MASL News

Oh, now I wish the present ownership group(s) issues of the MASL Comets will get resolved sooner rather than later.
It definitely has had a negative impact on the franchise up to this point.

 

Probably 95-96, when they went 32-8, but lost to 31-9 Cleveland in the finals.

They won it the next year, beating Cleveland in the final with a team that was "just" 26-14.

 

That '95-'96 Attack team started off just 3-3, then reeled off 18 straight wins, which is probably still the record.

Then they went through an eight-game stretch where they went just 3-5 before pouring it on and winning their final eight games.

 

The run in question:

at Detroit......W 13-8
at Milwaukee....L 11-12
vs Canton.......W 14-4
vs Tampa Bay....W 16-2
at Canton.......W 24-10
vs Canton.......W 22-12
at Buffalo......W 12-10
vs Cleveland....W 19-10
vs Cincinnati...W 17-12
at Cleveland....W 16-13

 

Thanks. Now that you looked it up, it comes back in color.

 

I was replying to Kenn

 

They did not want to play in the MASL this season, They had no interest in paying the $100,000.00 Expansion fee. At the time the MASL & IPL came together the MASL was not under a franchised system. Now they Are. The Seattle Impact Lawsuit has been settled ( as stated in the press conference in Baltimore )

 

Now it's in a federal court so I honestly believe it will be settled . "The federal court required the parties to enter its Mediation and Assessment Program, which will conduct private proceedings in an attempt to resolve the case and avoid a potentially protracted, expensive and public court battle."

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansasci...ri-comets-ownership-lawsuit-venue-change.html

 

Thanks Cardshopmd,
But that was September 9th. This now being the end of the year this suit has dragged on for nearly four months and half a season.
We'll see when we see.

 

Then you should have quoted me and not the guy you quoted.

 

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. They're all just sitting out there waiting. Okay, then.

 

Any last words on 2016?

Any major predictions for 2017?

 

It's been a great year competitively and operationally, now we need more resources invested in ticket sales.

 

But that costs money.

 

But, you have to spend money to make money.

 

I know that and you know that, but that point seems to be lost on many MASL owners.

 

It is a deeper issue than just selling tickets. Is this sport viable enough to attract enough sponsors and paying fans to exist in a stable way for more than a couple years?

 

Not at levels that will allow players to be much more than couch-surfers, I don't think.

 

If you are tuned in to the Blast/Syracuse game, you can watch Lewis talk about himself nonstop in the group chat

 

My God, could the Dave & Buster's logo be bigger?

 

To begin with, I am a hypocrite. I am not a member of any fan club. With that said, the Kansas City Chiefs years ago had a group called the Red Coaters. They did everything. They went out into the community selling tickets at bingo halls, Rotary clubs, PTA meetings, grocer stores, etc. It worked.
My point is if the very best booster club/fan club of major/minor league teams could be identified, then maybe each MASL team's booster/fan club could organize and work to emulate them. They could work in association with their respective team and a front office liaison.
Sort of a WeFund in the aspect of getting the local communities to invest in their MASL team. Lot of opportunities also to to do charitable work in association with the MASL teams. Media loves charity workers.

Obviously, up too early, too much coffee and I don't have to go to work.

 

In the 1990s, the St. Louis Ambush had a fan/booster club with 2-300 members. Some other teams in the NPSL had similar fan clubs, and there were even fan club conventions. The Ambush would send 2-3 full size buses to road games in Kansas City.

As for the present day Ambush team, the boosters have maybe 20-30 member/families. It has been a slow process to build the club. We now have a table on the concourse during games. We host monthly meetings in a bar and have players, owners, and team staff attend. Ownership has been very supportive (both Haines and the current owners). We raise money to buy food items for players on road trips. Some money was recently used (with additional contributions by owners) to buy household items for a group of players living in a house. We haven't done anything as far as community charity (yet) and we don't sell tickets, the group is still small. Not having a team for 7 years (2006 to 2013) was not helpful. It would probably help if our team actually won games more consistently. Hard to cultivate the dedicated fan base when the team is losing so much.

I just hope the boosters still have a team to support after this season here in St. Louis. The owners have voiced their commitment to turning things around. Off field, they are doing the right things in the community. It is a locally based owners group, which hopefully means they will invest in a better roster next season.

 

The Cedar Rapids Soccer Report blog we do has done some MASL Mid-Season awards...

http://cedarrapidssoccerreport.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-17-masl-mid-season.html

...Let the debates and arguments begin.

 

Miracles that happened in Pennsylvania in the year 2016: Penn State defeated Ohio State in college football. Trump won the state's 20 electoral votes. The Heat beat the Blast.