Re: How Does My City Get A Forum? if memphis, as a candidate for expansion, meets the requirements set in the first post in the How Does My City Get A Forum? thread, then by all means.
As far as stadiums go, does Nashville have a real shot? It seems like there is so much competition for land on the riverfront area. Placing it in the suburbs is never ideal but is the easiest fix. As much as I'd love a team in Nashville, I also find it hard to see the town supporting another pro sport. The NFL Titans always get support but thats about it. The NHL Predators are in dire straights as rumors swirl they may skip town. Hardcore hockey fans are always loyal but its been a fight to keep casual fans/tourists in the stands even when the Preds are winning. I don't doubt a 'Nashville FC' or a 'Tenn. United' would get the soccer community in the stands but everyone else would be harder to convince. ...IMO
Re: How Does My City Get A Forum? Ahhhhhh Memphis: The town that never wakes... ...or pulls its head out of its buttocks.
Well, if you want a stadium site, look no further than Nolensville Pike. The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (or "Music City Motorplex" or whatever) has a couple years left in it, and the city is already trying to figure out what to do. It's less than a mile along Nolensville Pike to 440, it's surrounded by the endless Latino, Kurdish, and East Asian neighborhoods south of town, and it's not a bad drive from the southern and eastern suburbs (Murfreesboro, Brentwood, Franklin, etc.) where the top youth soccer clubs are based. Frankly, it's the "Harrison NJ" of Nashville. Nobody would object to a soccer stadium, as long as it wasn't a Sounds-style stadium giveaway plan, because anything other than a freaking airport is going to be less noisy than the racetrack. The parking is there, the infrastructure, the access, the land... But you're right, the Titans could probably sell out a Neyland-sized monster stadium (110k?) in Nashville, but there isn't much past that. The Predators aren't doing too badly with Nashville's sports fans, they just have no corporate support, though it looks like that's changing. My hunch is that they'll stay. But really, there are bigger places for MLS to try. The only way Nashville would get a team is if I won Powerball. Three times.
There is as much chance of MLS putting a team in Tennessee as there is for MLS awarding a team to the Tennessee Pass in Colorado..........
No one said there are good chances, moron. The topic is more about the kind of conditions that would be necessary for a Memphis or Nashville team.
You and me and maybe a thousand other folks. The profile and perception of MLS has to get bigger, and at least a half-dozen far more suitable places have to find teams. And I don't think there will be markets any smaller than Columbus area, which has almost a quarter-million people more than Nashville and its suburbs, joining MLS. But the trends are there, the demographics are very much MLS' kind of thing, Nashville is growing very quickly (which is the main advantage over Memphis)-- but it's a decade away at least. That is, unless there's some secret soccer nut who lives in Belle Meade or Williamson County and wants to spend tons of his money getting an MLS team and building a stadium. I like the idea of Memphis, too, which has a very good soccer tradition, and had the NASL Rogues. But the Rogues weren't locally-owned-- it was an speculative investment by some Floridians who were looking for anywhere to put a team in the NASL's heyday, and Memphis at the time was the biggest market in the state (and one of the biggest in the south). It wasn't well planned, and the Rogues drew poorly. My main concern about Memphis is that the demographics aren't right, and that the population growth line isn't steep enough. As for "Hippityhop" (what's Whoreswell United?)... we're not talking about this because the chances are particularly good for TN and MLS anytime soon. We're talking about this because we're MLS fans from Tennessee, and it's worth talking about what cities which are clearly in a second-tier category as far as MLS goes would require to be reasonably considered a candidate. Nobody here gives a rat's ass what you think, so either say something on topic, or stay the hell away.
