There are not enough revenues from national sponsors coming in to the MASL. If there were more revenues outside of ticket sales and local sponsors, a league could encourage parity with a salary floor and salary cap, and talent would be at least somewhat more spread out across the league. Because teams solely depend on local revenue, some teams just don't have enough money to pay enough talent to be consistently competitive. And indoor soccer teams come and go very often. The expansion teams which join are typically not very good for at least a season or two. New teams don't even get an expansion draft. The MASL has been in a 'lose two, add three' cycle for a while. Marginal sports like cage fighting/MMA and the X Games gained national followings and lots of funding because ESPN and national networks force-fed coverage nationwide and set those sports up for success. The same has not happened for indoor soccer. So we will continue to have an MASL with a few really good teams, a few teams who are perpetually in the basement of the standings (including at least one Pennsylvania Roar last minute team which gets beat by everyone), and some mediocre teams in the middle that tread water year over year. Even a better funded league would never have perfect parity but more parity would help more teams survive longer. I guess we are lucky to even have a league.
I would not say MMA and UFC have been forced fed. Networks drift towards whatever people are engaging in. UFC and MMA have taken a huge slice out of boxing and made it must see events...but mostly because...ratings!
With Turlock's 3-1 start and the Ambush's 0-3 start, the Express has moved ahead of St. Louis and this iteration of the Ambush now has the lowest overall winning percentage of any indoor team that has ever played 100+ total games. Turlock 29-81 (.264) St. Louis 31-98 (.240) (No, Turlock's PASL records do not count.) The Ambush has also played the most games in history (129 and counting) without ever making the playoffs. Turlock is number 3 at 110, and the Arizona Sandsharks at 112 are second.
Not putting down these other sports, but a lot more fans were gained for X Games, MMA, etc, once ESPN started broadcasting them prominently. I am sure those sports had some few supporters early on, but without constant network coverage, they never would have grown to where they are now. Now internet broadcasting is the big trend. Not sure the MASL is at the top of that wave, we will see.
Front Office Changes for the Baltimore Blast https://www.baltimoreblast.com/news..._Z8R5pzMwUHq4QHy-VL9h166Rtr77hA9EB4jYoCC4d7SE
Saint Louis Ambush hold on to beat the Comets 7-6 on Dec. 31, and also won their two previous games (over the KC Comets and Tacoma), for their first 3 game winning streak in several seasons. They were not blowout wins, and not over teams at the top of the standings, but a sign of progress for a historically moribund team since returning in 2013. Can they keep winning, and perhaps pull an upset against tougher opponents like Utica and Milwaukee? https://www.maslsoccer.com/stats#/192/game/278934/team-stats
Sockers are looking at moving north of San Diego https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co...-soccer-arena-oceanside-sports-pechanga-arena
Tom Traxler Returns as Orlando Head Coach https://www.orlandoseawolves.com/ne...5q-cGVyPL5pojrMHDyUBaaHaz2fieOGixtqVRlHxU75fw
Too bad Kokalis barely tried in CR... Chris Kokalis bailed on the SeaWolves a couple weeks back and the MASL is running the team, effectively stocking other teams with the most useful SeaWolves players (to fold them later?). Really no reason for anyone to go watch them now or for us to cover their games. Sad. https://t.co/BMF9QBHpXp— The Mane Land (@TheManeLand) December 28, 2019 Less than two years after the Cedar Rapids Rampage of the Major Arena Soccer League moved to Kissimmee, Fla., and were rebranded as the Orlando SeaWolves, things have taken a rough turn. #MASL #CRRampage https://t.co/giihJXeIEg— Douglas Miles (@douglasmilesCRG) January 2, 2020
I've been going to Sockers games at the San Diego sports arena since 1984. Sad in a way if they leave the old sports arena. But exciting too! That old sports arena is decrepit and it looks like the Gulls are the big men on campus anyway. Wasn't like that in the mid 80's when the Sockers would routinely get over 8,000 and sometimes sell out. So I wonder how the financing of this new arena is going to work. Is the Sockers ownership that wealthy?
