NISA (New NASL-allied D3 league) Mega-Thread

Discussion in 'NASL' started by oneeyedfool, Jun 6, 2017.

  1. bnyc

    bnyc Member

    Jan 20, 2015
    New York
    Club:
    New York Cosmos
    "The problem, in my view, is the loophole created by lower standards for leagues in their first few years — which can be used as a reset button for failed leagues who (like NASL) couldn’t/didn’t meet the increased standards as time went on." - OnTheGrid

    On the Grid I think you are well meaning but wrong on this point. If a league fails the standards but there are clubs from that league capable/willing to go forward where would you have them go? Would you mandate their end? Would you mandate they must join a certain league? I don't think you would but having a place they can move to is an issue.

    In our current scenario if the NASL is done and some clubs go to NISA what exactly is wrong here? The new league office may or may not hire employees from the NASL office but it will not be the NASL office. NISA has clearly stated how they will function going forward. NASL clubs who apply and are accepted are agreeing to NISA's rules and must meet the PLS. The NASL clubs that survived, if anything, are helping NISA to accomplish their goals which I may or may not agree with [but I don't see a problem here].
     
  2. OnTheGrid

    OnTheGrid Member

    Oklahoma City Energy FC
    United States
    Oct 31, 2017
    OKC Metro
    Fair enough. I've never claimed to be perfect.

    You're right in saying that I don't want any club to die. As for where they could go, we should have three lower-division pro soccer leagues in this country by next year (USL, USLD3, NISA), so I don't see that as an issue. Clubs will seemingly have a choice of level and/or philosophy, perhaps depending on how long they're willing to wait.

    (There may not be an ideal scenario at present for those NASL members who want to remain DII but don't care to be involved in a single-entity league. But if so, then they should have taken better care of their own league. USSF has given the NASL seven years of chances to get its house in order.)

    If I thought that NISA would remain a purely positive effort to pursue a different philosophy of pyramid-building, I'd have no problem with it. I don't think America is ready for pro/rel, but I have no objection to someone spending their own money trying to prove me wrong. And if they succeed, I would love to have my team be able to be a part of that pyramid. I am under no illusions that we're among the longest of longshots for the next (and possibly last) round of MLS expansion, and I would love to have a real chance at DI soccer in my city.

    However, I don't see the picture in quite as cut-and-dried a way as you do. Again, we're not just talking about some NASL clubs. We're talking about possibly all the clubs less Puerto Rico. That means they would have a determinative say in the way NISA moves forward. I remember when NASL's primary goal was not to become a second DI league, but to be the best DII league in the world. That changed. This could too.

    My concern is amplified by what would no doubt be the continued involvement of Rocco and Silva. I doubt they would be committed to the NISA experiment. They'd probably be more interested in opening up another front in their war on USSF, MLS, USL, and SUM. That's something I wouldn't say about, say, Ozdemir or Palmer or Demba Ba.

    I'd love to have those men and their clubs in USL, along with anyone else who wanted to come -- but if they don't want to be a part of it, then there's an end on it. But I also don't want to see them fall in line behind the Cosmos and Miami in any actions that would lead to more instability in lower-division American soccer. I won't apologize for not wanting that, or for hoping that this rules loophole gets fixed and prevents even the possibility of NASL Redux.
     
  3. Darkwing McQuack

    Darkwing McQuack BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 11, 2011
    Morrisville, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  4. VBCity72

    VBCity72 Member+

    Aug 17, 2014
    Sunny San Diego
    Club:
    Plymouth Argyle FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He sent that tweet out an hour after the Indy to USL news. I wonder if that has anything to do with their announcement?
     
  5. OnTheGrid

    OnTheGrid Member

    Oklahoma City Energy FC
    United States
    Oct 31, 2017
    OKC Metro
    If you mean, is Wilt announcing something about Indy...probably not. But it's hard to imagine they're not related in some way. I suppose it could just be a coincidence that Wilt has a big announcement an hour or so after Nipun breaks the Indy news, but that doesn't pass the smell test.

    Perhaps one of the other NASL sides is committing to NISA?
     
  6. Darkwing McQuack

    Darkwing McQuack BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 11, 2011
    Morrisville, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Theres speculation that Jacksonville could move to NISA. If that happens I’d imagine that would be the end of NASL.
     
  7. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah and there’s rumors USL and 1904SD are having peace talks per another poster in that team’s thread....

    It would seem that the end is here for NASL at long last. All the rats that aren’t tied to the main mast (NY and Miami) are jumping ship.
     
  8. Darkwing McQuack

    Darkwing McQuack BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 11, 2011
    Morrisville, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don’t think this constitutes as a major announcement.

     
  9. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I think the first step in conforming to the global game is to have some teams.
     
  10. oneeyedfool

    oneeyedfool Member+

    Nov 17, 2012
    Club:
    New York Cosmos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It won’t be new teams as far as I am aware but it should be an interesting announcement.
     
  11. Darkwing McQuack

    Darkwing McQuack BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 11, 2011
    Morrisville, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  12. JDogindy

    JDogindy Member

    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Indy Eleven
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  13. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I don't know what to make of this. Marketing strategy, fundraising, trying to distract people from their problems. Initially they made it sound like fans could start their own teams - which would end in disaster - but they still have the D3 requirement of a primary owner who owns 35% of the team, and 50%+ seems more likely in practice.

