I was in Zurich a couple of years back and saw a guy with a tattoo of a grasshopper, thought that was pretty cool.
I def. think the league needs to tighten its base of teams in the southeast and eastern part of the country. While I appreciate the teams in the west it seems like USL-1 is on course to not be a coast to coast league after 2010. Other measures will need to be taken to ensure the league's survival and growth. I think they need to be in markets that are big but where a USL team would actually get some press coverage. Heard the San Antonio rumor time and time again and I think it may happen one day. As far as OKC and Tulsa go, don't count on it anytime soon. People here are more interested in other things.
I always thought it would be incremental growth. Add Atlanta & B'ham in 2010, with NYC and Tampa. In 2011, try and get Nashville to move up and then something in KY (Louisville or Lexington), maybe Indianapolis. In 2012 you hit St Louis (if not sooner) and Milwaukee, San Antonio, Tulsa (at least there is history there). That's enough for that dream.
I'm pretty sure it's the economy that's the problem-- good luck getting anyone to commit right now... but I have someone who may be interested in helping you with an Oklahoma Supporters Group. That person is not me. I'm in my 40s and am not into the whole supporters' webforum thing that hosts a few dozen people. For the most part, I could care less about the bigsoccer trolls and self appointed experts and outright idiots who frequent this site (present company excluded, of course). Good luck in Edmond. I fear OKC is more interested in finding investors an AHL team to replace the Blazers than soccer. I fear Bill Cameron (part owner of the Thunder) and David Box have a corner on the market right now for the WNBA and the full support of Tulsa's mayor..... http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=4424228 I will be speaking with the county to try to convince them that the old Driller Park will be viable for soccer and shouldn't be bulldozed.
Thanks for the update. I agree with the assessment in both cities. Lately, I've come to wonder if a PDL team in either or both cities would be more realistic. I mean this sucks but it's better than nothing. To be honest, you know it's going to be a uphill battle when the people who control certain things tell you that no one cares about soccer, but that's another story for another time.
I concur. Austin should be the westernmost team (Minnesota too, if they stay in the fold) for at least 3-5 years. If USL D-1 does try to go coast to coast, they should cultivate owners during the interim, and then bring them all in together as a conference/division/whatever. There should not be, in my opinion, any more than 16 teams in D-1 ever again. Two 8-team conferences at the most, with very little inter-conference play, if any (in other words, lose the single table; it's gonna kill the league). If SA did get a team, couldn't they play where the old Thunder played, or some place similar? There are high school stadiums in Texas that some lower level European teams would absolutely kill for.
Most of them around here have turned to field turf with permanent football lines on them. The old stadium the Thunder played at was Alamo Stadium. Still there. Great location. Would be really fun to remodel some into a great soccer stadium. Won't ever happen, though. As I said before, the Spurs have said they want a stadium before getting a team. So it might be a long time before they end up in the league.
So back to Birmingham, what stadiums are available in the area? UAB - probably too small. isn't there an old baseball stadium sitting empty? What's the neighborhood like?
I was going to say 'Why not', because Portland will be playing on a remodeled, very old baseball field... and then I read the wiki entry. Too bad it's not available, but what they're doing is really cool, actually.
Two that may be feasible, perhaps doable (raises another question): Samford University The Hoover Met (or whatever they're calling it now). Rickwood's dimensions are probably too screwy for a full sized soccer field.
Samford means no beer. In my experience, having beer sales really makes a difference. Hoover Met - that's home of the Barons now, so no go. (Regions Park)
The Silverbacks actually did better when they didn't sell beer. However, there is no correlation between their beer sales and their declining attendance, except that they went after the frat crowd at the expense of the soccer moms and family types, rather than in addition to. The family types went for the Beat, and didn't come back after they folded, and the frat crowd never showed up, kind of like when MLS tried to target the skaters and grungers, who never showed up. MLS changed, but the 'Backs didn't, and there you go.
other than that it would probably have to be Hoover or spain park high schools, which i believe seat 5000 or more. Both schools located in hoover in very nice areas.
You have to segregate your crowd a bit, you don't want drunks, but you do want some rowdy folks. its always a mix, but you need diehards no matter what age, and moms are less likely to be die-hards then single males. Beer helps your single male demographic and usually helps your concession sales a lot.
No go with Baseball. I've heard BSC won't rent it out. Those would probably work. Hopefully they could find a suitable location and build something, hopefully.
http://www.homewood.k12.al.us/athletics/football/waldrop/index.html That doesn't look terrible, but it'd mean no beer sales.
key is can you get a favorable lease. HS football started last week in Alabama, USL season goes a few more weeks.
That's why you have endzone bleachers, even if it's only one side; let the rowdy folks have their own Spion Kop. There was a great place for endzone seats at Adams Stadium, if the county would have let the Ruckus put them up (probably never asked). Ditto for DMS/Hallford. I'm not against beer sales (even though I detest beer). Heck, minor league baseball seems to reach most segments of the masses and they sell beer (family types drink beer too, ya know ). Thing is, at the moment, most of the ticket buyers are the family types. Make 'em mad, and you go down the tubes, literally. Teams need to reach out to all audiences, and don't favor one over the other (but don't alienate the bulk of your ticket buyers).
Yep, that's all true. If you control concessions - you want beer. When we added beer in CT we jumped up a few hundred a game. We did $1 beer from gate open till kickoff- about an hour, and we sold something like $1,200 beers and our crowds were about 2,400. HS stadiums can work, but it doesn't always work. In New Orleans we had a great HS stadium that the AD told me that soccer will ruin the field, and causes more damage than football players. Yes, he really said that.