Traffic USA/ Miami FC to enter MLS..

Yes they are indeed looking into it. They say they want to see fan support like Portlan, Vancouver, Montréal and Seattle got in D2 to make the jump though. I say we fans want to see an organization like Portland, Vancouver, Montréal and Seattle have had for D2, one that is worthy of that level of support(and occasionally makes the playoffs ).

But it wouldn't be an expansion race in Miami. The team would play at a revamped Lockhart.

 

has anyone ever found out how much money Traffic actually have? I know they organize tournaments, but MLS at this point are looking at ownership groups who are worth Billion+ a decent sized company worth 10s of millions probably isn't enough to really interest MLS even if they could get the money to buy the franchise rights. I know Claure the guy organizing the Barca bid had the right kind of money, but does anyone know if Traffic are on that level?

 

I don't get Miami, they don't support D2 and even when they had Fusion they drew far less than Tampa. So I don't know what they want.

 

I am not a Miami resident and I'm not pulling for them or anything but I think it is fair to say that some markets just wont' support minor league sports. The media just won't cover them and people just find it hard to get behind them because they think they deserve a major league team. And there were many problems with the Fusion and MLS in general at that time, just because Miami FC and Fusion didn't succeed doesn't mean that a new MLS club couldn't succeed. The soccer landscape in the US is very different than it was a decade ago.

 

Well see I kind of disagree, because Miami is considered a "major" sports market city, but when it comes down to it they are very "fickle" in supporting soccer for example:

D2

Miami FC 2006: first home opener 3,243...and that's with Romario

Tampa bay 2010 had 8,082..for first game in franchise history.

MLS

1998 Miami Fusion: 20,450
1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny:25,798

So Tampa is a better market and we just support our team and we don't talk about MLS. The reason also is the name game in D2, i say go for Ft. Lauderdale, but after reading most of these comments, i'm wondering if everybody in South Florida has been in the sun for too long:

http://miamisoccerfan.com/

 

But I read that some DC fan on BigSoccer was already congratulating New Yorkers?

 

Nothing is set in stone.

 

Well it's not like Tampa got 20K on average. The Mutiny never averaged better than 13,000. The overall average was 11K. Miami was 9.5K. Better than Miami, yes, but nothing to boast about.

And it's obvious that Tampa had 8,000 for the first game this year because it was the ROWDIES coming back. If the Fort Lauderdale Strikers returned to open the season at Lockhart this year, or in 2006, a similar crowd is probably in order. We'll see what happens next year.

Overall it says a lot about had badly MLS f***ed up with branding the two Florida clubs when the D2 Rowdies come back and get crowds that are surely better than some of the MLS Mutiny crowds from back then.

As for Traffic and MLS, they are interested and have the resources. I'd imagine that Claure would jump on board if it happens, assuming he can get over the team not being in Miami. The Barça bid pretty much totally ignored Broward and the non-hispanic crowd(Flyers they made up and we passed out promoting the bid had a major typo on the English side).

It all depends on how the Strikers relaunch goes.

 

The branding of the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny have precious little to do with why those clubs no longer exist. If they had come back as the Strikers and Rowdies, they'd be just as defunct as they are now.

Frankly, the non-existence of those two clubs has very little to do with much of anything other than lack of viable ownership of either team.

 

I agree except that the Rowdies do have a owner with deep pockets and are renting a cheaper stadium unlike the Mutiny which didn't have a owner the last year and RJS rent killed the team.

 

The Mutiny never had an owner. They were one of the league owned teams that was part of the compromise that helped the league get launched, but in the end was part of the financial yoke around the league's neck that kept scaring away new investors.

Tampa's big crime was not being in either Lamar's home town (Dallas) or seen as a more valuable media market by Phil (San Jose).

If the Glazers or Steinbrenners had stepped up, then the Mutiny likely would still exist today and Dallas or San Jose would've gotten the axe with Miami.

From what I recall, the lack of any place other than Raymond James Stadium is what kept the Steinbrenners from buying the team as they did not want anything to do with the Glazers (primary tenants at the stadium) - though my memory may be faulty in that regard.

While it was the worst possible result if your team was the Mutiny or Fusion, contraction - in the end - is what save MLS. The "league owned" teams, along with the horribly undercapitalized Fusion, were a drain that was choking the league. By stripping the team operating losses from the league budget, paired with the formation of SUM and its acquisition of the 2002 World Cup rights and InterLiga tournament, MLS, LLC suddenly became a hot investment property.

Tampa fans lost the lottery. The league would not have started without league owned teams (there were only 6 investors for the original 10, with Lamar Hunt owning two teams).

But without getting rid of league owned teams, the league was on the verge of financial collapse by late 1999. It took two years for the hard decisions that saved the league to be made.

I would love to have Lockhart Stadium back in MLS, and I also hope that eventually there'll be an appropriate venue and team back in Tampa, too.

 

Well at least we have a team now and it's not like Tampa never had soccer history like you stated above. Look at how many cities never had Old-NASL or their teams were short-lived.

