Future of the Revs (Just out of curiosity)

Will we still be here? Yes
Will the league still be here? Yes
sold to St. Louis? No
In and SSS? Yes
Still foxboro? No
total mediocrity (ala the 1st 5 yrs). Yes
winning a quadruple? No
we will learn how to market? No (we know how to market, we just don't do it often)
avg attendence will jump to 35k or 100 (not k, I mean literally only 100 people) - It jumps 10K
We'll be playing in USL? No
in a HS stadium? No

 

One almost gets the feel that the Revs are waiting for the SSS before they do anything big.....announce the SSS along with partnership on naming rights and a shirt sponsor, maybe bring in name player.

But until then, they won't do much else above and beyond what they are doing.

 

If MLS went Public on the NYSE I'd buy a lot of stock and would buy as good slug of Rev stock as well. Smart money is saying Top Flight soccer in the USA is going to be huge within the next 10-15 years.

 

I really hope you're right.

 

is that coming from your expert psycho analysis?

 

also Doc, you are suggesting the Revs/MLS are top flight LOLOLOLOLOL

 

He said top flight in the USA, so yes they are pretty top in the US

But on the question I am finding it hard to give a shiit anymore with the way the Revs are taking things...I will continue to go from time to time, but the unbridled enthusiasm that I once had is fading.

 

Joey Saputo is going to make Bob Kraft an offer he can't refuse, a huge wheel of cheese with a Patriots logo on it. When that happens, we won't have to worry about that pesky issue of figuring out a schedule and a divisional alignment with 19 teams.

We can still make road trips to see our guys in Can-e-dah, eh? And Steve Ralston will decide to retire instead of learning French. Shalrie will be a fixture at the Rising Sun Reggae club on the lower end of Rue Ste. Catherine. Wells Thompson will be confused when someone tells him that "viande fumee" is smoked meat, and they sell it as a snacque pretty much everywhere.

Eventually, we might get the Earthquakes treatment and get some crappy expansion team called the Revs around 2025 and they'll play at Framingham State. Then we will all grow old and bitter, except for Doc, who will be living in the lap of luxury, with Robin Leach as his personal butler at one of the New Hampshire Riviera's swankest resort spas, from all that MLS stock he cashed in.

 

The league will certainly be around. I honestly wasn't sure it would be at first, but Garber's been steady Eddie, and I think that he has helped to at least give the appearance of having a knowledgeable hand at the wheel, which is half the battle.

In ten years there will be a team here. I don't know if it will be the Revs, I don't think it will be owned by the Krafts, and I'm not sure that there will be franchise continuity in that timeframe.

St. Louis? Maybe.

In an SSS? If it does not happen in the next two years, and the Krafts still own the team, then it will not happen within 10.

Foxboro, god I hope not. Mediocre? Most likely yes, the league is going to continue expanding, which will further dilute the talent pool. If we are moved and get a new expansion team, then we can look forward to expansion team-like performance. If we don't, then we can look forward to 10 more years of what we've gotten so far: very little, with the occasional bit of overperformance that ultimately shows that we don't have enough of what it takes.

I agree that we know how to market, we just haven't done it since 1997.

I'd guess between 12 and 15k, even if we had an SSS.

 

i expect more of the same, with perhaps some moderate spasms of improvment sprinkled in.

a cup here or there, a super star player maybe some good attendance years butressed by absoulue shite years, crap players and no fans.

 

I see Kraft selling the club to Herb Chambers, building a SSS of around 18,000 capacity with retractable roof at Patriot Place (to be called the Herb Chambers Arena), leasing the facility to Chambers... what..?

 

No that comes from someone whose record of picking winning stocks is way better than his Brokers or "The Street". I think I'm one of the few stock holders whose portfolio didn't go down over the past two years. You may laugh at this old man but I know how to pick long term economic winners. Mark my word, if you could buy MLS stock now you'd make a bundle. Unfortunately that's not an available option.

 

Will the Revolution still be here? Yes

Will the MLS still be here? Yes

Will the Revolution have been sold and relocated to St. Louis? No

Will the Revolution call a SSS home? No

Will the Revolution still play in Foxboro? Yes

Will the Revolution be mired in "total mediocrity" (ala the 1st 5 yrs)? Let's just say that they still won't have fulfilled their "potential".

Will the Revolution have won a quadruple? No

Will Revolution ownership/management have learned how to market? Learning and doing are two separate things. Revolution ownership knows how to market - witness their work on behalf of the Patriots. That doesn't mean that they'll be inclined to put in the same effort to promote the Revolution.

Will average attendence for the Revolution have jumped to 35k? No

Will the Revolution be playing in USL? No

Will the Revolution be playing in a high school stadium? No

 

Between 5 and 10 years from now the Krafts will have set up a deal to build an urban stadium in or around Boston. They will sell the majority stake in the team once the deal for the stadium is complete (maintaining a strong minority stake and some revenue from the stadium).

