Syracuse is done

I've been figuring it would take at least a million to do an A-League team.

The key is hiring a sales staff and front office staff. To be honest, the players matter less than the other two. A good sales staff will get people in the seats, a good front office will keep the money where it needs to be, and a good coach will improve the talent he's got and still win.

 

A-League vice president Tim Holt said that if a new group of investors, a corporation or an individual with deep pockets comes along, the league would jump at the chance to return.

"We're disappointed, but we're encouraged in a few ways," Holt said. "The Salty Dogs achieved success on the field, and this is absolutely a market that pro soccer can work in."

Spolyar agreed.

"I think it's the end of a chapter, not the closing of a book, for soccer in Syracuse," he said.

It's a sad day, folks, but nothing surprising. This management group could never really get things going. The stadium became a big problem, expecially since the primary tenants (AAA baseball) didn't want us there. The stadium is owned by Onandaga county, which essentially forced the baseball team into it. It seems they didn't have the money from the get-go, to run a stable franchise. I guess we'll have to drive to Rochester to see our soccer now.

 

Were the Salty Dogs structured as a non-profit entity? The Seattle Sounders owners have been able to write off their losses for years this way. They'll never "earn" a cent from the Sounders, but they also can write off the $200,000-350,000 they lose each season as a "donation" to a non-profit organization that enriches the community.

 

Am I the only one who is reminded of all those pro/rel threads where some idiot says we should allow the A League teams to join MLS? Somebody always says something like "If you wanted to, you could make it work. It's just a matter of having the desire." Where are those people now?

 

without filling in the paperwork

 

Paragraph 1 shows the hugest obstacle to Paragraph 2's probability.

I understand the are is mounting a comeback economically, and there are some pretty wealthy suburbs compared to the city, and certainly if you include Skaneatles, but I think the capital will be hard to find.

 

Think of it as one step toward balancing the conferences.

 

Being non-profit doesn't mean you can operate at a loss. I work for a non-profit organization and if we operate in the red for a couple of years, things get scary. To ensure survival, we need to operate at a surplus or we will eventually depleat reserves. At some point, even a non-profit will fold when the cash dream dries up. You still need to fund the budget and pay the bills. Non-profit is just a tax status, it doesn't equate to a no-profit or an anti-profit entity. You still need to operate as a prudent business. To get and maintain that status, you need operate in the public good and prove it each year. Certain income, for instance advertising revenue (the organization I work for went to the supreme court on this issue), can still be subject to federal taxes.

 

I remember that. I respect the A, but come on folks, let's be real. You have to have a lot of CASH TO THROW AWAY to join and survive in MLS. Most A-League teams don't have that kind of coin.

 

Those are people who dont understand how a business works. Never owned one and never got close enough to upper level manaegment positions, where you get an idea about dollars and cents.

Most MLS teams have budgets 3 to 5 times that of A league teams and lose a heck of alot more than 300-500k a year. These same goofball are the ones that want some guy to have his multi million dollar investment to be worth even less by promotion relagation. Its just pure silliness.

But what can you say, when you have a bunch of 15 year old and 34 year old virgins who get scared of talking to women also telling you stuff like "Duh!!!, why cant New England just open the other side of their stadium because of atmosphere!" Makes me want to grab a 2x4 and give them a real enlightening!

 

Analogy #1: Owning an A-League team is like owning a large fishing boat. It always needs repairs, you're always sinking money into it & your investment never appreciates. It's a hobby. You do it just so you can get a few weekends of enjoyment a year.

Analogy #2: Owning an A-League team is like dabbling in the stock market. You should only invest what you can afford to lose. If you can't afford to lose the do-re-mi, then don't jump in.

 

And here's the reasons why I think Sounder Fans bragging on their non-profit status is just silly. Thanks billf.

 

Though successful on the field, mounting debt and a lack of money for day-to-day operations has plagued the team since its inaugural season, Spolyar said.

Spolyar wouldn't reveal just how deep the team's current debt is. One investor put the figure at around $300,000."

This is what sucks for me. The team was successful on the field and in the stands compared to other teams. I would say that the front office did a good job in the community as well. Everybody here in Syracuse knew of the Salty Dogs. It seems the owners didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Was their business model completely out of whack? They had to know that the stadium situation would be a problem. They had good attendance for an A-league team. I suspect they made more money there than they initially expected compared to the average A-league attendance. Where did they think the profit was going to come from? Is there something I'm missing? Did something unexpected occur to blow the plan out of the water?

This type of situation demonstrates the need for stable and motivated ownership groups in both the A-league and MLS. That's how soccer is going to get a foothold in this country. All of the new pro soccer fans here will now go find a new sport. Looks like the lacrosse teams should expand their stadiums.

 

People keep harping on Syracuses good attendance. It doesn't mean a thing if people are getting in free and the attendance figures are inflated. I can remember more than one visiting supporter after attending a game in Syracuse mentioning that the attendance numbers announced far exceeded what was in the stadium.

 

Almost every soccer fan complains about the single entity structure of MLS. Well, we're seeing the free market model in action.

Darwinism ain't pretty.......

 

Looks like a Canadian first division is far off.

Milwaukee has been around a while, that's sad to here. Can someone fill me in on ownership issues there.

USL obviously needs to become stricter in allowing franchises. This may be a good first step. I guess it's hard to turn down expansion fees, but the league needs better stability.

Maybe it should focus on markets. I know investors are the be-all and end-all but it isn't hard to guess what markets MLS won't be in. Maybe for OKC and other potential cities, if owners can be found it will be a way to build a franchise into a MLS candidate like Seattle and Rochester.

A-League needs to prove its financial viability, short-term and long-term. I think it can work. Don't think PSL can. Travel costs will hurt but expansion to be put off unless everything is in line.

I kind of wondered if Syracuse was too close to Rochester. Close cities are good for travel costs and rivalries but maybe markets need to be unified. I'm concerned there are too many Virginia teams.

 

Actually, this is pretty common for start-up businesses. Probably more businesses die for under-capitalization than for any other reason. How many times have you seen somebody open a new restaurant. Things are kind of slow at the start but then they build up a clientele only to close. The problem is that they didn't have enough money to sustain the business until it got over the hump. There are certain busnesses that everyone thinks they can operate--restaurants and soccer teams are just two examples. The USL is always going to attract people with more dreams than money. Someday the A League will be stable. But I think it's going to be at least 5 or 10 years.

 

One thing doesn't have anything to do with the other really. I'd think that a future Canadian league wouldn't allow two jokes to enter the league. The failure of these two teams in the A-League doesn't mean they'd be the same failures in a new Canadian league. That is if they came in with decent owners, a decent plan, and a decent place to play.

Lets remember just a couple of years ago that the Montreal Impact was about to go down the toilet under horrible ownership.

 

It's possible. All I can tell you is that at every game I went to there were A LOT of people. I couldn't tell the difference betweeen 6k and 4k. I also don't know how many of those people were getting in free. One thing is for sure, they couldn't have expected MORE people than those that came in the first two years. I wish I had pictures to show you from the games I went to. They were assuredly in the top half of the A-league in attendance. That can't be where they were losing money. They knew the stadium issues. That was no surprise. What changed? Was it just going to be a two year experiment?

 

Well thats another point that has been brought up. Were those people in the seats paying customers or did a whole load of people get in on freebies or heavily discounted tickets? Anyway, here in Vancouver we know that having a team that is one of the top draws in the league means nothing if you have a useless owner with no long term plan.