I never understood why those cities and shoot what about Colorado? Are these cities with lots of youth and amateur leagues? Because why Houston doesn't have a team is beyond me. They are the 4th largest city with large Mexican population...and we all know how passionate Mexicans are about there footie.
Yes, these cities all have lots of youth and amateur leagues. Dallas has a large Mexican population, though the Salvadoran population seems to have a larger presence at games. And...Mexicans may be passionate about their futbol, but that doesn't mean that they show up en masse to watch MLS. See, that was a short answer.
I think it had to do with where the investers were. Krafts are in New England, Hunt in Kansas City and he also wanted Columbus, Anshutz is in Denver and he wanted LA. I don't know who the original guys were behind the others.
Why am I so not surprised that a fahrfan has zero knowledge of the size of urban areas in this country? How many people live in the City of Chicago? When asked "how big is Chicago" is that the answer you'd give, or would you not include the 84 conjoined suburbs in the entire population? Houston SMSA: 4MM Dallas/FortWorth SMSA: 5.5MM Latino population by percentage: both are between 37-39%. =bs
Before MLS even started, they tasked "location candidates" to sell 10,000 pledges for season tickets at $75 per pledge. Columbus is in the league because they actually met the requirement. New Jersey supposedly did also, while nobody else did. Kansas City - Lamar Hunt. Also, FIFA loved the stadium when USSF took them through the potential venue tour. Dallas - world cup host, mostly available stadium (Cotton Bowl). Colorado - MLS wanted it after US vs Scotland drew 35,000 for a friendly. Denver is a very proven sports market for its size.
The city of Denver's population is about 40% hispanic homie (The Rapids play in Denver, not Vail or Aspen). We also have a ton of kids and soccer moms/dads from the burbs who attend the games. I'm a 28 year old non-hispanic male who lives in the city, so I'm not sure what catagory of Rapidos fan I fit into.....
Thanks Paul and Hosscat. I'm new to MLS so have to do my homework so I can spread the word without sounding like a boob.
LA is the second largest city with a large Mexican population...and we all know how unpassionate Mexicans are about MLS.
I attended all the World Cup '94 matches here in Dallas, and I remember getting a handout one time about pledging money to get a team for MLS. I wasn't in the position to pony up that kind of money at the time, and I even remember Dallas being removed from the list of prospective teams. Color me suprised when the Burn showed up. According to urban legend, Dallas was allowed in at the last moment when a team in Chicago fell apart. Right?
Not only urban legend. That was the story in the Dallas Morning News when the Dallas franchise was announced as one of the first 10 in June 1995. Basically, MLS couldn't get a stadium deal done at Soldier Field.
somewhat misguided... What city has the highest MLS attendance? but i will grant you that it is quite a tough sell to soccer cognosenti (which Mexicans definitely are) that MLS was a viable option the first 5 years. compared to their domestic league, MLS didn't/doesn't measure up. Central Americans, on the other hand, have weaker leagues, so MLS is a step up. In due time, true soccer fans are suckers for a good game. There are many Mexican fans of the Galaxy. In time there will be more.
Why attack KC, Columbus and Dallas? The first 2 cities mentioned are probably profitable or at least not losing tons of money. Dallas is close to getting its own stadium which is only costing the HSG a paltry $10 milion. Given these facts, the real question is why is MLS still in NY and DC when we all know these cities have terrible leases and are in no way close to being profitable.
I thought Phil and the Krafts came onboard after MLS was already started? I might be wrong on Phil, but I'm pretty sure about the Krafts... or I could be wrong on both..hell what do I know...
As noted above, they told any and all comers that, in order to get a team you had to sell season tickets. Columbus sold over 10,000. This is why Houston "doesn't have a team" so it no longer needs to be "beyond you" For further information, please check out this timely thread by the ever-essential Goodsport; it lists the 42 cities which made the cut and were invited to hold ticket drives. As you will see, Houston had as much opportunity as amyone: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70499 All those "passionate" Mexicans didn't show up at the mindow with ticket deposits. Or maybe nobody locally even bothered to organize a ticket drive. Don't know, and don't care. Bottom line: if the interest was so huge, they could have gotten a team.