MLS Future Expansion Series: Atlanta

The MLS going to the south?  We all know the two team that were located in the southeast folded.  Don Garber himself has said that the league can't be deemed national unless there is a team in the south.  I already have stated that Orlando is way out in front for a team a in the south.  This doesn't satisfy the non-Florida southerner.  Some people don't even consider Florida part of the south.  The most logical other choice for a team in the southeast is the southern capital, Atlanta.  Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area in the south and it's relative central location allows it to pull from other states metropolitan areas.  The question is whether a major league soccer franchise can survive in the south.  The south is riddled with numerous pro franchises but not a lot of them have great attendance figures. 

This is evident when you see the Tampa Bay Rays chasing a title with empty seats still around.  It has been said many time that the south is a college football region.  Soccer is not nearly as popular in the southern United States.  There are many college soccer teams that have dropped their programs or never even made a program.  I know your probably thinking then why is this guy talking about Atlanta?  Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area without an MLS franchise.  This enormous population center is just screaming off the map for a team there.  The owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, has submitted an expansion bid in 2008.  He later withdrew the offer because a stadium deal could not get done.  The question, as in Minnesota, is if he really is serious and committed to get a franchise.  There are many people saying that he is only pushing an MLS team  to get a new stadium for his Falcons.  There are a lot of unknowns for the city of Atlanta.  The people who are pushing for a team cite the influx of Hispanic immigrants in the city.  They believe that they will increase the support of the team.  Atlanta already has a pro soccer team in the new NASL, the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Silverbacks Park

The Silverbacks do not sell out their games but they do have a decent fan base.  Atlanta also does have some pro soccer history.  They hosted the original NASL Atlanta Chiefs.  The Chiefs did get a decent amount of support.  The overall size of the Atlanta market is to big to think that they won't get an MLS team eventually.  The money is also there if Arthur Blank gets his stadium wishes.  We all know that new stadiums don't just go up without a hitch.  There is still numerous government issues and problems associated with a new state of the art stadium.  I feel that Atlanta may just be too big of a risk for MLS right now in 2012. For more information or to join the cause check out ATLwantsMLS.com.

MLS Future Expansion Series: Minnesota

     The next stop on our virtual road trip of potential MLS locales is Minnesota.  Minnesota has been discussed in the expansion situations ever since the league's inception in 1996.  There was not, however, a bid from Minnesota to get a team in 1996. When I discuss a potential team in Minnesota I am talking about the team being located in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area.  This area has the 15th biggest television market in the United States of America.  The television money is certainly there for the MLS.   The metropolitan area has over 3.3 million people living in. The population is certainly enough to sustain another pro franchise.  This area already houses four teams in the major sports leagues of America and numerous others in minor leagues.  The key question is does MLS want to break into Minnesota and does Minnesota want an MLS team?

The MLS has stated before that it wants at least another team in the Midwest.  This does encompass the Minnesota region.  I truly believe that if the situation is there the MLS will be there.  Where will all the money come from to get a Minnesota club in MLS.  The Wilf family, owners of the Minnesota Vikings, have stated that they have interest in bringing MLS to the area.  The Wilfs have been in struggles to get approval for a new Metrodome for the Vikings to play.  They have stated that adding a new franchise to the area will be an added bonus to the new stadium.  The stadium design would be built with soccer in mind and be capable of hosting soccer events.  This gives the Wilfs more credibility and would be similar to Qwest Field in Seattle.  No one really knows how crazy the soccer population is in the Twin Cities.  The football-soccer stadium works in Seattle because the Sounders also attract huge crowds. What is the soccer history of Minnesota?

The Stadium Renderings of a New Metrodome

The Twin City area has a rich soccer history.  The area has been the home to past NASL teams Minnesota Kicks and Minnesota Strikers.  These teams did draw big crowds in the leagues brief existence.  They also have hosted the Minnesota Thunder which has evolved into their current team Minnesota Stars FC.  The Stars play in the newly formed NASL and are currently the champions.  The tradition of soccer is definitely  in the area.  They currently have a winning soccer tradition and can capitalize on this to help gain more fans.  The Stars are hosting their home opener in the Metrodome and running promotions to help pack the stadium.  I believe that if they are able to get a great stadium turn out it can really help their cause.  They will be able to grab MLS attention and warrant a good hard look.  For more information or if you want to help Minnesota's cause please visit Inside Minnesota Soccer and MLS 4 MN.

