North American Pro Soccer 2015

[Jer15]

whoops, wrong spot

[TBGKon]

NASL looks like it has 2 potential owners in the San Francisco Bay Area...

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/03/nasl-north-american-soccer-league-mls-earthquakes.html?page=all

Look for more westward expansion if this occurs. Crossing my fingers for San Diego and Phoenix.

[bosrs1]

NASL looks like it has 2 potential owners in the San Francisco Bay Area...

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/03/nasl-north-american-soccer-league-mls-earthquakes.html?page=all

Look for more westward expansion if this occurs. Crossing my fingers for San Diego and Phoenix.

Two potential owners, but no clue how to make it work in SF. San Francisco is another trap for NASL not unlike now NY ended up being for the Cosmos. Only they don't even have the name to live off of in the Bay Area. They build outside SF where they're likely going to be forced to, they'll be irrelevant. They build in SF they risk the same because SF doesn't support their minor league teams. There really is no way they can win in the Bay Area. They need ideally to be D1 and in SF proper if they have a prayer. And they're not going to be either.

[Gothamite]

It looks like the NASL is being trapped by its ambitions. It needs to be on the West Coast in order to even keep its Division 2 status.

But where on the West Coast? The NASL can't even make a play at D1 without a presence in both LA and SF. The other prime markets - Portland and Seattle - are already claimed. Sacramento is similarly out. So it's either accept D2 status and expand into smaller Western cities that couldn't move up to D1, or challenge MLS directly in the bigger markets.

[bosrs1]

It looks like the NASL is being trapped by its ambitions. It needs to be on the West Coast in order to even keep its Division 2 status.

But where on the West Coast? The NASL can't even make a play at D1 without a presence in both LA and SF. The other prime markets - Portland and Seattle - are already claimed. Sacramento is similarly out. So it's either accept D2 status and expand into smaller Western cities that couldn't move up to D1, or challenge MLS directly in the bigger markets.

Exactly. They've already lost LA with MLS having two teams there, and the new one LAFC likely taking the prime near downtown location. They can't make it work as D2 in San Francisco, yet need SF to make a D1 run. They've already lost Sacramento who is USL and after today's presser likely to be MLS team #25 after Miami at #24. The only major market on the west coast of the US that is left is San Diego. And even that is tempered by having Club Tijuana dilute the fan pool to some extent. NASL has essentially missed the boat on the western US but has no choice but to force themselves in where they'll fail to maintain their D2 status. And that's not even taking into account that the now partially MLS backed USL is making a D2 push of it's own.

Just feels like the NASL end game is to be pushed out of business or at least into irrelevance.

[Gothamite]

It's a terrible situation.

One of our local soccer columnists has an interesting take: the NASL should embrace the "promotion" of its clubs to MLS:

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/embrace-minnesota-uniteds-32967/

Can't say as I disagree. That's a way to stay relevant as a solid D2. The only other option is to keep on pretending they can dethrone MLS and fold in a couple years when all the new investment goes into USL. And then the NASL name (and beautiful logo) disappears from the game again, which would be a terrible shame.

[Gothamite]

A. Jacksonville has played a game, and they broke an attendance record doing it. It wasn't the first attendance record the city has broken in the last three years.

B. They have an owner in the process of putting up a stadium. He expects to have one in 3 years. He wants a site with plenty of room so he can build a stadium that will one dat hold 20k.

An exhibition game. So what? The Cosmos did very well in their first games, and see where they are now.

Heck, NYCFC's average attendance after their first game was above the Yankees' 2014 average, maybe we should also start claiming that they're more popular than the Bronx Bombers.

As for the stadium, call us when the owner actually has a plan. And has actually spent the money.

Look, Jacksonville might well be a fantastic, smashing success, and become the cream of the NASL. It's just comicly absurd to claim that they are right now.

[2001mark]

I think I already hate NYCFC. Congratulations, it takes a lot to usurp the NY Red Bulls as my least fav MLS franchise.

[Gothamite]

Hey, what'd we do?

[sportstar1212]

I think there will be a disdain for NYCFC from some, I guess due to jealousy.

1) It's New York. Either people love the city or hate it, there doesn't seem to be much of an in-between when it comes to NYC.

2) Being the child of the Yankees and Man City, who are two wealthy, much-hated franchises.

