News: Thursday, April 05 , 2018

Cincinnati is in the middle of a real battle over stadium location and yet I still keep reading how shocked everyone is that they haven't been awarded a team.

But hell, some people in Nashville are trying to kill that deal as well.

MLS was prancing and preening about having 12 cities (actually 12 investment groups) lined up begging them to take $150 million checks.

But in reality not a single one of those bids is complete or meet the stated criteria.

Meanwhile Austin is in the process of moving from sad joke to shameless farce.

And Miami - we'll, we're still laughing. But Becks bought a house there to show how serious he is. When his wife and kids move in let me know

MLS expansion has gone off the rails. Lack of vision, lack of leadership and naked greed have combined in a toxic stew which is removing the shine from Dons master plan.

Tome to stop, pull the plug on all of this, take a breath and figure out what the league and where it's really going before they stumble off a cliff.

 

obligatory Zlatan Week.

https://mlsmultiplex.com/2018/04/03/mls-week-5-power-rankings-zlatan-arrives/

 

I would argue the exact opposite in terms of pulling the plug on expansion. MLS knows that these deals are very challenging and some may fall through. That does not mean it actually hurts MLS. It may optically, but there are still many investors lining up.

Now is the best time to expand economically speaking. The markets are up and business is booming, but not for long(recession is a comin’). MLS needs to “award” teams to expansion cities to get shovels in the ground. If outside forces block stadiums, then MLS should just put the “awarded” teams franchise on hold. DC United is an example of time(and politics) being the most important factor in gaining a stadium solution.

 

And people think Austin is hipster. I support San Jose and we invented this.

 

Phoenix Rising presents proposal for major-league stadium
East Valley Tribune

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Reveals Why He Ignored $100M China Offer to Join Galaxy
Sports Illustrated

 

Yeah I think Bill is off on this one. It doesn't really matter if there were 12 or 64 or 5 bid groups at the start. MLS controls supply here, and as long as there is a Sacramento out there, MLS can withhold their decision on Cincy until they get what they want. They don't have to expand in the timetables they set forth, unless their credibility is affected. At this point, I don't think it has. If Sacramento loses interest, and Phoenix fizzles out, and it's about "settling" for Detroit and Ford Field vs. Cincy, then maybe we have an issue.

Crew to Austin fiasco notwithstanding, I'd say the expansion process is on firm footing.

 

The problem with the expansion process was that MLS had 12 potential investors that all looked good on paper. They didn't know which ones were serious, so they set up a little competition. It had the effect of separating the serious from the curious.

The other thing they did was push wanna be's to USL as a test bed. I wonder how USL feels about that? I've heard they weren't happy about the potential to lose Cincinnati. But, now they are closing in on 40 teams in the next few years.

Cincinnati's current situation is odd. Local politics are playing a big role. It will be interesting to see where the stadium ends up. The school board has staked their position.

 

Hockey, pro soccer part of ASU’s plan for multi-use Sun Devil Stadium

 

Meanwhile, in San Antonio ....

 

But why is that a problem? As long as they get great new markets, great new ownership groups with stadium situation bla bla bla, it really doesn't matter if ten of the bids were empty boxes. They just need a perception of competition in the eyes of bidders in order to put pressure on the winning bids to improve every aspect of them. Why settle for Cincy in Oakley now when you can use Sacramento and Patience to get a better location?

 

All Sacramento needed was the expansion fee and they were in. MLS wasn't using them for anything. If anything, you should direct your anger to the Sacramento bidders. They hoped that they could go through the process and get in if they one of the last standing. Turns out, there was a reserve on the auction and their offer came in too low.

 

Sacramento was a lock until Nagle tried to cut out the USL owner and brand. Cincy was verge of following in Detroit footsteps until city leadership took control. They want West End, everyone else would settle for Newport. Now that Miami royalty has joined up with Beckham it's just a matter of time. If you talk to young people they all have friends relocating to Austin, Nashville etc. I questioned Toronto & Atlanta. I won't make that mistake again. MLS is in good hands with Garber and All-State.

 

He's a Crew fan. It's like asking Mary Jo Kopechne's parents about bridges that go over water.

 

Wasn't that long ago that Atlanta would be a complete failure and Minnesota was doing everything right by going from NASL to MLS with real soccer fans. Meh, most expansion teams are doing better than the originals right now, so does it really matter?

 

Uh, no. They need well healed owners that have the financial strength to fund the team for the next 5-10 years. They have the expansion fee, it's everything else they don't have the requisite funds for currently. Their ownership groups main billionaire investor backed away just prior to their presentation to MLS in December.

MLS then hit the pause button on their decision. Cincy's stadium plan didn't meet MLS' requirements. I'd imagine MLS cooled on Detroit for various reasons (likely Stadium situation). MLS doesn't NEED to expand. The league would like to expand, and they will expand when their criteria is met. Unlike the original NASL, MLS isn't living off of expansion fees.

 

Ain't no anger here. I sense some emotion behind Bill's post, and I don't blame him. But as far as MLS Expansion is going, it seems to me they are getting out of it what they had hoped; Nashville is in the bag with a great setup, and Sacramento and Cincy are scrambling to improve their offers.

 

heeled not healed

 

Yeah. Atlanta was such a disaster last year. And LAFC is looking like they are going to be a blight on the league for years to come. Horrible leadership.