Cincy’s last bid was quite cheap compared to Denver’s last year. It’s why they lost. I have no idea if they’ve upped the ante this time round. We are hearing that Philly, St Louis, and Vegas were bidding this year. There was no mention of Cincy or Cleveland. The Crew’s offer is higher than Atlanta’s $165 million bid. Plus, we’ve been wooing NWSL for longer than most people realize. Having Jessica Berman and co to the USA vs Japan match was a very smart move. Our fans and stadium represented us well.
Jimmy wants 40 million. That part of the article is blocked. https://www.rooster.info/p/michael-cole-mccoy-park-jimmy-haslam-columbus-crew-nwsl
Obviously, it'll be interesting to learn about what that number actually entails, how it was calculated. It's not a small amount of $$, but it's plucked out of context until there's some details attached to it. For example, with the stadium deal, the city paid for all of the physical and infrastructural improvements that occurred in the area surrounding the stadium site. I could see NWSL training site needing quite a bit work of a similar nature. McCoy Park looks to be little more than a pasture with a bit of parking right now. If it becomes a training facility, would there need to be improvements made to the roads in the area, for example? Any upgrades to the site's electrical or water/sewer services? Even if Jimmy ponies up for 100% of what the actual training facility will cost, it's not hard to imagine some millions of dollars worth of infrastructure upgrades being necessary to make the site viable for the project. $40 million worth? I can't say. I'll be curious to read what's reported (eventually) in Columbus Business First about this.
Could see it needing some flood prevention work, road work, and sewer work. The park was slated for a more philanthropic redevelopment per my Applebee's waitress. I was under the belief the training site was going to be in like a Gahanna or Hilliard type area. Guessing Ginther is ready to pony up and wasnt going to let the suburbs win for once
Guessing Ginther is ready to pony up and wasnt going to let the suburbs win for once[/QUOTE] Ginther is NWSL’s biggest cheerleader, he will saddle up a herd of ponies to make it happen.
ICYMI: Supporter Supply is out with a "Columbus Watches Women's Sports" line of apparel. T-shirt: https://www.supportersupply.co/product/-/6R3SKYZDCH2IKOXX55NDRF2S Fleece: https://www.supportersupply.co/product/-/TSMXA45XHVPW7NA24DJ3KGFA
Ginther is NWSL’s biggest cheerleader, he will saddle up a herd of ponies to make it happen.[/QUOTE] Probably safe to assume that HSG will have territory rights to both NE Ohio and Central Ohio, as they do for MLS. In that case, they should push for being able to call the expansion team "the Ohio Whatevers." Soccer fans in Cincinnati would love that. Lol. (There is sports precedent. Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning co-exist in the NHL.)
Ohio United FC is a youth organization, so I'm just guessing that anything similar is out. With that said, looking up Ohio United brought me this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Ohio With the way the Crew is trending and considering we have a DP on the bench... A Crew jersey with Ohio 17 on the back would be, as the kids say, fire.
I would hope that HSG have NWSL territory rights to the entire Ohio River Valley, plus Cleveland, Toledo, & Detroit.
Probably safe to assume that HSG will have territory rights to both NE Ohio and Central Ohio, as they do for MLS. In that case, they should push for being able to call the expansion team "the Ohio Whatevers." Soccer fans in Cincinnati would love that. Lol. (There is sports precedent. Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning co-exist in the NHL.)[/QUOTE] No team in a state like Ohio, with 3+ cities of respectable size, should ever refer to a pro sports team as “state nickname” rather than “city nickname”. It makes sense in a place like Colorado or Arizona or Indiana or Minnesota. But for states like Ohio, California, Texas, Florida, etc. I can’t stand it.
No team in a state like Ohio, with 3+ cities of respectable size, should ever refer to a pro sports team as “state nickname” rather than “city nickname”. It makes sense in a place like Colorado or Arizona or Indiana or Minnesota. But for states like Ohio, California, Texas, Florida, etc. I can’t stand it.[/QUOTE] Ohio Glory ruined this whole concept for me 35 years ago.
