Sykotyk
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Posts posted by Sykotyk
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1 hour ago, GDAWG said:
Tulsa, unless the USFL wants to pay an extorbitant amount of money to the University of Oklahoma to have games played at their 80.000 seat stadium.
Central Oklahoma in Edmond has a 10k seat stadium. Wonder if some temp bleachers could be brought in to get it up to 15k-20k. Tulsa could be possible and just go with the Oklahoma name and try to draw from the whole state and southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas and northwestern Arkansas. Either way, OKC would be the better market, but the stadium limits it. I don't see OU hosting a team. And an 80k stadium is not what any league should want when they're expecting about 20k at best.
1 hour ago, GDAWG said:The Red Bulls said no to the XFL 2.0 when it was considered an option for the Guardians and as for the Union, the schedule seems to be packed with games from the Union and Union II of MLS Next Pro if not for Union II, Subaru Park would be a good option.
1 hour ago, McCall said:I don't know if Red Bull Arena is actually in play. I think that was the intended stadium for the New York Guardians, but Red Bulls said no. Thus they ended up at MetLife.
If I'm remembering correctly.
From what I remember, that is basically how it went. Vince knew how badly small crowds in big stadiums looked during XFL 1.0 and focused more on stadiums that could host in the 20-40k range. Seattle being an outlier because of the setup of whatever the name du jour stadium in Seattle has for the Sounders, is that the bottom level feels divorced from the upper deck. Making a perfectly nice 30kish seat stadium if you ignore the tarped off upper deck.
But Vince wanted the major markets as much as possible. Chicago was a no go from XFL 1.0 days, but needed NYC and LA for television number purposes. And at least in LA had a good very lined up that fit perfectly.
2 hours ago, GDAWG said:With the Houston Roughnecks playing in Houston, it is unlikely that the Gamblers will ever play in Houston so the USFL needs to figure out what to do with the Gamblers. If they want an actual presence in Texas, they might have to consider Austin, but where would they play in Austin? Otherwise the Gamblers motiff and nickname fits a team in Oklahoma (Tulsa) better, unless they want to bring the Outlaws back. I sense that the Gamblers will either go to a new city or be like the Bandits and be replaced. If they still want Texas, do they go to El Paso or the Rio Grande Valley?
The Maulers are playing in Canton right now and the USFL are promoting Canton as part of the Pittsburgh Market despite Canton being only one hour from Cleveland. I think they would have kept their uniforms from last year if they didn't believe that they would eventually play at Acrisure. The only other stadium is the 5,000 seat stadium where the USL Pittsburgh Greyhounds are playing, but the USFL might see it as too small for what they want in a stadium.
The Generals are in a bind. I doubt that MetLife Stadium or Red Bull Arena are in play. That leaves Rutgers and Princeton and I don't think they would be as open to pro football at their stadiums as the University of Houston is with the Roughnecks. The Generals seem unlikely to ever play a game in New Jersey. I don't think New York City is a viable option either. The USFL could be long gone when New York City FC opens their stadium in Queens. If they want to keep the Generals brand and want to have all of their teams playing in front of actual home fans, I think a better option would be to move the team to the New England area, most likely Hartford at the football stadium where UConn plays. Would the University of Buffalo be interested in hosting the Generals?
Stars are in a similar situation as the Generals. Where would they play in Philly? Franklin Field hosts multiple track and field events during this time of year. Subaru Park is busy with the Philly Union and Philly Union 2 of MLS NP. I find it hard to believe that the Linc would be an option though.
As for the Breakers, if Tulane was open to allowing the Breakers to play at Yulman Stadium then that solves the stadium problem for the Breakers. If not then the Breakers will be like the Gamblers, Maulers, Generals and Stars.....in a bind on where to play. The USFL has problems ahead with at least four of the teams in regards to their futures beyond the hubs.
First, it's even worse, it's the Riverhounds, not Greyhounds. And the stadium barely seats about 4k if you squeeze everyone in. A road behind the home side and railroad tracks just beyond the river side makes the stadium nearly impossible to expand.
