http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1182486775153150.xml&coll=1 and this http://www.misl.net:16080/news/?cat=1&id=5054 The first indoor soccer match was in 1885? News to me. I don't think they've done much to the city since then. Hey I love Newark and hopefully, they'll do some outreach into NY City and surrounding areas. At least reach out to the soccer community. I didn't realize about the Brazilian community. The MLS Mutts are doing better on and off the field too and they are moving to Harrison into a new stadium in 2009.
The article says the average ticket price will be $10. That's incredible, especially for the region around New York City. Ticket prices that low will help bring fans in. I wish the Ironmen well.
Yeah, I was going to comment about that. Since the owners own the arena, I guess they make their money on parking and concessions? $10 tix are a great draw.
That's a damn good thing that the Ironman's owners own the arena. When the Ambush/Steamers were at the Kiel/Savvis/Scotrade Center, they got way overcharged to play there. If the Steamers were still in business today, they probably would have moved back to the Family Arena in St.Charles along with the indoor football team. Also $10 is a great price, is that for any seat I wonder?
That's why I think it would be good to get Dave to invest in the MISL. He's got the Kiel Arena already. He knows something about events and soccer. We just got to get Stevie-Boy to close the deal.
You're absolutely right Bomp, & Dave already owns a soccer team in MLS. Plus with the B-Loose struggling in his building & the Bilikins basketball team moving out in 08, you'd think he would want another team to put butts in the seats. I also believe Dave Checketts fails to realize that indoor soccer has been fairly sucessful in that building.
Well Captain, maybe you guys need to make some noise around town? "Bring back the Steamers!" campaign ?? I'm not sure how strong St. Louis chances are for MLS befre 2013 so the Steamers might be soccer fans best hope for a while. Besides I know all of us on this site would love it if St.Louis came back. It is a great soccer town. Hell, I remember the NASL St. Louis Stars in the Stone Age. I wonder if Ryan realizes all of the history of great crowds in KC, Dallas Cleveland, etc.??? There must be investors out there in those markets. Where are they??
Two guesses: 1) They're waiting for Fresh Money to gooooooo byebye (any body get the reference? please) or 2) They are waiting to see how things go the next two years. Things go well, ESPECIALLY in JERSEY, things could look up. The NLL and AFL got big b/c they got tons of investment from two sources: big time superstars (more AFL) and the NHL (more NLL). That is why I believe that the Ironmen will be the most IMPORTANT franchise in this run of the MISL...that is until the end of the Freshness. Btw, I have to look up my history, but i thought the first indoor game was at Madison Square Garden....now that I think about it, there was an 11v11 game played in a hanger or something. I gotta look this up again.
I thought Stevie_Boy was supposed to get all of his NHL buddies to invest in the MISL? That what was said here in Baltimore anyway. I think you are right about Jersey. They are the deal breaker in this equation.
Yeah, other than Steve Ryan, multi-point scoring and 20 years of baggage (name changes, teams folding midseason, playoff formats changing midseason, Renato Pereira being allowed to play 12 games for a team that didn't have his rights because they screwed his name up, etc.) things could be on the upswing. They at least have a decent group of owners and some new arenas. But they need to seriously work on their playing rules and game presentation and try to build some continuity. In baseball, statistical numbers are legendary. Because the MISL changed its rules so many times, none of the historical numbers mean anything. You can't compare Zungul and Marinaro or Marinaro and Howes stastistically because the numbers don't corelate. But any continuity going forward starts with finalizing a schedule by the end of July at the LATEST, and finalizing the playoff format BEFORE the season starts.
In the early years of baseball, there were rules changes too. Indoor in this form is like less than 30 years old? I mean they should be doing better and the owners are their own worst enemies but I think stat history isn't as important as getting the rules right so that the sport is watchable. It would be nice but let's face it, they really don't care what the rules are. We do. They need to get the schedule out to send a message to fans, the media and sponsors that they are getting their act together. I think TV should be a priority as well. I don't even want to get into game presentation. It is awful. The Blast matches used to be magic but not any more. I mean I still love the sport but that needs a lot of work. I know that some on here loves to complain about Sydney but he's a big supporter of the Blast. He puts his money where his mouth is. Maybe there will never be a NSL but I would take his advice seriously if I owned a franchise.
