https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...ners-columbus-nwsl-expansion-cleveland-browns Haslams, Dr. Pete, and Nationwide team up to take on women's soccer.
A dome isn't being built 120 miles away ... for two teams controlled by the dome owner to play all their games in Columbus. We are living in interesting times, as the Chinese proverb goes. Continuation of soccer all summer at the Grow House or whatever it is now called ... would be great.
NWSL is also considering the switch. But it would probably be a couple years out. https://clutchpoints.com/soccer/nwsl-news-debates-calendar-switch-align-global-soccer
Both Scott's and Brook Park are covered by the state Sports Authority deal anyway. If it's 14 Crew games at Scott's and 3 at Brook Park in 2029-30 ... does not hurt the state deal. Both facilities get used. For guidance on how these sports deals go in Ohio ... the Modell Law was supposed to be stringent (though untested) ... unless Haslam got it gutted for the dome. Nothing has changed since the animated video was released by the Haslams showing a black and gold team playing in the dome. I am taking them at their (visual) word.
Do we have any idea as to the NWSL's demographic? I'm sure it's more than U-15 girls and their parents/families, but that might be more interesting to see what happens with the attendance than MLS.
Is it at all possible the mock-up was for a one-off friendly match? I still don't believe there'd be large numbers of complaints if a top-tier UEFA team was scheduled for Cleveland. (Well, maybe the score, but does a 5-1 loss truly matter other than for ego/reputation when you've just sold a lot more $250 tickets than you could in Columbus?)
All the NWSL cares about is your ability to write a ridiculous, totally unjustifiable check What surprises me is that they would want to put a team in Columbus instead of Cleveland.
Absolutely, the monetary amount of a bid plays a massive role in which city gets a team. Ownership is prepared to pony up. Unless Cincy is prepared to significantly up the cash attached to their previous bid, they’ll probably continue to be unsuccessful.
If we could get Emma Sears to come home that would huge out of the gate. She's OP and OSU alum and a league star. That alone would be a huge draw for young female fans. We should also bring in Rose Lavalle just to piss off FCKY fans. We get a team and they don't and we take their homegrown star.
I've seen that picture a bunch of times. That was a short live partnership. CUP quickly realized at the time they were light years ahead of Crew in developing talent..especially on girls side. and it was just crew looking to steal boys talent for the academy. Same was true with Challenger in Cleveland - which we stole Zwadski from.
Columbus is a much better soccer market than Cleveland. NWSL would be buried by the Guards, WNBA, and minor league baseball up here.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.c...rlwind-14-months-to-launch-denvers-nwsl-team/ Good article on the Denver Summit FC startup. Especially on the mechanics of infrastructure and if/when they will make money. "Between the expansion fee and facility projects, excluding mixed use, Cohen is set to pour roughly $450 million into the club’s launch." "Cohen expects the club to reach operating break-even within roughly five years, with infrastructure costs and financing recouped within a decade through a combination of franchise appreciation and returns from the mixed-use development. The model relies heavily on venue control and the sponsorship inventory created by the club’s stadiums and training complex."
It's interesting to remind ourselves than when MLS kicked off in 1996 with ten teams, the league-wide roster budget was $15 million. Though that didn't include Jorge Campos' Ferrari.