If indeed true....then this is something i never would have expect. an MLS team in Miami? pffttt. still wont believe it until its made official. until then, its just another mythical unicorn.
David Beckham wants to bring Major League Soccer (MLS) to Miami. ... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130517/david-beckham-own-mls-team/ http://wvhooligan.com/2013/05/20/16646/reports-beckham-looking-at-miami/ https://www.facebook.com/MLSMiamiBid
Mr Claure has Mr Beckham joining him as his guest at the AAA to watch the Heat Thursday night. Of course there is also going to be a personal investigation by David as to the possibilities of an MLS team in Miami. This is not an indication that there WILL be a team here. It is an indication of Mr Beckham's interest in that possibility & Mr Claure's interest in having him here. I do not know if Mr Ross and his group are involved in this. AFAIK he is NOT looking towards Broward County and/or the Strikers. It is going to be very interesting to see what comes of all this. My congratulations to Mr Wahl. It looks like he got it right.
Very interesting. I wonder where they would play if they aren't looking at support from Traffic/Ft Lauderdale. SunLife? FIU? Marlins???
marlins stadium would suck so bad for soccer. the best bet at least short term in dade is FIU...provided they change the grass on the pitch.
Yes. AFAIK, the team would start there until a SSS is built if Mr Claure is the one that will decide on a location. If others beside Mr Claure are involved this may now be different. We'll just have to wait and see what develops from this meeting and anything else that follows. And, for the record, Traffic and the Strikers have rebuffed every approach made to them about changing. They seem to want to march to their own drummer. Hopefully, not into oblivion, again.
So please tell me why FIU Stadium would be bad for MLS? Is 13 miles west of downtown really a bad idea? Seems the University will bend over backwards to accommodate MLS. During the interview this weekend, they even stressed they would put done grass or whatever it took to bring MLS there. I am sure there is a down side though. What is it? Not downtown enough? FIU is a dry campus? No one knows where it is?
It is a distant drive from anywhere but M-D County. If it is there we will find out if M-D can support domestic soccer because many from north of the M-D/Broward County line won't go there. If Claure gets his wish and moves his team to a permanent SSS near the crossing point if I-75 & The Florida Turnpike Extension just south of the County line he may very well have a winner on his hands since this provides access from both east and north/south all the way from Homestead in far south M-D to the Broward/PB County line to the north. Well removed from downtown Miami, but more availability to all 3 Counties, not just one. FTR, it would be easier for me to drive to a stadium by I-75/Turnpike than to drive to Lockhart. That kills any complaint I'd have about location.
FIU isn't really centrally located for people in Miami, let alone the rest of South Florida. It's 30 minutes from downtown, without traffic. I will be far removed from the sexy "image" of Miami they'll be selling. Miami FC averaged 748 fans a game for the games they played at FIU in 2009. The same franchise, in the same division, with the same caliber of players, same non existent marketing budget, and same crappy performance, but with a different name, has averaged 4,533 so far in 2013. Those numbers to a large extent would scale up IMO. The quality of play in MLS isn't that much better than D2 to override the snobbery of M/D soccer aficionados, no matter which 2 or 3 big names of yesteryear you bring in to try and sell tickets. Ooh and throwball lines on the pitch in the fall - can't wait!
You forgot to mention, dr, that there was one other change beside the name change: moving from FIU to Ft Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium.
I think you underestimate MLS with potential DPs, Claure's money and Beckham's fame vs Miami FC and Traffic. In fact, I would about guarantee there is a world of difference.
I agree there is a difference. Just how much is the center of the ongoing debate. As yet, there in nothing I've seen down here that makes me think that Miami's vast Hispanic community is that interested. There were 7 to 10 people at the AAA Thursday night, not 75. Of course, that could change once the word gets out via the local media. Then the question settles on how long the glow will last to sustain a team here. That, too, is unknown and a huge part of the gamble. Claure was the central "local" figure in the MLS/Barca debacle. His pull with FIU is probably the reason that they are even in the picture and are willing to bend over backwards to accommodate a team.
