The USSF DIII standards do not have a time zone requirement or any city size requirement. http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?page_id=5449 There are other standards on financial stability and the relationship to the USSF but these are the relevant standards on the size and composition of the leagues. Specifically for DII: And then specifically for DIII: The DIII standards are pretty minimal. That's why I always question why the USSF would create a D4. If you can't meet the D3 standards then I don't think you are a professional league.
All of these cities would be west of a line from Toledo to Mobile: Fort Wayne Lansing Grand Rapids Des Moines Dayton would be just east of the line.
You're saying: end result is they played younger homegrowns, ergo they've changed their strategy. I'm saying, they played younger homegrowns specifically because they didn't change their strategy. Ethos during 2016: play homegrown kids, a couple of draft picks and a couple foreign signings to fill holes. Ethos during 2017: play homegrown kids, a couple of draft picks and couple foreign signings to fill holes. The only thing that changed is the first team took a bunch of kids who weren't ready for first team action and moved them up which limited their ability to appear for G2 (particularly as a large rash of injuries pressed them into bench or starting roles which limited their ability to play for G2 on loan). G2 continued the ethos they've always operated under and worked with what was available within that ethos rather than signing older USL level players to get results. The poor choices of the first team caused a massive knock on effect where G2 had little to work with in terms of the quantity and quality of homegrowns with which to play. They'd have played older homegrowns if there were any around. If they had signed older players who had nothing to do with the LA Galaxy instead of rolling with the kids in the system, then that would have been a change in strategy. You can't look at two different outputs (2016 and 2017) and assume that because they're different the inputs were different. Circling back to the starting point, LA Galaxy II's terrible 2017 season will not be the norm going forward. So long as they're allowed, they'll be D2 and competing well in it.
Perhaps this is just me being overly pedantic but there is no USL2. There is the USL and this new league's working title is USL D3. USL-2 was a D3 league in the past so using that name in reference to the current USL is both confusing and incorrect.
======Major typo ! Meant to say most, because I thought some was discussion that the league was to start as regional in nature. Really haven't even heard of and D3 cities mention in the west for example. USL make any roadtrips west yet or going to ?
I have heard mixed things. Knowing Krause (the Menace owner), I do not see him moving up without someone being a little closer to DM. As it stands, the closest cities on that list are eight hours plus on the road. That gets expensive real quickly.
But if they could get bigger crowds & charge more with more sponsorship and possibly TV money occasionally, it could be worth it. A bigger stadium might be needed and that ain't cheap.
A stadium period. The Menace play in a high school football stadium. Their plans for a SSS fell apart over a decade ago. Although there are persistent rumors that a hush-hush deal has been made to build a new stadium near downtown as part of Krause Gentle/Kum & Go's relocation to the Western Gateway area of downtown DM. There are several areas that are being rejuvenated/cleaned up/developed on the south side of downtown DM along the new MLK Parkway that stretches from the west side of downtown/Fluer Drive (the road that connects the airport to downtown), past the State Capitol, to the State Fairgrounds on the city's east side. Lots of empty space on the near-east portion of that path within spitting distance of both the Capitol and the two main bus depots. There are a couple of spots that a stone's throw from KG's new HQ too.
Regardless of what they WANTED, those teams WERE in D3. Link? Riiiiiiiiiiight. THAT’s fair. But I don’t think it will take 10 years for D3 to be a reasonable level of competition.
You know the size of Des Moines as a market would not change, right? The amount of discretionary income in the market would not change. The amount of corporate support dollars in the market would not change. Des Moines would still have a baseball team and a hockey team and a basketball team as well. Where is the TV money going to come from, again? From the magical pro/rel unicorn? The jump from amateur to pro involves much more than just charging more for stuff and hoping attendance increases enough to cover the substantial rise in expenses. Even with a concurrent rise in home dates.
Market might not change but fans may be more willing to travel from further out to watch a pro team than a amateur team. eg. I will travel to Portland from over an hour away to watch T2 but I will not travel over an hour to the NPSL team which is slightly closer. Corperations would be more willing to sponsor a pro team with more game, more fans and more media exposure. There are a few USL games televised, Not many but a few. It's more of a possibility than a certainty. If they had their own stadium and not a high school stadium they could sell beer and host other events on non game nights and generally the people of that city are more likely to watch a pro team with a higher level of play than a Amateur team in the PDL, so crowds should be better. Although if their results are bad that could hurt crowds. But it would take a lot of investment and not very likely to happen. As the owners making a profit is the most important part of pro sports in north america.
It's doubtful. None of the three AAA-level teams get regular fans from outside the metro. Ames (near where I live now) is less than hour away but Iowa State is here, so why go to DM for sports? Iowa City is about an hour and a half east, but the University of Iowa is there. Two hours west and you are in Omaha. Two and a half hours south through rural Iowa and Missouri lands you in KC. Where are the fans coming from? I mean, yes, people in Ames do go to DM for I-Cubs, Wild, Wolves, and Barnstormers games. Most aren't season ticket holders though. I'm sure that the 2500-5000 (depending on the year) people in the stands at Menace games travel from Ames and other places, but the bulk are in the DM metro. Having beer and true concessions wouldn't hurt, but it's not going to be a magic bullet. You're still competing with the I-Cubs and Barnstormers (IFL), both of whom have a stronger presence and deeper history. The Menace organization is older than the Barnstormers, but Kurt Warner's success and the overall popularity of football as a spectator sport is huge. Roughly 20 minutes east is the Iowa Speedway, which is yet another draw for summer sports entertainment. Seriously, DM is loaded with top level minor league sports. The question is then, who is going to own this team? Krause has money, but not that kind of money. KG is still a regional convenience store chain, as are their other companies, Solar Transport and Liberty Bank. The other CEO's, owners, and even celebrities in DM or even Iowa don't seem much more likely at this point, otherwise they would've stepped forward long ago.