Attendance will slowly grow as the fan base evolves to contain many more adults. Averaging a few hundred more each season starting after next summer's world cup.

The current young players continue to grow into a new core, and one fairly big name (for mls) attacking player emerges (or signs from a middle tier foreign league).

No MLS Cup yet though.

 

[Sung high] In the year 2025 [Sung low] In the year 2025 ....

• YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge to become one super time-wasting website called -- YouTwitFace
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average surpasses 10,000 for the first time in 16 years
• The New England Revolution squeak in to the playoffs and lose 3-1 to The Des Moines Raccoons

 

Be it positive or negative, where do people see this team in 5-10 yrs?
Will we still be here? No
Will the league still be here? Yes
sold to St. Louis? Possibly
In and SSS? Maybe but elsewhere, unless team is folded
Still foxboro? No
total mediocrity (ala the 1st 5 yrs). Of course

Those are just my guesses. Kraft is really disinterested in the team and domestic professional soccer is completely off the radar in New England. Unless someone else steps up and takes the team away from Kraft (and he lets that happen), nothing positive is going to happen.

 

Will we still be here?
In the league? Yeah. If the last 14 years haven't killed this thing off (although I've heard tell from some our...shall we say, more experienced members that in 1999/2000 Kraft almost shut it down). In 10 years the Revs will still be here because pro soccer might take off and Kraft wants to have the team around to capitalize. As has been mentioned multiple times before, however, he's just not going to do anything to make that happen.

Will the league still be here?
I feel pretty confident in saying yes. By next year most of the teams will have their own homes, larger and larger corporate sponsors keep coming on board, it looks good for the foreseeable future.

sold to St. Louis?
Yes of course and be named the St. Louis Stallions, run by the late James Orthwein's ex-wife Ruth.

St. Louis can't get expansion bid off the ground, it seems rather dead. If we were to move I wouldn't say The Lou was the destination.

In an SSS?
My heart wants to say yes but my brain says no, not in 5 years anyway. Maybe, just maybe, in 10.

Still foxboro?
I'm going to take Bilello at his word and say if there is an SSS it will be near Boston. But in 5 years yeah we'll still be at Gillette.

total mediocrity (ala the 1st 5 yrs).
Unless there is a radical culture change in the FO, yes. Results obviously don't really matter. Getting blown out in international competitions, bowing out in the first round of the playoffs in front of 20 people and a dog, losing multiple championships, none of this has changed the no-pressure-everyone's-job-is-safe atmosphere.

winning a quadruple?
Unless the league changes the roster size and raises the salary cap, no MLS team in the next decade will win a quadruple. You heard it here first.

we will learn how to market?
Again as has been mentioned, they know how. The question is will Big Bob release the funds to allow them to do it? What they've done this year (another website, the rock bands, the Rev Girls) cost them basically nothing. The big push went into (shock) the Beckham game and the Milan derby.

avg attendence will jump to 35k or 100
Let's not talk 35K until they can get the other 150 BRL members who bought STs to show up

We'll be playing in USL? in a HS stadium?
No, there will never be a team called the New England Revolution in the USL. If we get shut down (which I don't think will happen) I'd imagine that in 5 years we'd have a USL expansion team sharing Harvard's joint with the Breakers.

will be still be doing half hearted stop gap measures to keep from hemorrhaging to death?
This assumes the Revs are a stand-alone business like DC or like KC is now. As long as the Pats keep being the Pats, the safety net for the Revs will always exist. If the Revs were a stand-alone business they'd have died the death years ago. As it stands now the Revs' operating losses are covering by 5 days worth of "Three Games To Glory" DVD sales. They serve as a tidy tax write off that one day might turn a profit and are overseen by Bilello, the Pro Shop manager. We're behind Patriots Place in the priority list. It's fairly gloomy but not so much that I can see Kraft shutting the team down. But yes, expect much more Barra smoke and Rev Girl mirrors to try and cover that up in the next 5 to 10 years. Bob Kraft is committed, really he is! Wait come back...

 

Do you guys think the success of the Pats, Red Sox and Celtics this decade has contributed to the Revs struggles? I know it hurt the Pacers when they imploded that Indy had the Colts, IU and Purdue to support instead.

 

No. Even the Celtics were able to get a bandwagon going when it was apparent that they were good again/might become good again. The Revs couldn't draw flies as a playoff team in the year after they had made MLS Cup appearances. This is the Revs problem.

 

Dateline 2015: Knowing the only fans who come out in numbers are Brazilians, Italians, and Mexicans, the Revs reach out and sign international superstars ... as members of the Rev Girls.

 

Rather than simply tick off the questions originally posted, I will offer a few short observations.

First, I agree with Doc that Soccer will take off in the coming decade. Whether or not the Revs will ride that wave remains to be seen, but I think that Kraft is patient and is a) not going to do anything to speed up things (as noted by many others, and b) will invest once investment is a sure thing. Kraft is not a trailblazer, he is a fast-follower.