Checketts is also considering trying the NLL at Scottrade Center, possibly instead of the Steamers. Maybe both, but I doubt it. I don't see the NLL being a big draw in St. Louis, but that's just me. Lacrosse is not that popular in our area. Only a few high schools even play the sport. IF the Steamers (or whatever Checketts might want to call the team) are marketed properly, indoor soccer can do just fine at the S.C. BOMP: What makes you think the St. Louis won't get an MLS team before 2013? I understand that Jeff Cooper's group is closed to getting a stadium deal in Collinsville which would make us one the frontrunners to get a team in either 2009 or 2010. Just because MLS Commissioner Don Garber doesn't mention St. Louis during an ESPN-2 telecast, doesn't mean we're not going to get a team in next 2-3 years. It's all a big race to see who gets a stadium deal done first. Also, don't forget that Jeff Cooper has already commited to a new women's pro team in the revived WUSA, which is scheduled to begin play in April 2008. However, I don't see any pro outdoor team conflicting with any MISL team.
It's what I've heard from usually reliable sources. St. Louis was considered a 'landing place' for the Utah side at one point so it is always possible. It's a good soccer town. Bay Area, Seattle and NYC II. That's what I've heard. I'm surprised about Philly not being higher up in the order.
Any sources close to the Checketts negotiations? Nothing here other than I know talks have taken place.
I have always liked the MISL, but never had a team to latch onto. I live in upstate NY, so there was never really any local team. I found my way to one Harrisburg Heat game back in the day and that is it, but I guess I very casually have been a Philly Kixx fan. But, I can get to Newark in an hour and a half and I plan on seeing some games since I haven't been to one in years (hence the game being Heat vs. Sidekicks). I may just support this team if they do things right, and I will at least give them the chance. Hopefully the league puts out a schedule even by August or early September...either way I will love MISL even if I can't latch onto a team. But I still say boo to their logo - I can get over that though.
I just noticed the CuttOne's piece on misl.net about Newark. Sounds like the owners there have a plan. Namazi and Sloan are a good start. Cheap tickets and TV are great ideas. I know that Stevie-Boy is hoping that they do well as that would spur national advertising and expansion interest IMHO. On the MLS front, Montreal is looking better. Our buddy Joey is making noise about an expansion team in the MLS. We'll see how far that goes.
I kind of assumed they would use a lot of Devils staff and resources, so I wasn't worried about what they've been doing with themselves for the three years since they got the team, but it still looks like they're hiring at almost every position.
Looks like the Ironmen will have Tony Meola as their goalkeeper. http://bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=10640
He almost got Cliff Ronning to buy a team in Nashville. Remember that neutral site game about 3-4 yrs ago in Nashville. That was Cliff and his brother Joe about to buy a franchise. He almost got Mohegan Sun (casino) to get a team as well. He basically reached out to Mario Lemieux, who gave him an introduction to Michael Jordan. MJ opened an restaurant in Mohegan Sun and in turn gave Fresh Money an introduction to the Indians that run the casino. All was good Mohegan realized that ?????????????? , I mean you tell me, who knows, one minute it was top of FM's agenda and the next it wasn't mentioned again. Mohegan then allowed in an Arena Football League 2 team the Mohegan Wolves who lasted 1 maybe 2 years before flourishing in Manchester NH. He almost got Dan Quinn to buy a team in Vancouver, instead Quinn bought into the NLL Vancouver Ravens (the first NLL team) He almost got the guy who owned the Cleveland Crusaders (WHA) to buy into the team in Cleveland as a save the team move. Off the top of my head I think the guys name was like Nick Manzini or Nick Marcotti or something. However when it came crunch time (no pun intended) the guy told Steve something along the lines of "lend me 1.5 million and I'll save the team and pump in 1.5 million to it" You will notice the word almost in a lot of the above. The NJ Devils aside the NHL hasn't exactly been tripping over itself to partner with MISL.
Ok so he tried! Good! I would have loved that casino move. Smart thinking. Maybe they wanted the team to play in the summer?? You are on, Syd!
That would be impressive! Didn't he play indoor before? Newark is firing a lot of shots. Most impressive!