North American Pro Soccer 2018

[PrimalCookie]

18 hours ago, Dilbert said:

Some minor soccer news over the past couple of days

 

El Paso USL Championship club unveils branding as El Paso Locomotive FC

 

Although not officially unveiled yet. USL League One will have a club in Riverside, California that will be partially owned and backed by AS Roma for 2019.

 

Yesterday FC Cincinnati talked about their plans of launching their development academy, they mentioned that they plan on applying for a NWSL womens soccer club to compete in their new stadium in a few years. FC Cincinnati hosted the US womens national team last year against New Zealand in front of 30,596 at Nippert Stadium. Many of them cheering on a fan favorite Rose Lavelle, who is from Cincinnati. Many of the FC Cincinnati supporters have said that they would love to have a NWSL alongside the mens club, so I think it would definitely be supported in Cincinnati.

Even though canonically it's in San Francisco, my first thought when I saw that was about Camp Jupiter (the camp/training place for Roman demigods) in the Percy Jackson series. Yes, I'm that much of a Percy Jackson nerd.

[Dilbert]

The USL record 10 game winning streak has been snapped but FC Cincinnati ties the USL record 22 game unbeaten streak (since May 26th) with a 0-0 draw at Pittsburgh in a defensive battle. They look to break the record next weekend in Nashville in the final game of the USL regular season. The record was set by Richmond in 2013 who went unbeaten in their first 22 games to start the season, as Cincinnati looks to go unbeaten in their final 23 to end the season.

[Dilbert]

Penn FC will sit out 2019, look to move to new facility to join USL League One (D3) in 2020. I didnt expect them to sit out next season but fully expected them to drop down to League One.

 

https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/956974

[4_tattoos]

I know it's kind of an old story now, but what exactly is the deal with the future Chicago USL club that's supposed to build a 20K seat stadium actually in city limits? It seems like that ownership group has deep pockets. Why are they just going for USL? Is there anything preventing them from just straight up making an expansion bid for a second MLS club in Chicago? Just seems like a lot of money being spent on a second (or third) division club.

 

Unless their plan as to play the long game and exist in USL for X amount of years then make the jump. I just don't get it.

[Brian in Boston]

3 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

[W]hat exactly is the deal with the future Chicago USL club that's supposed to build a 20K seat stadium actually in city limits? It seems like that ownership group has deep pockets. Why are they just going for USL? Is there anything preventing them from just straight up making an expansion bid for a second MLS club in Chicago?

 

The 30-year stadium lease between the Village of Bridgeview, Major League Soccer, and the Chicago Fire doesn't expire until December 31, 2036. Said lease stipulates that "no Major League Soccer team in the Chicago Market Area shall play its home games in any stadium other than" Toyota Park. Further, the agreement states that "'Chicago Market Area' means the geographic region within a 75 mile radius of the Stadium".

So, not only is the Chicago Fire MLS franchise contractually obligated to play its home matches at Toyota Park (soon to be renamed SeatGeek Stadium) through the end of 2036, but any other Major League Soccer team operating within a 75 mile radius of Toyota Park - such as a potential MLS expansion franchise for Chicago - would also be contractually obligated to play its home matches at the stadium in Bridgeview through December 31, 2036.

And in case you're wondering whether Major League Soccer might try to get around the provisions of the lease by contracting the Fire and launching a replacement franchise in the Chicago market under the stewardship of a new investor/operator (something akin to the Chivas USA / LAFC scenario), consider that the current lease states "If the Fire ceases operations, any Major League Soccer team organized by MLS during the Term to play in the Chicago Market Area (excluding away games) shall play its home games in the Stadium in accordance with the terms of this Agreement".

In fact, even if the Fire were to cease to operate as a Major League Soccer franchise, but still operated as a pro soccer team under the auspices of another organization, the terms of the current lease would require the club to play its home matches at Toyota Park. According to the pertinent clause in the lease, "In the event that the Fire disaffiliates from Major League Soccer but continues to operate as a professional soccer team, Operator shall cause the Fire to play all of its Fire Home Games in the Stadium."          

Finally, should MLS or Fire ownership decide to simply throw caution to the wind, breach their contractual obligations, and dare the Village of Bridgeview to seek legal remedy, the lease stipulates, "in the event of a material breach or threatened material breach by a party hereto of any of its agreements or obligations hereunder, the other parties shall have the right to seek injunctive relief and specific performance. In the event such relief is sought by an injured party, the other parties specifically waive their right in any litigation on account thereof to assert a factual or legal defense that the injured party would not be irreparably harmed or damaged thereby and that monetary compensation would be adequate relief. And the terms of the lease grant an injured party the right to "file suit for a temporary injunction to maintain the status quo". In other words, if the Fire's investor/operator or Major League Soccer attempt to move the team out of Toyota Park before January of 2037, or agree to allow another MLS franchise to operate in the Chicago Market Area in a stadium other than Toyota Park prior to January of 2037, not only is Bridgeview entitled to obtain an injunction, they can obtain an order forcing the Chicago Fire and/or Major League Soccer to perform under the terms of the lease... and the Chicago Fire and MLS waive any defense that attempts to claim that paying monetary damages would be sufficient to resolve the matter.

Bottom line? The Village of Bridgeview's lawyers negotiated one hell of a stadium lease... and both Major League Soccer and the investor/operators of the Chicago Fire have signed off on it. As a result, the pro soccer franchise that Tom Ricketts and Sterling Bay are hoping to bring to a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in the Lincoln Yards development on the Chicago River is going to be competing in the United Soccer League... for a good long while.           

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Jesus Chris, Bridgeview, IL has way better lawyers than most any other major league city. Good for Bridgeview, but terrible for Chicago. The city deserves big league soccer and it's a damn shame they won't get it for nearly 20 years.

