2006; that's when MLS figures that the economy will be out of the "W" doldrums. I guess that means that the Union FC project in Trenton may still be on the table, as well as Rochester & St. Louis? Where do you thing it's all going? All hail the Tulsa Roughnecks!
[shameless plug]No. I heartily recommend you pick a copy of ECG#14 and read Paul Oliu's analysis of what went wrong in Trenton. Mention this thread, and I'll cut you a Trenton deal for those that want to read the whole story and get ECG#7, too.[/shameless plug]
My Predictions OKC or Tulsa, Rochester, NYC, Seattle Other possibiltities: Philly, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami (no, really) 2006 also seems like a good year because it leaves plenty of time to find I/O's and get SSS' built.
14 teams, 26 game season, home and away only... a few years later, add 2 more teams, then you're at a respectable 30 game season.... maybe we move to a single table... prob a few teams will be moved as well [cough]san jose[/cough].... the good thing is that there is no "probably" "most likely" words associated with Hunt's statements.... although many of us (myself included) were expecting an expansion in 2004, this might make more sense.....give the SSS more time to be built....
Re: My Predictions no way should nyc get another team before philly or atlanta. btw, (and i'm sure this has been asked before) has mls and the a-league ever discussed a relegation type structure (not now but maybe in the future)?
For any of these new teams, for the love of God, don't use "FC" in your name. You are not a "Football Club" Be a Soccer Club, Athletic Club, Athletic Society, whatever. Those letters mean something, though, so let's go with the American term for the sport. I agree with Mike: the cities that deserve teams are those who will passionately pursue one.
The cities that deserve teams are the ones with someone willing to pony up the money for a stadium and franchise rights. Nothing more, nothing less. It's all about money and facilities at this point.
Re: Re: My Predictions No, not much. Unlikely. In fact, it's possible there might not even be an MLS/USL agreement after this season. It expires this year. And, I agree, no one has a franchise as a birthright. If you build the stadium, get someone to pony up the bucks for it, you put people more intelligent than Dolphins in charge, and I'll support you.
I believe Lamar Hunt made the statement in his statement at the OKC meeting that the league is HOPING to add four more teams by 2006. Considering this fits in with the ending of the I/Os 5 year commitment to the league made last year and the SUM agreement, it's pretty obvious the league wants to be on the path of growth and expansion at the end of this timetable. I believe it's all theoretical speculation at this point (in terms of what four teams they're hoping to bring in). If they don't get those four teams (or at least two of them), it might be the end.
Re: Re: Re: My Predictions That's gonna be tough...I thought that scientific evidence shows dolphins are smarter than humans! As much as I want a team in Philadelphia (and our football stadium will be two years old by then), I agree that the league should avoid operating teams. If no one is willing to step up and put down some cash, then the league should go to places that will. If the 2006 expansion was Tulsa, Milwaukee, Rochester and Winston-Salem, I wouldn't mind.
How come the MLS will never institute relegation I think that would be a great idea.It would make things more interesting IMHO.
Money......Money.....and.......Money... I hate when this comes up...relegation isn't going to happen....
Well from my understanding in Houston we have a potential owner/investor - Although I don't know this for sure. Not to mention our city consistenly ranks in the top 3 I believe for MLS ratings in non-MLS cities. We have a pretty large soccer community. Throw in the fact that we have a 25,000 seat soccer friendly stadium already built and you have the reason why Houston is considered for expansion. The alleged owner/investor is John O'Quinn who is a pretty big attorney down here. He is the reason why the University of Houston when they renovated their stadium, made it "soccer" friendly. I haven't heard much about O'Quinn and/or his link to MLS, but when the expansion rumors were the strongest, that was the investor who was interested last.
Could you play top-level soccer games in Houston in the summer and not die? As I've heard it, the whole reason the Astrodome was built in the first place was that it was too hot, muggy, and buggy to play day baseball games. If that's true, it would certainly call the viability of an MLS franchise into question.
And that was one of the reasons mentioned for Houston's being eliminated as an American Bid City for the 2012 Olympics. They could play at Reliant, couldn't they?
as far as atlanta stands i think it would be a great place. youth soccer is HUGE in conyers where i grew up. there is always good turn out for the UGA games so i don't see why a MLS team would do so bad there. i'm guessing there just hasn't been an investor?
You know, just 'cause a newbie comes on here and mentions rel/pro doesn't mean a bunch of veterans have to act like spoiled brats/whiny crybabies and post something totally childish in response. Why not welcome the newbie and kindly tell him this has been discussed round and round, and to dig up some old threads if s/he wants to see how the debate went. I know you probably think this is beneath you but believe me, it isn't. btw, welcome newbie.
Philly: Jeffrey Lurie has shown lots of interest in bringing an MLS franchise to the Linc. It's being built wide enough for a FIFA-sanctioned field, and the initial computer renderings of it that they put up on the Eagles site even showed it with soccer lines. It's his stadium and he could keep all the money, but it's not a SSS. Basically it would be the exact same deal as Kraft.
Well put. The deadline has been set. The clock is ticking. Did you that Rochester Downton Sports Authority? How about you, Express sports? NJ Legislature, are you listening? How about the Dallas SSS suburb? KC voters, you out there?
Seattlle: Doug Logan: "I promise that if the stadium gets approved Seattle will get a MLS expansion team at the first expansion after the stadium is completed" The stadium is completed, I'd like my team, or my tax dollars back.