Did you pick-up on the Washington Spirit's announcement that they plan to play 4 games at Audi Field in 2020 and 7 games in 2021. Also, that they will be provided permanent office space and locker room.
Posted in the Player Moves thread, but Kerr is gone. Someone (or multiple someones) in NWSL need to rope in new talent ASAP, lest the news of the higher compensation amounts get lost under the visibility of not being able to retain a top player like Kerr. Yeah, that's awesome news! I will say, though, that I'm not a huge fan of DCU apparently trying to "force" the Spirit into packaging the Audi games with Loudon games. I was excited when the Loudon location was first reported as a possibility - I mentioned that I would love a 4+4+4 mix of games - but if the Spirit is being somewhat-forcibly nudged in the direction of abandoning Soccerplex games in favor of Loudon games just to be able to play at Audi? That feels a bit bully-ish to me. Most of the reporting I'm seeing seems to make it sound like it's just gift money, which would line up with what MLS does... I just really hope the "purchased" line in the press release is simply sloppy wording. (Even if the "purchased" thing was true, though, I guess it doesn't have to be all bad: it could be that teams could "purchase" the allocation funds for a much smaller fee than the funds themselves are worth, e.g. a $5k fee to the league grants the team $50k of allocation funds to use... But I doubt they would make it that complicated.)
Hopefully, we hear that SkyBlue will be playing some games at Red Bull Arena next year. And also their new home venue.
2020 - Four games at each venue 2021 - 7 in Leesburg, 5 at Audi and Spirit will have dedicated team office and locker room space at Audi and Spirit will move training to new Leesburg facility by the 2021 season
Sports Illustrated: Sources say the USL is seriously exploring starting a Division 1 women’s pro soccer league as early as 2021 that would compete directly against the NWSL https://t.co/F0jpw68UV5— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 15, 2019 Maybe this goes best in another thread, but if it happens it'll definitely affect the whole league. Why not just continue to buy into the NWSL? And if it does happen, what would happen to NC Courage and [potentially] Louisville?
Deserves its own thread, but it's probably DOA. Not that they can't create the league and have it fit the current DI requirements, but that thought about allocations is silly. Maybe possible, but USSF has more ties to NWSL (even if the league is coming out from under USSF's administration) and the sheer number of teams would make allocation spread so thin to be worthless. Side note: after USL mismanaged the W-League to death, I don't want them (as a group) near WoSo any more
I wouldn't hate it if it meant more big money owners coming in to grab Euro talent and eventually having a merger. It could actually end up being a good thing if it builds up more teams so the NWSL can expand more rapidly while also keeping and acquiring more good talent that needs bigger salaries. That said, it also has the potential to basically destroy professional women's soccer in this country, so I don't really want to risk that.
By and large USL owners aren't "big money" owners. And I'd be shocked if there were more than a few USL teams losing less than well into six figures. The thought they many USL owners would be interested in taking on another huge annual loss item begs a few questions. This could all be part of the negotiations between the USL and current NASL owners over management of the league should USSF league management agreement not be renewed.
Andy, I know it’s a typo but I saw the NASL above and had a flashback to the whole USL—TOA—NASL debacle from a few years back.
Jeff Cooper is one of the poster children for ownership standards and vetting the finances. Just think...he tried to buy the USL too.
Speaking of owners, here is an interesting rumor: Starting the weekend light before possibly breaking some bigger stuff later next week.. Mansueto has his eyes on the Red Stars. Good night— TR (@TyrusRoseCF97) November 16, 2019 This insider is about as good as you can get for Chicago Fire stuff.
I see that Mansueto has three kids and coaches kid soccer. Want to bet at least one of his kids is a girl and plays?
Maybe, but he has been great for the Fire so far. If he did purchase the team it might also point to a SSS in the city which could be big for the Red Stars.
As a neutral outsider, I would tend to concur. But the various supporters groups in Section 8 might not agree with that assessment.
In case I was misunderstood, I think it's great, he's obviously someone who really cares about soccer. Getting someone like that to also care about women's soccer doesn't always happen, and if he has a daughter who plays, I don't care at what level, I think it helps him see what a great sport women's soccer is.
Better late than never, but the team will still take some time to recover from the disastrous period that saw players flee the club and draft picks refuse to sign. It'll also be interesting to see if there are upgrades to where the club trains and housing for the players, especially as costs grow the closer you get to NYC.
Better facilities and attendance as well as the ambitions of the president of Skyblue FC will improve at a rapid pace and significantly that many players and draft players will want to come.
Sky Blue, Gov. Murphy’s soccer team, is moving -- to Red Bull Arena https://www.nj.com/sports/2019/11/sky-blue-gov-murphys-soccer-team-is-moving-to-red-bull-arena.html
They should pick stadiums that has a capacity of 10k. 20k or more is excessive and makes it still fill empty even if half the stadium is full. Should slowly buildup. As we have seen in English women’s league, they are playing in stadiums that are meant for 70k or more. Not to mention those derbies in England are mostly free tickets. If there was cost involved probably third of the attendance would show up.