Expansion USL1 2008

I don't think you would have multiples in one city. I am talking about owners that should look into moving up to higher divisions w/in USL.

 

Sure the markets seem like they could support higher levels. I know DM has considered it in the past, but the lack of nearby opponents has been the problem.

Fresno would be another one, and that's why we have those rumors.

I think you are right, but what could USL do to prepare for losing cities that have been in the league forever to the MLS?

Seattle appears to be a lock for MLS, and its possible the Sounders may be part of that group.

California Victory: Well USL teams come and go all the time, many have been one-season wonders, not much you can do to keep someone investing in a money loser.

Sure they could share stadiums, but you still need money to pay salaries for players and staff. The more you invest, the more you need to invest (higher salaries for players, staff, more staff, more advertising, etc).

Remember, the USL would love to have 40 pro teams in the two divisions, heck, 60 teams. But that means they have to find 60 owners, willing to pay $75,000-$350,000 for franchise fees. Then those owners need to have some deep pockets to take care of business.

 

yeah, that's probably not a good idea. This isn't London, Munich or any other European city. It would be tough to find any US town other than the big four or five that could support two soccer teams at a professional level.

 

Its almost beyond preparing for Cali and Seattle to leave. They have got teams that MLS would love to have and likely will get in the coming years. As I stated before you've got cities that are MLS worthy as far as fanbase. You need to prepare for the worse. IMO after listenening to the USL VP he is very complacent with what they have. PR, Montreal, and PDX, possible Vancouver too could be gone in the future. What does that say for state of the USL1? Seems bleak to me.

 

You know these ideas have been floated around for years on bigsoccer, but it always comes down to money.

We understand your thoughts, but the current USL 1 owners (the former A-leaguers) didn't want to merge with the USL 2 and play teams like New Hampshire and Western Mass or Reading (when they were there). It was small time.

Of course there may be a time when they want to make this change, but there will always be opposition.

Also the NPSL and PDL are on the same level, just competing organizations.

I think you mean USL instead of EPL, but I like how you compare the EPL to Serie B (Freudian slip maybe ), but I like it.

 

You don't need one. This is the problem with New York too. They are talking about another potential New York team. The Red Bull games struggle in attendance what makes them think another team can make it there. I think the MLS has problems as well, KC might be moving(hopefully to PDX).

 

What would you have done to prepare for Seattle to make the jump to MLS? Would you have forced the current ownership to move their team to another city?

What about with Real Salt Lake that came out of nowhere and knocked out a great Utah Blitzz franchise?

So it looks like Seattle, but what if some big shot decides he has the means to open up Philadelphia for MLS, then St Louis has a stadium deal... and suddenly its 2010 and you don't have an MLS team in Seattle, and you moved one of your top teams to Boise, Idaho.

 

I never said anything about moving the Sounders. I'm talking about progression, expansion, growth. These are the things the USL should be thinking about.

 

Nevermind

Gotcha.

yeah, its just not that easy. How do you go about finding multi-millionaires who want to invest or should I say "sponsor" a fledgling sports team in this league?

 

It isn't easy at to start something from scratch. My brother and I started Fresno Fuego F.C. after we bought the franchise from San Luis Obispo in 2002.

At one point we were the owners, managers, marketing specialists, sales force, game day operations planner/laborer, Drivers' and #1 FANS!!!

Then at the end of 2005 season, we put our heads together and met with one of the largest developers in town and found a way for them to buy the idea of investing in the most popular growing sport in the America.

Three (3) years of spending our life's savings... "talk about putting all your eggs in one basket". But, we believed and today Fuego F.C. is one of the most popular teams the USL has to offer.

USL-1 hopes are in the air and we won't stop there...

 

www.fresnofuegofc.com, www.fresnogrizzlies.com, www.fresnofalcons.com

These franchises are operated by the same infrasture with an entity of it's own (LLC). All three are cross multi-marketing and helping each other by putting "more butts in the seats"...

It's a dream come true!!!

 

I really think the USL needs to come up with a solid, viable expansion plan that goes in sections, based on regions, and targets markets where MLS is unlikely to go.

The expansion has to be done regionally to contain travel costs. Sure, Fresno might be willing to join the USL-1. But if almost every road game is to the East Coast, those travel costs are going to be astronomical and as such serve as a deterrent to moving up to USL-1.