As for Buffalo. No. Not just no. But hell no. That would be like putting NJ in Norfolk or Richmond, Virginia. It's over 330 miles from MetLife to Buffalo (and further since UB is on the north side of town while Bills play far south of town). The best bet for NJ would be Red Bull but Red Bull just doesn't want it. They got the rugby team briefly and the title game last year was played at RBA, but this year they're at another stadium. Also, RBA is hosting the NWSL team. As long as RB owns the team, runs the stadium, etc I don't see it happening.
MetLife will rent to anyone. But it's costly, huge, and hard to get to from almost anywhere with people. If not for the Giants and Jets history, there's no way games at the meadowlands would do well. So many other teams tried and failed. This isn't the USFL of the 80s. The Generals will not draw a big enough crowd to make it worthwhile.
Rutgers could be an option. They host HS title games every year it seems. Princeton has the perfect sized stadium but it's highly unlikely they'd ever host an outside team.
For Philly, Franklin Field also hosts quite a few high school games. It's in the city. it's perfectly capable of hosting games. It's just old. Villanova Stadium holds 12,500 which for the USFL could work. Union's stadium is there, but one of the biggest complaints is being in Chester and the neighborhood.
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1 hour ago, McCall said:
This guy forgot to put pants on.
"Who wears short shorts!"
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I remember in the AFL days under the NBC contract, most team jerseys were just the year and the team name for the player name. Were nice simple uniforms. I think with this, they could've kept the 54 number as a quiet nod to him, but put the team name on the nameplate. At least then you're advertising the league.
Most people that see D. Johnson 54 would probably think it's just some fashion jersey and not a real team jersey. Especially if any are worn outside the team market.
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9 hours ago, See Red said:
The AAF would've called it a sellout. They were awful about exaggerating attendance. Ahhh... I do miss the AAF.
So far, while I don't like the hub city structure they use and will struggle to really get into games played in empty stadiums, the USFL feels like a step-up from the XFL to me. The presentation, at least. But then, anything would be an upgrade over ESPN's XFL coverage with their second- tier CFB commentators and constant talk about spreads and over/unders.
The XFL broadcasts have felt so far behind the first three USFL broadcasts. Though the USFL is relying far more on TV revenue and selling tickets for nothing. XFL meanwhile has very high priced tickets and has a home venue for every team and caters to the GameDay experience.
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17 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:
Michigan is wearing a Rocket Mortgage ad patch. Are the rest of the league going to be doing that?
Rocket Mortgage is by Quicken Loans which is owned by Dan Gilbert who owns the Cavs and the Monsters in Cleveland. He's also part of the group trying to bring an MLS team to Detroit. He also owns the company that owns one of the casinos in Detroit and also the one in Cleveland.
Rocket Mortgage is based in Detroit so sponsoring the Michigan Panthers makes sense. I doubt they'll sponsor every team.
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27 minutes ago, McCall said:
According to Curt Menefee during the Stallions-Generals broadcast, the Showboats-Stars game drew 30k. Yet, as you see in this video, half the stadium is empty (lower half even tarped off), and the other half wasn't completely full. Daryl Johnston also said they won't be releasing attendance figures.
Liberty Bowl capacity is 58k. Given that it appears there was freebies given out and tickets were only $10 and people were trying to flip them for many times over face value on the resale market, there's a good chance not every ticket was used at the game.
That's not unusual for ANY sport. If a ticket is issued, it is counted. They can't sell it or give it out again. So, that's how attendance is counted. We haven't gotten turnstile counts for decades from any league.
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2 hours ago, Sodboy13 said:
Liberty Bowl is extremely vacant for the Showboats' inaugural game, and Memphis' uniforms appear to not so much have been designed as just simply occurred. Something you'd get out of create-a-team in a PS1 game.
On the bright side, the end zone walls have advertising, so someone in this operation is at least working to bring money in besides the Fox checks.