Stars Celebrate NASL Championship

MLS Future Expansion Series: Detroit

   With all the talk of the MLS getting bigger I decided to start an expansion series.  Everyday I will post about a different site.  These sites are some of the most talked about in MLS expansion.  I already have talked about Orlando and New York City in a former post so I will not be talking about these two sites again.  They are, however, the two most promising expansion options.  The sites I will be discussing in order are Detroit, Minnesota and Atlanta.  The past few years have seen some very exciting clubs and stadium atmospheres emerge from MLS expansion.  It is very possible that all of these sites could potentially host MLS franchises in the next couple of decades.  I am just here to give everyone a profile of each site and let you decide if they deserve a franchise.  I hope everyone enjoys the series.  Let us start with Detroit.

 

MLS Detroit Stadium Renderings

  The above drawing is a proposed idea of the future home to Detroit's MLS franchise.  Recently, the old Pontiac Silverdome was bought for the bargain price of $583,000.  I must admit that the idea for the stadiums renovations are quite breathtaking.  I just do not really know if these leaked renderings are really possible from an engineering stand point.  What do I really know though?  I was not an engineering major in college and the proposed stadium could be possible.  My main concern has to do with structural support for the field.  How can something that flat and vast be supported without structural columns?  My other initial concern has to do with snow.  The stadium renderings show an open field that is suspended above the concert hall and arena.  How will that hold up to a harsh Detroit winter?  Engineering logistics aside lets talk about Detroit as a possible site for MLS expansion.  The Detroit metropolitan area has a population of around 5.2 million.  This figure alone is more than enough to sustain an MLS franchise and it sustains teams in all of the four major sports leagues.  A big question is if soccer really is desirable in Detroit.  The owners of the Pontiac Silverdome certainly seem to think so.  The area has no teams in lower professional divisions.  Detroit does, however, host the PDL team Michigan Bucks and the NPSL side Detroit City FC.

 It is really hard to get a good look at how Detroit would be as a potential city for the MLS.  In the past, Detroit has hosted international games and international club matches.  AC Milan played Panathinaikos in front of a crowd of 30,000.  It is possible that more people would have come out if AC Milan was playing a more globally known club.  Only the most avid soccer fans would recognize Panathinaikos. This also raises my eyebrows at Detroit's situation.  The proposed stadium holds 30,000 people.  I don't foresee Detroit selling out this many seats if they can't get more than 30,000 people out to see AC Milan.  The renderings are not final and I do think that a reduction in seating capacity could happen.  At the least I could see them only seating 20,000 with expandable seating to 30,000.  I think that some serious probes should be sent to the city to see if the area is crazy for a club.  They do have a quite a movement going with their Motor City Supporters.  I think that are enough passionate fans to warrant a good look at bringing a team to Detroit.  Some proposed names for the club have been Metro Detroit FC, Motor City FC and Detroit FC.  I think a that it would be great for the league to have a northern rivalry with Toronto FC, Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew. 

The MLS League Model -Where do we go from here? Do we ever try to make our league more European?

    There are many things and reasons that many avid soccer fans in the USA give to not support the MLS.  Most of these include world class players being absent and the league model simply being different overall.  MLS is a league that some people have called " football socialism." This title has floated around because the league has a lot of say in what clubs can and can not do.  There also is a salary cap that is almost unheard of in European soccer.  There also is no such thing as complete ownership of the team separate from the league.  All of these things combine lead to people saying why bother with the MLS?  I used to feel the very same way.  I did have an MLS team for a long time and had no desire to watch the very few games that were shown on TV.  The league now was begun to thrive and become a league that some very high quality players have come to.  I now feel that MLS league growth and support will lead to a strong league with even more high quality players. One of the key aspects of the MLS league model is that there is no such thing promotion and relegation as in other leagues around the world.  The first question is would the teams that get relegated from the MLS be able to survive?