Hence, the USL-1 needs to seek out ownership groups in cities like Fresno, Sacremento, Boise, Reno, Victoria, and Spokane and have them all come aboard in USL-1 concurrently or within a year of each other. A lot easier - and more importantly, cheaper - to go from Fresno to Reno or Boise than to Charleston or Puerto Rico.

Besides travel costs, this also makes for much better rivalries, something that is key to the growth of the popularity of a local team.

After the West is solidified, concentrate on the Midwest. Poor Minnesota. They have zero close games and no close rivalries. Every road game is either to the West or East coast. Go after markets like Tulsa, Des Moines, Omaha, Milwaukee (sorry Peter, MLS is very unlikely there), Indianapolis (with good ownership, this time), Dayton, etc...

And so on.

The USL needs to figure it's gonna lose many of its bigger markets to MLS. Toronto is already gone and the Bay area and Seattle are next. We all know Portland, Vancouver and Montreal are likely to be gone in five-ten years.

So target mid-major markets, where they is more than enough of a popularion to support pro soccer but where the ownership likely isn't looking to go Major League and where MLS isn't looking to put a team.

But growth has to come regionally to make the travel cost hurdle less of a deterrant to potential owners. That really is the key.

And if travel costs go down, you could easily see markets like Richmond and Charlotte move back to USL-1 after going down a division where travel is limited to the mid-and-north Atlantic. (Charlotte to New Hampshire).

 

El Paso is just in a bad situation, goegraphically.

That town is far from EVERYWHERE!

Unless the USL adds a SW division with teams in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, I just don't see a way where El Paso has lower travel costs. And at this point, I just don't see such a division happening.

El Paso would have better luck petitioning to play in a Mexican league.

 

It all goes back to the merger of the USISL and the A-league. Had we stayed regional, Albequerque, El Paso, Tucson, and a few others would have survived.

You would still have New Orleans, Austin, Birmingham, Mobile, Jackson, Louisville, Lexington, Memphis and then Lafayette, Baton Rouge would have joined the fray. You would probably have a team near Houston, plus San Antonio, and probably Ft Worth and Shreveport. Little Rock, OKC, Tulsa... and you've got it covered.

Ah... memories...

 

Good idea but... This would make the league a weak system because the weaker divisions/teams, would not make the playoffs that competitive.

The USL must study the operations of teams like DMenace and Fuego FC that have made their franchises successful from the ground root level... Study it from every aspect and then pitch the idea to investors in other cities that are deemed viably successful.
Not because I am PRO-Fuego but, our system is working and it must be emulated in order for this league to grow. We are working hand in hand with the AAA baseball franchise and growing on a yearly basis. The Cross Multi-Marketing is doing wonders with community involvement and Corporate sponsorship.
In order for this league to grow successfully, it must do what is advertizes; "Starting Soccer from the Grass Roots".

 

A large part of me (quite substantial, BTW) really thinks the quality issue is overrated. I don't think doubling the number of teams at THIS level causes a substantial problem, because I doubt there's much of a dropoff between a large pool of subs and the tiers just below and just above.

The COSTS can be contained in a regionalization, which is the paramount point here. The trick, of course, is to find the right markets and nurture them, something USL has tried and failed at once. I can't imagine that being easy... but I can imagine that Rochester, who used to hate that plan, probably wishes they could do that now.

The Fuego response definitely answers a question for me. I read that and take it to mean that it doesn't make sense for them to move up unless (1) the west is solidified, and (2) they probably have some local rivals.

Let's also reset the USL-2 issue. It HAD a western presence, but not nearly enough markets could sustain it. The west has its own special set of issues no matter how you cut it, as travel out here ain't cheap. For the economic scale used at that level, I don't see it panning out... the economics of soccer overall have to improve before we can really start talking about that.

I'm going to be guilty of repeating myself here... but I sense the following coming up relatively soon (2-5 years)...

Seattle and Cailfornia gone, though rumors of an investor down Golden Gate way are encouraging.

Portland and Vancouver either scratch and scrape to move to MLS or bail out...

...leaving USLs 1 & 2 to merge in a more compact footprint, probably with nobody too far west of the Mississippi River.

If you look at how baseball developed, with series of minor leagues and then "almost" a 3rd major out west in the Pacific Coast League (specifically the 1930s to 1950s timeframe, where the major markets on the coast were represented), I think geography kind of dictates that development of the pyramid probably takes the same path. It certainly doesn't hurt if USL (or whomever develops the PCL equivalent) finds a way to create an equivalent to the Hollywood Stars, especially the part where players often claimed the ability to look up the skirts of aspiring starlets under the stands.