Only sold tickets for one half of the stadium. According to the ticket sales sites pregame, only a few dozen tickets were left available. And this crowd shot shows the home side pretty well full.
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1 hour ago, ralphz said:
Funny to note: The league supposedly dropped the Bandits and recolored the Showboats to avoid so much red.
But with the Maulers recoloring, there sure is a lot of athletic gold now!
Was gonna say here that this first game between Stars and Showboats has a ton of yellow.
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41 minutes ago, Discrim said:
^I wanna say "please tell me that wasn't varsity," but that was varsity, wasn't it? Only because I know this is occasionally on display at state up here. Normally though, the kids in the mismatching jerseys are 5th-6th stringers who aren't sniffing the field past warmups.
Unfortunately it was varsity 8-man. Two small very rural Indian schools. Just making do with what they had.
Pine Hill finished 0-8 while Dulce finished 3-6. Dulce is a public school but mostly Navajo. Their only 3 wins were over Navajo Pine, Alamo Navajo and Pine Hill. 5 their 6 losses were all mercy rule shutout losses at the half. This game was 50-0 but ended in the 3rd.
Was Senior Day/Homecoming
Those were the seniors on the team AND the homecoming court.
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On 3/27/2023 at 10:38 AM, MJWalker45 said:
The Brahmas vs Renegades looked pretty good, even if the QB play was lacking.
Reminds me a lot of this HS game I saw in New Mexico:
*-kudos if you can point out all the inconsistencies.
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4 hours ago, Cruhawk7975 said:
That would be great IMO, especially if it was say a 16-team league where each team had ties to 1 NFC team and 1 AFC to take on a certain # of players from each team on the roster.
I think you'd see a 12-14 team league to start if there's a merger. Houston is only getting one team. Philly or NJ is going to be on ice if they're forced too early to find a home for both.
Hypothetical:
Pittsburgh (in Canton)
Michigan
DC
Orlando
Memphis
St. Louis
Birmingham
Houston
Arlington
San Antonio
Las Vegas
Seattle
You'd lose Philly and New Jersey without homes. You'd lose the Gamblers (most likely). You'd lose New Orleans who doesn't yet have a home but would be a good addition if they did.
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3 minutes ago, TrueYankee26 said:
Unfortunately for the Badgers they went colder than a winter in their home state in the last 9 minutes
Congrats to the Mean Green
13 points in 20 minutes. Unreal self destruction.
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55 minutes ago, TrueYankee26 said:
Probably the 1st post in this thread about the NIT.
I am watching the NIT semifinals between Wisconsin and North Texas and ESPN flashed back to when an Oregon fan held a sign that said "Cheese Curds are Overated" lol
That was how he spelled overrated and Oregon would of course lose the game to the Badgers
I'm here. Wisconsin should be winning this one comfortably.
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The Baby Steelers. Thing is, being near them I would consider rooting for them, but not with the black and yellow. Purple and orange were a good look, but associated with a losing history.
But, as long as they'll never play in Pittsburgh it doesn't really matter.
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27 minutes ago, Unocal said:
In a CBB season where the #1 ranking was a hot potato.....
a 1 lost to a 16 and I can see the other 3 losing this weekend
It's been THAT type of year
Honestly thought Houston would be the one if any to go out on upset in the first round. There really isn't that Clear Cut Favorite to make the final four with them all.
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8 hours ago, McCall said:
Is there any particular reason why 2 out of Seattle's 3 home games have been on Thursday nights?
In both games, they drew poorly, 10,386 and 9,231, while they had over 15k for their one home game on a Saturday night. Both the Thursday game were also pretty cold, which made it even less likely people were gonna come out on a weeknight.
MLS the first week and I'm guessing the same culprit the next. Need time to scrub the field to get the lines ready for Sounders.
