It would seem the most recent rewrite is the current rule they need to meet. And if that's the case Phoenix still doesn't meet it no matter how much of the year Phoenix and the west coast share time. It's still MST, not PDT. Now USSF might be able to modify it, back, but as the rule is written currently Phoenix wouldn't qualify them.
A difference that makes no difference is no difference, effectively. During the NASL's season, we're GMT -7. The purpose of the rule was (I surmise) to spread teams out across the country. Given the NASL was supposed to have 14 teams by year three and we're in year five and they have....let's see...NOT FOURTEEN FRIGGING TEAMS...I'm not going to get into a trivial bullshit minutaie argument about whether or not Phoenix, which is <180 miles from the Pacific Time Zone line, actually satisfies a rule or not. If you want to start treating USSF rules as gospel, we can do that, in which case the NASL isn't DII anymore.
I see it a bit like the 5K stadium for D2, some MLS 2 teams are not going to going to play in one, but they will use their parent stadium to meet the requirement. I guess USSF will interpret their rules as they feel best benefits US soccer. So if some investor comes from under a cactus in phoenix and that is the best NASL can do, I think USSF will say ok, but keep on working on getting more pacific teams.
Again with this. We don't know this. These are facts not in evidence. Just because SoccerPrime says it doesn't make it so (or not so). USL has not revealed its actual plans.
Hey I did not say it, if anything I was just saying it could be an option. I think Knave is the one with the master plan on how USL qualifies for everything or some thing.
I've only suggested that, from what I could gather, most of last season's USL owners probably have the money for DII.
I just think it's funny that someone can read "By year six, U.S.‐based teams must be located in at least the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones" and insist, "Well, that means ACTUALLY IN the time zone, not just having the same time as someone in that time zone" while at the same time reading, "All league stadiums must have a minimum seating capacity of 5,000" and insisting, "Well, that doesn't necessarily mean stadiums they're actually going to play in."
That and he's combining two different people's reactions into one. No one person suggested that the time zones requirement must be met but that they'd also waive the stadium size requirement.
as it relates to NASL and LA, I think their best shot of carving out a niche would be to go very local. Name the team after the neighborhood, don't even try to appeal to all of LA or try to big a big market, 'glamour' club. I think that a poor man's Galaxy or a West Coast Cosmos is doomed for failure. I am not sure which neighborhood would be best, but I guess a lot depends on where LAFC end up. Focus should be on being involved in the local community as in the nearest high schools, food banks, or whatever is important to the people that live around the stadium. Focus on developing local talent, and by local, I mean you only take somebody from the other side of the city if he is going to be clearly better than everyone you already have. Clubs to look to for inspiration would be Fulham, Besiktas, and Rayo Vallecano
So you want run up large losses to sign a large number of foreigners and market yourself based on cheap ticket prices and the league you're in so as to attract non-fans and transients ala Fulham? Or base yourself in a poor neighbourhood with a specific political bent and stumble from crisis to crisis like Rayo? Also we must remember that football is politics in Spain. The communists, the anti-fascists, the anarchists, the anti-monarchists, the republicans, the punks, the contrarians; these are the people who support Rayo. They still can't fill a 14,000 seat stadium in the largest metropolitan area in Spain whilst being on one of the best-served metro lines and 15 minutes walk from the main bus interchange in SE Madrid. It we are looking for recruitment inspiration, how about Crystal Palace when they were in the Championship? They put a pair of compasses on a map, drew circle with a 5 mile radius centred on their stadium and concentrated resources on signing young players from there. They advertised in that area, they did outreach in that area. When they did community fun days, where they have special ticket prices for families and members of the local community, the entertainment came from organisations in the local community. Now the Norwood Youth Steel Drum Orchestra might not be the best players in the world but it means something to them to be recognised.
Well you don't have to copy everything. By Fulham, I meant that they are in the Fulham area of Londo, and they are called Fulham, and I was imaging a ground like Craven Cottage, and its location in relation to the rest of the city.
Problem with that is it kind of defeats the purpose of going to a large market like LA. If you artificially divide yourself out you put an unnatural limit on how much support you can get. And something like that has been tried and failed in LA before (see Chivas USA). Yes it wasn't a geographic division, but the principle is the same. Even the Anaheim Angels eventually saw the light on that and renamed themselves after the larger more appealing named city.
Maybe instead of limiting yourself to LA you call yourself the SoCal Aztecs or whatever? Something that is a bit more general to the region instead of specific to a city. Kind of like how the Warriors went to Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors only did that when they moved to Oakland from San Francisco. It wasn't a positive marketing move. It was a we don't want to be closely identified with Oakland move. Now that they're moving back to San Francisco, they're probably going to reclaim the old San Francisco Warriors name. So I don't think the Warriors are really the best example here.
Partially. They also did it because they were playing games in San Diego at the time as well in the wake of the Rockets abandoning San Diego. The Warriors were literally trying to be California's team at the time. They only played games in SD for one year but the name obviously has continued on. As for using "SoCal" it really doesn't confer any benefit that LA doesn't give them. Most sports fans in the greater LA and IE area tend to identify with teams named "Los Angeles .... ." Only thing "SoCal" might gain them is a passing interest from a few folks in San Diego (who generally have an anathema against LA named teams). But it's hardly worth mentioning since the distance alone tends to keep San Diego fans away from LA teams even if the name doesn't.
Yeah, I didn't really think SoCal would be right, it was just an example, I just couldn't think of a better name.
Why not? I mean we know LAFC is going near downtown and the Galaxy and Galaxy II are in Carson. Orange County would be a very logical place to put it if the NASL insists on putting a team in the already well tread greater LA area. Not as good as the Inland Empire mind, but it would at least give them some differentiation from LA proper they could use to their advantage over the MLS teams. I mean you could argue OC is already taken by the Blues, but then that would be claiming the Blues have any kind of market impact or fan base, which would be a glaring falsehood.
It's none of those things. In my view, Orange County is a graveyard for professional, semi-professional and amateur soccer at the national level. Maybe the teams there have never tried hard enough or pushed themselves on the marketing front but no matter where they go, they don't draw. It's a shame because there are a number of excellent small stadia in the area which could fulfil a bridging role until a stadium could be built. However, it just doesn't work. I'd rather go to Pomona or San Bernardino or somewhere which hasn't "failed" in this era of lower division soccer.
What other D2/3 teams have failed in OC except the Blues and the OC Zodiac? And the Blues as has been discussed ad nauseum on BS are not a professionally run outfit. They do no marketing or promotion hence no one knows they exist, so of course no one shows up. And on top of that they've been nomadic and ridiculously transitory already having two home stadia, 2 names, and 4 different logos in 5 years. The team has to care about gaining fans for anyone to care about it. As for the Zodiac, they're from back in the A-League days and not a great measure seeing as that was not really the "modern" era you're referring to. Other than that it's just a couple of NPSL and PDL teams which neither are really a measuring stick of anything. They tend to fail eventually wherever you put them not just Orange County.
LA Aztecs located in east LA, maybe Weingart Stadium, could try the Chicano card without tying themselves to one Mexican club like Chivas USA