http://www.blogtalkradio.com/soccer...owner-robert-palmer-barcowatch-canada-coaches Interesting interview with Robert Palmer (towards the end of the podcast). I just can't tell whether he is a true believer ready to make substantial investments or a classic minor league owner/bs artist. At the end he talks about plans to build multiple small soccer-specific stadiums across the south. If this is real, he seems like such a natural tie-in with the NISA. They need a solid owner and multiple stadiums rented to other teams would probably bring in new owners. But right now, it's just so much talk.
18,900 watched the Raptors wrap up the title, TFC could probably have sold twice as many tickets to the MLS Cup Final and even the Wolfpack smashed attendance records in English rugby league's third-division last season. Ontarians will watch anything.
"Lack of parent club support"? This season, 22 of the NBA G League's 26 franchises are owned and operated by their parent clubs. Further, the Washington Wizards will own and operate an NBA G League expansion team Washington, DC beginning next season. And the New Orleans Pelicans have announced that they will own and operate an NBA G League team - likely in Pensacola, Florida - in the near future. I'd say that 85% of National Basketball Association franchises electing to own and operate their NBA G League affiliates is actually a sign of pretty significant "parent club support".
We'll have to agree to disagree. When an NBA franchise could simply opt to park a few developmental players on the roster of a G League team owned and operated by someone else, I'd say that said NBA organization instead electing to foot the bill for the whole kit and caboodle of owning and operating its G League affiliate itself constitutes some pretty serious "true parent club support".
-------------------- Agree. NASL is all but dead now that NC & INDY have left I doubt NISA will ever get off the ground - MLS has to be careful in the sense that if "everyone" perceives MLS as the "only" soccer league, then all leagues below will also have a problem of support and recognition. I can't see pro/rel happening in my lifetime with the money that has been spent and still being spent in MLS, so I really think the Baseball model is what we should aim for. Once MLS caps out (I really see 32, not 28 at some point), maybe you get USL-2 lined up with 32 teams as well. As for what happens with USL-3, I have concerns about them getting off the ground, and that leaves PDL also. USL3 may be just a little too much at this point. Unless, NASL & NISA totally go away. Not sure if USL-3 would ever line up with 32 teams to match (that would be a wild dream) PDL on other hand as run as a U23, maybe needs a slight downsize or maybe 2 PDL teams per MLS parent. 32 teams at each of the 4 levels-= 128 team, all above the Academy level. Is that too much , too little or just about right?
I suspect that USL will go more than 32 since they are at 33 this year with a minimum of 5 more teams coming in the future. 2 teams are on hiatus this year so who knows what happens with them. Most likely 2 or 3 teams will go to MLS in the next few years with Nashville. If all of the MLS sides have an affiliate side that is 28 teams plus there are more than enough cities that can support the current USL level teams to keep the league above 32 teams. USL D3 is to be geared towards cities with an area population 150,000 to 1,000,000 that do not have teams now and will be regional. I suspect you would have 6 to 8 conferences of 8 to 12 teams. USL officials have been touring regionally to cities interested in hosting teams. I think I saw where they have visited or planned to visit 25+ cities all in the east and midwest. PDL teams are looking to move up to USL D3. There is going to be some serious shaking out for the next decade in lower division US soccer. The US structure will most likely look like a pyramid not a totem pole as you envision.
I would like to see an eventual separation of farm teams and independent teams into separate leagues, even if both leagues are run by the USL.
Do MLS teams need multiple farm teams? Only MLB seems to need multiple full affiliates. The NHL seems to have settled on one full farm team and a second team to stash extra players (mostly depth for the main farm team and maybe a prospect goalie not ready for the AHL). One full farm team is probably the sweet spot for NBA teams, but they need to get to 30 teams before NBA teams owning the NBA rights of players under G League contract becomes a realistic CBA talking point. The NFL could use some kind of professional minor league, if nothing else to avoid the issues of midseason injury replacements being rusty, but the sport's picky fan base and"one shot at glory" culture likely won;t allow it. Also, (officially) controlling a player's MLS rights might require some kind of a two-way MLS contract. Only in MLB do players sign minor league-only contracts with the major league club and the fact that it is only baseball that does it leads me to believe that it might be an otherwise illegal contract setup permitted for them by their antitrust exemption.
There are only 9 farms teams, 11 if you include hybrids. It's a very expensive scenario when you are pulling in crowds of under 1,000.
By "farm team", I mean any team affiliated with an MLS team. Also, I expect that, eventually, every MLS team will control the soccer ops of a USL team.
I suspect most affiliates would drop their affiliations before being forced to drop into a lower/separate league.
Here in Reno, San Jose provides the staff and some of the players, the club handles the rest of the duties including advertising. If it is a good partnership it can work quite well.
Right now that is not going to happen. USL has said that they are not moving affiliates, hybrids or "2" teams to D3. That we be up to each team and their ownership to decide.
Vitesse Arnhem have 5 Chelsea players on loan but I don't think anyone is suggesting they shouldn't play in Eredivisie.
Besiktas is a glamour club in Turkey. Stoke is an unsavory hole in the ground with some bricks in it, near to where my family lives.
That is Europe. This is America. The culture and business of sports is entirely different here. Soccer needs to fit within the American way of doing sports to work here.
The farm team league wouldn't necessarily be a lower league than the independent league, merely separate. Also, I'm thinking more in terms of Triple-A baseball and AHL hockey, where the whole minor league team is a developmental squad for the major league team.
You can easily end the affiliate program and just have European style loan deals instead, but the affiliate program has it's benefits.
What about an entire team on loan from the parent club? That would be one way to do a baseball-style farm team.
Like Reno and Rio Grande? I imagine they would ditch the hybrid model and sign their own players if it meant losing D2 status.