Brian in Boston

Santa Barbara Sky FC is joining USL League One. The team, which will play out of Santa Barbara City College’s 10,000-seat La Playa Stadium, will take to the pitch in 2024. A Santa Barbara Sky FC women’s USL Super League side will also be launched. Former Liverpool FC CEO Peter Moore is the venture’s founding investor.

If George Washington University is determined to drop Colonials as the nickname for athletic teams, I say they just revert to their old Buff and Blue moniker and call it a day. If adopting your color(s) is a good enough naming convention for the likes of the Wellesley Blue, Stanford Cardinal, and Harvard Crimson - to say nothing of the Dartmouth Big Green, Cornell Big Red, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds, Chicago Maroons, and NYU Violets - its good enough for GW.

My nephew played football for Villanova. According to him, not only does Villanova Stadium play host to football, but during the USFL's season it would be - as you suspected - the home facility for both men's and women's lacrosse, as well as track and field and intramural competition. As for Subaru Park, though the stadium was designed with the idea of hosting concerts and sports besides soccer (football, lacrosse, rugby), I'm right there with you when it comes to questioning how welcoming the Union would be to a USFL franchise setting up shop in the facility.

Spot-on. The migration of UCLA and USC to the Big Ten Conference is - like so much else about the world of "big time college sports" ™ - yet another example of pure, unadulterated, unfettered greed and self-promotion. Not one of the coaches or athletic directors involved in the remaking of the "big time college sports" ™ landscape cares one iota about anything more than their own enrichment and aggrandizement. They certainly don't give a **** about the education of student-athletes. As for the administrators of the colleges and universities participating in "big time college sports" ™, they've done nothing less than enable the prostituting of their academic institutions. Here's how out of whack the priorities are in the good ol' U.S. of A.: the last time I checked, the highest-paid public employee in 40 of the 50 United States was the head coach of either the football or basketball team at a state college or university. Not a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, or treasurer of a state. Not a chancellor, president, provost, or dean at a state college or university. Nope. An intercollegiate coach. What does that tell you about where our collective focus is trained as a society? Insane.

To my mind, the quality of MLS officiating is the league's greatest weakness. It ranges from mediocre to downright miserable.

In July of last year, Sportico ran a piece in which the average Major League Soccer franchise value - based upon information gleaned from "60 stakeholders inside and outside MLS" by reporter Kurt Badenhausen - was pegged at $550 million. Los Angeles Football Club had the top valuation at $860 million, while the Colorado Rapids were ranked lowest in value at $370 million. The piece set the collective fair-market value of the league's franchises - including team-related businesses and real estate holdings - at $14.9 billion. Sportico's full list of team valuations was as follows: 1) LAFC - $860 million 2) Atlanta United - $845 million 3) LA Galaxy - $ 835 million 4) Seattle Sounders FC - $705 million 5) New York City FC - $655 million 6) Toronto FC - $650 million 7) Portland Timbers - $635 million 8 ) D.C. United - $630 million 9) Austin FC - $575 million 10) Sporting Kansas City - $550 million 11) Columbus Crew - $540 million 12) Chicago Fire FC - $535 million 13) Philadelphia Union - $530 million 14) Inter Miami CF - $525 million 15) Minnesota United - $520 million 16) San Jose Earthquakes - $510 million 17) New York Red Bulls - $505 million 18) FC Cincinnati - $500 million 19) New England Revolution - $480 million 20) Nashville SC - $460 million 21) Houston Dynamo FC - $425 million 22) Real Salt Lake - $420 million 23) FC Dallas - $415 million 24) Orlando City - $400 million 25) Vancouver Whitecaps FC - $385 million 26) CF Montreal - $380 million 27) Colorado Rapids - $370 million

Indy Eleven's on-again, off-again quest to secure a soccer-specific home seems to have made some progress. A 20,000-seat stadium - targeted to open in 2025 - would be part of a mixed-use development in downtown Indianapolis. http://uslchampionship.com: Indy Eleven secures downtown location for Eleven Park development Indianapolis Star: Indy Eleven announces big development for downtown WISH-TV: Developer secures land for $1B Indy Eleven stadium and neighborhood project

There is public transportation access to Gillette Stadium. The Foxboro stop on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Franklin/Foxboro line from Boston is a 5-to-7-minute walk from Gillette Stadium. Service to Patriots games and other special events at the Foxboro stop has been available for years. A daily commuter pilot program - subsidized by the Kraft Group - began in 2019, only to be put on hold within a year due to the COVID pandemic. The Foxboro stop can also be accessed - and has been - by special event trains running out of Rhode Island on the MBTA's Providence branch of the Providence/Stoughton Line. I would be shocked if the Kraft family and the powers-that-be within Massachusetts state government don't already have the wheels in motion - no pun intended - to provide MBTA rail service to Gillette Stadium for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

My understanding was that FIFA and the United Bid Committee has settled upon a schedule that would see 60 matches contested in the United States, with 10 matches each played in Canada and Mexico. The format you propose wouldn't square with the 60-10-10 split. Of course, they could ultimately end up moving away from the schedule they were said to be eyeing. Time will tell.

