I say ditch the northern cities and become a winter soccer league. Keep San Antonio (until they jump to MLS) and keep the league Florida and Texas based (mostly warm weather), with maybe Atlanta and Carolina. Play from October - February (with Championship in March) which would allow MLS to loan (Kenn, is this possible?) some of their younger talent and allow them to play the entire year round (good for them) Travel costs would be reduced for the league. Teams (1) Tampa (2) Orlando (3) establish in Jacksonville (4) Ft. Lauderdale (5) establish in Miami (6) West Coast Florida (Naples/Ft. Myers corrider) (7) San Antonio (8) Atlanta (9) Puerto Rico (10) Carolina I could see expansion into Austin and some MLS markets like Dallas, Houston Birmingham might work. I think the nationwide + Canada thing is just crazy.
I have my doubts that ever happens or if so, they are out of league in 1-2 years (either fold or MLS)
The NASL is not in a position to just dump northern teams. If the dominoes fell in favor of a winter league, it probably wouldn't be the NASL. However, Minnesota and Edmonton can only stay like this for so long and the Cosmos will probably be a flop or in MLS in a few years. If the southern teams of the NASL and USL Pro came together, it would be a heck of a league, especially if it had the same type of spread out schedule the NASL currently has.
I left out Charleston. They would be a solid addition and the weather would allow for it. I think if the original concept worked, one could see expansion to Arizona, California after that, years later. I would like to see our youngest talent playing 12 months (MLS reserve or MLS and then in winter here). Kenn's idea of Florida Cup is great and that should be expanded. With a winter season (and more concentrated geographically) the idea would be to reduced costs, but also (perhaps) MLS could see logic in underwriting some costs- since NASL would then be truly developing younger MLS talent (which could be later sold in some cases). MLS could justify some expense possibly since younger players going from playing 8 month season to 12 month would increase their level and value. A better business model? AAA baseball really hasn't made a national model work (in terms of jump in revenue, sponsorships) so hard to see how AAA soccer- which is much weaker and in everyway- $$ wise within the current setup
I had started a similar thread in the USL boards suggesting USL operate a winter league. I think there could be a strategic advantage with being the only soccer league in the US during the winter. It would be extremely difficult for MLS to switch to a winter league because they operate in so many cold weather cities AND have national TV contracts in place. NASL might be able to make a switch a lot easier than MLS. Dropping colder weather teams may or may not be the best option for their business model. Another option would be to run a summer league and a winter league with different teams. You could get agreements between winter league and summer league teams to sign players to year-long contracts. Summer League - April-May-June-July-Aug-Sept Winter League - Oct-Nov-Dec-Jan-Feb-March The goal would be to have 8 teams in each session in order for them to operate like independent leagues. You could have a supercup to name a yearly champion between the two winners. It would take years in order to find enough investors willing to have a summer/winter league but it could be something NASL has a long term goal. Summer League 1 FC Edmonton 2 Minnesota Stars 3 New York Cosmos 4 Ottawa Expansion 5 ST. LOUIS EXPANSION? 6 INDIANAPOLIS EXPANSION? 7 MILWAUKEE EXPANSION? 8 DETROIT EXPANSION? Winter League 1 Atlanta Silverbacks 2 Carolina RailHawks 3 FTL Strikers 4 PR Islanders 5 SA Scorpions 6 TB Rowdies 7 AUSTIN EXPANSION? 8 SAN DIEGO EXPANSION?
The OP is only half-right. Let's have a winter league, but only northern cities are allowed: Anchorage Minneapolis New York City Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Buffalo Pittsburgh Fargo Anchorage 2 The North American Soccer League for Manly Men
My dad went to Worcester Polytech when they still had trimesters. The MLS needs a few trimesters before giving berth to a winter league.
What about that town they flew in a Taco Bell truck to? The MLS could fly in a stadium each week no problemo.
Yeah, because what DII soccer needs--especially in the southern half of the country--is to be up against college and NFL football every weekend. Riiiiiiight.
Would be slightly less of an issue with attendance (despite fears, MLS attendance doesn't really dip when football starts) than it would be with TV coverage, media attention and some infrastructure stuff (TV crews come to mind). We're just not going to play soccer in the winter here for a host of reasons. Not happening.