 

The MLS 2.0 era of soccer specific stadiums in weird suburbs made sense at the time, but the decision hasn't aged very well. And it's only been about a decade.

 

--

 

In other news, Seattle walloped Houston tonight 4-1, and have won 11 out of 13.

[Wings]

Good Lord!!! So a second MLS team in Chicago is pretty much a no go until were all DEAD.  

 

Looking forward to the possible Timbers-Sounders first round match up. 

[Brian in Boston]

Well, it would seem that Albuquerque's new United Soccer League franchise is to be dubbed New Mexico United.



New Mexico United website

[Kaz]

19 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

Well, it would seem that Albuquerque's new United Soccer League franchise is to be dubbed New Mexico United.



New Mexico United website

I know that they still sneaked it in there, but it would have been nice to see the Zia Sun in a more centralized location in the crest.  Maybe too cliche?

[Gothamite]

This is the best evaluation of the Fire's stadium lease that I've read:

 

Stadium Lease Snapshot: Bridgeview and the Chicago Fire, and the Best/Worst Stadium Lease in the U.S. (socceresq.com)

 

That analysis ends on an interesting note:

 

Quote

Given the airtight nature of this lease, short of a catastrophic event, the only way to get the Fire out of Bridgeview, AND get a MLS team in Chicago proper, is to come to an agreement with Bridgeview. In light of the financial issues that are ongoing in Bridgeview, it is certainly possible; nothing prevents the parties from mutually terminating/amending the agreement. If the price is right.

 

Ay, there's the rub.  The lease is ludicrously unbalanced in Bridgeview's favor, but the village is still losing an estimated $3 to $4 million dollars a year.  When MLS secures a new owner for the Fire, I suspect that person or group will negotiate a Bridgeview buyout as part of the transaction.

[4_tattoos]

Well damn. I guess Ricketts and Bay truly are playing the long game lol.

 

So USL Chicago will be a big fish in a small pond until 2036 won't they?

[Gothamite]

3 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

So USL Chicago will be a big fish in a small pond until 2036 won't they?

 

I think they know exactly what they’re doing. The entry fees into USL are a fraction of what they’d have to pay in MLS.  As are operating costs. They can have a solid anchor for their development at a reasonable cost. 

 

I’ve never believed that this was just some secret back door into mls for them. 

[BigRed618]

I don’t see what the big deal is about Bridgeview. It’s literally next door to Chicago, a 10, 15-minute walk from MDW. Guess I have to actually be from there to understand.

[Gothamite]

The math isn’t that hard.

 

When you have a city with a public transportation system like the L, and your stadium isn’t actually on the L, that’s a huge ing problem.

 

There’s simply no excuse for a Chicago stadium requiring both an L journey and then a shuttle bus.

[4_tattoos]

So is the Fire in Bridgeview situation different than that of Galaxy being in Carson & Red Bull being in Harrison, NJ? Prior to the existence of NYCFC and LAFC I heard way more complaints from Chicago fans regarding the Fire's stadium location than I did that of LA and NY fans.

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, 4_tattoos said:

So is the Fire in Bridgeview situation different than that of Galaxy being in Carson & Red Bull being in Harrison, NJ? Prior to the existence of NYCFC and LAFC I heard way more complaints from Chicago fans regarding the Fire's stadium location than I did that of LA and NY fans.

 

I can’t speak to LA, but NYC fans have been complaining about Harrison since the stadium opened. It’s always been a nightmare to get to. That’s why NYCFC was so necessary in the first place.

[Digby]

It's the bus thing. Nobody wants to take a bus to the stadium. At least Harrison has a PATH stop. (Also half of the NYCFC vs RBNY split is pure cultural New Jersey angst.)

[Brian in Boston]

St. Louis is back in play as a market seeking to land a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.

Yesterday, a potential ownership group that includes members of the Taylor family (founders and operators of Clayton, Missouri-based rental car giant Enterprise Holdings) and World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh (a St. Louis native and former U.S. Olympic soccer team member) unveiled plans for construction of a $250 million soccer-specific stadium that would be largely privately financed.

Much is being made of the fact that the effort is being spearheaded by Carolyn Kindle Betz and other female members of the Taylor family. The bid is being promoted as what would be the first majority female-owned franchise in MLS history. 

Preliminary plans indicate that the owners are seeking a break on the city's 5% amusement tax on tickets to sporting events, a property tax break from a city agency that would own the stadium site and lease it to the team, and state tax credits. The pitch from owners is that only patrons purchasing tickets and concession/souvenir items at the proposed stadium will be paying taxes that will offset city contributions to the plan. Because the plan is not seeking citywide tax revenues or tax increment financing (TIF), approval of the deal would require a vote of city aldermen, rather than a public vote like the one that failed last April.

It is thought that the current ownership group - dubbed MLS4THELOU - is interested in building the proposed stadium on the same Market Street site west of Union Station that the SC STL effort was targeting last year.

Soccer gets another shot in St. Louis as family that owns Enterprise launches bid for MLS team

MLS4THELOU   



   

[Dilbert]

I would love to see St Louis in MLS. Would make a great rivalry with Kansas City, Chicago, and Cincinnati. I think the next round of expansion will be between, Phoenix, Sacramento, St Louis, San Diego and Detroit. I think Indy and Raleigh-Durham have moved nowhere. Charlotte and Tampa Bay are dead. San Antonio is on life support depending on Austin. Las Vegas and Louisville have recently entered the mix but I dont think they will go far.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It would be great to add new markets but also great to remove deadweight in low-interest markets like Dallas, Houston, Chicago and New England. It'll never happen, but the lack of enthusiasm in those places is a really bad look when compared to markets like KC, Portland and Atlanta. And presumably new markets.