MASL News

Discussion in 'Pro Indoor Soccer' started by Scooge, Sep 1, 2016.

  1. mjames1229

    mjames1229 Member

    Sep 26, 2006
    West Allis, WI
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Wave's Robert Renaud tore up his knee and is out for the season.
     
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  2. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
    File this under Unconfirmed Rumor: Per a posting on Facebook's MASL Off the Wall group, it sounds like the Cedar Rapids Rampage will be relocated to Orlando, FL. Part of that text is below.

    "Douglas Miles

    @douglasmilesCRG
    16h16 hours ago
    More
    Heard from a reliable source that the @CRTitans are for sale and a @CRRampage move to Orlando, Fla. is in the works. #MASL #IFL #CRTitans #CRRampage #RampageUnited"
     
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  3. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
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  4. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
  5. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
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  6. Buddy98

    Buddy98 Member

    Oct 22, 2014
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  7. Buddy98

    Buddy98 Member

    Oct 22, 2014
    Comets sign Jeff Richey. http://kccomets.com/kansas-city-comets-sign-jeff-richey/

    To me, I don't see this move having much of a positive impact on him. I don't think Richey's played for three years or so. He is around 40, and when he last played, he tore his ACL if I'm not mistaken. I think the Comets season is a lost cause at this point. In hindsight, they should have probably sought out Joey Kapinos, assuming they did try to explore that avenue.
     
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  8. firesting81

    firesting81 Member+

    Jan 16, 2001
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Richey played for CR and won two years ago on a short term deal replacing a suspended Kapinos.
     
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  9. SteveCo

    SteveCo Member

    Mar 23, 2014
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If Richey hasn't played in 3 years, I have a hard time thinking he will be much better than the goalkeepers that the Comets have been using. The Comets don't defend very well in general. They should have signed Kapinos or another decent veteran goalkeeper back in November, plus signed some experienced defenders (especially after Stokic went down with a season ending injury). It was obvious the team needed help early in the season. It's too little, too late now.

    The league needs to quit running these last-minute 'will the team make it or not' dramas two months before the season starts. The Comets lost several good players as a result and apparently couldn't find adequate talent to replace the guys who left or retired. The league needs to set a firm deadline of June or July for teams to start play this December. Give teams enough time to sign decent talent and fully organize. The history of 'last minute' teams is not very good (Chicago Riot, Pennsylvania Roar, Massachusetts Twisters).
     
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  10. Buddy98

    Buddy98 Member

    Oct 22, 2014
    It looks like the IFL's Titans are going to be for sale while things are really up in the air for the Rapids.

    http://www.thegazette.com/subject/s...ce-uncertain-futures-in-cedar-rapids-20180128
     
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  11. DrakeSC

    DrakeSC Member

    Aug 28, 2017
    Crapids might be a better fit for M2. not that MASL is really "major" but that was always a pretty small market.
     
  12. firesting81

    firesting81 Member+

    Jan 16, 2001
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Ha! That's the second time I've seen someone refer to the Rampage as "the Rapids". I figured that would be common in soccer circles.

    Not any smaller than say Harrisburg or the Rio Grande Valley or Syracuse. About 380,000 people within a 30 minute drive radius of the arena. And our and second year attendance was respectable enough, but both the Rampage and Titans have cratered attendance-wise in the last year due to far less community outreach and marketing. The man in charge of that part of the organization was quite good but he left. IMHO, Kokalis is good at getting good people to come coach/play for his teams, but he's less great at building a brand on his own.
     
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  13. DrakeSC

    DrakeSC Member

    Aug 28, 2017
    MSAs:

    McAllen-Edinburg-Mission: 849k
    Syracuse: 656k
    Harrisburg: 568k
    Cedar Rapids: 268k (still only 428k if we include the IC metro)
     
  14. firesting81

    firesting81 Member+

    Jan 16, 2001
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    And I see Modesto-Turlock area is 514k (did not realize the McAllen, and especially Edinburg, areas had gotten that big. I see it's a fast growing area). So counting IC it's about 90k-240k less than some other pretty stable markets. Maybe it's too small a market considering how many other sports opportunities people have in the metro area? You've got USHL hockey, U of I football, basketball, and wrestling (which is a big draw here as opposed to other college towns), as well as three other large colleges in the area.

    But this is back to the debate we had at the time when they were formed. And the one saving grace was that ownership was committed and proved they could draw with the Titans. Problem is, both franchises have gone downhill in the last year and the staff is and marketing is now near bare bones.
     
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  15. SteveCo

    SteveCo Member

    Mar 23, 2014
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://www.stlambush.com/news/ambush-sign-zach-reget

    It's another losing season in Saint Louis but encouraging to see the Ambush finding scorers to develop for next season and beyond. Zach Reget scored a lot in outdoor soccer in college, we will see if he can add some scoring punch to an inconsistent offense for the last 6 games. The Ambush also recently promoted a local forward named Stinson, he has looked decent in a couple games. Midfielder Clayton 'Pedalaria' Matheus is now out for the season with an ACL injury so depth is needed.
     
  16. SteveCo

    SteveCo Member

    Mar 23, 2014
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Cedar Rapids had decent crowds early on. But as Ken Tomasch says, the number of tickets sold by an indoor soccer team (or other minor leagues) is most heavily influenced by how much effort the team puts into selling paid tickets. Not only paid advertising and marketing (social media is NOT marketing as you are talking to people already following the team), but the staff to answer the phones, process orders and close the all important group sales. The community outreach is important too, show up at local events with a team table, run games and giveaways.

    I think Cedar Rapids can work well for MASL but the ownership needs to work harder and building the brand and creating great game day experiences. I attended a Rampage game last season and I didn't think their game day management was very good. The PA announcer wasn't very good, the music was too random, it seemed loose around the edges. It had dropped off in game day quality from season one (I haven't made it up there this season). It's too bad, sorry to see it drop off so much. Every city has other sports going on. It sounds like the owners are having a lot of issues.
     
  17. NSL2004

    NSL2004 Member+

    Jul 23, 2002
    Who was that?
     
  18. firesting81

    firesting81 Member+

    Jan 16, 2001
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa

    I think his name was Brad Petersen. You saw him out with the Titans and Rampage players in the community a lot. You saw them hocking tickets at youth soccer, football, etc. Now you never see them out, apart from the St. Paddy's Day
    Parade once a year, and (to the organization's credit) a fundraiser for the power wheel chair soccer club at the NW Rec Center.
     
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  19. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
  20. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
  21. the shelts

    the shelts Member+

    Jun 30, 2005
    Providence RI
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
  22. NickWISoccer

    NickWISoccer Member

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    Will next season actually have playoffs that aren't 1 game affairs? Its good they are extending the season to 24 ( which is the longest its been since i think the late NPSL)
     
  23. Kit

    Kit Member+

    Aug 30, 1999
    Herkimer, NY, USA
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MISL2 played 30 games per year through 2007-08, and MISL3 played 26 games per year in 2012-13.
     
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  24. Scooge

    Scooge Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Big Sky Country
    Club:
    Portland MLS
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  25. Mkewavefan10

    Mkewavefan10 Member

    Jan 16, 2013
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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