I tried to get excited enough to go see a Metros game this year, but after watching a couple of the games they have on their site I just wasn't impressed. I'd be happy with something like a 5,000 capacity stadium USL-1 or 2 team. Does that make me a fair-weather-fan? I'm also not native to Nashville (I cheer for New England) so I consider that a plausible excuse. I actually spent last weekend looking for jobs in my field with locations proximate to MLS and USL teams. As a native New Englander though, I've come to greatly appreciate the mild winters down here and its sort of a toss-up right now for me between buying myself one of those condos you mentioned previously and settling down in Nashville longterm or finding myself a city that hosts my sport of interest. I've made the trek up to Columbus to see MLS games, but I can't really justify that with much regularity. Its frustrating being a US Soccer fan. I find it isn't hard to find soccer fans, but US Soccer fans are another story. Lots of folks will religiously follow european clubs that they've never seen live and have no real discernible connection to, but they treat US Soccer with complete disdain. Of course, now that's changing with Beckham , which seems sort of silly to me. Suddenly coworkers who know I follow MLS are showing interest and asking questions. Its positive, and I just hope the momentum continues. I hope to be an old fart some day watching US Soccer on major networks with all the hoopla that surrounds top-level sports that goes with it... However, I'm against St. Louis getting a team because they might tempt Twellman out of New England.
LP Field was built with soccer in mind? I know a lot of talk swirled around when Qwest Field and Seattle were yet to get a team. One of the biggest reasons the deal moved so fast was partly because the ownership already had a stadium fit for soccer. Nothing new required. LP Field has of course hosted US national games but does that mean when it was constructed, there were thoughts it could be used as a regular soccer venue? I've never been to a soccer match there so is it even a good soccer stadium? I'd be interested to hear from people who have seen futbol played there. And of course if LP Field (with a name like that in Music City, I'm surprised it isn't nicknamed "The Album") was home to a mythical MLS Tenn. team, Bud Adams would have to be involved. He had a friendship with Lamar but has he ever had an interest in soccer?
When it was designed, the architects were told that the field dimensions should be able to accommodate a soccer pitch in length and width. I remember reading that the playing area could max out at 125 x 80, and the drainage is set up so the field doesn't need a crown. Qwest, which I've seen only from the outside in person, but also on TV, is set up with a much more steeply-pitched seating area than LP Field, has a roof, etc. As far as I'm concerned, that's the main quality it has: more intimacy. The US - Morocco game has been the main soccer event at the Nashville stadium. The crowd was good and noisy (for a bad game), particularly the Moroccans, who were under an overhang and were LOUD. The main problem was that insufficient prep work had been done on the field after a rainy spring, and it was obviously lumpy. That's a clueless grounds crew issue. It's a suitable venue for soccer, though-- no worse than Gillette, or Soldier Field, and better than RFK since the place was reconfigured for baseball. We'll see a test of it in March, when the Olympic qualifying semis and final will be played there. Well, LP Field is the third name it has had. Maybe a nickname would have stuck if Louisiana Pacific had bought the rights earlier. And I don't believe Adams has had anything to do with soccer. He's a well off man, but he's not the kind of visionary businessman that Hunt was, and he runs a very tight financial ship with the Titans. Soccer seems like it would be too risky for a conservative businessman like Bud, unless he could make money off rent charged to someone else's team, which is a total no-go for MLS. Anybody read the Fairgrounds article in yesterday's Tennessean? There's talk of moving the state fair and speedway to undeveloped parts of Davidson County, and building mixed-use neighborhoods and parks on the 117 acres. I'm dreaming, and I've said this here before, but if I suddenly became a wealthy man, I'd want to build a 20k soccer stadium at the northeast corner of the fairgrounds site, a mile south of 440 at Nolensville Pike. Easy drive from the large Latin, Southeast Asian, and Kurdish neighborhoods south and southeast of downtown, and a decent drive from soccer-mad southern suburbs in Williamson and Rutherford counties and southwest Davidson.