    Chattanooga is taking the lead on this so I'm curious to see what they do.
     
  14. DanGerman

    DanGerman Member+

    Aug 28, 2014
    New York City
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm sorry but isn't this a red flag? It means he doesn't have enough vetted owners and he needs to raise capital from "other" sources. I like the idea in theory but only coupled with strong majority ownership and I'm not certain they have that.
     
    When Saturday Comes and OnTheGrid repped this.
  15. OnTheGrid

    OnTheGrid Member

    Oklahoma City Energy FC
    United States
    Oct 31, 2017
    OKC Metro
    We don't know anything for certain, of course. But I think you're right. Wilt is a good PR man, and I have no doubt he means everything he says here...but that doesn't mean there can't be other reasons, perhaps even more important reasons, and what we're getting here is the sales pitch.

    Whether you like the PLS or hate them, you have to admit they raise an effective barrier against team ownership to anyone who can't afford to lose six or seven figures a year on a regular basis for a while. Crowdsourcing ownership -- using financial investment to drive and increase emotional investment -- is a neat idea to build a fanbase and root a club in its community. But you still have to have that big bankroll.
     
    When Saturday Comes and bnyc repped this.
  16. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Fan ownership in the English professional leagues tends to be a stop-gap measure in keeping a club alive before a new buyer can be found. Most exist in the lower leagues or below. Real Madrid is a good example of a fan owned team.
     
  17. JDogindy

    JDogindy Member

    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Indy Eleven
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    But, there's a huge difference between Real Madrid & the Green Bay Packers versus a startup franchise in a hypothetical league.

    Right now, minor league soccer is like hockey & arena football. It fluctuates annually, and money can dry up real quickly. A PLS team could run into problems almost immediately with poor attendance & merchandise sales, and could be more vulnerable to being killed off on a whim than gutting it out as they try & carve a niche in their area.
     
  18. JDogindy

    JDogindy Member

    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Indy Eleven
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, if there's a few main groups & people can invest to vote on things like uniforms, promotions, & silly details, it may work. But, realistically, it could be a team who exists solely from fan donations from rubes who just want to brag at their jobs that they own a professional sports team.

    And then you could have the inmates running the asylum.
     
  19. MNNumbers

    MNNumbers Member

    Jul 10, 2014
    I suspect that the reality of the situation is, as mentioned above, that there are not even actual monied ownership groups interested in the NISA idea, and thus Wilt has gone with this proposal.

    Which brings out the truth that none of us want to admit, which is that, in our country, there is not a lot of real fan interest in anything less than the highest level league in any sport.

    And, that's not how it used to be. Before media was so wide spread, local possession of a team gave everyone in the community something in common and something to talk about. "Local community" hardly exists any more, really.

    Take that truth and apply it to a new-ish sport like soccer/futbol, and you get the problem that is manifesting itself.....NASL is dying, NISA can't get up and running. But, there is growing interest in the highest level.

    It just all makes sense that way. How to dam the river and stop the trend is the problem.....
     
    jaykoz3 and athletics68 repped this.
  20. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    It could well hit MLS too. I could see the Champions league teams pulling away from the rest (more than they do) leaving all the local leagues in decline.
     
  21. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Build it and they will come!

    Oops, that sort of thinking is one of the reasons the original NASL failed.
     
  22. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not like this is anything new. Even the most popular sport in the US, football, has seen numerous minor league outfits come and go in the last 30 years.

    The only sports that minor leagues have any real support in are baseball and hockey. Baseball due to more than a century and a half of MiLB presence in the US (and having carved a niche in the sport of being whacky family fun at the lower levels in particular).

    And with hockey it's really only some of the AHL that does well because of it being just below the NHL where you can see the future stars coming to your top level team soon for those teams lucky enough to be close to their parent clubs (for example the best performing AHL team at the box office is in San Diego which is in the Anaheim Duck's extended market).

    The NBA G-League is a joke, as mentioned football has littered the landscape with dead or dying minor league teams (outdoor and indoor), and soccer as you point out really doesn't have a terribly good foothold in the minor leagues outside a few outliers like Cincy and Sac. Most struggle. And the number of teams (and leagues) that have come and gone is staggering.
     
  23. oneeyedfool

    oneeyedfool Member+

    Nov 17, 2012
    Club:
    New York Cosmos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Robert Palmer praised NISA today during a Facebook Live update on the team its its future and Bob Watkins of SD1904 mentioned it as a possible landing spot for that club if NASL doesn’t work out during a media conference call. California United is also looking at NISA as a NASL contingency.
     
  24. Bklyn Royals Fan

    United States
    Jan 17, 2008
    Club:
    New York Cosmos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Serious question, why do you think the G-league is a joke? Lack of parent club support, poor attendance? I am not a basketball fan and I'm just curious.
     
  25. Initial B

    Initial B Member

    Jan 29, 2014
    Club:
    Ottawa Fury
    I don't think the G-League is a joke. The Toronto Raptors have made their affiliated franchise just like an MLS2 USL team, and the first team has benefited from it with Paskal Siakam and Jacob Poetl getting serious minutes with the Raptors this year.
     
    When Saturday Comes repped this.

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