 

Maybe they would still have folded, but had MLS not come in and taken a dump on the soccer history in both markets, maybe the crowds are bigger, and the markets are more attractive to the Hunts and the AEGs of the world. It's a shame Miami didn't win the Cup that last year, because as champions you probably don't get disbanded, and it looked like the team was just about to turn the corner with local fans and media.

All I know is that whatever way you look at it, Florida fans got the short end of the straw. And now it's very frustrating as a Florida fan to see the league pushing so hard for a 2nd NYC team, seeing San Jose get a second club and the properly branded PNW teams joining.

 

The idea was for Traffic to convert the old Yankees/Orioles Spring Training facility into an academy, which included the baseball stadium being turned into a small SSS. But the city chose a plan by the Schiltterbahn company to build a water park there instead. Part of that plan involves Lockhart:



The large brown building on the left would be constructed from the remnants of the baseball grandstands. Lockhart would be incorporated into the park in some way, but I imagine those plans are still tentative at this point. If things go well with the Strikers rebrand and they do actively pursue MLS in the next few years, the stadium will need significant upgrades(beyond the basic stuff they want to do) and they probably don't want a lazy river going through it.

Whatever the configuration, if in 3-5 years the Fort Lauderdale Strikers join the 'Quakes, 'Caps, Timbers and Sounders in the Heritage Cup and are playing in MLS at Lockhart Stadium, it'll be a beautiful thing.

 

Florida is too important for soccer history in the U.S. not to be represented in MLS, Rowdies and Strikers must come up into MLS, **** Orlando and Miami!!

so for me the last 5 expansions would be: New York 2 (Cosmos brand), TB Rowdies, FL Strikers, San Diego (or LA2 if Chivas move to SD) and Detroit

 

Um, are you aware that Fort Laurderdale, home of the Strikers, is part of Metro Miami?

 

yes but Miami Gatos and Miami Toros were always poor as drawing fan at the stadium so that they moved in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Fusion also played at FL, and Miami Blues will become the Fort Lauderdale Strikers....

 

You don't know what the hell you're talking about, n00b.

 

you should start studying soccer history, before telling me n00b

 

Sadly he kinda does know what he's talking about. Unfortunately every pro soccer venture with the name "Miami" attached to it has failed miserably. That includes 2 teams that played exclusively in Miami(Miami Gatos/Toros of NASL and Miami Freedom of APSL), 1 that played in Fort Lauderdale(the "Miami" Fusion of MLS), and now one that has done both under the "Miami" name(Miami FC).

Each of those teams performed poorly at the gate and failed to capture the vast majority of Miami fans.

And in the case of the Fusion and Miami FC, playing in Fort Lauderdale, at Lockhart Stadium no less, as a "Miami" team was spitting in the face of Fort Lauderdale fans who already had their own soccer tradition and history. Fort Lauderdale may be part of the Miami metro area, but as far as soccer is concerned it's it's own entity. For baseball, football, basketball and hockey South Florida has no issue coming together to support our teams. But for soccer it just doesn't seem to be possible.

The only teams that have ever done well are the two that played under the Fort Lauderdale Strikers name. Crowds were smaller in the D2 APSL days from 1988-1995, and that's to be expected, but for that level they were pretty respectable. I don't think we'll be seeing Portland or Montréal type numbers at the gates, but I fully expect attendance to improve at Lockhart next year as Miami FC becomes the Strikers(especially if they embrace the proper Fort Lauderdale Strikers name).

Failing a nice new stadium and several DPs, similar to the Galaxy or Red Bull setup, I just don't see a Miami MLS team prospering. South Florida in general is like this, but Miami especially, like LA and NYC, is a melting pot of people and cultures etc. and without serious star power, people won't be giving up their teams from back home to follow a MLS side.

A very safe bet would be to truly embrace the history at Lockhart, revive the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and try to recapture the passion for local soccer that we had in the 1970s and 80s. They'd still get some fans from Miami, as there is a quality core of hardcore domestic fans who drove up for the Fusion, drive up for Miami FC and will continue to do so for the new Strikers(more so for MLS). But concentrating on the Miami market has proven to be a near total waste of resources by every organization that has tried, and has only served to alienate the Fort Lauderdale fan base that so solidly supported local soccer in the past.

And in the end it only makes sense. Pretty much all of the successful markets and brands from the old NASL have been brought into MLS. The Cosmos will likely add to the list. All that's missing are the Strikers and Rowdies.

 

Is there a Metro/light rail/commuter rail connection between Miami and Fort Lauderdale? If so, how much is a return ticket to Miami & how close is it to Lockhart stadium?

My point is how easy it would be for fans to travel from Miami-Dade to Strikers games - and how many actually would

 

If Florida comes back in MLS, it'd have to be Tampa Bay Rowdies and/or Fort Lauderdale Strikers. It'd be great to have those teams back. The Fusion and Mutiny failed in MLS and wasn't around long enough to establish a hardcore fanbase. While I agree that it'd be great to see a Florida team(s) in MLS, they'd have to do it right. Many pro sports teams in Florida go unattended. Something would have to be done to draw in the soccer fans in.