leopard88 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 In case there hasn't been enough musical chairs going on between indoor soccer leagues, another will be appearing next fall/winter. Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale plans to remove team from MASL, form new league Quote The Baltimore Blast plans to be on the move. Again. Disappointed by the Major Arena Soccer League's single-entity business plan as well as the lack of stability with many of its franchises, Blast owner Ed Hale Sr. plans to leave the 20-team league at the conclusion of the season and has begun work on the creation of a new league, the Indoor Professional League. The IPL will have a franchisor/franchisee business plan that will be headquartered in Baltimore County with Hale serving as the original franchisor. "It will start the day after the last ball is kicked and the [MASL] championship has been decided," Hale said. * * * * Hale said all the necessary paperwork has been filed to move forward on the new venture. He has invited up to 15 potential franchises — the majority also currently playing in the MASL — and expects at least 10 to come aboard. If it becomes a successful endeavor, he would invite other franchise owners to join him in the franchisor role. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 15 minutes ago, leopard88 said: In case there hasn't been enough musical chairs going on between indoor soccer leagues, another will be appearing next fall/winter. Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale plans to remove team from MASL, form new league I've been to some Blast games, and they're boatloads of fun. It's a shame they don't get any publicity in Baltimore, because they're one of, if not the, most dominant teams in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 I haven't been to a game in at least five years. I keep saying I need to go one of these days, but never follow through. I'm old enough to have been a regular during the glory days of the MISL in the early to mid-80s. The Civic Center/Baltimore Arena was full for every game and there were great rivalries with Cleveland, Dallas and San Diego. Those were great times. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 1 hour ago, leopard88 said: I haven't been to a game in at least five years. I keep saying I need to go one of these days, but never follow through. I'm old enough to have been a regular during the glory days of the MISL in the early to mid-80s. The Civic Center/Baltimore Arena was full for every game and there were great rivalries with Cleveland, Dallas and San Diego. Those were great times. Yeah. I went to the championship game last year, and it was like 75% full. It's crazy. A regular season game is 50% full, at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 I'm surprised they don't have any local TV coverage . . . even if it was just Ed Hale buying the airtime for 1-2 games a year for the sake of exposure. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totems!! Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I'm not much of a soccer fan but I fondly remember watching the Tacoma Stars playing in the once non decrepit Tacoma Dome to crowds which routinely got 15,000 in attendance in the late eighties. I was pretty young but it was quite exciting and the fans really got into the action. They even had games played on ESPN quite often. It's a different world now and it will never regain that kind of popularity but it was fun while it lasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totems!! Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Eh, just checked my facts on Wikipedia. Maybe 15,000 routinely was a bit high besides in the playoffs. Closer to 10,000 but when you're young 10,000 might as well be a million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 These are the 1984-85 regular season attendance figures. Without looking further, this is probably the high water mark . . . or close to it. Club Games Total Average Cleveland Force 24 310,284 12,929 Kansas City Comets 24 310,017 12,917 St. Louis Steamers 24 305,054 12,711 Baltimore Blast 24 265,224 11,051 Chicago Sting 24 255,073 10,628 San Diego Sockers 24 230,272 9,595 Wichita Wings 24 209,035 8,710 Pittsburgh Spirit 24 187,021 7,793 Tacoma Stars 24 173,317 7,222 Las Vegas Americans 24 152,083 6,337 Los Angeles Lazers 24 121,488 5,062 Dallas Sidekicks 24 119,248 4,969 Minnesota Strikers 24 115,408 4,809 New York Cosmos 16 66,900 4,181 OVERALL 328 2,820,424 8,599 Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 By contrast, the average attendance last season in the MASL was 2,432. There was actually a game where 70 people attended. It's getting kind of pathetic, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viola73 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 7 hours ago, leopard88 said: In case there hasn't been enough musical chairs going on between indoor soccer leagues, another will be appearing next fall/winter. Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale plans to remove team from MASL, form new league I think he should abandon the whole notion of a MASL deformed league in the IPL. If MASL couldn't work what makes him think this will. It's all about ego now from what I hear. If it were me, I would look into the new futsal league...PFL...with backing from Mark Cuban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp91 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Some are frustrated about Mark Cuban investing in futsal rather than Indoor Soccer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sykotyk Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I remember WUAB in Cleveland airing Cleveland Crunch games (after they were the Force). I was in middle school when they won back-to-back titles and it seemed awesome. I wasn't aware, really, of just how small-time indoor soccer was. Back then, WUAB aired Indians, Cavs, and Crunch games. So, it just seemed as part of