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"
MASL 2018-19 News: 24 Game Schedule Starting December 1st. http://www.maslsoccer.com/news/masl-announces-season-start-and-format-for-2018-20
Nice article on ib26 from the Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...-sport-star-you-probably-dont-know/984497001/
Tacoma Weekly article on the Stars and their playoff push: https://tacomaweekly.com/sports/playoff-fever-has-bitten-tacoma-stars/
2018-2019 to have 24 games and start December 1, 2018. http://www.maslsoccer.com/news/masl-announces-season-start-and-format-for-2018-20
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.
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).
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
Crapids might be a better fit for M2. not that MASL is really "major" but that was always a pretty small market.
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.
MSAs: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission: 849k Syracuse: 656k Harrisburg: 568k Cedar Rapids: 268k (still only 428k if we include the IC metro)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Update from the Tacoma Weekly on the Stars (MASL & WISL): https://tacomaweekly.com/featured-sports/two-for-tacoma/
Name change for the arena of Toronto's new MASL team... https://www.mississauga.com/news-st...ershey-centre-to-be-renamed-paramount-centre/
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)
St. Louis Ambush issues statement concerning a player incident: http://www.stlambush.com/news/st-louis-ambush-statement-regarding-player-inciden