Sorry if I got this all wrong as i'm trying to catch up with various angles of this bombshell news. One of the folks arrested and indicted, according the the NYT, is Aaron Davidson. Unless I am missing something he is or was President of Traffic Sports and Chairman of the NASL. If so, how devastating will this be for the NASL? I've said before, my gut feeling was telling me that the Cosmos stadium was proposal was being delayed for a reason, and I had suggested that it had to do with concerns over the people involved in the project. My assumption was that Sela Sport was the red flag, but could have been this FIFA corruption probe? Being based out of the Brooklyn US Attorney's office, it does not look good. Did Traffic at one point own, or still own part of, the Cosmos?
This pisses me off. It could derail the league, kill some teams and a bunch of good people will be without jobs, all because of a bunch of greedy assholes. Breakaway league of a breakaway league?
Davidson is the pres of Traffic Sports USA and is the main power behind the NASL. He is the chair of the Board of Governors for the NASL. Traffic are the majority owners(maybe 100%) of the Class A shares in North American Soccer League LLC. The club owners own the Class B shares. So even if Traffic sells the Railhawks, and is done with club ownership, they still are essentially the NASL. The league does not exist without them. Traffic Sports is the NASL. No matter how much expansion the NASL throws at the wall, the league still doesn't exist without Traffic and Davidson was the guy pulling the strings. So yeah. A nightmare for the NASL. The individual clubs, outside of the Railhawks who are directly effected by this, will be fine. But the NASL club owners should be thinking hard about who they got into bed with and a possible escape plan from the league.
I said it in the news thread.... I don't really think this is too bad for the NASL - yet. It depends upon how they react to it. So far, it's been crickets. The league's response will determine how big of a nightmare it could be. Mr. Davidson is innocent until proven guilty (according to the legal system in the US) or at least that is what I'm told. Regardless of innocence or guilt, I would hate to be in his shoes right about now. Also, the media and public are different things altogether! You look pretty guilty to the media and public just by the nature of being charged. I just hope that the league takes the right PR steps and gets in front of it. Of this, I am not confident... In my fantasy world (where I own one of the NASL teams), I demand to have the Chairman resign or be suspended immediately from any involvement in league activities. I really think it's that simple for the league, but that's my opinion. I don't know what difference the A and B shares hold in terms of league ownership. Usually different classes hold different rights. Without any personal insight into the actual league structure - my guess is that it is a PR issue in the short term. A big nightmare on that front. It could change expansion announcements or agreements in the short term. As for the league itself - the teams will continue playing. US soccer took steps with the league standards a few years ago to make sure leagues function when problems arise. This was accomplished with the bond each team puts up before each season. Longer term, well I don't know how much involvement Mr. Davidson has in the teams that Traffic owns - Carolina Railhawks and the Atlanta Silverbacks. Could it cause the owners of Traffic Sports to stop funding the teams? I don't have a clue. I would guess that the business of Traffic Sports isn't going to change due to the indictment. So long term I would guess they sell the Railhawks which has already been reported they are trying to do. The question is - will Traffic Sports continue to fund the Railhawks and Silverbacks (whatever part they own) going forward if Davidson is found guilty? Are they one in the same - Davidson & Traffic Sports? Or was he just the guy in charge who can be replaced? I just don't know but it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I wager a couple knew who they were getting in bed with, and were not only fine with it, were happy about it and what they may be able to get away with in the future if the league grew.
Based on a quick Google search Class A vs Class B is really meaningless until we can define the rights the NASL gives to each class. Sometimes Class A can have more rights and sometimes Class B has more rights depending on the individual company. The only common difference is Class A is publicly traded stock, while Class B isn't. Anyone know if I am wrong with this?
Or how about the more logical move, merge back into USL and help them split USL back into two parts called USL1 and USL2. Have the former be what the higher level independent USL teams and NASL teams are today, and USL2 be the MLS minor league. Basically go full circle back to where they started except with USL2 actually having a purpose.
( a ) How's it going to kill teams? If teams are relevant in their markets and have solid ownership, they can come up with a place to continue to play even if it means coming up with it themselves or going back (in some cases) to USL. ( b ) Who says they're all good people? Would that Special Purpose have anything to do with something that starts with a "P" and another thing that starts with an "R?"
