Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." There are about 4 in Florida. Because these things don't happen on your personal time schedule.
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." Mark Ziegler, San Diego Jeff Rusnak, Fort Lauderdale Michelle Kaufman, Miami Steven Goff, Craig Stouffer, John Haydon ... OK, OK, it's still very early in that process. (Long way to go before the panic button is deployed) What makes you think they haven't? (I say "they" because it's not one man.)
Can't. Not leaving this area, even if United does. (Which, again, is way too premature to discuss seriously.)
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." Yet somehow Drew Carey tops them both. Shrug.
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." actually, Vancover has had that idea for a long time now...
as i have stated on other soccer forums--- where is the factual evidence that st louis will/is a 'hot bed of soccer'? while there may be an old history of soccer in st louis, where is the supportive evdience over the past 30-40 years that the city will support a mls franchise to make it a success i can not remember the city in nasl-- and if they were, it was insignificant!! and the city has not been a part of semi-professional soccer such as a USL 1 team over the past 10 years further, did cooper ever do a sesson ticket deposit drive to show mls brass that there was substantial support? none!! so where is the factual evidence that mls brass would jump up and say WOW!!! seattle, vancouver, philadelphia and portland have a factual history of supporting soccer-- they lucked out or were geniuses with Toronto IMO-- that is 5 recent franchises that are succeeding/will succeed st louis needs to prove they are capable of supporting a mls team-- join USL 1; build a season ticket base; build a corporate sponsor and media base-- then try for mls
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." I'd like to introduce you to OnGoal LLC. They are an investment group that purchased the Wizards from an ownership group that truly didn't give a shit about their MLS team. Since taking over, OnGoal has secured funding for a soccer specific stadium. Demolition on the site has already begun. They doubled their front office staff. They have created a buzz in the market. In a year they have transformed from a disappointing franchise to a very very promising one. And this is coming from someone who has screamed for KC's relocation for quite some time.
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." You're the first person in this thread to use the word need. Garber said he wanted St. Louis....massive difference.
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." Harrah's Chester racino, near the MLS Philly 2010 stadium site, has half of its horse-racing track built on pylons over the Delaware River.
Ok, so history is history. What's past is past. I get it. You don't care about St. Louis' profound historical role in the development of American Soccer and the US national team. And you don't care about the St. Louis Stars of the NASL (which it appears you didn't even know about) or the roots of the Hermann Trophy or the 8 times that a St. Louis teams has won the US Open Cup. That's all so yesterday. What about today, you say. Today!? Well: To this very day the US has NEVER sent a squad to the World Cup without at least two St. Louis connections. It's true. Look it up. Although, 2010 may become the first time ever that the US participates in the World Cup without a player connected to St. Louis. And/or to this very day St. Louis has one of the highest (if not THE highest) rates of youth soccer participation in the United States. And/or the number of current MLS players with St. Louis connections (plus more, this list is old and incomplete). And/or: St. Louis University Men's Soccer. The Billikens have not only produced a long list of talent, they boast one of the highest average attendance in NCAA soccer (higher that most USL teams; that's for sure. And with better talent.). They also hosted the well attended 2006 College Cup. And/or: The St. Louis Steemers. An indoor team that pulled better numbers than all but a tiny handful of USL teams. And/or: oh, forget it. You're either illiterate or a troll, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and asking you to troll elsewhere.
Re: Garber: MLS to try: like heck to steer investors to St. Louis." And the women's team can be the Bulls.
Oops. Have to correct myself. A St. Louis team has actually won the Open Cup 10 times, most recently in 1988 and 1986. A St. Louis team has contested the Open Cup Final a total of 21 times, meaning over 20% of Open Cup Finals have featured a St. Louis team. But, yeah, anyway... what were we talking about?...
The name of the organization as a whole is St. Louis Soccer United. That's the umbrella for WPS, youth clubs and the MLS effort.
The name is kinda complicated, actually. Saint Louis Soccer United is the ownership group's name, including Cooper and Pujols. The WPS name is Saint Louis Athletica. The youth club name is Saint Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club (merger between St. Louis Soccer Club -formerly Busch Soccer Club-, Scott Gallagher Soccer Club, and Metro United). As for a future MLS (or USL) team name... who knows.
Anyone else of the opinion that it's not Garber's job to try and steer potential investors towards a specific city. If a group comes forward with a plan for a team somewhere like Albuquerque (purely as an example) should Garber be trying to dissuade them and instead try to interest them in St. Louis instead? Frankly I am of the opinion that if St. Louis is such a great idea, why are they struggling to put together the financial backing for a solid bid?
One thing they could do would be to pay for their own stadium. If they can't afford that, they could try to sell to someone who can.
It's Garber's job to help the league. If saying that helps keep Collinsville on the hook for stadium funds, then it is part of his job. Too many folks on these boards parse the statements from MLS and USSF officials as if it were the bible. Public statements are, by and large, made for marketing and business reasons. They're like campaign promises. If Garber had just come out and said, "St. Louis is on their own" then that'd probably be it for St. Louis for now. Don't get too wrapped up in public statements.
I don't think that's what he's talking about. For instance, I don't think Joe Roth came to MLS with any kind of plan to put a team in specific city. What Garber's referring to are investors who want to get involved somehow with MLS but don't have a particular city in mind. An LA-based mogul (like Roth) obviously can't put a team in his hometown, so MLS hooked him up with Seattle. In other words: no, Garber's not trying to poach Eugene Melnyk for St. Louis. I assume that's what you're worried about, given your location.
Is it his job? No. Is it in the best interest of the league. I think so. I know that you use Albuquerque as an example, so I'll stick with it. In terms of market size, "footprint", TV deals, ect....St. Louis is a much more desireable market for MLS to be in. So if the league decides that St. Louis is the most desireable market to be in provided they have the proper investment group, then perhaps it behooves them to do whatever it takes to find investors for that market. It probably has less to do with St. Louis be "undesireable" to investors as it does with Cooper doesn't have the connections that other owners have. Someone from St. Louis correct me if I'm wront, but Cooper is worth about $250 million and made his money as a lawyer trying class action asbestos lawsuits. He is the only potential owner/current owner that I can think of that doesn't have some connection to one of the other major sports leagues in the US. Translation, his immediate group of peers aren't all billionaire sports owners like the other guys.
I put this in babelfish, and it came out with this. "The people that own teams are normally sued by guys like Cooper and the people he wants to invest have probably already been sued by him"
If putting an MLS team in St. Louis is such a great idea, they shouldn't have to go out and beg investors to buy in. What is so special about St. Louis?