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1 hour ago, Gary said:
Just saying jumping fandom because of one player or person isn't a true fan imho. You ride or you die. Besides I absolutely hate Aaron Rodgers, but if it was between him and Carr? I'm taking Rodgers every day of the week
Really? Because I'm a Browns fan that gave up my season seats over Watson. So, yeah. I still want the Browns to win, but I won't be paying for it as long as he's on the team.
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On 3/12/2023 at 11:12 AM, JayMac said:
I love these pictures. I am a frequent visitor of Ocean City, NJ and my brother teaches at Cherokee High School so it was good to see South Jersey well represented!
Very cool little stadium and got to check out the boardwalk, get a lobster roll, and go in the ocean between games
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19 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:
I wonder what's going to become of the stadium in Rochester? Seems like it's been without a primary tenant for several years now.
I was there for HS football games years ago when it was called Sahlen's Stadium. Great, unfinished stadium. Was strange seeing a HS game played with the secondary temp lines.
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There's such an importance on having the best QB, that it makes sense to just gamble everything to get the guy you want. if you lose you lose. Might as well take the chance by giving up picks.
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Texas & Kansas next.
TX - Follett v. White Deer (6-man)
TX - Follett v. White Deer (6-man)
KS - Holcomb v. Pratt
KS - Holcomb v. Pratt
Back to North Dakota. With 8 games at the Fargodome.
ND - Fertile-Beltrami (MN) v. Blackduck (MN)
ND - Kittson County Central (MN) v. Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke (MN)
ND - Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (MN) v. East Grand Forks (MN)
ND - Osakis (MN) v. Sauk Centre (MN)
ND - Barnesville (MN) v. Crookston (MN)
After a week in Iowa just as a fan, the next week was in Minnesota. On the sidelines at US Bank Stadium.
MN - Barnesville v. Jackson County Central
MN - Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton v. Fairmont
Week 14 was back at Heinz Field.... er, Acrisure Stadium
PA - Union v. Bishop Canevin
PA - Steel Valley v. Beaver Falls
PA - Aliquippa v. Central Valley
The following week was a few games in Ohio and West Virginia for state finals.
WV - Williamstown v. James Monroe
Week 16 was the six PIAA state championship games. First year at Chapman Field in Mechanicsburg.
PA - Union v. Steelton-Highspire
PA - Union v. Steelton-Highspire
PA - Aliquippa v. Bishop McDevitt
PA - Aliquippa v. Bishop McDevitt
PA - Aliquippa v. Bishop McDevitt
PA - Westinghouse v. Southern Columbia
PA - Westinghouse v. Southern Columbia
PA - Westinghouse v. Southern Columbia
PA - Pine-Richland v. Imhotep Charter
PA - Pine-Richland v. Imhotep Charter
PA - Belle Vernon v. Neumann-Goretti
PA - Belle Vernon v. Neumann-Goretti
PA - Belle Vernon v. Neumann-Goretti (9-8 final, BVA stopped NG at the goal line and then had to run out the clock to avoid the safety)
For Week 17, I wasn't going to make it to Texas in time for games. So, went to Fort Lauderdale for Saturday. No sideline. Just in the stands. Not a big crowd, at all.
FL - Lakeland v. Venice
FL - Lakeland v. Venice
FL - Lakeland v. Venice
FL - Miami Columbus v. Apopka
FL - Miami Columbus v. Apopka (blocked field goal, tied at 10-10 with 1 second left)
FL - Miami Columbus v. Apopka (Columbus wins, 16-13 in OT; Last game of the year)
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Week 4 was southeast New Mexico
NM - Jal v. Clovis
NM - Jal v. Clovis
NM - Hobbs v. Rio Rancho
NM - Hobbs v. Rio Rancho
TX - Kingdom Prep v. Abilene Christian
Week 5 was in South Dakota, Watertown and Aberdeen.
SD - Watertown v. Pierre T.F. Riggs
SD - Watertown v. Pierre T.F. Riggs (Lincoln Keinholz, QB most passing yards in SD history, committed to U of Washington)
SD - Ipswich v. Leola/Frederick (@ Northern State U.)
