The Raging Rhinos were among 5 teams to be name the best run franchises in Sports Business Journal. -Green Bay Packers -LA LAkers -Man U -NY Yanks -Rochester Rhinos It then says " Sure it's minor league soccer, but the Rhinos average 10,000 plus a game and are building only the third professional soccer-only facility in US"
I guess the Sports Business Journal doesn't know the difference between minor league and second division.
or the fact that Rochester will be the fourth SSS in the US. Chalreston was first, Columbus second and LA will be the third.
It seems like a close enough description to me Maybe you can explain to me how they don't qualify as a minor league team
They don't qualify as a minor league team because they are not owned by a major league team. The A-league is a separate entity. Some players might be on loan from MLS and there is a relationship between the leagues, but the players and teams are independent of MLS. It is not like baseball where a Triple A player is the property of the MLB team and the MLB pays his salary. The Rochester soccer team does not exist to develop talent like the Rochester baseball team does. I think the distinction is very important.
The St. Paul Saints are not "owned" by any team from MLB. They are still a "minor" league team. Further, A-League teams do affiliate themselves to MLS teams. For instance, MN Thunder players were "called up" to the Fire several times over the last couple of seasons.
Let's not count the Charleston stadium, simply because there are high school stadiums that are larger and nicer.
Thunder players might be lent to the Fire but they are not exclusively Fire property. That is a major difference. The Thunder are not the Fire's minor league affiliate. They are independent and own the rights to the players under contract. No one in England, for example, would call the First Division minor league. It is a step below EPL as the A-league is a step below MLS, but its teams are not affiliated with "big league" clubs. In essence, the system is the same here, obviously without the relegation and promotion of teams.
typical freaking bigsoccer thread. why not focus on the fact that its a pretty big deal to have this team named as one of the best run sports franchises in a very prominent magazine, instead of hemming and hawing over whether or not they're a "minor league" team.
Most of the minor basketball leagues (CBA / US??/the new developmental league) are not directly owner or affliated to a major league NBA team. Seems to me , a lower division team, is just another kind of minor league team
Well at least we didn't mention Freddy Adu in this one. So if Rochester is one of the best franchises and is listed among the best in the world that would imply that it is making money. I've seen some on here suggest that isn't the case. What criteria does Sports Business Journal use to make its selections?
I would like to know the answer to that question as well..."What criteria are they using?" marketability...Certainly if you were to ask 1,000 people on the street (the Rochester area excluded) 999.99 will have never heard of the Rhino's...better yet name a player on their team and you'd be lucky if 1 in a million would know what team he played for. Each of the other sport teams mentioned above have world-wide recognition profitability...Certainly you can't put them on the same level as a lakers, yankee's, MAN U. as far as revenue generated. However, if your talking about 'Return on Investment' (dollars spent vs. dollars generated)...maybe theu are making a good margin, but does that make them one of best the run franchises? employee satisfaction...I'd be willing to bet that, if given the chance, anyone one of those players would jump at the opportunity to play over-seas making 10x's more money Forgive my doubt, I may be wrong, but this just seems odd to me. If this is true, I tip my hat and stand up and clap because that is quite a group to be associated with.
Atlantic League (i.e. Newark Bears) and Northern League (i.e. St. Paul Saints) are generally referred to as "Independant Leagues". Not minor leagues. There is a small distinction, as others have noted on this thread. And while the promotion/relegation scheme in European soccer makes it even clearer that lower division sides are not minor league teams, there is a substantial distinction between A-League teams (who compete directly against MLS teams in the Open Cup and could conceivably even compete in continental play in the Concacaf Champions Cup if Rochester or Charleston or a similarly top-notch A-league team win the Open Cup again) and baseball or basketball minor league teams. I suppose the CBA is a pretty close comparison, but not quite. +Teams like Charleston sign legitimately good players at wages that some MLS teams might not be able to afford. The Rhinos could conceivably support a bigger wage bill than the MLS salary cap once they move into Paetec Park. +Veteren (i.e. Eric Wynalda, Ted Chronopolus, Dante Washington) fairly regularly choose to play in the A-League over MLS (for salary and roster position reasons - not competitive reasons). +Many foreign players who are good enough talent-wise to play in MLS, but maybe not good enough to take up a valuable foreign player roster spot (i.e. international players for a lot of Caribbean nations) play in A-league, where roster restrictions are much looser. +The fact that MLS has not expanded yet means there probably are many mid-twenties guys on A league sides that are MLS quality (guys like John Wilson) - at least MLS bench quality. These guys are "victims" of the MLS salary cap and the limited number of roster spots, which favor younger players who will take the league minimum and who qualify for developmental spots. These are just some of the reasons (the nature of soccer itself aside) why many A-league teams are competitive against MLS clubs in friendly matches, cup matches and the like. A-league really isn't a minor league compared to MLS, even if the average A-league side is a tier lower in terms of talent.
Good points about the distinction between "minor league" and "independent league" baseball. That needed to be pointed out. As the point about the fact that many A-League teams are competitive in Open Cup play with MLS teams (I would actually say that "all" are competitive in the context of one-off matches -- though Charlotte might prove me wrong), that's not too different from the FA. Hopefully, a few Everton supporters will come forth to tell us about their encounter with Shrewsbury this past season.
That's right. Losing to a soon-to-be conference side. Not that this necessarily strengthens my above point, but that would be roughly equivalent to an MLS team losing to a PDL team or maybe a division II college team. Snicker.
They had Billy Sleeth. What could we do? Anyway, big props to the Rhinos from a former intern on ending in such august company. The players and staff throw their hearts into making games as enjoyable as possible to fans (although they definitely have it out for loud fans, I do not know why).
The Rhinos ownership makes tons of money off the club. It has build an amazing fan base in a city that was ruled by baseball and hockey and now the most popular sport in this city is soccer all because of the Rochester Rhinos. We average 10,000 a game even when the fans are getting tired of playing on a baseball field and not scoring goals. The Rhinos are making tons of money even though it gives alot to the baseball team (parking sells, food court sells) We have like 3 radio soccer shows and 2 tv soccer shows.... all covering the Rhinos. How many cities can say that in the USA?
{We have like 3 radio soccer shows and 2 tv soccer shows.... all covering the Rhinos. How many cities can say that in the USA?} As far as soccer teams go, I can't argue that what they have done is pretty amazing. In comparison to the Lakers, Yankee's, Man U. etc...I just don't see how they are even mentioned in the same breath because they are 99% local. But again, I wish there was more teams doing what they are doing...I think soccer would have a much better chance at growing if more people were following Rochester's example.
i m just searching back. Went from best run franchise in US Soccer to hiatus.... the owner blamed competition.... i still remember they won the US Open cup.