There are several factors I believe contribute to the very strong possibility that the US will be "the" best market for soccer globally 20 years from now.

First, we have more cash than anybody. Granted we are in a recession, but even so, we are still rolling in it. Players and owners in Europe and South America know this, and they want to cash in. Owners do this by bringing their clubs here to compete and expand their brands. Players would come here in droves if 1) the money was there (MLS salary caps screws this up), 2) they quality of play was better (it is getting better), and 3) the season was aligned correctly with the rest of the world.

Second, the advent of global communications has allowed US sports fans, like myself, to become familiar with soccer as it should be played. That is why you can fill the rose bowl to see Barcelona, but not MLS. As has been noted everywhere at BigSoccer, Americans have the best sports teams anywhere, except in Soccer. We want to see the best and will pay handsomely to see it. I truly believe that MLS understands this, but is hesitant that they will screw everything up like the NASL did, hence the supposed "slow growth" paradigm prevails for now. Nonetheless, if Seattle's success can be duplicated in the coming 5 years, we might just be at the cusp of the breakthrough point for the sport in the US.

Third, immigrants.

 

You know, one other thing just occurred to me. I remember being a 10 year old kid watching the 1980 winter Olympics, when the US defeated the USSR, and then Finland to win the gold medal. I had no idea what the sport was before that (I was a baseball freak), but the emotions those wins sparked in my made me a life-long fan of hockey.

I think that if the US were to win the World Cup next summer, it would have the same effect on kids growing up today. Sure, most Americans could give a rats **s about soccer right now, but if our country were to make it to the finals, and do it by going through power-house teams like Germany, Argentina, Spain, England, or Brazil, it would really create an emotional impact on people. Americans will come together behind a sports team if we are perceived as the underdog, and the world cup is just the place for this to happen.

My prediction for next summer:

1) US barely squeaks into the round of 16, in a group they are "sure" to dominate - narrowly edging Ghana and Japan on goal differential for the second spot, just behind Slovakia who win the group with no defeats.

2) In the round of 16, the US defeats the Australian's 1-0 on an Clint Dempsey goal scored on a blown offside call, though the real controversy swirls post-game when it is revealed that they Aussies were all piss drunk the night before.

3) Quarter-finals - the US defeats Brazil on penalty kicks. The US media finally take notice.

4) Semi-finals - US vs. England. Billed as 1950 Redux, America is introduced to it's proud soccer heritage as the US takes the field against, as Katie Couric so aptly puts it, "David Beckam's England". In a pre-game interview with Grant Wahl, Landon Donovan says that David Beckham is a girly-man who can't even compete in the MLS (this is due to his terrible play in LA's 6-0 loss to the upstart NE Revolution in the MLS cup). Beckham responds by punching Donovan in the chest at minute 3 of the match, resulting in a red card ejection. The US go on to win 3-1.

5) World Cup final... US vs. Mexico - Fat Bastard (I mean Cuauhtemoc Blanco) scores two goals in the first 10 minutes leaving the US men reeling on the field. The Mexicans run the US into the ground by maintaining possession for the remaining 35 minutes. Ochoa is seen talking to women in the stands while the his team runs the clock down on the first half.

Minute 1 of the second half, Fat Bastard pulls Michael Bradley down by the back of his neck; as Bradley falls, he bumps into Fat Bastard who performs a swan-dive worthy of Luca Toni. The official, sees Fat Bastard go down and immediately red-cards Bradley. Fat-Bastard is taken off the field on a stretcher to the uproarious cheers and horns of the South Africans and Mexicans in attendance. Five minutes later, he is seen yucking it up with his team-mates on the bench.

At the 83 minute, Landon Donovan buries a miracle shot from 30 yards... the US has hope, but Mexican fans in San Antonio are already gathering at the Alamo...

The fourth official indicates 2 minutes of stoppage time, all hope is lost, Mexico has the ball and is making substitutions for players who appear to be falling asleep as they walk off the field...

... at minute 1:50, the ref issues a yellow card to Ochoa for delaying the game, the ball is put into play, is immediately pulled out the air by Benny Feilhaber, who passes it to Stuart Holden wide right, Holden charges up-field and looks to make a cross into the box, as the ball leaves his feet, Rafa Marquez plows through Holden, knocking him unconscious, the ball skips over Jozy Altidore's left boot, takes a spinning bounce to the left mid side of the box, where Clint Dempsey just happens to be completely unmarked.. Deuce buries the ball in the net. Game over, Marquez gets a red card for the vicious late hit. time for PKs...

Tim Howard stops 3 Mexican PKs, Ochoa stops no US PKs, the US squad wraps Howard in an American flag (that seems familiar, where have I seen that before). As the INS and San Antonio Riot Squad descend on the now on fire Alamo, Katie Couric is ecstatic and screams "Boy, I sure love soccer, but I would have loved to see David Beckham. Can he play for the US in the World Cup next year?."

 

I'll have two of whatever you had right before writing this.