Anyway, as per San Francisco, I think a team could work there. For example, I live in Toronto, and I absolutely refuse to support TFC. That said, if the area got an NASL team (which I vaguely remember hearing talk of), I would definitely support them. Perhaps there are people in the Bay Area who are in that boat; not interested in the MLS team, but would be willing to support a local alternative. Also, the Earthquakes are pretty lousy, and if the NASL team is good, they could very well compete with San Jose in terms of popularity.

[JayMac]

I think there will be a disdain for NYCFC from some, I guess due to jealousy.

1) It's New York. Either people love the city or hate it, there doesn't seem to be much of an in-between when it comes to NYC.

2) Being the child of the Yankees and Man City, who are two wealthy, much-hated franchises.

My 2 reason for hating them right from the start. But I have to say, Goth, your club's kits are gorgeous.

[Corvus]

Not only is there almost no where for NASL to go on the west coast, with MLS team owned USL teams in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, there's not really any room in those markets for a second team. I can't really see long term success being in the cards for more than one non-MLS league.

[gosioux76]

Not only is there almost no where for NASL to go on the west coast, with MLS team owned USL teams in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, there's not really any room in those markets for a second team. I can't really see long term success being in the cards for more than one non-MLS league.

There's always the next tier of U.S. cities untouched by most pro sports, and definitely pro soccer. I'm thinking of Boise, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Tucson. They're not cities that will elevate the league's stature, but if the goal is having a Western presence just for survival, they might do the trick.

[bosrs1]

Not only is there almost no where for NASL to go on the west coast, with MLS team owned USL teams in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, there's not really any room in those markets for a second team. I can't really see long term success being in the cards for more than one non-MLS league.

There's always the next tier of U.S. cities untouched by most pro sports, and definitely pro soccer. I'm thinking of Boise, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Tucson. They're not cities that will elevate the league's stature, but if the goal is having a Western presence just for survival, they might do the trick.

Unfortunately for NASL only Vegas would help them maintain their D2 sanctioning as all the rest of those cities are not in the Pacific time zone.

[Gothamite]

And a team in Boise won't exactly help propel the NASL up into a second major league.

[buckeye]

Rapids are partnering with Transamerica for jersey sponsorship.

http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2015/03/rapids-partner-transamerica-major-jersey-sponsorship

[Needschat]

And a team in Boise won't exactly help propel the NASL up into a second major league.

A team in Albany will, since it's an hour's flight from New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal, and Toronto, a little further from Washington and Chicago.

[2001mark]

I think there will be a disdain for NYCFC from some, I guess due to jealousy.

1) It's New York. Either people love the city or hate it, there doesn't seem to be much of an in-between when it comes to NYC.

2) Being the child of the Yankees and Man City, who are two wealthy, much-hated franchises.

Jealousy? Uh... not quite from me anyways. TFC & its supporters do our own thing... we really aren't measuring ourselves with other clubs.

MLS as a whole on the other hand...

It just feels like MLS & its marketing/buzz machine has been NYCFC overdrive since last summer. Forgetting of course the rest of the established clubs, all but 1 of which had more than zero games played.

It's like the Beckham Galaxy launch only worse. I dunno, maybe it's just a turn off for established fans while they the league keep pushing for more mainstream eyeballs.

[Gothamite]

I dunno, maybe it's just a turn off for established fans while they the league keep pushing for more mainstream eyeballs.

Interesting.

That's a fairly standard growing pain, I think, of everything that moves from a fringe movement into the mainstream. From Star Trek to craft beers to soccer, what was cool and outsider-y becomes commonplace as it becomes larger.

I hear it from Red Bulls fans, but that I chalk up to sour grapes.

[2001mark]

I hear it from Red Bulls fans, but that I chalk up to sour grapes.

Yeah, if anyone is jealous, it must be the Red Bulls & their supporters. They've gone from champagne NY footballers to dishwater New Jersey misfits.

I could see the Red Bulls being sold & name changed as soon as 5-10yrs from now. Hasn't Red Bull the product itself already plateaued? It's to the 2000's as Snapple was the 90's.

I'm sure much of N.America's MLS fanbase is sick of TFC's headlines as well. Highest spending team in the league. Yet all we want is to be competitive & be in the playoffs more often than not.

We've filled the house, been patient, & maybe sick of the Leafs choking & the Jays caving; not to mention MLSE owns both the Leafs & TFC, so you can imagine local media copy machine around here.