Tacoma Stars (MASL) joins NPSL as expansion team Jan 12, 2020 https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2020...coma-stars-masl-joins-npsl-as-expansion-team/
Why would they dilute the professional indoor brand by slapping it on an amateur 4th division outdoor team? You could co-brand it and accomplish more by calling them something like the Tacoma Horizons or Tacoma Constellation and have similarly branded logos. At least when they were the Sounders U23 or whatever, they were playing the same sport as the Sounders so it made sense to have a minor league team with the U23 signifier. Or they could call them the Puyallup Stars like you have the Boston Bruins and their minor league club, the Providence Bruins.
https://www.stlambush.com/news/ambu...lWhAIwav4coJHR4oP6qJrogadGkMtMSIZzhu55q00GLms The St. Louis Ambush finally beat the Milwaukee Wave. The Ambush took a 6-1 lead in the 2nd half, but the Wave took a 7-6 lead late after scoring mostly 6th attacker goals and on a power play. The Ambush tied it with 19 seconds left on a goal by former Wave player Tony Walls. In overtime, the Ambush won by a goal from Felipe Silva (assist by JT Thomas, who had 2 goals and 3 assists for the game). The Wave were mostly stymied by the disciplined Ambush defense, and scored 5 of their 7 goals with the 6th attacker. Tremendous win for an Ambush team which had lost a ridiculous 26 straight games to Milwaukee dating back to the 2013 season (when the Ambush started their current team). I had hopes the Ambush could beat the Wave this season at some point. Now the Ambush have 2 home games against Utica this weekend. If they can split the two, it will be a good week. The Ambush wins have all been by 1 goal this season; a welcome change to win some close games, as late game collapses had become a trademark in past seasons. The Wave are still very good but not invincible. The Ambush probably busted a bunch of the pick-ems this weekend too.
The Wave is really, REALLY missing Robert Renauld and Andre Hayne (due to Visa issues) and Josh Lemos. Rafa Dias really isn't a very good GK, so in addition to missing two key pieces of their offense, the defense is suffering, too. They also miss Drew Ruggles, but hoping that Derek Huffman can solve that. Odd that the Wave sent Jonatan Santos packing because they really need to be sharp in front of Dias. The Ambush played a good game, but Lemos wouldn't have let that happen. Some of those Ambush goals are stopped by Lemos.
It was noticed by several fans that on the game winning restart goal for the Ambush in overtime, Huffman was yapping at the referee instead of paying attention to the play. Huffman has decent indoor soccer talent but the guy is not the smartest decision maker (it was his foul that caused the restart in the first place). He has the physical skills to contribute on defense, but his antics can mitigate his effectiveness. Agreed that Lemos would have helped a lot. Rafa is average on a good day, and it was a lousy day for him. Renauld and Hayne are big holes to fill. Ruggles really held the defense and midfield together. The Wave should have some practice players who could step in to help. Not even sure they needed Huffman. It's the size he brings to the back end, but a guy who already knows the system can probably do as well or better. I wonder who the Ambush are sending in exchange for Santos? Perhaps Ambush defender Duarte? Purely a guess, but his name was mentioned as a possibility. The Ambush have a decent stable of defenders now, we could live without Duarte. Or maybe Pepe, another decent defender.
In the Wave/Ambush game, the Wave's newly acquired MF Mario Alvarez tore his MCL and has a non-displaced tib/fib fracture and will be out 4-6 weeks.
Sorry to hear of Mario's injury. I hate to hear of any player getting injured. Hoping he makes a full recovery. The Ambush had a defender, Magui, suffer an ACL tear in his knee on December 27, 2019 during a home game. His surgery was successful but he is out for the season. The surgeon, Dr. Kevin Quigley, played pro indoor soccer in St. Louis for several seasons.
Looks like the Blast are trying to boost up their offense. They signed Lucas Roque yesterday and now have announced the resigning of Victor France to the team.
I read in Facebook that Victor France had to go back to sign with Orlando, in order to activate his work visa. His move there was only for that purpose, then to return to Baltimore. These visa issues have been a mess.