The future of American football on the professional level has less to do with how successfully the NFL handled "the whole concussion thing a few years back" than it does with how said issue is dealt with at the youth through high school levels of competition moving forward. Further, gridiron football has always been amongst the most expensive of sports in which to launch and maintain a program (equipment costs, the size of rosters, etc.) at the youth club and interscholastic level. American gridiron football's prospects for future survival are linked to parental concerns over the safety of the sport, as well as whether or not youth athletic organizations and elementary through high school athletic departments feel the cost of maintaining a program is a worthwhile expenditure. If participation in American gridiron football declines at the youth through high school levels, then it is going to eventually have an impact on the quality of the product at the professional level. What will the NFL be willing to do to step-up and protect its status as the top-dog amongst major pro sports in America? We'll see.

I've been hearing quite a bit of chatter that AT&T Stadium and MetLife Stadium are the frontrunners to host the final. We'll see.

I count myself lucky to have scratched my World Cup itch as a media relations volunteer in Foxborough at both the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as being gifted a trip - as a wedding present, from my wife's sister and brother-in-law - to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

One would hope as well as Foxborough handled hosting six matches (including the Italy vs. Spain Quarterfinal) during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, five matches (including the Norway vs. China Semifinal) during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and four matches (including a Quarterfinal doubleheader of Brazil vs. Sweden and the United States vs. Norway) during the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Robert Kraft has served as the Honorary Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of the United Bid Committee of Canada, Mexico, and the United States since the group launched its effort to host the 2026 World Cup almost five years ago. Reportedly, Kraft and FIFA President Gianni Infantino have developed a close relationship throughout the buildup to the trio of North American host-nations being awarded the event and over the course of the four years since. Gillette Stadium is in the midst of a $225 million renovation project that will see the construction of a new entrance plaza at the facility's north end, as well as the addition of 75,000 square feet of function and hospitality spaces to the inventory that the venue already boasts. Finally, Boston has long been a popular destination amongst international travelers, with many of said tourists having first visited the city as students at one of the numerous colleges and universities that are located within the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area. Frankly, while some prognosticators were claiming that Boston was a "bubble" candidate to be designated one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it would have struck me as a surprise if it hadn't been tabbed. If anything scotched Baltimore's chances of landing 2026 World Cup action, it was likely the fact that Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field - just 89 miles as the crow flies from M&T Bank Stadium - was amongst the venues selected.

Rhode Island and Connecticut not playing in the New England region is asinine, particularly the Ocean State.

That lightning bolt must be made of osmium because the falcon’s facial expression Is the very picture of exhaustion and pain. Seriously, take a look at this guy... That isn't the countenance of a predator. It's the look of a sleep-deprived hernia-sufferer.

From this latest batch of designs, I’m partial to #1 as a Cream City FC primary logo. As for the secondary marks, I prefer #4.

The Cavaliers did what I feared they’d do. Namely, cobbled together disparate visual elements from different eras of the team’s history into a “Frankenstein’s Monster” of a visual identity. Leave it to the Cavs’ brain trust to be of the “Abby Normal” variety.

CF Montréal have unveiled their new badge.

All I need to know about the LA ART (Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit) Gondola is that it was proposed by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC, an entity created and controlled by McCourt Global. Yep... former Dodger owner Frank McCourt's outfit. Given the manner in which Frank's stewardship of the Dodgers came to a close - MLB concerns over the finances and operations of the team, an outside party being appointed by MLB to oversee the franchise's financials, and the club ultimately filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection - I'll pass on his gondola plan. For the life of me, I can't understand why the Dodgers' current owners would want to be any more involved with McCourt than having to fork over the $14 million per year they've already agreed to as the cost for renting the Dodgers Stadium parking lots from an entity he holds a 50% stake in.

Yes, indeed. The tragedy of Southern California's public transit history is that Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties were once linked by an extensive system of electric streetcars and interurban cars. The Pacific Electric Railway Company was the largest electric railway system in the world at its peak. Over 2,100 daily trains traversed more than 1,000 miles of track while serving cities and towns throughout Southern California.