So it’s $50 million now? https://www.dispatch.com/story/news...xv11xx54d--73--b--73--&gca-ft=31&gca-ds=sophi
Sigh. This writer makes it sound like the city is just going to cut a check to HSG for funsies. How about asking some questions, such as: What will the public money be used for?
I don’t know the details of this, but I can elaborate on how Jimmy rolls. He will always bargain no matter the price/offer. It could be that he’ll settle for 10 million, but he’ll start at 50 and try his luck. Jimmy is the definition of look a gift horse in the mouth and he nickel and dimes everyone. It’s part of the reason why he’s successful, but it doesn’t win him many friends.
The unintended consequence of articles like these is that you will have people unwilling to support the NWSL team because the Haslam name is attached to it. This is already happening, people aren’t looking at the big picture. Some are actually saying that we need to abandon the bid and find new Columbus billionaires to step up like it’s a feasible last minute option. Careful what you wish for, Wexner springs to mind.
Add to that the fact that you'll almost never find a billionaire that won't come with "strings attached". You don't get that filthy rich by being a good and kind person. And once you get that rich, you inevitable end up living in a different stratosphere than the rest of, which means you make decisions that look, and sometimes are, straight up evil.
I also get the sense that McCoy Park is one of the more bare bones facilities in the Columbus park system. A few soccer fields, some parking, porta-potties, and that's about it. Seems to be appreciated for youth soccer games and practices, but not much else. Though it does look to be the only such park in this part of town. If it goes to the NWSL team, I assume that'll generate some negative press. Thing is, it's such an odd location, hardly prime real estate. So a pro sports training facility is a huge improvement over what's there now. Be nice, though, if families affected by the project could gain access to another nearby park to host youth soccer.
It's so bare bones and un-prime that the city saw it appropriate for a good portion of the downtown snow to be trucked there. The pile was probably 12' tall at one point and went the entire length of the parking lot on the south side. It's right across the street from a mobile home park too, for whatever that's worth. What's up with the Obetz facility these days? Yeah, the Crew sold it to Obetz, but might it work or is it too small for NSWL purposes? Or maybe Obetz becomes the replacement youth facility.
I'm sorry, but in what universe is this facility appropriate for use by any program of a professional soccer organization in the year 2026? The Obetz facility served us well while we were stuck there, but that's something we should never, ever, want to go back to.
Didn't Obetz have delusions of grandeur for that site? I seem to recall the powers that be there felt the site was worth far, far more than did the Crew. That McCoy Park area isn't an area I'm in very often especially since the southbound Greenlawn exit was closed meaning I no longer had quick access to Thurn's. Now that Thurn's us closed, too, that entire stretch is just part of the scenic southside gauntlet I sprint through whenever heading toward or back from Cincinnati. By the way, it's been a long time since I've swung a softball bat in anger. Does Lou Berliner make use of it's 28 fields?
I was thinking: 1) Start fresh, disrupt the local youth soccer scene, put them who-knows-where...but this might be the billionaire mindset to a degree. "Is mine now!" 2) Go somewhere that already has some infrastructure, expand the existing physical structure and not disrupt the youth scene. Then again, if it was expandable, it might have happened 20 years ago. How many fields do they think they'll build at McCoy Park? Certainly no more than two full-size ones, once they get the building/parking built. Both situations are probably just as crappy. At one time the Obetz government was wanting to use it for some sort of community/public purpose, but I'll admit I have zero idea what it's currently being used for, if anything at all. Lou Berliner - I believe that's where a rather large gay baseball/softball tournament is held every June as well as other tournaments throughout the warm months. It's probably one of those places where it's rare that it's being used near capacity, but the groups that use it are probably thankful for all 28 fields. I'm sure there may be times when a field is unplayable due to various reasons, so some may be kept for backup/emergency purposes. How often would all 28 be used simultaneously?