San Antonio's stadium renderings

 There is a huge stigma in America about teams that are not in their top divisions of professional sports.  In a nutshell, minor league teams do not have a nice ring to it here in the states.  The league is quite young and I think any change in stability could be catastrophic. The next problem is where do the other teams for promotion come from?  There currently are two other leagues below MLS. These being the USL Pro and the NASL. The NASL will soon have nine teams and the USL Pro with 11. Both of these leagues on average attendance do not really draw big crowds and some of the teams even call high school fields their home.  I don't really think I could picture LA Galaxy playing a recently promoted lower division team at a high school stadium.  There have been recent talks about the USL forming some sort of partnership or agreement with MLS about harboring their reserve teams in their league and things of this nature.  This would seemingly give the USL Pro a bit of an advantage of being the league chosen to be the league that gets promotion rights.  The other league the NASL seems to have no interest in becoming affiliated with MLS.  The NASL seems to think that someday they can be at the same level or better than the MLS.  This of course could possibly happen but I highly doubt it.  It also doesn't help that teams from these leagues still aspire to jump to the MLS.  I think that until FIFA eventually steps in and deems that North American soccer needs a promotion/relegation system we should be content at what we have.  Maybe in 30 or 40 years North America will be there.  Just not now and we have to be patient.  I actually like the system or recent trend of the MLS expansion. There are former clubs from the USL Pro and NASL that have gained a following or are present in a great market area that can with patience be awarded the expansion franchise.  I feel that this unofficial model is working.  We have seen the success of former clubs like the Sounders and Timbers, as well as, the Montreal Impact become invaluable to the league.  There are some real big steps being taken by some the teams in the lower leagues of America to become a great product and maybe even be able to warrant an expansion bid later on.  You can see this with some of the lower division teams building brand new soccer specific stadiums.  Teams like the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and San Antonio Scorpions have both started to build new stadiums.

Renderings of the new Riverhounds stadium

  Most of these stadiums are designed with future size expansion in mind.  These developments would have never been seen in years past.  We also have teams that already have soccer specific stadiums like Charleston Battery and Rochester Rhinos.  These teams have great followings and even though they may not have MLS expansion in their future it is still good for pro soccer in America.  Orlando City of the USL Pro has gained a following and now has gained recognition of the MLS as a possible expansion franchise.  This is the model that should be followed and emulated by other lower division clubs.  Some future expansion cities talked about frequently do not have pro soccer.  My biggest piece of advice is try and get either a USL Pro franchise or NASL franchise.  At the very least try and get a PDL team in your area.

The insane Orlando City atmosphere

 This would make the MLS take note and also give the area some soccer credibility.  Another recent question that is asked about the MLS is how many teams should there be before expansion stops?  The MLS now sits at 19 teams.  The EPL purists are already screaming that 20 should be the stopping point.  It is true that most of the worlds top leagues only have 20 clubs or even less but they are not in America.  America can not be compared to these other leagues based on a marketability stand point.  You can't tell me that a country the size of the state of Pennsylvania should be the model of what a league should be in America.  America has over 300 million people living it.  My honest belief is that the league will eventually reach the team numbers of the NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB.  I only say this because those numbers make sense in a country this big. In fact MLS has something that all of those leagues do not, an unlimited number of players.  Those other leagues are almost solely supplied by Americans.  The MLS has the whole world to get players from and that is another reason why MLS expansion has been going so well.  I see a good number being around 30 MLS clubs.  Now, I'm not saying that this will happen in the next five years but when the MLS expansion is all said and done I could see it.  I think that talent will not suffer at all and our league will be stronger than ever and could be right behind the top leagues of Europe.

MLS Expansion: New York Again or Orlando?

     The MLS has been talking for quite some time about where the 20th franchise will be awarded.  There really has only been one place that the MLS has truly wanted to go.  This direction would include a revival of the former NASL side the New York Cosmos.  The brand died out and ultimately led to the former NASL folding altogether.  The Cosmos name and legacy, however, have been very marketable and many people still buy old school replica jerseys and memorabilia. The MLS knows this and now is trying to capitalize on it. The board that the New York Cosmos have assembled also includes soccer legends Pele and Eric Cantona. Those two personalities enough give any soccer lover reason to believe that the Cosmos could be brought back to life. There are many questions that arise in this expansion proposal.  There still is no stadium plans or a design and building a stadium in downtown New York City could be astronomical.  There also is already a team in the New York metropolitan area, Red Bull New York.  Grant it, the team does play in  Harrison, NJ and not New York City at all.  This would also give the city two MLS franchises when many cities are screaming out for their first.  The issue of two teams in the same area leads to many other questions. 

Will Red Bull New York even be able to stay alive if the New York Cosmos move in to the city? The Red Bulls have been able to draw some of the worlds top players to come and play for their club including Henry and Rafa Marquez.  They also have a strong corporate backing that has allowed them to build a brand new state of the art stadium.  With this being said, they still have not won any hardware and do not regularly sell out their beautiful stadium.  A new team in town may be a death sentence for the club.  Most of the players who have been lured to Red Bull New York have said that the attraction of the city was too much to resist.  It is truly frightening to think of what type of world talent could be persuaded lured to play in a downtown New York City setting.  The Cosmos at this point are almost guaranteed to be given the 20th MLS franchise and if not them it would most likely still be a team in New York City.  The past few years, however, have lead to the emergence of  another MLS franchise contender.  Orlando City Soccer Club has truly been doing some incredible things that have led to Orlando being considered for the next spot.  I know most of you are already saying the MLS in Florida? Hasn't that been done and failed? 

