I suppose I would be okay with the Cosmos coming back if they're "promoted" from the NASL. Question is, how long do they let them stay there, and do they "promote" another team first? Orlando is nipping at the heels to get in, and have a great fan base for the USL. I can see no reason they get moved to MLS AFTER the Cosmos unless the Cosmos sell out their tickets for every game the first season.
Kraft donates a lot to Columbia University...athletics and medical research. I live within walking distance of this stadium and don't mind it at all.
I can. Not enough money to join MLS and MLS not wanting to be in the market. Not saying either is the case. But it's a long way from USL to MLS in terms of the money the owners need. And MLS so far hasn't shown a great desire to get back into the southeast.
Wait, what? Don Garber, March 1 of this year: “We've got to have a team in Southeast, but in my opinion, we've got to be in New York and we've got to find a way to achieve both.” Dan Courtemanche, May 5 of this year: "We believe the Midwest and Southeast are two areas of the country where we could add an expansion team to provide geographic balance." Don Garber, March 11, 2011: "I can’t imagine that when this league is fully expanded that we don’t have teams in the Southeast." Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, April 23, 2010: "Commissioner Don Garber says the league also would like to return to the southeast, either to Atlanta or South Florida." I guess the only way you'd consider them to have a "great desire" is if they actually did it.
Yeah, "in the city" is kind of a goof though. It's on an island, under the Triboro Bridge (anyone who calls it the RFK bridge should be thrown off of it). You can drive there, but the traffic is epic and, oh by the way, no one really from NYC has a car. Dudes in outer boros maybe, but even then, no one drives that shit into town just to hang. Parking for 5k in cars would be a very cruel joke, and the only way to really get there via public transportation is on a bus. It runs every 10 minutes for so from east 125th, I've taken it a lot to get to the driving range, but 5k in & out on that one bus line, in city traffic, over a bridge & through tolls....is asking for trouble. Also, there's a homeless shelter and a mental hospital on Randall's island, and those people are no joke. I've seen bums fight in Penn Station, I've seen people at port authority try to pee on each other and NONE of that holds a candle to the freak show that is the M35 bus. It could work as a temporary solution, but only a temporary one. I also lived ~ 1 mi. from Baker field for 10 years....that's not a good option. Field is epic shit (for soccer), and that neighborhood has zero parking. You can take the A train or the 1 there, so it's really accessible (if you don't mind sitting on the subway for 40 minutes), but that field is not good. If they get promoted to MLS & build a new stadium in Flushing, that's one thing. Hofstra, Belson, etc...all kind of "double AA league" options tbh.
I've never been to New York, and won't even pretend I know how to get around the city so don't kill me for this if it's a bad suggestion. But what about Coffey Field at Fordham? That's in the city proper, right? It looks pretty big, not extravagant, but decent sized.
Yeah I mean they already have a minor league soccer team in New Jersey and no one really follows them either.
I don't know about their minor league team, but support is rather underwhelming for their major league team too. As far as the location, it seems that Hofstra is set for at least the short term. But I imagine that the team would want a dedicated stadium at some point and one that could be expandable if MLS calls on them. I see on google maps that the block on the East side of Manhattan bounded by 38th, 41st, and First Ave is vacant and would probably fit a soccer stadium. I realize this is super prime real estate, but are there any current plans for that land? Or has a stadium been considered? There's got to be a benefit to having a stadium for the "world's game" in the shadow of the United Nations building, right? Looking forward to making the trip to support the RailHawks vs the Cosmos!
What would be some members of the top ten, say? And what would the criteria be? The Houston APSL team that played one game? The Sacramento Geckos, who couldn't win and couldn't draw? The USL-1 version of the Cleveland City Stars? I would nominate the Maryland Mania from (I believe) 1999. Having had to deal with that franchise, I can tell you it was one of the most clueless of all time.
It looks like Hofstra is all but officially announced. There are other factors that no one has discussed when it comes to Hofstra. It actually seems like it may be the perfect venue. http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/cosmos-to-play-in-n-a-s-l-in-13/ I did a bit of research, and Hofstra also has a soccer stadium. It only sits 1,500 on one side, but its surface is the FIFA approved artificial turf. This could lend two situations, the cosmo's could throw a couple pennies to have the seating expanded easily and rather cheaply to 6,000 (of course this is just looking at pictures of the venue which there seems to be plenty of room all around the field for more bleachers), or it could just further the fact that Hofstra's football stadium will be used as the match pitch, with the soccer specific stadium as the training grounds, or where a potential reserve team (PDL) would play its matches. Since the NCAA football program has been junked, and the stadium IS NOT used for football anymore, it might be less expensive for them to just resurface that field, or have it re painted (idk if this is possible) so as to stretch the touch lines 5 yards or so on each side, and erase the football lines that are currently there. Just my thoughts on the matter. I'm a rookie this season for Charlotte, so im in the unknown about how infrastructures work, and i'm from Ca, so I have no idea about New York
I'll defer to New Yorkers to tell us how the location of Hofstra helps or hinders. Capacity wise, Hofstra seems like a really good option, and if you could resurface the field (not as easy or inexpensive as some think) or somehow minimize the effect of it, that would be a positive. I'm not sure if those are permanent lines (if the fibers themselves are that color) or if they're removable paint (all the attempts at the removal of long-term paint from grasstroturf I've ever seen have been less than optimal).
I think Hofstra is bigger than that. It seats 15,000 according to all the sources I've seen. But the field is a problem unless they resurface it. Any team playing on a fake field with permanent football/lacrosse field lines just looks unprofessional in my book. Hopefully they have the money to and Hofstra gives them the ability to do something about that.
No. This makes my eyes bleed. Football lines on soccer fields just make me sad and look like unprofessional crap. But the field has to be red to make my eyes bleed.
Athletics68, the capacity I was referring too was that of the Hofstra Soccer Stadium, the schools soccer specific stadium. Kentomasch/Athletics68 You are right though, for the football stadium, they would benefit GREATLY from relining the surface as JUST soccer lines (I think maybe they'd need to put lax as well, because of the school having a team?) But obviously best case scenario, re-surfacing the pitch with the same turf that the soccer stadium has would be optimal being that its fifa approved turf, and the option to host national team games, and MLS teams in pre season exhibitions would be big for the club and community.
My bad I didn't realize they had a separate soccer field. But I suspect the NASL owners are looking at the larger stadium, not the 1,500 seat soccer field. Even if it has the potential to be expanded I suspect that costs more money than just renting the larger field. And if they were willing to do some temporary expanding like that then I'd question why they didn't choose a stadium closer to the center of the city like ICahn Stadium.