Week 6 was back in Ohio
OH - Akron North v. Akron Ellet
OH - Newton Falls v. Brookfield
NY - Clymer/Sherman/Panama v. Portville (@ Panama)
NY - Clymer/Sherman/Panama v. Portville (@ Panama)
PA - Cowanesque Valley v. North Penn-Mansfield
Week 7 was in Indiana
IN - Delta v. Greenfield-Central
IN - Delta v. Greenfield-Central
IN - Delta v. Greenfield-Central
IN - Union City v. Centerville
IN - Northeastern v. Knightstown
IN - Tri v. Hagerstown
Week 7 was back in South Dakota.
SD - Northwestern v. Warner
SD - Northwestern v. Warner
ND - Wyndmere/Lidgerwood v. Hatton/Northwood
ND - Wyndmere/Lidgerwood v. Hatton/Northwood
Week 8 is back in NM, with a thursday game in Arizona.
AZ - Tolleson Union v. Shadow Ridge
NM - Las Cruces Mayfield v. Roswell
NM - Las Cruces Mayfield v. Roswell
NM - Elida v. Animas (6-man)
NM - Elida v. Animas (6-man)
NM - Elida v. Animas (6-man)
NM - Elida v. Animas (6-man)
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Of all the photos I took of the 2022 season, these ones were my favorite, best, or most notable:
Week 0 was in Georgia. Including Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
GA - Parkview v. Johns Creek
GA - North Forsyth v. North Atlanta
GA - Forsyth Central v. Chattahoochee
GA - Brookwood v. NorcrossGA - Mill Creek v. Walton
Week 1 was the Battle at the Beach in Ocean City, New Jersey.
NJ - Mainland v. Egg Harbor Twp
NJ - Mainland v. Egg Harbor Twp
NJ - Ocean City v. Neshaminy
NJ - Delran v. Wayne Valley
NJ - Holy Spirit v. Cherokee (game winning field goal)
NJ - Cedar Creek v. Edison
Week 2 was back near home. Pennsylvania and New York.
PA - North East v. Girard
NY - Clymer/Sherman/Panama v. Wilson
NY - Salamanca v. Randolph
NY - Salamanca v. Randolph
Week 3 - Ohio and Pennsylvania
PA - Warren v. Girard (@ Youngsville)
PA - Warren v. Girard (@ Youngsville)
OH - Mentor Lake Catholic v. Erie (PA)
PA - Mercyhurst Prep v. Seneca
PA - Mercyhurst Prep v. Seneca
PA - Mercyhurst Prep v. Seneca
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I would definitely think exposure would play a key rule in susceptibility to this (if they are linked). NFL would play 10 games a year roughly, and you're only out there for half the game and a lot of stoppages. Baseball players would be out there 81 games a year (plus games at other stadiums with similar/same turf), and though you're out there 'half the game' you're also on the basepaths frequently as a hitter, etc.
It may be just one venue has contaminated turf, it may be a coincidence tied to some other outlier (team facility, plane, spring training, etc?). Or, it could be a problem from the type of turf itself.
Big question, and the money question is, did the turf company(-ies) know about this link ever, and when did they know it?
If no one knew, and the turf is largely no longer in use, it would just be a sad point of history of the game.
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USFL 2023 Season
in Sports In General
Posted
This is where the league and their TV overlords will differ. The costs in Philly and NJ are obscene compared to Michigan and Ohio. While TV really wants the viewership numbers in those markets. Remember, USFL is not a big money endeavor. it's basically The Spring League in an edgar suit.
Franklin Field is the most likely possible venue for a Philly team. But then will the TV partners want to host games there. How's the lighting? Press facilities? etc. Subaru definitely exceeds all requirements for TV but USFL still wants butts in seats because they turn into eyeballs on screens to help fuel the TV numbers.