Soccer fights for foothold in Nashville A little soccer related pub for Nashville due to Olympic qualifiers for today and this weekend. Article generally covers the appeal of soccer in the US and more specifically Tennessee. Obviously with attendance numbers citied, Nashville, while up-and-coming southeast city, won't be on any prospective MLS expansion list. It is good Tennessee does get consistent recognition for meaningful international matches, men and women. Again, if anyone is going to these games, I'd be interested to hear how LP Field stacks up as a soccer venue. I've been to Tennessee Titans games but never for a soccer match. Unfortunately I'm not even in Nashville at the moment
Memphis Greyhounds - the busline is a built in jersey sponsor. Oh and your supporters section in the stadium MUST be called "The Jungle Room"
I know it isn't pro soccer, but here is a forum talking about the Univ. of Tennessee adding men's soccer https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521805
I was at the game last night and also the Morrocco game. My opinion is based on Soldier Field v England, U of A Birmingham v Guatemala, RFK Stadium DC v Dallas, Soldier Field Man U v Bayern Munich, Giant Stadium Man U v Juventus. Here is my opinion about LP as a soccer venue: 1) It was built just large enough for a soccer field so the crowd can definitely be felt/heard because it is pretty close to the touchline. I give that an 7.5 outta 10 2) Security didn't really care where we sat because of the crowd size. Awesome I give that a 10 but during busy games probably a lot more like a 1. 3) Great for walk-ups because of the walking bridge. Crowd can form a march and sing whilst stopping traffic and getting stares from non soccer fans. That's a 9. Overall, my rating is a 7.5. I think it is a better than average place to host an event simply because the crowd isn't that far from the pitch. Players came and shook hands/signed autographs.
As far as huge NFL stadiums go, it's pretty good for soccer. The ESC guys kept comparing it to Foxboro in its design, but the location is a huge plus (great foresight to build a stadium right across from downtown), and it's somehow louder than a lot of big open stadiums I've been to.
By the way, Devinder Sandhu had a table set up outside 125 last night, and I'm going to try to make it to some of the PDL Nashville Metros' games this year. I went to see them a bit when they were A-League, and I know the quality of PDL isn't very high, but what the hell. Anyone else interested?
This is kinda unrelated, but I heard the metros might move to Murfreesboro. Is there any truth to that? I heard the owner was from there.
Also, related to why this thread started: I know we need an owner here, but there is definitely a low grumbling of soccer fans in the Nashville/Metro/MiddTenn area. I just don't think they are comfortable letting their voices be heard or don't know where to go to speak. In this area, you can get harrassed beyond belief for being a soccer fan, and god help you if you are Hispanic. I generally make a point to email/call into 104.5 the Zone whenever Kharsky (Huge US fan for the Tennessean) is on and the last time i did, 4 or 5 others called in about soccer too. So I know there is interest. I find more and more, when I go to a bar to watch a US/MLS game, a lot of people stop watching the crap on the other TV's and start reacting with me on/discussing the game. But, until I am a mutli millionaire, I don't think there is an owner lining up anytime soon.
I think this is a GENIUS idea. The locals who live in that area now HATE the speedway (I used to live over there and it was a noise nightmare). It's on the cusp of what my friend calls the "United Nations" neighborhood, and would be ideal for attracting tons of fans, not to mention close to its proximity to the interstate so the folks from the surrounding suburbs could get to it fairly easily. It's already got the parking. It's perfect.
There is definetly a want for soccer in this state. There is a good fanbase for it, and actually, Tennessee has had a few high school teams win national championships in soccer(i.e. - Bearden HS in 2002). But, no city in the state is a Top 15 media market(isn't Nashville close though), and that's why we are not being considered at the moment. And the fact that there is no clear, visible rich soccer nut in this state is a factor too The owner situation can be overcome however by looking at one of the high presitge football teams. The Green Bay Packers are pretty much owned by 70,000 stockholders, and I think that could be doable here. Charge $75 a share, and we will have enough to start the club up, and keep a cash flow that would keep us in MLS, and most likely keep us competitve at that, with the low salary cap. We would still need a President of the club, and a board of directors to keep the club in check
I thought I'd put up a uni that I made. If it isn't that good, sorry, but I suck with this program I have
I could see USL1 or potentially an MLS2 side there in the future, maybe an eventual MLS side (10+ years away). I think Nashville/Memphis' position in line is too far down the list to expect an MLS side there any sooner than 10 years. My Expansion Line In order of likelihood and Garber's priority 1. STL 2. Miami 3. Vancouver 4. Montreal 5. NY2 6. Atlanta (depends on how committed Arthur Blank is) 7. Portland 8. Phoenix 9. Detroit (mentioned in a few articles) 10? 11? I think a TN city would fit at #10 on this list, they would have to battle San Antonio, Milwaukee and maybe Tulsa in the future....