Because PR FC's website is still largely nonexistent, I had to look at the other team websites to piece together their fall schedule, and on July 22nd, their first game will be a home match against Indy Eleven. Conversely, their last game of the season will be at Indy. Their schedule also includes for Wednesday games and a Sunday matchup.
I cannot fathom how ownership allows its product to look so bush league. PRFC was announced almost a year ago, and their site essentially just has their logo and a season ticket sign up area? I can't understand it.
This and the fact that on the NASL schedule the home stadium for the first game for PR is "TBD". Why haven't they locked down the stadium yet?
This does not look good for the league, looks like a rush job. I'm sorry to say but, I'm not too optimistic for this club.
You can see just the Puerto Rico schedule on the NASL site. http://www.nasl.com/schedule Just click on Choose Team and select Puerto Rico. Every home game is listed as at venue TBD.
Agreed, I beginning to think it may be prudent for the league to delay that team till next season to give them more time. If any new teams materialize (SF, Chicago, LV) then they could join with them. The last thing you want is a rush job and start to turn off fans in an economy were disposable income is at a premium.
OKC is definitely one and I think its going to fail unfortunately, Miami is nice but they're competing with a fellow NASL team for poor crowds and oh by the Becks MLS team is getting a stadium and will most certainly sign a few big name stars to match. If the Miami team was in say Las Vegas or Hartford and they made those signings I'd higher hopes for the team.
They did Carmelo has a lease on the JRL Stadium in Bayamon where the islanders played... It was mentions in a interviewed with the mayor of the town almost right after the team got announced. Relaxed guys.... Why would we be signing players as fast as the other teams if we don't have to play till July....
I am getting concern about the FO being relatively silent these past two months. At least Tom Payne actively tweets stuff on the club, although they are mostly trivial.
The team needs to use these months to market the team to the community so that by the time they start they can do so with a bang. Hopefully they get on that sooner then later. Do they even have FO staff yet?
I was going to apologize for bad information, because their first game is July 2nd, not the 22nd, and they have a match after the Eleven on October 23rd. Nonetheless, I find it crazy that this team still isn't organized and we don't know where they'll be playing.
We do We do know where they are playing the god damn offices are at the stadium! All the press conferences have been at the stadium! The meeting they had with the old islanders supporter groups earlier this month was at the stadium!
Isn't Puerto Rico's economy more of a concern than their timeline? (And if that weren't enough, Carmelo Anthony's lack of bona fides as an organizer of anything and the prior haphazard nature of teams in PR should be.) And if we know where they will be playing and everybody knows where they will be playing and they have a lease, why the hell would the NASL not just put that on the schedule?
I'm tempted to sign up on their site "For ticket sale announcements and other PRFC news" out of curiosity. One post each on their facebook and twitter accounts so far in January. Hmm... I'm officially laying odds that PR won't be seeing the pitch in July.
Yes, the economy is terrible, but that should not quite spell doom for the franchise. They are entering a largely untapped pro sports market (from my understanding?) and despite the economic gloom, people still have some money to burn. Perhaps even more than official records would suggest. Take this article for example, in which mall owners and retailers are seeing, and expecting, strong growth on the island due to a lack of overall competition and more disposable income. http://on.wsj.com/1ROynXD Mall owners, retailers bullish on debt-ridden Puerto Rico "Landlords and retailers are counting on a number of factors to weather the storm, including an underground economy that means shoppers are wealthier than official statistics indicate, a lively tourist trade and a relative shortage of retail space compared with the rest of the U.S., according to executives and analysts. “San Juan is one of the densest markets in North America,” said Robert Taubman, chief executive of Taubman Centers Inc., a mall owner based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., that spent about $475 million to build the Mall of San Juan. “We are extremely bullish.” __________________________________ The NASL/Carmelo could be betting on the same factors. A general lack of pro sports, especially soccer, to contend with could be an opportunity. NASL ticket prices are not so outlandish to think they can't generate a competitive amount of ticket revenue relative to other NASL clubs. Plus, businesses love being involved in sports. With limited other opportunities for companies on the island, I can see this club attractive large corporate revenue. Of course, this all presumes that the front-office is put together well enough to exploit these potential opportunities in a contracting economy. It does not appear we have seen any signs of a competent organization so far, but I believe PR can be an lucrative opportunity for a competent franchise.
Sooo, they're actually not signing players already. The tweet you're referring to is from January 5th (nearly two weeks is a long time to be "almost ready'"). Also, he's not their GM. Do keep trying though.
In the end, we are all worried that the mistakes done by the Islanders FO could be repeated. The difference being some of us are more optimistic than others about this. I feel Payne has the ability to create a healthy team, I just which he would do it faster.