Note that all of those problems are non-football related. And you cant possible blame the XFL on Florida. Florida is a football state. Dolphins, Bucs, Jaguars, Gators, Seminoles, Canes, we cant get enough. After that its golf, tennis, and spring training. And Jeb Bush is a schmuck.
Plus, checkout the attendance in Seattle for the other home games this season. Probably averaging about 2,500 a game without the 25,000 night!
Seattle's average 2,439 which is their best in a while. Amazing what a 25,515 crowd will do for you, though, their season average is a very misleading 4,087. Over the last six years they've seen a pretty steady decline. Hopefully they've got it sorted, because Seattle would be a good city for it.
I hear this transplant argument all the time. I don't beleive it. I think some cities don't have citizens who care as much about pro sports. If the residents don't associate themselves with Atlanta and keep away from games for that reason (the common argument), I don't think it matters whether its a new league or not. Has any sports team done well there? The Geogia Dome is right on MARTA (the subway). If you wanted to go, you could easily go. RFK stadium is right on METRO, but in a bad part of town. People never skipped Skins games because they used to play there. The new Skins stadium is hard to get to (no Metro stop), but it doesn't deter people. I lived in Atlanta for 4 years and attended numerous sporting events, the crowds did not impress me. (I remember going to a bunch of Maryland-Georgia Tech games and rooting for Maryland. What a poor bunch of fans Tech draws. I probably made more noise than the rest of them.) More importantly, I remember not being able to watch sporting events on TV because they did not sell out. That includes a Hawks playoff game after they won their division. Also, a lot of Falcon's home games were blacked out. I do contrast this to Washington, where the Redskins haven't been blacked out for decades (if ever). Washington really cares for the Skins. They are the big event in town. Altanta on the other hand, didn't even jump on the Falcons bandwagon until after the beat the Viking in the NFC Champsionship game in their SuperBowl season.
My brain hurts.... No, wouldn't that mean changing who said it from one person to another? Same person, just different saying, right?
A simple explanation is that the league is one business entity, not a combination of them. MLB is not single-entity. Each MLB team has an owner (or more) and if you invest in MLB, you do so by investing in a team. Teams handle a lot of their own finances and negotiate their own contracts with teams. In MLS you can invest in the league without investing in a particular team. Also, each team is partially owned by the combination of people who own the league. Although there are people who own chunks of individual teams, it is always under 50%. Consequently, the league is managed as one business: all contracts are negiotated by the league and most business decision are done in the best interest of the league, not individual clubs. You do not see clubs competing with each other finacially for players. They cooperate to put out a joint product. Most owners in established leagues wish they had single entity. They cannot switch. Once you have a few dozen baseball businesses, you cannot merge them into one because of anti-trust problems. If you have zero soccer businesses, you can create a new one (with multiple teams) without violating anti-trust laws. That is why new leagues are generally single-entity and old ones are not. That is a pretty basic summary. Some bigsoccer members like single entity. Other hate it. Some think it discourages potential MLS investers because they have less control. Others feel it allows MLS to prevent intra-league economic competition, so it makes the league better. This is an argument that may never be settled. I hope that helps.
And we would likely be in this position regardless of who was in office. MLS is single entity, the NPSL re-organized itself as the MISL as single-entity, I believe that Arena Football started as single-entity, went to multiple-entity for a bit, and then may have come back at least partially to single entity? I may be wrong on that, I thought that was the case. Major League Lacrosse (boy, can't wait to see what Baltimore and Long Island draw for the final at Crew Stadium on Sunday, can you?), I believe, may be single-entity as well. Any others?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My Predictions We are the world.....we are the children....we are the ones who make a brighter day..."
they're both idiots, why don't you let them take credit 50-50. or have this whole discussion fleshed out on another, more appropriate board. i'm sure big soccer has a forum already laid out for "who owns the recession"...i mean, big soccer has a board for everything. pretty light on mls news & discussion though.
As far a Philly is concerned, I don't think we deserve a team, but I think one is likely. The Eagles new stadium will be finished next year, and it was built with soccer in mind the way Gillette stadium was. The Eagles front office has talked about attracting an MLS team, and I think Jeff Lurie could be convinced to invest in the league by both Hunt and Kraft. Philly is the nation's 4th largest media market, so that's good for TV numbers, and I think it has nice rivalry potential with DC, Metro, and NE. If the US gets the Confed cup, I wouldn't be surprised if Philly hosts a game or two. If that happens, MLS will be very impressed by the turnout here. I know that doesn't translate directly into MLS support, but it will uncover a fan base and potential. The down side is that there is no SSS in Philly. The only way this could work is if the Eagles invest in the team because that minimizes league overhead. The only thing I know of Houston is that they have the highest TV ratings for MLS telecasts in a city outside an MLS market.
Hey did anyone think of San Diego for one of the next teams.... We produce a lot of good players out here and the weather is perfect.....I know we could bring in more than the Quakes.... Comon SAN DIEGO!!!! 2006
Deserve it or not, I'd definatly support them. I'd even consider buying season tickets, even though I live ~1.5 hours from there. {Speaking of MLS season tickets, what is the ballpark price for other MLS clubs season tickets?}
To put a little more reality in the Atlanta situation. The owner of the Silverbacks is a multi-millionaire who sold his interest in a tech company before the bubble burst, similar to Mark Cuban. Other partners in Silverbacks ownership are also simlarly heavily invested in tech companies and have lots of moolah. This same fellow (sorry I don't have his name readily available) also owns land at I-85 and I-285 where a drive-in movie theater now stands. This land is in a prime place close to town, but towards the soccer-mom rich suburbs. Rumor has it that construction on a 5,000 seat stadium for the Silverbacks begins next year. I would think that the design of that stadium would incorporate the possibility of expanding from 5,000 to 15,000+ to meet MLS demands, and the Silverbacks could in essence be "promoted" to an MLS team if a franchise were awarded to this city. Thus, there is a potential I/O, a stadium plan, and a possibility to make it happen in Atlanta. Whether or not those potentials equal MLS or simply upgrading the Silverbacks remains to be seen. (Also, in the baseless speculation category -- keep in mind that Cox Communications, which owns WUSA, is located here, and might be a viable joint venturer in a stadium.)
John Galt's post should shed a little light on the dedication of some big money to soccer in Atlanta, Cox, and the owners of the "Backs". They are looking to build a SSS in the perfect location in Atlanta, near Gwinett, not too far from Cobb, where around 1.5 million of Atlantas 4 million live, add to that North Fulton's 200,000 citizens as well. With the Silverbacks brass and Cox Comm, you could easily construct a 25,000 seat SSS once the Silverbacks training complex is done...it will be a Euro style complex too, with a hotel, pub, restaurant and plenty of training fields. I am guessing MLS has noticed the plans...I am hoping, at least. Lastly, soccer fans are different than other sports fans here...we feel a need to support the clubs for the sake of making the league grow and survive...other leagues don't have that problem. Atlanta would do fine, and would draw 15,000 a game easy. The beat averaged around 5,000, and in a shady part of town...and that is women's soccer. The Founders Cup got nearly 8,000. Of course, you Yankees would just bitch about the Atlanta team not selling out every game...