I claim to have a desire for a pro team in Miami, not just anywhere in south florida. Its not just anything named miami. As the fusion made the mistake, they decided to play in another city. Its a long drive for us folks that live in the sw part of dade county, which is where you'll find most of the soccer enclaves. Not all of us have a desire to drive 50 miles each way. Which ironaically enough, makes me want to watch it on tv anyway, just like other games around the globe. Which is what I currently do. Good luck with your strikers. But until then, ill wait until I see concrete evidence that mls really is expanding here. I'm tired of all the rumors and back n forth.
Not if you were to support the Strikers, which you've said you won't do. So it is in your control, you just choose not do anything about it because it isn't the perfect match for you.
Well, that's just human nature. If something isn't a match for you then why persue it? Again, I'm only speaking of myself. A team in Miami is out of my control. Yes I can go out of my way and support the strikers just for the sake of bringing an mls team to the region. But personally I get no benefit out of it. I have no interests in the strikers or any connection to ft lauderdale. Again the drive is a pain and I'm not just Goin to settle for second best . Ill support mls if I see they have interests to expand here. But chances are it won't happen cuz Garber and company expects an entire region to come together and support one team. The guy is an idiot. What other team in mls was asked to do this ? None. We have other major metropolitan areas in the country but he wants to tie us all together. Good luck to the strikers and for any mls fan that wants a team in florida. Keep doing what you do. I have no envy towards any city with more potential than miami. Just don't expect everyone to become a bunch of lemmings.
Well I'll give you credit for being more realistic than Lucho and some others I've heard talk about pro soccer in Miami, futbol. Driving 45 minutes to an hour each way for a sporting event isn't for everybody. There are plenty of people that do it now from down there to see the Strikers, and there are tons that go the other way to see the Dolphins. It's all about your level of commitment to a franchise. I don't knock your lack of commitment to the Strikers, it's a free country, so to each their own. What I fail to comprehend are the people who insist that Miami should get a team, because they completely ignore history, and reality. More and more I see pieces that can, and hopefully will fall into place that will enable an eventual bid for MLS for the Strikers. Just remember, we'll always welcome all you 305ers with open arms if you ever change your minds. It would be nice someday to see Dade County fans come on up and support the Strikers, even if it's not until they get into MLS.
Ummm.... Every single market in MLS except LA, for now anyway. We're talking about the US AND Canada. Each market gets ONE team. This is not a country like England that is the size of Florida, where the demand is there to have 2, 3, or more teams in one market(city). Outside of LA and the leagues total hard-on for a second NYC team, nobody else is getting two teams. If you live withing 100 miles or so of an MLS team, that's the only team you're ever getting so you either deal with it or you don't have a team to support. It's the same reason football/baseball/basketball fans in Broward/PBC are not waiting around for our own NFL/MLB/NBA teams to support. We know we'll never get our own, so the Miami clubs are our home teams. And we've got no problem with that. It would be nice if it worked the other way around for soccer.
I wasn't aware that Seattle, philly and the other teams that recently expanded wwere given the same ultimatum they've given us. I stand corrected.
I think the success of the Strikers retrobrand shows that the MLS entry would have done better with that name, with the right ownership and marketing. This is not to say a Miami team could not do well with good ownership and marketing. Just don't put a team in Miami and call it Fort Lauderdale, or vice versa. It's different than putting a team in Harrison and calling it New York. Especially with a resonant brand available.
I agree that the right ownership & marketing are required. As important is the right product to own and market. Since we've heard that traffic Sports is interested in having a team in MLS and Tim Robbie seems to be the right guy to get the Front Office & the marketing done right the Strikers could very well be that product. As it sits right now I do not see anything else on the horizon to take their place. The next few years are going to be very interesting to see exactly what transpires here. Now that magicJack is gone we have nothing left but the Strikers. One way or another they are are presently our only hope for anything better.
Exactly. Miami and Fort Lauderdale may be in the same metro area but it's two different markets when it comes to soccer. You'll get fans from both wherever a team is located, but you have to primarily play to the crowd where the team is based. Once the Fusion gave up on the Orange Bowl and spent millions renovating Lockhart, the "Miami" name should've been dropped and they should have adopted the Fort Lauderdale Strikers moniker. Unfortunately MLS was still a couple of years off from easing back on the NASL-phobia they had. A Miami-based team could do very well IMO. However that requires a SSS to be built and barring some billionaire who wants to pay for it by himself, that is simply not happening anytime soon. Public money won't be spent on a stadium down in MDC for a looooooong time after the Marlins debacle, which was fairly unpopular with folks to begin with and is now coupled with the further joke-ification of the club with the new move-related brading they'll be rolling out next week. FIU won't work. Sun Life won't work. Both are temporary solutions and with no realistic shot of a SSS being built down in Dade it makes no sense. Lockhart is the best shot. Renovated it could easily become a top SSS. Plus, this is something I think folks have overlooked, with the Marlins moving to Miami, you've got a lot of sports fans in Broward and PBC who are now 30 minutes further away from a summertime diversion. Soccer could easily fill that gap.
