I like this a lot. But if it's Bruton Smith making the bid I'm sure it would have something to do with Nascar.
The Charlotte Independence name and crest are perfect as is, one of the better brands in USL (along with the Republic, Energy, and Battery)...
Ehh, I mean I've never hated it but I've never thought it was great by any means. Plus the brand has just never caught on, I think trying a completely different brand could help with initial success and excitement. I love the idea of keeping the Independence around as the MLS affiliate though. I could still see the name being something like Queen City Soccer Club, or Charlottetown FC (which I love, btw) I just think the nickname would be something like "the Speed" or "the Racers" really don't know.
The Charlotte Independence name is okay but, it isn't really a brand that has caught on with the people of the city while also turning away some of the original fans/supporters. Charlotte Town would have a similar meaning, since that was the original name of the area and, it would also be a reference to the street that let's out right by the stadium. It is a "real soccer club name" and they could use any of the city symbols for the crest (crown, hornest nest, capt jack, etc). I just want a crossed sash, kit in reference to the city flag. Racing Charlotte would be okay with me. Personally I don't like the notion that my hometown is considered a nascar hotbed because it is really a lot of the outside areas that are more obsessed with it (NASCAR HOF hasn't done so well from what I know).
Sounds like no Ramblewood next season, permits are not being renewed. It's either going to be Matthews Sportsplex or they bounce around smaller venues throughout the area.
Forgive me for poking a sore spot bit as a semi-interested observer (as a Rapids fan I've been keeping an eye in the team) can someone explain what happened? 3 years ago it sounded like you guys had dedicated ownership that had a plan to run a solid team. Now it seems like your team is barely holding it together and the best chance for MLS in Charlotte won't involve your owners.
Honestly think they overpromised thinking it was going to be easy to get the stadium renovated. Really Charlotte is a finicky market in a sense that we want our sports teams in center city. Otherwise they could be 20 minutes our 45 minutes outside and it would probably get the same draw (i.e. Winthrop vs Ramblewood). The Smith's in the MLS bid are running up to the same issues county commissioners signing on to fund the MLS. People seem to look at Memorial Stadium as this grand landmark because of a historic rock wall and don't see that the rest of it is falling down. But with the Smith's deeper pockets I think the end game is more in sight to get Memorial Stadium renovated and a deal will ultimately get done before the end of the month for the MLS bid.
Zach Hall @zachhallco 15h15 hours ago Rumor: @CLTIndependence is moving to Matthews starting 2017 season https://medium.com/@zachhall_/rumor-charlotte-independence-moving-to-matthews-sportsplex-5d8ebff4c32d#.qhpowg3lb…pic.twitter.com/AGWU6g8Ykz
Man, Independence stadium situation continues to be a complete and utter disaster. Really pray something happens with MLS soon, because in a few years I could see the Independence completely folding and Charlotte being out of professional soccer again.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/so...e-on-mls-stadium-proposal-next-week/485912048 http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/01/charlotte-mls-stadium-proposal-revised/
According to an article in the Observer today it looks like the progressive Democrats (4) on the City Council are joining the Republicans (2) to shoot the city's share of the funding down, that coalition would give "no" at least a 6-5 win. No idea what would happen then between the County and Smith. The main concern being voiced is the accelerated time table, some had no time to talk to people in their districts about this.
Sounds like the Independence might not even be playing in Charlotte this season. Really sucks, I either want MLS but if we don't get MLS I want Independence to stick around to have a local club to support.
I feel like McPhillamy's been treated poorly. I've been critical of the Independence, and they've had many faults, but from what I read in the Observer today he may have been done dirty. The cost of MLS looks like one stadium, one arena, $86m in public cash, $14m worth of public land, one soccer team, and one lacrosse team. I'm not sure it's a good deal.
Yea the fact that Smith decided to do this at the last minute doesn't help, Indy has officially been looking for investors since October (and honestly before that if you read between the lines). Unfortunately the timing is horrible and the prospective owner seems to be half into it or at least slow to make necessary moves (like a poll of fan interest, attempting to pre sale season tickets or working to increase awareness of the proposal). Edit: http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/01/mecklenburg-county-approves-mls-proposal-city-scraps-vote/ I think this forces the Smith's hand and makes them have to commit more money to secure their spot in the league. I still feel Charlotte is a city that the league desires for it's footprint.
If the Smith bid goes forward the Independence have no reason to carry on. They were created to become an MLS franchise, not to be in the USL longterm.
Jim McPhilliamy told fans on Twitter that his team would play half of its season at Ramblewood Park then move to the Matthews Sportsplex for the second half of the season when that facility becomes available. McPhilliamy had sent an email to the City Council earlier in the week telling the city that Smith’s competing MLS bid “throws our ability to play this season into doubt.”
Sad that there has not been as much news for our city's MLS bid as there has been for Raleigh. But the team played Jacksonville Armada to a draw in our last pre season friendly, now it's on to Charleston for our opener. The loss of Brown will probably hurt but, I think we have some good pieces in place and enough consistency to make it back to the playoffs. Any of the two or three fans that still come here know anything about the field situation in Matthews? It looks brown and uglu rn.
The UNC game tonight has me worried about the potential turnout at UNCC, granted we don't really have a rep for large crowds. I know I'm like the last guy who post here but is anyone who actually lives back home planning to attend? I've seen the increased digital marketing/awareness efforts from the team but is there more of a buzz now that the Smiths have put Charlotte in the MLS conversation?
I drove from my college to go to the game tonight. Wanted to be at the opener, plus I hate UNC so bad I couldn't bear to even watch the game. I'm already afraid our inability to add an actual forward is going to put a halt to the ceiling of the team this year. We created plenty of chances tonight, especially in the first half where we were the absolutely dominant side. But we really lacked quality in the final third. We'd send balls in and we have like 5'9" Jorge Herrera trying to get a head on it. That's not going to work. Battery had players that could properly take chances, and we lost because of it tonight. Alex Martinez was maybe the best player on the pitch tonight though, he was fantastic the entire game
I watched most of it on youtube and was dissapointed in the result (I hope it doesn't kill the slight increase we had in attendance). Enzo returning should be a good thing but, I honestly feel the FO allowed Smith's MLS bid to deflate their sails when they should have been putting a concerned effort to convince the city and Smith that they are the soccer minds he needs to make his bid worthy. They should have been focused on keeping the core players active in the offseason and focusing on the actual team, fan's will come with a winner in Charlotte and that's just how it is. Not every city has a built in fan base for the game so the main focus should be advertising and building a winner.
I know, I guess I should have specified that building a consistent winner should be the foucs and that the fans of Charlotte will come over time if the product is worthwhile (winning consistently). The stadium situation is hurtful but I do not believe that is the only thing keeping people from games. That said I'm hoping to see a better result in our next match, and maybe to catch the April 15th game against Pitt (I'll be up there for about 3 days retrieving some furniture).