There will be more people at MLS games in Miami than there were for MFC games, no doubt. But I think you overestimate the power of DPs, Claure's money and Beckham's fame. Yes - Beckham is famous, but nobody buys tickets to see the owner. Yes - Claure is wealthy, but if he's so passionate about bringing MLS to Miami why has he latched onto big name partners twice now and why is he still trying to start play at a college football stadium? Yes - There will be DPs. But do they really draw a crowd? Beckham barely nudged the Galaxy's HOME attendance, and Henry, Cahill & Co haven't invigorated the 19 million people in the NY metro area. There will be a honeymoon period for a team in Miami and it will be very brief. There will always be the Neymars in South America and the Ronaldos in Europe that will make even MLS something the soccer fans in Miami will turn their noses up at. The Heat have built a team and fan fervor around star power - and that works when you have access to the best players on Earth in the best league on Earth. MLS isn't sniffing that kind of talent. A mid-table MLS team playing on football lines in the fall won't fly in Miami, no matter which over-the-hill names are running around on the field.
I hope Mr. Claure and David Beckham can make this happen. If we want an MLS team, then this is the ownership group that can make that a reality.
Bingo. I enjoy reading Dr.'s post because he is such a MLS-to-Miami (and I hate using this word) hater that it's funny to see him try and come up with different arguments even when the truth is staring him in the face.
Here you go again. Spouting off about things without seeing the REAL CLEAR picture. Beckham owning the team isn't to directly draw fans. Beckham is there to draw attention from the MEDIA, English and Spanish (*this one is key to the team's success*), who will cover his every move ad nauseam. This will in turn provide LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of coverage on TV, radio, internet, newspaper, etc. and that in turn will reach the public about the big new ticket in town. Creating a presence in the media (which Strikers, Miami FC, etc. have all failed to do) would tap into those soccer-loving hispanics and people from the islands who currently don't care about the soccer in their backyard, and that would in turn create a sustained buzz and fanbase so long as the team is successful on the field. He's just trying to gain entry into MLS asap. Florida is next in line in terms of MLS expansion and the league would prefer it to be two teams so as to have a natural rivalry. Orlando is essentially a shoo-in (their stadium situation will be sorted out by the end of the summer) and Claure knows this is the perfect time to strike. As for why he latches onto big-name partners, it's easy if you think about it. He's a Miami resident. He knows the market. He knows that FLASHY names are what draws people's attention (that's why he picked two of the biggest in soccer, Barcelona and Beckham). The approach is that you capitalize on the "honeymoon" period, as you keep calling it, by demonstrating to the fanbase a fun team with flair, strong DPs (which you can rest assured they already have a good idea on and had conversations with) and something that represents Miami/South Florida as a whole. Now you're just talking nonsense. Red Bulls play in a city in NJ that is a FAR travel from the NY metro area. Kind of like where Lockhart is in relation to Biscayne Boulevard except with no highway or direct shot of getting from one point to the other. Miami's goal isn't to be a mid-table MLS team. They would enter the league with immediate pressure, expected to win the title every year and play well. They'd be in the same category as Red Bulls, NYC FC and the LA Galaxy. Now, this is my own idea but I think Beckham is just in this to help Claure buy-in for cheap. I think Beckham will stick around South Florida for a few years as the team gets started and then he bounces and joins the Galaxy ownership group, since that's where the ball got rolling for all this long ago when he signed that contract with MLS that included the discounted MLS expansion team.
I don't think DR is a "hater"....he believes, like many others do, that the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers history and fan base makes it a better choice for a South Florida team than a Miami-based one. There is certainly some merit to the argument. I said this on a different thread....I think that there is a bigger upside to putting a team in Miami-Dade County.....however, it's also a bigger risk. If Beckham/Claure do not build a winner...do not market properly....and do not get big name DP's....you could have a major flop...whether they play at FIU, Joe Robbie, or a new SSS. (There is NO CHANCE they end up at Marlins Park unless it's a new SSS next door). I do like that FIU's stadium is 20,000 seats now and expandable (I read they can go to 45,000 down the road). If you want to go with a "safer" bet....a more steady fan base that is likely to support a team win or lose...then Ft. Lauderdale (preferably a renovated Lockhart) is the way to go. That said...even if the team ends up in Broward...I want an MLS team to have nothing to do with Traffic Sports. I do not trust their management of personnel and marketing....the Strikers are doing ok at the gate and not-so-ok on the field....their player budget is the smallest in NASL this year if I read correctly. A well marketed Strikers who were near the top of the table in NASL could be doing so much better at the gate as well.