Yes. The lead owner of Forward Madison FC - Jim Kacmarcik - is partnering with Kenosha-based Bear Development, a company with 36 years of experience developing hospitality, industrial, office, residential, and retail projects in 14 states. The proposal calls for the development of an 11-acre site bounded by Michigan Street, North Sixth Street, and the I-794 /I-43 interchange. Anchoring said development will be an 8,000-seat stadium playing host to professional soccer, as well as the Marquette University men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams. Adjacent to the athletic facility will be an indoor concert venue with a capacity of 3,500 people that the Pabst Theatre Group will operate in partnership with Kacmarcik Enterprises. Attached to the concert venue will be a 140-room upscale hotel featuring a full-service bar and restaurant overlooking the stadium. The final component of the project will be a five-story, 99-unit apartment building.

My statements are based upon my experience as the owner of a Los Angeles Kings full season ticket plan from 2003 to present, a Dodgers partial season ticket plan from 2005 through 2016, and a Los Angeles Football Club full season ticket plan from 2018 to present. If I want to make sure that I'm in my seat at Dodger Stadium in time for the 7:10 PM start of a weeknight game, there is no way I'm electing to leave Santa Monica by car any later than 5:30 PM... and that's not necessarily going to guarantee I get there on time. And don't even get me started about exiting the parking lots at Chavez Ravine after the contest. Meanwhile, a 5-minute drive from my home gets me to the Metro station in Santa Monica where I can grab the E Line train to the Pico station, a trip that has never taken me longer than 47 minutes on a Kings game night. From there I'm a 5-minute walk to Crypto.com Arena (which sits adjacent to the plot of land Farmers Field was to be built upon). Similarly, the trip from my preferred Metro station in Santa Monica to the Expo Park/USC station for an LAFC match has only once taken longer than 35 minutes. That was on the night a car accident blocked the track... and the total time from Expo Park/USC back to Santa Monica was 50 minutes, even with the need to clear the automobiles from the intersection. There is simply no comparing the slog of fighting my way through traffic in an automobile to and from Dodger Stadium for a baseball game with the ease and speed with which I can travel via the E Line of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Rail System from Santa Monica to either the Expo Park/USC or Pico stations for - respectively - LAFC matches and Kings games. None. There is a reason that Dodgers fans have gained a reputation for arriving late to games and leaving early: it is a chore getting to and from their stadium in a timely manner.

I'm not saying the scenario I've outlined is going to happen. In fact, I said the chance of such an eventuality occurring was "slim". That said, under Major League Baseball's current territorial rules for the Los Angeles market, the Dodgers could not unilaterally prevent the Angels from pursuing such a path. As for the number of lifelong Dodgers fans that would "switch their fandom" if the Angels were to make such a move, all I can tell you is that - as mentioned up-thread - I have crossed paths with no shortage of baseball fans on LA's Westside who would enthusiastically leap at the chance to rid themselves of the mind-numbing, nerve-fraying, soul-sucking slog that is getting in and out of Chavez Ravine in order to consume the MLB product in this market. And that sample includes everyone from transplants to Greater Los Angeles with other primary MLB team allegiances to native Angelenos who have bled Dodger Blue their entire lives. Now, granted, there are plenty of the latter fans who would tell you that they'd prefer it if the Dodgers were to make the move to the downtown Los Angeles ballpark I've described. Indeed, I know Dodger-loving seam-heads who can't understand why the franchise's current ownership group wouldn't want to rid itself of having to deal with former team owner Frank McCourt, who still holds a stake in the parking lots - and any profits that development opportunities on said landscape would generate - surrounding Dodger Stadium. Truth be told, the Dodgers likely wonder about that themselves from time to time. After all, the Dodgers current ownership group - Guggenheim Baseball Management - considered a deal that would have seen them build a replacement for Dodger Stadium on the downtown parcel that was being eyed for the Farmers Field development, with AEG building a stadium to house a National Football League team at the current Dodger Stadium site. In any event, this much seems certain: Arte Moreno has gotten himself in a pickle... and Major League Baseball would seem to have another less-than-optimal ballpark situation on its hands. Certainly not as problematic as the state-of-affairs plaguing the Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum or the Rays at Tropicana Field, but troublesome nevertheless.

Major League Baseball's territorial rules state that the Angels and Dodgers share the same territory - Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura Counties - equally. While either franchise can veto the move of a minor league team - including one another's affiliates - into said territory, they cannot limit the movement of the territory's other MLB club within the three counties.