles.
So, should we move this forum and all its posts to the USL forum now? http://www.ksdk.com/story/sports/soccer/2014/05/01/pro-soccer-returning-to-st-louis/8556737/