But I'm not arguing whether it's a good idea or not. I'm simply stating what I think WILL happen and discussing the topic of expansion in South Florida based on the facts we have from MLS, not just going off my own personal bias. Fully agree with this. I wouldn't say win or lose the Strikers would be supported (not to mention that the city of Ft. Lauderdale is not MAJOR enough for sports and would need to be relabeled to Miami even if it were to happen there). If the team was near bottom of the table, they'd struggle to draw. Only teams who may be immune to that in MLS are Sounders, Timbers. The Strikers are a big disappointment to me this year and have been for past few seasons. Granted, they're being held back by Traffic's greedy, money-grubbing aways but still.
Incorrect, The RB ARENA is in Harrison, NJ which is IN the NY metro area. Its right next to Newark and is only 5-10 minutes from Manhattan.
Dude, are you even FROM the area? Given the HUGE population density and major traffic NYC has, I can understand why people from the boroughs ans Long Island don't go. It's not miles but traffic. It's not as simple as it looks. Anyways about Miami, I don't know that much about the area but taking some educated guesses. Considering how savvy the population is, they would likely have to load up on not only strong DPs but a lot of Latin talent both locally and if possible internationally. It won't be the same as watching La Liga or Serie A BUT you would create a buzz and identification amongst the local audience. After that like someone said, it's all about winning and media footprint/hype. As for location, I can't say much on that.
One can just as easily make argumnets saying you're the one "spouting off" and missing the forest for the trees. You talk about Beckham's role being to draw media attention. How long have you lived in South Florida? Do you realize that when there was an MLS team before, that the local media all but ignored them? In their hey day the original Strikers got lots of local coverage, probably more than the Fusion ever got, except maybe when Ray Hudson became coach and there was a story that actually mattered to some South Floridians. Sure Beckham's name has cache, no doubt about it. But there are two ways to look at who might pay attention to his name. First you have soccer fans. In this instance, DR's thoughts are spot on. Beckham on the field playing games, yes, that would capture interest for actual soccer fans, even ones as discriminating as what we have in the 305. But him as an owner to soccer fans? Novelty. Passing interest at best. Now the other aspect, the one everyone keeps playing up, is the "glamorous" Becks and Posh. He "fits in" with South Beach style. Let me ask you something as a South Florida resident. On any given Saturday night, if you go down to South Beach and see the "it" crowd, how many of them do you honestly see buying season tickets t o MLS soccer and supporting the team by showing up (on time) EVERY game? Is it a number greater than zero even? This whole "glitz and glamour" angle people keep touting is a load of horse manure. Someone please explain to me where "South Beach" "glamour" and "style" fit into MLS. Anyone? Buehler? It's complete idiocy to think that anyone who cares about South Beach style and glamour or suddenly going to become MLS soccer fans. Stupid. The only thing anyone says that makes even the slightest sense about possible success for a team in Miami is if it was filled with superstars, and could win championships every single year. Like the Heat. But even then, it would take time to win over most of the soccer community in Dade who see MLS as an inferior product to what they can consume very easily in the comfort of their own homes on TV and over the internet from their home countries, and from respected leagues around the world like La Liga. MLS doesn't fit that bill, and despite Garber's desire for it to be different, isn't likely to change anytime soon. Add on top that the current structure of the league wouldn't allow for a new York Yankees type lineup and payroll, and again, isn't likely to change anytime soon, and you've shot down that one slim thread of hope again. The one thing you said I actually do agree with is how Beckham will probably play out this whole expansion process. I too believe he will use his discount ticket simply as a money maker. He'll front a team at a bargain basement price, and make sure he throws his brand behind it to give it as big of an initial splash as possible. But then I think he sells his share off for a whopping profit and goes back to LA to be involved with the Galaxy. Where we differ is that I think he can find a far better market than Miami to maximum his profits when it comes time to check out.