Fire's cut is $500 per player. Rest goes to youth club (e.g., Indiana Fire Juniors, Chicago Fire City Juniors, etc.) the kid plays for.
The $500 number comes from my memory of the Fire lawsuit against one the clubs that had the marketing rights. I believe the tale might be even larger since the club now owns West , South and North.
My question remains... is youth soccer an investment for Andy or a source of revenue? If I were to guess he is making a profit just like with rec soccer even after the cost of the academy and scholarships. That is what Grant Wahl needs to be investigating.
For sure, the club clears much more when they own the youth club. Much greater expenses, but much greater profit too.
It's both. But it's primarily a source of revenue. I'd be surprised if youth soccer is treated significantly differently by other MLS clubs. The Academy is separate from the youth soccer programs (i.e., pay to play). The Academy is mandated by MLS and is a cost of doing business (amongst other things). And, yes, income earned from youth soccer programs is commonly used to defray Academy expenses. I see nothing nefarious about it.
If AH were some kind of crook and a youth academy is paying for 15 minutes of fuel for his yacht then this would have been blown open a long time ago and there's no reason it wouldn't be happening across the league. I remember reading a few years ago someone saying MLS needs to open the usage of club logos to youth leagues like MLB does but it probably wont happen when Garber is in control.
Is he making some kind of investment of Ellen's money in the Fire Academy? Yes. Is it anywhere near $1.75M? No. Anywhere over $1M? No. The Juniors club are a huge revenue driver and significantly offset costs for running the Academy, but there is still some money being pumped in, some of which came from John Dorn. Without Dorn's investment, I hear N-Rod is pushing to move away from the fully funded development academy to make up for some of the money Hauptman will have to invest, meaning even the Fire's top youth prospects will have to pay to play. Many of the area's best players fled the club with the departure of Dorn, Segares, Trout and other Academy staff. In their wake, the club flaunts a French replacement whose resume is greatly exaggerated and players will continue to leave. Again, the Fire Academy changes are the greatest destruction under N-Rod that no one is talking about. It will have long-lasting effects.
Bump. Some club from Europe is going to infringe on the Fire's academy territory. http://www.espnfc.us/spanish-primer...cago-for-fifth-us-based-training-academy-site
Well I missed that then. This will no doubt be linked to Sockers. What is their track record elsewhere? Or is this just Barca by name with Sockers coaches?
Looks like the Fire are dropping the U19s for the upcoming academy season. They told top prospect Damian Las to go find another team. It’s not like he was going to sign a homegrown contract but this is going to affect how other players (and their parents) view playing for the youth academy. I wonder if the other MLS owners can give Precourt a swift kick in the ass over this?
As much as the franchise values academy players I'm not surprised. There's talk of the USL starting up an academy, which may make more sense for them. Or not. Las probably can go to Europe. The other prospects probably don't have that option.
Another angle is it has nothing to do with ditching the U-19s and more to do with ditching Las. They know he isn't going to sign with them so they want to make room for their two younger national caliber GK prospects Slonina and Brady.
OK, saw this: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/changing-landscapes-chicagoland.2037831/page-76#post-38030867 FWIW, both Minnesota United, and Cincinnati do not have U-19 teams. Maybe the professional teams are starting their own league under the USL.
Yeah, because it's so much better to lose with bloated Euro salaries than hungry kids. Got to be glad they hired a guy that won the U-20 championship.
There is a big difference between those teams and Chicago. New teams start with younger age groups and bring them up to U-19. For instance, Atlanta didn’t have that age group their first year either. It’s unlikely Nashville or Miami will complete at that level until they train up players for a few years. This is a break from the rest of MLS. Garber should get hammered on it during Q&A chats.
The Fire have/had a U-19 team? Color me surprised. The Fire are dismantling its U-19 team? Not surprised at all
DA team travel was already really insane for families and parents. The "Central Division" geography is just another level of ridiculous for these parents and players. Really not sure what USSF is trying to do here.
Meanwhile:Nashville SC Building A Residential Development Academy. Very nice. An academy is one thing, but a residency is another level. https://t.co/64wcjQfvFp— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) August 1, 2019 " MLS Buzz @MLS_Buzz · Aug 1 Nashville SC Building A Residential Development Academy. Very nice. An academy is one thing, but a residency is another level. (link: http://nashvillescsoccer.com/nashville-sc-building-a-residential-development-academy-at-currey-ingram/) nashvillescsoccer.com/nashville-sc-b… MLS Coaching and Front Office - News & Discussion Thread 2019