News: USL teams that are in trouble

Discussion in 'United Soccer Leagues' started by WhiteStar Warriors, Jul 22, 2009.

  1. The Marquis

    The Marquis Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 13, 2007
    Washougal, WA
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The travel would be too much for PDL. They can't BUS it to or from Bermuda.
     
  2. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Like someone else posted, going to PDL wouldn't work. It doesnt' solve the expense they have of traveling themselves and then paying for clubs to come there. I'm sure they aren't paying their players very much, so you don't really save money there. It's strictly a revenue / sponsorship issue with them. They aren't getting money from sources that the previously did ie Bermuda Travel and a couple of other because of the recession.


    I can only think of a couple PDL teams that have the attendance that you think could maybe support a USL 2 team. And none of them are located any where near other USL 2 teams. The cost of the travel just doesn't make sense for them.
     
  3. pc4th

    pc4th New Member

    Jun 14, 2003
    North Poll
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/s...l=1&adxnnlx=1251208969-1L4hAJBVy9CdmtFyGKZp/w

    If Traffic buys USL, then Miami FC will stay in the league for years to come. Maybe.
     
  4. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The general feeling we're getting down here is that regardless of who buys, Miami FC is in for at least next year in the "new" USL, whatever that may be. I imagine if they own the whole league they'd want a team, but that doesn't necessarily mean MFC hangs around.
     
  5. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    Didn't I read 2 or 3 weeks ago that in USL1 3 teams made a profit and all the other teams lost money
     
  6. The Marquis

    The Marquis Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 13, 2007
    Washougal, WA
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    5 teams in USL 1 made a profit. I'm pretty certain we can figure out 3 of them right off with 3 others that could make up those last 2.
     
  7. Eric B

    Eric B Member

    Feb 21, 2000
    the LBC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Who's "they"?
     
  8. waynosworld

    waynosworld New Member

    Feb 19, 2009
    Twin Cities
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They is the USL: they are always scouting new sites. St. Louis has decent support for the women's league. They could garner good support for a USL team. Also, youth soccer is well established in MO with alot of strong clubs producing good talent. There are some rather large tournaments in MO that are nationally ranked a well attended. All that combined creates a good fan base.

    That being said, the sale of the USL sends this ideas out the window. We'll have to wait and see.
     
  9. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wayno, you still need group to step up and actually buy a franchise in those cities. The USL can try and cultivate potential ownership groups in markets they think are a good fit. But USL isn't going to build the franchise. However, if I had won the mega millions yesterday I would look into a USL 1 franchise. My dream is to become the AEG of USL. :D
     
  10. waynosworld

    waynosworld New Member

    Feb 19, 2009
    Twin Cities
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    May you win the Megamillions the next time!!! I like your thinking!

    Other threads have wild accusations that 2 separate groups out of St. Louis may exist that are interesting in buy a franchise. No idea if this is true. Hey, but let's go with it!
     
  11. Prester John

    Prester John New Member

    Aug 7, 2009
    Captain for Life!
    Club:
    Des Moines Menace
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  12. DixieDean

    DixieDean New Member

    Jun 4, 2004
    Nassau, Bahamas
    There's a quote floating (somewhere here on BS, I'd wager) around purported to be from a high ranking league official. It goes something like this: "When we said "X" number of teams made a profit, we didn't say it was all in the same year" wink wink nudge nudge.
     
  13. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How much is USL worth?
     
  14. HSEUPASSION

    HSEUPASSION New Member

    Apr 16, 2005
    Duck, NC
    A lot, but it's worth isn't in the professional divisions.

    I'm willing to bet Charleston made a profit.
     
  15. Libero4

    Libero4 Member

    Oct 26, 2007
    Bingo!

    We have a winner!!!!!

    The real jewel of the USL is the PDL.
     
  16. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    The ones that didn't make the playoffs?

    Back to back trips to the USL-1 final all but bankrupted the Richmond Kickers. It's why they relegated themselves to USL-2
     
  17. The Marquis

    The Marquis Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 13, 2007
    Washougal, WA
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's hard to do for a club drawing less than 3,000. Montreal, Portland, Vancouver would all be fine travelling as they not only draw well in their home leg, they also sell concessions like crazy.
     
  18. Eric B

    Eric B Member

    Feb 21, 2000
    the LBC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which should have signaled to Marcos & Holt that this country is too big for and soccer isn't popular enough to maintain national lower divisions.
     
  19. City Dave

    City Dave Member

    Jan 26, 2007
    Cleveland, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, it just signaled what happens if you over spend and don't do your budgeting correctly. Cleveland is suffering from some of the same issues.
     
  20. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When you're only drawing 1500 on average, it's impossible to budget for plane trips to Puerto Rico and Vancouver. Seriously, do the math:

    $9/ticket x 1500 x 15 games = $200,000. If you don't spent ANY money on travel or the office staff or renting a stadium and split the money evenly between only 20 players (though I see 25 on the roster on their website) that means the players are getting paid $10,000 each for their services.

    Sorry, but you can NOT seriously think the team could survive in USL1 on $200K a year. Everything I've seen says that USL1 teams should be running a budget of at least a half million, but more like a million.
     
  21. City Dave

    City Dave Member

    Jan 26, 2007
    Cleveland, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When did I say or think anything about 200k a year or the teams survival?

    Ummm... not sure why you're telling me all this like I don't know it. Budgeting for a USL season includes estimating revenue which involves estimating attendance/ticket sales.

    The Cleveland FO underestimated their ticket sales. They also have the lowest payroll in the league I think. Even so, they failed to budget properly for this season.

    You forgot to include sponsorship money into your figures as well.

    Anyway, not quite sure why you responded the way you did to my comment.
     
  22. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually it's $2-$3 million running budget.
     
  23. Krammerhead

    Krammerhead Guest

    Hell, not only did they underestimate their ticket sales but tickets are only $9? No wonder teams can't meet their payroll when tickets are dirt cheap.
     
  24. CCSUltra

    CCSUltra Member+

    Nov 18, 2008
    Cleveland
    Club:
    Hertha BSC Berlin
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's just for the last game, I think. Outside of the $5 games, tickets were $12. I'm not positive, but I think that's how much they were.
     
  25. Krammerhead

    Krammerhead Guest

    Cheapest tickets in Vancouver are $16 and that's for seniors and youth. The cheapest tickets for adults are $18 while the highest price tickets are $35. You can't get a ticket in the grandstand (there's only one) for under $24.
     

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