I’m thrilled about this - especially as a resident of Greenville, SC. Also, if done well, I see it having a long standing positive impact on American soccer, where everybody in the country can go watch some level of quality soccer. More so, I hope that D3 works in a way that it is affiliated with MLS and also maybe eventually has pro/relegation with USL (not necessarily MLS). It should definitely be regional to cut down on travel costs and rely on rivalries. For the south, I’d like to see a conference somewhat like: 1.Greenville 2.Asheville 3.Wilmington Hammerheads 4.Greensboro 5.Winston-Salem 6.Columbia 7.South Georgia (Valdosta, Macon-WR, Savannah, Columbus, Augusta) 8.North Georgia (Athens, Gwinnett, North Cobb, Hall County) 9-10. 2 Florida Teams (Naples, Daytona Beach, Cape Coral, Tallahassee, Sarasota, Port St. Lucie, Pensacola, Gainesville, West Palm Beach) 11.Alabama (Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile) 12.Mississippi (Jackson, Biloxi) 13.Louisiana (Baton Rouge, New Orleans) 14.Arkansas (Little Rock, Fayetteville) 15.Chattanooga 16.Another Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville)
16 seems like a lot of team's for 1 conference. I'd split that into 2 conferences again and make travel even less. That should be great for fans too. I'm originally from Ireland and away game travel is a great thing about a small league. I used to to maybe 10 away games a year (out of about 20) and they were a lot of fun. More fun than home games, especially when you get a drinking bus/party bus.
I mean I guess a D3 team could play in the YMCA complex that hosts NCAA D2 and NAIA tournament/championship games, but I certainly don't see a new stadium being built for D3 pro soccer in Montgomery any time soon. Soccer in Alabama lives in Birmingham. We have a decent club here in Montgomery with Capital City Streaks, but BUSA and Vestavia are the kings. The overwhelming majority of people in this area (Montgomery metro) know nothing beyond Auburn and Alabama football. Soccer is still for commies. I believe Birmingham will thrive at the D2 USL level, but D3 seems a reach for Montgomery and even less of a possibility for Huntsville and Mobile.
So...the standards listed on the USL D3 website are interesting. If the top end is a metro of 1 million, are they going to aim substantially below that so that they don't have markets over that total in the near future? Does that 1 million standard mean that D2 is going to have its minimum upped to that point from the current 750k? Are they really considering places as small as 150k? Right now the 2016 MSA estimates have 221 markets within those parameters. The latest list of visited locations mentioned here by MSA (2016 estimated pop and rank): Lexington (506,751 - 106th) Knoxville (868,546 - 64th) Asheville (452,319 - 116th) Greenville SC (884,975 - 61st) Columbia (817,488 - 71st) Dayton (800,683 - 72nd) Fort Wayne (431,802 - 125th) Toledo (605,221 - 91st) Lansing (475,099 - 110th) Grand Rapids (1,047,099 - 52nd) Des Moines (634,725 - 89th) Greenville NC (177,220 - 236th) High Point (756,139 - 75th) Fayetteville NC? (380,389 - 139th) AR? (525,032 - 105th) Statesboro - Doesn't have it's own MSA, listed with Hinesville (81,007 - 377th) Macon (229,182 - 196th) Huntsville (449,720 - 117th) Montgomery (372,922 - 142nd) Mobile (414,836 - 128th) Providence (1,614,750 - 38th) Worcester (935,781 - 58th) Manchester (407,761 - 132nd) Portland (529,657 - 104th) Obviously MiLB interest narrows things down quite a bit and drastically improves the possibility of ownership that knows how to actually run a minor league sports franchise. Much wiser than convincing a bunch of amateurs to try and step up and then watching the vast majority, if not all, of them fail miserably and quickly. With the recent news of Rochester and Orlando B taking a hiatus year, it seems like they may try to slot in for 2019. If they, along with a decent number of the 23 cities listed above, can get a league going next year that would be great. From the sounds of the discussion here, by that time USL will have put 3.5 years into planning it so I'm cautiously optimistic.
I don't think they should have a cap for population. Are they going to deny Pittsburg if they want to drop down because they are too big of a city?
That's the part that confuses me. They clearly state on the website that they're shooting for a cap of 1 million (not an actual D3 standard), but have places like Providence and Grand Rapids that are already over that and places like Knoxville and Greenville SC that are around the same size as the RGV and growing quickly.
The USL Show @theUSLshow 5h5 hours ago @USLsteven just broke the news on this show that @Tormenta_FC will be the first official franchise in @USL_D3.
Tormenta is in Statesboro, GA, right? That seems like a small city for a pro team. The city only has about 30,000 people. I guess the county has 70,000. Georgia Southern University is also there which would add quite a few people. Its enrollment is 27,000 some of which probably count as local residents. Savannah is fairly close. Interesting.
I had completely missed this fact...they want a SSS: http://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/826157?referrer_id=2006916 Late in June, South Georgia Tormenta FC officially released tentative plans for a new, soccer-specific stadium to be built on what is currently the driving range at Hackers.