MASL News

Discussion in 'Pro Indoor Soccer' started by Scooge, Sep 1, 2016.

  1. Michael Zadwydas

    Michael Zadwydas New Member

    Dec 14, 2019
    Congrats to the Empire Strykers on drawing more than 5K in their last game
     
  2. Kit

    Kit Member+

    Aug 30, 1999
    Herkimer, NY, USA
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  3. Buddy98

    Buddy98 Member

    Oct 22, 2014
  4. Captain Invader

    Columbus Crew
    United States
    Oct 25, 2005
    Lake County (Ohio)
    Attended my first MASL game on Sunday (unless you count MASL2 at the Crunch’s practice facility last year).

    Drove to Utica (after driving from Ohio to Philly for the Crew at Philadelphia Union match on Saturday).

    Overall, it was enjoyable. I think Utica City FC did a nice job with the game ops. Nothing too fancy, but good. There was a nice crowd on hand, and it got pretty loud at times.

    The quality of play was okay. Though Baltimore didn’t look very dangerous. That said, the Utica goalie had a very good game.

    I was glad I went. (My other option was an FPHL hockey game in Binghamton.)

    [​IMG]
     
  5. cardshopmd

    cardshopmd Member

    Sep 9, 2008
    Baltimore
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  6. Michael Zadwydas

    Michael Zadwydas New Member

    Dec 14, 2019
    What happened about the rumor of an expansion team to Las Vegas?
     
  7. NSL2004

    NSL2004 Member+

    Jul 23, 2002
    I know. All I care about is the Ronaldinho team, not these teams that have folded twice and come back or teams that play in 3,000 seat basketball arenas.

    I think Cedar Rapids in 2015 was the last MASL expansion team where someone paid an expansion fee. All the other teams were teams that moved or bought the rights to a dormant team. Even the Ronaldinho team would be a free membership for Rob Striar. And Guadalajara is a free team for the owners who bailed out Orlando because the league didn't have the money to pay them back. I think Ft. Worth paid an expansion fee but they never played, so I don't know what happened to that money.
     
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  8. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  9. Kit

    Kit Member+

    Aug 30, 1999
    Herkimer, NY, USA
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  10. NickWISoccer

    NickWISoccer Member

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    entering the last set of games Heres what we know:
    All 5 East spots have been clinched.
    San Diego is the #1 overall seed.
    3 points separate the west #3 from #6.
    the wave will clinch the East 1 seed by beating harrisburg or the blast lose to Utica.
    florida is pretty much locked into the 3 seed in the east.
    the west playin is still up for grabs, with Mesquite, Monterrey, Tacoma and possibly Empire in the mix if they lose their last game
     
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  11. cardshopmd

    cardshopmd Member

    Sep 9, 2008
    Baltimore
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  12. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  13. cardshopmd

    cardshopmd Member

    Sep 9, 2008
    Baltimore
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Now this is funny "The MASL said that it will continue working with the Tropics ownership group to resume play in 2024-25 or sell the team to new operating owners."

    Fist off they will never comeback, what in the hell do u have to sell? a logo, name, franchise rights. that's about it. No investor is going to buy this team that only gets 1000 fans, they should have went to the NISL and played in a rec center.
     
  14. NSL2004

    NSL2004 Member+

    Jul 23, 2002
    The NISL (for what it's worth) doesn't play in rec centers.

    The Tropics can sell the franchise rights to another owner, which is a way of circumventing the expansion fee. The MASL keeps raising the expansion fee, but I don't know the last time someone paid an expansion fee of any amount.

    The Guadalajara team, for instance, is a free team that a few owners got for propping up the Orlando Seawolves after Chris Kokalis went AWOL.

    The Las Vegas Ronaldinho team (if it ever happens) was a free team that that Rob Striar got for selling sponsorships for the league.

    The Chihuaha team moved from Sonora...
     
  15. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd ask when the last time was someone out-and-out bought someone else's MASL franchise, but I think it actually was the Tropics. There haven't been that many traditional franchise purchases, but the worst of all time had to be Nathan Scherr buying the Blast in 1984 for a reported $2.9 million and selling it five years later for a reported $850,000.
     
  16. NSL2004

    NSL2004 Member+

    Jul 23, 2002
    #1467 NSL2004, Jul 21, 2023
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2023
    Tim Krause bought the Wave for $5 million. I can't find how much he sold the team to Jim Lindenberg for.

    https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/wave-sold-for-5-million/n-2708425
     
  17. NickWISoccer

    NickWISoccer Member

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    lindenberg didnt pay 5m, for it. i think lindenberg paid over 1 million for it, but thats just a guess.
     
  18. NickWISoccer

    NickWISoccer Member

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    suspending operations is code for ' folding'. i mean how many MASL teams are even 10 years old? 3? 4? wave have been around for 40 years, Sockers date to 78, at least the name, and the Blast date to the 80s. and thats.. pretty much it.
     
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  19. MLSinCleveland

    MLSinCleveland Member+

    Oct 12, 2006
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And even if you just count the current business entity, I'm pretty sure the Blast go back to the '92-'93 Baltimore Spirit.
     
  20. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Correct.

    If I start a nightclub in Parsippany, New Jersey and call it Studio 54, I can't claim Pele and Mick Jagger used to party at my establishment back in the 1970s.

    I didn't know of that $5M sale...that seems like a lot. But when Tim moved to London for business in 2004, Charles Krause became a "major investor" and when his fortunes took a downturn in the Great Recession, he unloaded it on Lindenberg (else it would have been gone...and actually was for a few days). We don't know how much Krause pere paid Krause fils, but it's likely Lindenberg didn't pay a lot. And even less likely that Sue Black paid anything a few years later, given her financial situation.

    Even if the Wave sale in 2001 wasn't $5M and that was just for show to try to stoke the values of MISL franchises, it probably was a loss for the Krauses.
     
    MLSinCleveland repped this.
  21. MLSinCleveland

    MLSinCleveland Member+

    Oct 12, 2006
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This made me wonder who the last MISL organization in existence was. Turns out it was the Crunch (who had since been renamed the Force), who went under following the 2004-05 season. The Sidekicks folded one season earlier. The Wings after 2000-01 and the Sockers following the 1996 CISL season. (The other three teams from 91-92 folded with the league.)
     
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  22. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was quite a run by the Wings. Not always easy and touch-and-go there often, but that was a success story, to keep running from 1979-2001 in that market.

    Outside of the Wave and Blast, the longest-running current MASL franchise is the current Comets, isn't it? One year before Syracuse/Utica?
     
    Joey Tee and MLSinCleveland repped this.
  23. MLSinCleveland

    MLSinCleveland Member+

    Oct 12, 2006
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #1474 MLSinCleveland, Jul 23, 2023
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2023
    As a top-level club, yes. The modern-day Sockers started a year earlier, but in the PASL-Pro. The Tacoma Stars date back to 2003, but in the amateur PASL. Went pro in briefly in 10-11 and then for good in 14-15.

    Also, I think the Force could've sustained a Wings-like run if Wolstein didn't spite-fold the team in '88. Look at the drop in attendance between the Force and Crunch. I did the math and they went from selling 300-350K tickets per season to 125-150K - and that's with a higher % of weekend games (100% by league rule in their early NPSL years), playing downtown instead of in Richfield, and a late 90's peak with the Browns not eating up a metric ton of the region's sports dollars.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Force_(1978–1988)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Crunch
     
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  24. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Two charts to illustrate that. The first, average attendance by season over time, with the Force having the first part before the break and the Crunch/Force after:

    [​IMG]
     
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