       Your suspicions are truly warranted.  The collapse of the former MLS franchises Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion has turned off the MLS from Florida and the south in general.  In defense of Miami the collapse was because of an owner who simply did not care about his own franchise.  Tampa Bay just doesn't support its franchises whether they are good or not.  With all that said Orlando has arrived as a viable market.  MLS Commissioner Don Garber is going to visit Orlando and talk with representatives on March 1st.  This could potentially lead to the 20th or maybe 21st MLS franchise being awarded to them.  Orlando has gotten to this point by having very high average attendance numbers over the past few seasons.  They are getting almost over 7000 fans per game.  This is a very high number for a team that competes in what FIFA has deemed the third tier of American soccer.  They are also the reigning USL PRO champions after beating my beloved Harrisburg City Islanders in a dramatic match.  I watched the entire game on USL Live and was astonished at the atmosphere of the almost 10,000 rowdy fans.  I immediately thought that this could be a potential spot for the MLS to finally break back into the south and survive.  Orlando City has also been able to achieve a very good record against current MLS squads and have recently defeated Newcastle United 1-0.  Newcastle United is currently sixth in the EPL.  This shows that the club does have a solid foundation and could only be helped by an expansion draft.  It will be very interesting to see how the MLS meeting on March 1st goes and I hope Orlando City can become one of the next franchises.  There still are question about building a soccer specific stadium.  The team currently plays in the Citrus Bowl.  I don't know if that stadium could be tailored or transformed into a viable soccer stadium.  Both potential sites for the next MLS franchise are very exciting.  The possibility of a stadium in New York City could be amazing but the powers that be are still not there to make that happen.

MLS in Pittsburgh?

    The last few years have seen the rapid expansion of Major League Soccer.  This has had many effects throughout the landscape of the United States.  The fact is that soccer has never been more popular in this country and numerous cities are looking to instill their brand on the league.  The new price tag for an MLS team is now 100 million dollars.  This a deep expense and needs the backing of a big time owner and the construction of a soccer specific stadium.  There is one city that always seems to be left out of the debate of getting an expansion franchise. If you have read the title of this post than you will know I am talking about Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh has a metropolitan area of over two million people which would be perfectly capable of sustaining an MLS club. The city already sustain 7 professional sports teams including three of the big four and a USL soccer franchise, The Pittsburgh Riverhounds Football Club.  I think the lack of an NBA team in Pittsburgh actually favors the formation of a putting an MLS team in the city. There will only be the competition of the NHL, which I believe is a complete different demographic from soccer supporters, and the Pittsburgh Pirates who are almost always fighting for the last place in the MLB.  Major League Soccer could potentially thrive in the area.

 There are of course many different issues that go along with a getting an MLS franchise.  The first argument I usually come across is how is the pro soccer team in the area supported now.  This argument really does not hold any weight.  Indeed, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds are not selling out every game. They are, however, going to be building a soccer specific stadium on the waterfront later this year (http://www.riverhounds.com/).  This could see the attendance at those games go way up.  The support of minor league teams does not translate into support of a major league franchise.  This means that the minor league does not have to be a thriving to deem a city worthy of a major league franchise.  This is true of the minor league Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders.  They were not selling out their home games before they became a major league franchise.  This also shows us that a team in Pittsburgh could be viable.  The other argument that some people throw out is that the formation of an MLS team in Pittsburgh could draw fans away from other MLS teams in the region and doom those already formed franchises.  Lets take a look at the teams that regionally surround the area. There is the Columbus Crew, Toronto FC, DC United and the Philadelphia Union.  All of these franchise are hours away.  The closest being the almost 3 hour drive to Columbus.  This would not draw faithful Crew fans from their team.  It does, however, form immediate rivalries with the Columbus Crew and a cross state rivalry with the Philadelphia Union.  It would increase the appeal of the league and form great heated games.  The big question with the formation of the team is finding an owner.  If one of the owners of the big three teams in the area step up and that is a big if, I believe that Pittsburgh could make an excellent site for an MLS franchise. It should at least be in the discussion of a potential site for expansion.