Apparently El Paso and Indiana are looking to move down (PSL or PDL). http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1141
Hull (now known as Gatineau)? haha They would need to a build a new stadium because Allan Park (I think that is what it is called) is in horrible shape. And to think that field was once the site of the very first CSL game.
Re: A-League Teams It's buried at the end of this press release about player awards. I guess they were trying to do it without anyone noticing! http://www.a-league.com/news/2003/news,2003,0574.shtml Hmmm, I remember earlier in the year on this board when I was catching flack from all those Indiana fans when I said their promotions were bush league and devalued their product......?
A millionare who's been more than willing to spend his own money? Who wouldn't want a guy like that in thier league? SCREW THE CPSL!!!!!
kind of a shame about indiana. they have had steady attendance increases hope this trend continues as they drop divisions. season game Indiana Blast 1999 15 27,991 1,866 Indiana Blast 2000 14 25,147 1,796 Indiana Blast 2001 15 28,967 1,931 Indiana Blast 2002 14 30,415 2,173 Indiana Blast 2003 14 34,505 2,465 sure it was not by leaps and bounds, but it was encouraging. problem is that everyone says it costs at least 300k to run an a-league team, I would say the blast were 600 or so a game off from sustainability. and that is if they had a low salary. Rochester costs more like a mill to run, but they make it back in ticket sales. As they say, by 2005 they want to come back up. if they are pulling 3k/game it sure wouldnt hurt them. now if only someone would put a team in Buffalo, and one in Albany the A-league would average 5k/game
Don't forget that Indiana had a free game this year where everybody got in free. Those kind of silly promotions will get your average higher but do nothing for the teams wallet. I also don't see them coming back for 2005. I think adding that is just a way to let their fans down slowly.
If he pulls that crap in one league, where he thinks his team is better than the league, then what stops him from doing that in the A-League? Judging from the guys posts on Voyageurs, he's got a screw loose. Use your head.
Whoa. Indiana to the PDL, not the PSL, though I suppose that may make them more viable as there are lots of teams in that region at that level. Heck, maybe my brother will be playing for them next season, then...
REVISED IN (15) Rochester Montreal* Toronto* Charleston Atlanta Milwaukee Minnesota Seattle Vancouver* Edmonton* Calgary* Portland Virginia Beach Richmond Syracuse BUBBLE (1) El Paso POSSIBLE NEW/PROMOTED (3?) Utah Hamilton* Ottawa* OUT (1) Cincinnatti DEMOTED (3) Pittsburgh (PSL) Indiana (PDL) Charlotte (PSL) * Canadian clubs
Wow, this may be as strong as the league's ever been in terms of franchises. It looks like the only possible weak links (consistent ownership, attendance, money) would be Atlanta, VA Beach and any of the possible new/promoted teams.
Mike Field in Virginia Beach seems to be a very committed owner so I'm not worried about him. Atlanta's difficulties have been well-chronicled on this and other fora. I'm satisfied that, in spite of them, the Silverbacks will be back next year.
VB has turned around the fiasco that they were left with and their owner is committed and has deep pockets. Their attendence continued to rise into the playoffs and I think they will be strong both on the field and off next year. Atlanta looks like they are set to start breaking ground on a soccer complex and now that the Beat has left town, I expect their numbers to be up their next season too. They had played this season as building season to try and reserve money for the stadium and still fielded a competative side. I hope we see a bit more inter divisional play, prehaps just an East and West conferences this upcoming year. It should be a good year with some tough competion Mikey
Indiana Blast official demoted to the PDL, they hope to be back in 05 http://www.a-league.com/news/2003/news,2003,0574.shtml
The 'Backs have money (they should, with what they charge for tix! ); the main problem is they made a lot of people mad, and they (we) voted with our feet. I didn't go to any games this season, but from what some people said, things got a little better. Attendance went up, anyway. I don't know what the impact will be concerning the Beat's demise. If they don't do some marketing and outreach (lowering ticket prices a little would be a start), it won't be much.
What I meant by weak links was franchises that haven't been stable over long periods of time or that haven't come out of the gate firing on all cylinders (Syracuse). VA Beach has a great new owner who supposedly has deep pockets, and I hope he's in it for the long haul, but this is the A-League, he's only had the team for one year and you just can't tell what might happen. My beloved Silverbacks on the other hand are anything but stable. I know the owners have money and I hope they keep throwing it away just so we can keep a team, but at some point they've got to start making better choices...the stadium, rebuilding the team every year, having 27 coaches in the last 3 years and the list goes on. I hear that the "Center" is finally going up; well that's great but they better build the freaking stadium first (there's talk here of the first phase only being the training center). Not that a practice facility won't be good, but to the average fan a stadium's going to go a lot further and as far as players earning additional revenue from training youth players, I can tell you that most of them that want to and are qualified already do. This city has never been short of youth players to train and the pros going back to the Magic/Ruckus have been supporting themselves this way for years, nothing new there. Two great examples...Clint Mathis and Ricardo Clark, I had the pleasure of watching both of these guys play at AFC Lightning during there youth years and they both were trained and infuenced by former and then current Atlanta professionals. Here's hoping that this time Boris and Co. make the right choice.
Go back to my last post about the GM and coach. That's where the problems start - they need better management. Until that happens they will continue to make mistakes and pay for them with money later. They should really look at the stadium first, but even a cheap stadium is going to set them back a few million. Do they have this money?
Lets see. The Silverbacks tickets last season were $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 & under, and I'm hearing complaints that the tickets are too much?
Panic would you share with the folks here at Big Soccer what you posted at USL Discusions about combing the two USL pro leagues and having regional conferences. I've never understood why the USL has never tried to do this. It's seems like it would be a no brainer!
I'll start a new thread. The reason it doesn't happen is the A-league teams don't want to "water down" the perception of the league. Yet playing against teams like Cinci, Indi, El Paso, and a few others over the past few years is okay.