Actually that purpose would be to be the MLS' minor league. Which would pretty much preclude the idea you mention starting with P and ending with R.
I'm talking about the coaches, players, trainers, physios etc. They are hardly big enough to be evildoers.
They own 66% of A shares. Giving them veto power over finance. But day to day is decided by class b shares. But they did let the league borrow seed money. I am sure they had strong influence.
Well, NASL's BOG has made a great first step with their statement on NASL.com NASL STATEMENT ON U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INVESTIGATION Basically, they suspended Davidson and Traffic Sports from any dealings with the league effective immediately. Railhawks management will be run as is. Wild Bill is the temp Chairman.
NASL suspends Chairperson Aaron Davidson& Business Activities With Traffic http://soccerly.com/article/soccerly/nasl-suspendschairperson-aaron-Davidson In light of the ongoing investigation announced by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday, the North American Soccer League's Board of Governors has suspended Chairperson Aaron Davidson, along with all business activities between the league and Traffic Sports, effective immediately
So basically they're still the ultimate owners of the league as those that control the purse strings are those that are in control. That said, the league's first response was about as good as they can do considering they're "suspending" Traffic who still ultimately owns their asses.
In my opinion, it is unlikely this will have any public affect on the NASL, as long as it is limited to just Davidson. There will be some suffeling of people, and maybe some stocks sold. There will be some behind the scenes changes, but nothing that will cause the league to disband. Granted if the NASL is more involved in this than just Davidson doing some extracurricular activity, but I highly doubt that is the case.
Really, the only move they could make. But if Davidson was the one to hire Peterson, and essentially was the one running the ship, who is pulling the strings now? Bill Peterson? The NASL owners? There is still the matter of the Class A shares. This could turn into an ugly legal matter as it usually does. Not good days ahead. The fact that the NASL moved quickly as they did, to get a press release out there, tells you they thought it would publicly affect them. The last thing the league wanted was to be negatively tied to the biggest story on earth right now. This was their chairman who was also president of a company that essentially created and ran the NASL. You cannot say this is just Davidson or think you can easily wash your hands of it. There definitely will be people looking closer at what went on there. As the DoJ said, this is just the beginning and a lot of shady dealing will be exposed. Unlike with MLS, the NASL clubs are bigger than the league and will survive. The fans in these cities are going to show up if the league is called the NASL, USL or MLS2. It is about the teams now.
With some of the mis information about Traffics influence in the NASL being posted, here's an article from Northern Pitch detailing Traffic's connection with the NASL : http://northernpitch.com/articles.h...utives-including-nasl-ceo-aaron-davidson-r304 All NASL owners vote with class A rights. Class B stock does not vote but gives Traffic the control (veto rights) they needed for limited issues, based upon their risk, to control their return on equity and return of equity, if that ever happens. A source familiar with the league body said most issues don’t revolve around that class B share. "The rights assigned to their shares only come up in very narrow circumstances like budget or approving a new expansion team," the source said. "I've been told they seem to be good citizens and are certainly not dictators in that board room."
That is standard practice for any business in any industry. When your chairman or ceo gets arrested you suspend the person, and install a temporary person to take the position until the issue has been resolved. There is nothing more to that move. Obviously there can be PR problems, but I wasn't speaking about PR. I was responding to people talking about the possibility of the NASL disbanding or being seriously altered. In which case, it is highly unlikely. The only likely changes to be made is behind the scenes.
The biggest issue is the Railhawks IMO. Does the league takes them over. Does the IRS? That would be funny.
I was driving for work, and this was the lead story on the local sports talk show that starts at 3. They talked to Charlie Slagle, who used to run CASL and now has a Saturday morning soccer show on the station. He thinks the indictment is more of a problem for NASL than the Railhawks. I'm not sure I buy his argument. When the WUSA folded, the Carolina Courage were one of about 3 teams that wanted to and could keep going...their attendance was pretty good. But the league folded around them. This doesn't feel like that. PS...suddenly my sig has a new meaning.
Running Atlanta and Carolina would be tough, but it could be done. I heard they were talking to some potential local owners about six months ago to buy Traffic out. Fire sale price may help get it done.
I am sure they could find a buyer for the Railhawks. They have solid attendance, and don't have to deal with an MLS team in the same city.
I think you are right. I also think that Atlanta either moves north of town, or moves out of town. Nashville or Birmingham both have potential.