the sports landscape. Then, you realize, with the internet, that indoor soccer is the red-headed step-child of the sports world. But, at least Cleveland has a few championships in the 90s thanks to the Crunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 7 hours ago, Sykotyk said: I remember WUAB in Cleveland airing Cleveland Crunch games (after they were the Force). I was in middle school when they won back-to-back titles and it seemed awesome. I wasn't aware, really, of just how small-time indoor soccer was. Back then, WUAB aired Indians, Cavs, and Crunch games. So, it just seemed as part of the sports landscape. Then, you realize, with the internet, that indoor soccer is the red-headed step-child of the sports world. But, at least Cleveland has a few championships in the 90s thanks to the Crunch. I remember that too! Then BP bought the team and changed the colors. No new logos, just color changes. I never watched the games in person but I loved watching the games on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 On 2/20/2016 at 7:40 PM, Viola73 said: I think he should abandon the whole notion of a MASL deformed league in the IPL. If MASL couldn't work what makes him think this will. It's all about ego now from what I hear. If it were me, I would look into the new futsal league...PFL...with backing from Mark Cuban. Ed Hale does have a bit of an ego. It's the same ego that led him to open his own local bank because he was frustrated with one of the other local banks. That said, one of his primary points is accurate . . . that some of the MASL teams are playing in facilities that barely qualify as homes for local amateur teams. It's hard to take the league seriously when you have some teams playing in 12,000 seat arenas and some teams playing in 1,500 seat arenas. On 2/20/2016 at 0:47 AM, Sykotyk said: I remember WUAB in Cleveland airing Cleveland Crunch games (after they were the Force). I was in middle school when they won back-to-back titles and it seemed awesome. I wasn't aware, really, of just how small-time indoor soccer was. Back then, WUAB aired Indians, Cavs, and Crunch games. So, it just seemed as part of the sports landscape. Then, you realize, with the internet, that indoor soccer is the red-headed step-child of the sports world. But, at least Cleveland has a few championships in the 90s thanks to the Crunch. In many of the home markets, the old MISL teams were on par with the Big Four teams back in the 80s. The league just didn't have a national profile. Now, even in some of the same cities, the MASL teams are barely on the radar. Part of it, in my opinion, has to do with quality of play. Based on my observations, the talent level in the 80s was much higher than it is now. Guys like Stan Stamenkovic, Steve Zungul, Tatu and Kai Haaskivi were really talented, exciting players. The difference in talent may be attributable, at least in part, to the growing popularity of outdoor soccer in the United States. Players can now make enough of a living player outdoor that they don't need to play indoor to make ends meet. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Bumping because.... The Blast are MASL champions! Tony Donatelli scored the OT winner in game 2. I was at game 1 in Baltimore with some friends and family, and got a goal recorded on my phone. Tons of fun. Hopefully this new league does well, because I'd love to see the Blast succeed and/or return to the glory days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 According to the prior reports, the Blast are supposedly out of the MASL officially at this point. However, I haven't seen any news on this since the season ended (albeit barely two days ago). Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viola73 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 2 hours ago, leopard88 said: According to the prior reports, the Blast are supposedly out of the MASL officially at this point. However, I haven't seen any news on this since the season ended (albeit barely two days ago). So where do we stand right now as far as indoor soccer in the US goes? Will we have two major leagues? Will we have a stronger league because of this break up? What about the PFL? Will the futsal league get off the ground and if it does will it draw players from the indoor leagues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 All good questions. I really don't much about the futsal league. In terms of the indoor leagues, Ed Hale's league would probably look more professional (i.e., larger arenas, etc.) if his plan goes forward. However, that doesn't necessarily translate into a more stable league. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 IMO all it would take for Ed Hale's new league to be better than the old one is getting the word out. Indoor soccer is insanely exciting, but the fact that next to nobody knows about it is sad. I mean, here in Baltimore, where the Blast have made it to six or seven straight championships across all the different leagues, almost no one knows/cares about the Blast. Set up a Roku/streaming channel. Broadcast on local programming. Advertise. Do something to get the word out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 57 minutes ago, Crabcake47 said: IMO all it would take for Ed Hale's new league to be better than the old one is getting the word out. Indoor soccer is insanely exciting, but the fact that next to nobody knows about it is sad. I mean, here in Baltimore, where the Blast have made it to six or seven straight championships across all the different leagues, almost no one knows/cares about the Blast. Set up a Roku/streaming channel. Broadcast on local programming. Advertise. Do something to get the word out. I certainly haven't figured out why the Blast don't at least have a local TV contract. For the sake of exposure, they could buy the airtime and sell their own ads. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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