Call yourselves the Philadelphia Arsenal. It would add a nice touch to the rivalry with DC United (not that we would need help with that). Personally, I think the league should concentrate more teams in the East. If we are considering a second team in LA, because that is where the West Coast support is, then adding Rochester, Detroit or Cleveland, and Philadelphia would shore up the East pretty well. Honestly, with the built-in rivalries that DC, NY, and NE would have with Philly, I'm surprised there isn't at least some investor interest there.
I wouldn't take a Denver Post article as something holding too much worth. However, I hope Philly can get a team!
<bump> ... because it is too painful for me to hear all this talk of expansion without Philadelphia in the mix (even if I have to artificially put it there).
I'm with ya, Rick. I live in DC, but I'm so Philly through and through that I can't bring myself to wholeheartedly support DC United. I go to at least half the matches every season, but it just doesn't feel right. The only solace I get is that DC's got both Olsen and Convey around, so I feel a little better about it. Yeah, I'm luckier than most Philly soccer fans, but I'm still missing something...
What I think needs to happen is for Philadelphia to get a PDL team, or something like that. And then see how THAT does...if the city of Philly (or wherever they stick the team) can show that they can support a PDL team then that would be a good sign for much bigger things. Problem is, can soccer fans in Philly get behind a "minor-league" team? Hard to say... As far as the name for the team, Arsenal isn't bad. The city of Philly has a lot of historical things to choose from, so I don't think naming the team (which won't be an issue for a long time) will be a problem. I understand that some of you think that we should just be the Atoms again, but I'm not completely sold on that. That paragraph at the end of that article is basically the same paragraph that every expansion article has at the end. Just different cities. And yes, Philly is a top priority...problem is (as we've covered many times on this board) there's no room for a stadium.
Actually, it's not that hard to say at all. The USISL Philadelphia Freedom were an unmitigated disaster from a business point of view. There were some decent teams fielded, but crowds and media were almost nil. It it's not MLS or an A-League team in a major league venue, it doesn't stand a chance.
Des Moines supports their PDL team. Let's give them an MLS team. There's virtually no chance that the people you're going to try to hook into being regular customers of an MLS team in Philadelphia are going to give the PDL the time of day. There are very few examples I can even think of where someone tested the waters with a PDL team, saw it went well, and moved their USL franchise up the ladder. It's happened, but not often, and I think if you based your estimates of the success of the Chicago Fire on how the Chicago Sockers did, you never would have founded the Fire to begin with.
I only know of one MLS team which was based on the success of an A League team--Denver. I've always thought that the success of the Foxes did a lot to make sure that MLS started up with a team in Colorado. Of course, for all their hard work the Foxes were forced out of existance a year after the Rapids arrived. Rochester will be the second if it moves up.
The original seven cities announced 6/15/94 were New Jersey, New York (Long Island), Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Columbus and San Jose. Chicago and Tampa Bay were added 12/16/94, and at the time it was mentioned that other candidates were Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami, San Diego, and Tulsa. By 6/7/95, the final ten teams were the ones we know they launched with, with the New York and New Jersey entries combined, Chicago dropping out, and Kansas City, Denver and Dallas added. In any case, while the Foxes were successful in the APSL, I'm not 100% sure they said "Well, the Foxes have done well, let's make sure we put an MLS team there." Wasn't Colorado Anschutz's first team? And he's from Denver? I think that may have had more to do with it, with the Foxes' success a nice start, but coincidental.
NO NO NO NO NO NO Lose the Union name. Completely dumb name and bad association with a terrible aspect of Philadelphia life. Unions have already kept this city from attaining greatness with their stubborn views and stifling business rules. Let's not forget that most of the fan base would come from the suburbs and the suburbs are not bastions for unions. People hear about our union problems (Convention Center business, driving The Real World Philly out!) and cringe. I don't think that soccer fans in Bucks, Montco, Delco, and Chester, not to mention NJ Delaware and Maryland would want to be associated with that. I think that the team should be named after the first youth national champion from the area- The Demons. Philadelphia Demons!
I'm not a fan of the union name either and I understand how the unions are ruining Philadelphia. This isn't something I'd want to highlight either. However, you'll be surprised to learn that the vast majority of philly union members actually live in the SJ or western suburbs. I find this interesting because they are basically piliaging the city while they sway local elections and bleed money from the city. Also, the Real World is currently filming in Philly about three blocks from where I work. I don't know what sort of convoluted deal they made to stay, but at least they realized losing the show would be a giant black eye.
As several have already pointed out, Philadelphia is a major league city. Philadelphia soccer fans would not get behind a minor league team. Does this mean an MLS franchise would not receive rabid support? Of course not. And, as Kenn pointed out, PDL success does not necessarily mean that a city is ready for bigger and better things. It's also a moot point: 4 years ago I made inquiries about bringing an A-League team to Philly. I was politely rebuffed by the USL, who had no interest in "cultivating" a market so MLS could then swoop in and take it away "without compensation." We might get a better feel for what they meant by that if Rochester ever gets in to MLS. Anyway, the USL has no interest in coming into Philly to do just what you suggest...lay the groundwork for "bigger things." "Some of you"? you mean it's more than just me? Success! Finally, as the attorney representing most of the Philadelphia unions, those people saying that the unions are "ruining" and "holding back" the City do not have all the facts. For instance, I suppose you don't know that one of the primary reasons the Carpenters' union resisted the Convention Center deal was because the deal contained no provisions which ensured that the costs savings achieved by the wage and hour givebacks would actually be passed on to the customer--as originally written, the subcontractors all stood to make a tidy profit. Or that the Real World people were bringing in out-of-town, grossly undepaid workers to do work which could have been done by locals needing the work. But why let a few facts get in the way of some good old fashioned union bashing. Whatever. I don't come here to work.
According to those who were there, Garber said that Philadelphia is in the mix for 2005. Is this even remotely true, or is Philly just an easy city to name to pressure other cities who might be closer to reality? http://www.ussocceruk.com/news/?CatTypeId=2&ContentId=1632
I would read too much into that. If there was any decent progress made in getting a team in Philadelphia, I'm sure SOMEONE would have had the story by now... I think he's just rattling off their wish list...but that's just MY opinion.
Or they've managed to keep it extremely quiet, which would be unusual, as you alluded to. I can't imagine Lurie has had a change of heart. We'll find out before too long, I guess.
At the same time, I don't see why this would be a big story around here right now. The Eagles tend to do a lot of business without drawing attention to it. Why would Lurie want to shout it out to the masses when he can stay quite and keep his upfront costs down? I'm not optimistic, but this wouldn't be a total shock to be a team announcement came out of nowhere.
To me it would be a total and complete shock. It's hard to imagine a team in place to play in 14 months with absolutely zero news up until this point.
I can't think of anyway it would work...so until someone can come up with a good idea of where to put a stadium in a good location in Philadelphia, I'll just wait for someone OFFICIAL to announce something.