MLS to expand to 30 teams. $200 Million expansion fee.

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by CMeszt, Apr 18, 2019.

  1. Centennial

    Centennial Member+

    Apr 4, 2003
    Centennial
    Do they. (The sum total) make a profit???
     
  2. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Probably, when you include things like non-MLS stadium events and such.
     
  3. Sal Paradise

    Sal Paradise BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 14, 2009
    Club:
    Jaguares de Chiapas FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Three days of Phish can make up for a lot of 15K Rapids games.
     
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  4. Kev_K

    Kev_K Member

    Atl Utd
    Mar 21, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #179 Kev_K, Apr 22, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2019
    Even that question can be misleading with stadium/equipment depreciation and other Hollywood accounting tricks. The value ($m) of the Rapids seems to be going up steadily, which is a good sign though.

    For the Rapids, per Forbes.com

    Year Value ($m) Revenue ($m) Operating Income ($m)
    2018 155 18 -6
    2017 135 19 -6
    2016 110 16 -4
    2015 105 15 -3
     
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  5. Bluecat82

    Bluecat82 Member+

    Feb 24, 1999
    Minneapolis, MN
    Club:
    Minnesota United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Time difference is something else to consider.

    As an alumni of a school that frequently made trips to Hawaii for both football and basketball, the 3-4 hour time difference from Utah (depending on whether Utah was on DST. since Hawaii hasn't used DST since 1945) was a killer. Imagine the six hour difference between Honolulu and the East Coast.
     
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  6. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    That's nothing compared to the time difference between Seattle and London (8 hours)., but the NFL is ok with that. Again, consider Super Rugby with teams in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Japan. And finally, back to soccer, the Asian Champions League has many more time zones than that.

    And if you think a 3 hour time difference is a killer, then I've got news for you, the East Coast is 3 hours ahead of the West Coast.

    These are all simply excuses. Obviously Honolulu won't get a team because the metro area is small (#56 or something like that), but all the traditional excuses people provide are nothing but excuses.
     
  7. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think that's completely accurate. The fact is that it is more expensive for a team to travel to the islands. Flights, hotels, etc. add up. The NBA/MLB/NFL can handle that. The NHL could too but I can't think of a bigger misplaced idea than a hockey team in Hawaii (well, maybe a hockey team in Phoenix :D). Can MLS? Probably but I'm not 100% sure its a sure thing. Can a league smaller than MLS? No. And, as has been pointed out, colleges manage but they do so by allowing another revenue source to make up for it, and the business case of college athletics isn't the same as pro leagues.

    But the rest (time zones, travel times, etc) I agree, not really an excuse not to do it.
     
  8. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When the Seahawks play in London, the game is at 10 am Pacific just like many of their other road games.
     
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  9. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I agree that many of the issues with Hawaii are not very strong but the NFL in London thing is not a great counter-argument.

    NFL teams individually rarely play regular season games in London. Since 2007 when they started playing regular season games there 17 teams (including Seattle) have only played there once. Another 9 teams have played there twice. Jacksonville (6 times) and Miami (4 times) go relatively often but most teams don't.

    Houston will go for the first time in 2019. Green Bay has never went.

    That is nothing like having a league team in a place like London or Hawaii where teams would be going all the time. NFL teams also usually get a bye the week after they go to London. It would be hard to do that for an entire season.
     
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  10. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    Why is an NHL team in Phoenix a worse idea than an NHL team in Vegas (on paper)?
     
  11. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Because Phoenix is literally in a desert. Not exactly conducive to ice (though, yes, I know, ice can form in a desert, but we're talking about the general cultural view of deserts)

    But mainly it was a joke that of course somebody on BigSoccer wants to over-analyze.
     
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  12. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    Vegas is literally in the same desert lol
     
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  13. don gagliardi

    don gagliardi Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    Feb 28, 2004
    san jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Don't "over-analyze." :)
     
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  14. C-Rob

    C-Rob Member

    May 31, 2000
    Phoenix is in the Sonoran Desert and Las Vegas is in the Mojave Desert, but yeah, both are in deserts.
     
  15. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    And yet RSL and Vancouver can play preseason games in Honolulu.

    Again, 1 possible trip every two years for Eastern teams, and 1 trip a year for Western teams.
     
  16. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    And are geographically connected...
     
  17. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    The oceans are all connected too, but we still recognize them as different bodies of water.
     
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  18. CMeszt

    CMeszt Member+

    Farewell Sweet Prince
    Jan 9, 2004
    Gentrification's Apex.
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Re: Hawaii:

    Isn't Aloha Stadium kind of a dump in disrepair nowadays too?
     
  19. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Has any city granted an MLS team ever built a new stadium on entry into the league or soon thereafter?
     
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  20. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    LAFC...............
     
  21. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    TFC
     
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  22. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Philly.......not sure how I spaced on that one............
     
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  23. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I said MLS could probably handle it....
     
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  24. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Orlando, Miami (ahem), Austin, Cincinnati, Minnesota ...

    It was a rhetorical question to highlight that Aloha stadium wouldn't be an issue because, if we look at the past, a new stadium would be built.
     
  25. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    Unless you are...
    New England, Seattle, Atlanta?
     

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