You are honest, and that is what is needed. Props for that. Most live in fairy tale land. As for Garber being idiot. May MLS have 100's of more idiots like him running their business. If he can do what he has with this league, that was dead and buried, in just 10 short years...I pray for more idiocy from him. I do understand this is a meaningless/emotion driven fan board with a lot of kids, but the lack of business acumen, or basic peanut brain like comprehension of what Don Garber has done with almost nothing, has been nothing short of tremendous. The irony is that without Garber clowns here wouldn't be able to make fun of him here for being dumb......because there probably isn't a league anymore (or anything close to what there is now). Now that's the truly funny part quite honestly. That idiot! How dare he succeed from the grave where no one in this country ever has! Moron!
Garber did mention to the Ultras in person when he met with us that we needed, as fans, to unite the South Florida fan base. I believe in what Garber also told us when he said that the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers was the way to MLS. Hear what Strikers head coach said about the future of MLS in South Florida. He recently had a conversation with Traffic bosses about the subject. Plus you can hear a cool interview with former Fusion head coach and Striker legend ray hudson. Check it out:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/miamiultras/2011/11/01/miami-ultras-alive-30
Really? Where will luxury boxes be placed? How do you upgrade the press box to one that is actually worthy of holding events like MLS Cup and MLS All-Star? Do you really want a SSS with bleachers instead of seats? What extra amenities will there be for fans? I'm a big supporter of seeing MLS back in South Florida, especially Ft. Lauderdale instead of Miami. But I'm thinking it's too much of a long shot/pipedream, which sucks because there are some diehard fans here and great weather.
Not that I agree that Garber's statement on the subject was idiotic but here you go.... http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/garber-we-want-be-miami
And where in this is Garber asking anything of Miami that isn't asked of any other metropolitan area? To tell you the truth, I thought that futbol in Miami was referring to the entire South as the "region" that Garber was being "idiotic" about wanting to unite, probably confusing him with some other poster who made that argument. I was apparently wrong about that, but it's still ignorant to label Garber as an idiot for anything he's done regarding Miami's prospects for a new MLS team.
Luxury boxes could be placed where the current open air "suites" are and also beside the press box. The press box could also be brought up to modern standards. The endzone seats on a lot of MLS stadiums these days are just bleachers with backs, like some of the sideline seats at Lockhart. When I say renovations I'm not just talking a paint job. There would need to be structural additions to accommodate real suites and a new press box. All the seats would need to be removed and replaced with new ones(even the bleachers). You'd need a facade up around the end bleacher areas to enclose the concourse and also one/two proper video boards. Even a roof could be added. The key is that Lockhart is already there and has history behind it, and that renovations are already on the table as part of the Schilitterbahn Water Park deal. You'd still need more to bring it up to MLS standards but alot of the basic work would already be done. For kicks and giggles this is something I put together as to what they could do:
It's easy enough to replace bleachers with seats anyway. Barring that, Lockhart is designed in such a way that it would be easy to tear down one side and rebuild it without disrupting the other sides.
firstly, i must be honest and say that i am not a fan of Miami as an MLS market. it is too old, too poor and despite the passion of a good group of striker's supporters it does not have a large enough fan base to support an MLS team (see Miami Fusion and all of the other crappily attended pro sports teams in the Miami area). but having said that this Lockhart Stadium looks like it could pretty easily be "upgraded" to accommodate an MLS team. it is roughly the right size already, at 20,450. and it cannot be any worse or harder to upgrade than Saputo Stadium. i imagine that DC United would kill for a stadium like this in the Metro DC area that they could buy and renovate for themselves. probably NER would love one like this in the Metro Boston area too. but having said that i hope and think that FTLS and FCTB need to stay in Div II and grow as that division grows. they aren't Division I soccer cities. and as a DII team i hope they get to buy and renovate that FTL Stadium next door into a 10K seater soccer stadium and maybe use Lockhart for one off events that might need more space.
OleGunnar, I have a simple request. Please, tell me where you live & how you know so much about Miami. I'd appreciate an answer. Thanks...
it is called the census. the data is available on multiple government websites. the analysis is pretty easy to do. as for the attendance of miami teams not being up to snuff compared to the attendance of other teams in the representative leagues ... that information can be found on espn.com going back many many seasons and that analysis is also pretty easy to do. if you do any of the above research for yourself, like i have, you will find that miami is one of the single worst attendance MSAs for professional sports across all leagues. you will also find that the miami csa has a very old population, a very high number of "poor" households, fewer than average number of "wealthy" households, and a very uneducated population compared to the norm. those are all simple and verifiable facts. sorry if they disturb you as a resident of said MSA but unfortunately your emotional devotion to your city doesn't change its demographics.
Thank you for the prompt reply. I don't live in Miami & have zero emotional attachment to the city. Plus, I might even agree with you that MLS will never make it there, but for reasons different from yours. Now, again, where do you live? Or are you not going to say?