For NJ.... Rutgers is by far the most likely possible venue. If this were XFL, I'd say MetLife. But I can imagine that Rutgers being far cheaper and TV just wants the NJ name with NJ fans watching on TV. It's a Big Ten venue. It's going to work fine for TV. Hell, the red/white colors work great for the Generals, as well. Where MetLife will really look like an intruder on foreign lands.
I agree with Houston. TV wants the Houston market right now. But there's no way with the XFL existing they're going to compete head to head. Even in a city the size of Houston. Oklahoma is an untapped market but it's horrible for TV. I could definitely see a complete relocation a la TB and go to somewhere like Denver, Phoenix/Tucson, etc. The USFL does want to keep to USFL names/teams history so those two seem likely. The other could be a return to Florida. Maybe TB comes back from Houston?
Philly and NJ I detailed above. I agree with both of your assessments.
For Pittsburgh... I just don't see Heinz/Acrisure happening. The one major problem and the one the Steelers absolutely hate is that it runs their grass hybrid field. It's not fully grass. There's a plastic mesh infused into the turf that makes upkeep costly and you can't just replant new sod the way other grass fields do. They tolerate the WPIAL finals being played there but charge a fortune. And that's more political pressure as they used the 'community relations' aspect as part of their plea to build a new stadium to replace Three Rivers.
The other is that Pittsburgh is not nearly as big as other markets. They have three major league teams and a surprisingly popular Riverhounds though their numbers are small. Additionally, for a city/metro area as small as it is it's surrounded by a lot of other options for minor league sports not too far away. Wheeling has the Nailers (Pens AA affiliate), Altoona has the Curve (Pirates AA affiliate), Johnstown has two teams (baseball Mill Rats and hockey Tomahawks), Youngstown area has two teams (Mahoning Valley Scrappers draft league team and USHL's Phantoms)... And Pitt is right there with all their ACC sports sapping fan dollars and support. Pittsburgh is a tough market. AFL failed there with the Power when they went hard into the black/gold motif and came off as a 'major league' type team.
Maulers would be going up against the tail end of a Pens season, the early 'we might still have a good season' Pirates summer, and the all important 'let's save up for Steelers tickets' fans. Steelers have some of the biggest control over their stadium in the NFL. And they really don't want another football team playing there. I just don't see it happening.
And the closest venues anywhere near Pittsburgh are high school (Wolvarena in Turtle Creek, Neumann Stadium in Wexford, Wheeling Island Stadium in Wheeling WV, Mihalik-Thompson Stadium at Slippery Rock University, Stambaugh Stadium at Youngstown State, and you could maybe try to argue WVU in Morgantown but that's almost as bad as the Maulers playing in Browns contested territory going into WVU territy for a Pittsburgh named non-Steelers team).
I like the idea of the Maulers becoming an Ohio team, but then the black/gold doesn't matter. Mapfre is now Historic Crew Stadium (Mapfre ending their naming rights). And that's definitely a decent venue and perfect size. But Columbus is a ridiculously fickle market. It's taken decades for the Crew and Blue Jackets to establish themselves as an everyday part of the city. If it's not Ohio State it's nothing. Even the Clippers took a shiny new chic stadium for fans to come around. A minor league football team playing in late spring and summer is just not going to survive there. Unfortunately.
Akron/Canton can work but they need to be Ohio or NEO or Canton/Akron labeled, marketed, and themed. Cleveland isn't happening (not playing at CBS or Progressive, Byers is not capable of hosting a professional team, and that immediately ends any possible options around the city. Best way to describe Canton would be like Winston-Salem NC. Charlotte's the big city in the region. Greensboro (Akron) has a ton of people, some major venues and a better sporting acumen, but Canton/Massillon/Stark County is still a big urban area with a lot of people and a lot of money and a lot of people that travel for sports all around the region. And there is no 'rural' areas from 20 miles west or east of 77, 20 miles south of 30 to the lake, and 20 miles north or south of 76 from Akron to PA. You're constantly minutes from a town and easy access to the cities and major cities in the region. A team could exist anywhere in that area of Ohio and draw