Yes they havent give up yet. They're still pushing the horse. They want MLS back in the Dade are. http://www.soccer365.com/us_news/story_29108180412.php
Nice picture, but no roof. Anyone familiar with the area? Is Florida International University a good location?
This is old news. They've said "thanks but no thanks - we want our own stadium". Field turf, football lines all over the field, secondary tenant...no thanks. We're trying to move forward, not backward in this league.
Damn right. We want our own stadium with NO football lines on the field and real grass, no fake junk.
"Yet league spokesman Will Kuhns said MLS is ''focusing on the Orange Bowl site'' and that negotiations with the city continue. Diaz said he has been negotiating for an MLS team since he took office six years ago and said league commissioner Don Garber ``loves the Orange Bowl site.'' The mayor cautioned that Garcia's offer is only viable if an MLS team ``is going to want to play on a college campus instead of having their own stadium.'' ''They have not indicated that's their desired result,'' Diaz said." http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/381012.html
FIU is a good location. Its in the miami community(kendall, where theres a huge soccer influx) My only concern would be the field turf.
The operator of our stadium (First and Goal) is also owned by one the owners of our MLS franchise. This creates revenue control for MLS Seattle. As far as I know FIU will not in and of itself be an investor/owner, in fact since FIU is a state school I am sure that there would be all sorts of regulations prohibiting this sort of investment.
How about a solution similar to Houston..Remember UofH was going to put turf in and AEG convinced them to stay grass?..Why not have the MLS team simply pay to put grass in the FIU stadium? The 6 FIU games should not be that hard to schedule around and MLS regular season is heavily over by October- only playoffs go into November.. Football could go heavily in November and even have some December games.. Soccer could front load March-April to take advantage of the good weather- no snow like up north and less hummidy. The size of the stadium, luxury boxes and decent locker rooms sound like a plus and the location.. Probably enough parking in and around campus for a Saturday night game... There would just have to be a really good contract that give soccer an equal standing in the scheduling and the condition of the field - May be worth considering. Might get Miami a local ownership group easier with no stadium issues to worry about and less $$$$ cost. Just entry fee.....
Definetly I have to agree with you. If those ugly football lines are the problem here, just let's pay to remove them and the problem is over. In addition, Seatle is coming to MLS next season, we need to find another team so we can stay even or in pairs. The Philip franchise is more like a dream at this time. Let's support the Fusion and we'll be alright.
But let me ask a simple question to all of you. After reading all of these articles on the Miami joining back MLS and then reading the whole Philadelphia deal, which of the team teams have a better chance at this point?
As of today Philly has the best chance of any expansion franchise. Its all but guaranteed. I wouldn't be surprised to see an announcement in February.
Like the previous poster mentioned, Philly is pretty much a lock now. Why; they have all of their funding for a stadium secured and they have a defined (also with deep pockets) ownership group. What does Miami have a proposed stadium by the city, and a offer from FIU to do what ever is necessary to be attractive to a new MLS team to their proposed new stadium. They may have potential ownership groups, but none that come out in the public and said "we want a team".
income. i don't know the specifics of the offer, but i'm sure they want the parking and concession income, or at least a healthy cut. another big difference, there was no downtown, SSS being offered in seattle.
I hate the fact that Seatle is going to start playing in a cavernicolous football stadium which is what the league does not want at this point.
MLS Back in Miami?? http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/soccer/story/718676.html Looks like they are trying to land one of the 2011 expansion clubs.
Re: MLS Back in Miami?? FIU is Florida International University (The Golden Panthers). They have been playing football only since the beginning of the decade, and currently reside in the Sun Belt conference with other powers like Florida Atlantic University, Troy University, Middle Tennessee State University, you get the picture.
Re: MLS Back in Miami?? I don't like the idea of another MLS team that has to share the stadium with an american-footabll team.