North American Pro Soccer 2018

[Mac the Knife]

19 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Anyone who has been paying attention to this process knows how the league offered repeated chances to both FCC and the Republic to get their bids in order. FCC did, the Republic didn’t.

 

20 hours ago, RichardWitham said:

screw FC cincinatti and screw nashville FC.... we shoulda been in instead of nashville... MLS is dead to me... we'll never get in and i feel strung along  by MLS as a SRFC fan

 

Those paying attention to this process also saw MLS receive a self-inflicted black eye; a product of its own hubris.

 

They made a huge mistake in publicly announcing an expansion timetable which they proceeded to completely miss.  When they received applications from ownership groups representing 12 cities, they beamed, publicly crowing about how MLS was so popular that people had literally lined up to commit to paying them $150,000,000 each for the privilege of joining their club.  They accepted all those beautifully bound "applications for membership" and their supporting documentation in a public manner that in 40 years of following sports I'd never seen before.  Everything seemed glaringly sunny.

 

And then?  MLS actually read those applications.  

 

12 applicant markets, and not a single one of them qualified for immediate admission, largely because they had failed to do what MLS coveted most:  garner public financing for a brand new, soccer specific stadium in their markets.  In almost every case, the prospective owners went to their municipalities hat in hand, looking for help of one sort or another, preaching the benefits of how top tier professional soccer would be a boon to their local economies.  And in virtually every case, they were essentially told by those municipalities to pound sand.

 

Instead of what many expected to be a coronation-like admission of Sacramento and one other market immediately into MLS and having two others readily announced, MLS wound up with a show in which they wound up settling for markets that were initially perceived to have virtually no chance - Nashville and Cincinnati - just because their ownership groups were able to jiggle some change out of the government's pockets to partially fund stadia there.

And to that I say one thing.  GOOD.

The new stadium gravy train in professional sports may finally be grinding to a halt for this generation.  And it's about damned time.  I've no issue with MLS, but given the level of hubris it exhibited in conducting this expansion, this was a major comeuppance which was entirely deserved.

 

While I'm sure Nashville and Cincinnati will be fine markets for MLS, the league has now put itself in a position where they had to dig deep into the barrel to find two expansion candidates who only partially met the criteria they set for this process... and now will have to dig even deeper to find two more, or even more embarrassingly, call a halt to the process without fulfilling its plans to add four new teams.

 

I like soccer.  I wish North America had a pyramid system similar to European leagues; if it did, I'd start a pro franchise tomorrow and enter them into a league at the bottom of the pyramid and take my chances.  But MLS brought this on themselves.  They were smug about this process, they had this end result coming, and I for one am actually happy they got it.

[FiddySicks]

15 minutes ago, Mac the Knife said:

Instead of what many expected to be a coronation-like admission of Sacramento and one other market immediately into MLS and having two others readily announced, MLS wound up with a show in which they wound up settling for markets that were initially perceived to have virtually no chance - Nashville and Cincinnati - just because their ownership groups were able to jiggle some change out of the government's pockets to partially fund stadia there.

 

This part, in particular, is what pisses so many people off. Before Garber made that whole "Not if but when" statement in regards to Sacramento's bid, things were mostly good. That's about the point where everyone started getting riled up and the basketball-based financial vultures started circling. Had that one little tidbit not been dropped, I think this whole process plays out differently. Even if we ultimately DID have to wait those extra two years, at least it doesn't feel like a total c**ktease. Now instead of this being a natural transition, people are well beyond getting antsy and are now annoyed at the entire process. We've seen that reflected in our sales numbers. And don't get me wrong, Sac Republic isn't blameless for falling for that crap, either. I've seen the repercussions of that up close and personal. But this whole process has been done in pretty bad faith and that part of it is ALL on MLS. 

[Gothamite]

38 minutes ago, Mac the Knife said:

I wish North America had a pyramid system similar to European leagues

 

Ah.  

 

Well. 

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, Bucfan56 said:

This part, in particular, is what pisses so many people off. Before Garber made that whole "Not if but when" statement in regards to Sacramento's bid, things were mostly good.  

 

That was before MLS found out that the huge-money owners Sacramento supposedly brought in didn’t have any intention of spending their money on the club.  Which is the kind of thing you can’t actually learn until you begin the expansion process and gain access to financials. 

 

I don’t see any reasonable way this is the fault of MLS. Sacramento misled the league, they were the ones with bad faith and they deserve the black eye.  

 

Savramento could be in tne league. They could sill get in the league. They just need to follow through. Which is all on the team’s ownership.   I just hope they do. 

[Jer15]

17 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

Ah.  

 

Well. 

I think i've said it in this thread 10 times before "not this again". lol

[rams80]

7 hours ago, Digby said:

 

Bingo. People always gloss over this fact just because they had a Buffalo Bills-like run of bad luck, combined with an apparent modern reluctance to spend. But they were good! I think the modern Revs do just enough -- they avoid the problem franchise label, but also won't be relevant at a major-league level. Just this sort of weird ennui. Boston could use that small-market taste for once, anyway.

 

Also here's my next level hot take on Krafts' mismanagement: how has the Revs' academy been so irrelevant? Diego Fagundez came up nearly a decade ago now. Demographics seem ideal for a soccer factory. You've got Brazilians, Portuguese, Italians and loads of rich doctors' kids across the expansive lawns of Wellesley and Newton. 

 

Because those people won't be playing for the New England Patriots, which is the Kraft family's real concern.

[FiddySicks]

10 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

That was before MLS found out that the huge-money owners Sacramento supposedly brought in didn’t have any intention of spending their money on the club.  Which is the kind of thing you can’t actually learn until you begin the expansion process and gain access to financials. 

 

Well, to be fair, neither did we. That was as much of a surprise to us as it was to the league. 

 

Quote

I don’t see any reasonable way this is the fault of MLS. Sacramento misled the league, they were the ones with bad faith and they deserve the black eye. 

 

I wouldn't say the issues Sacramento has had were the league's fault, but it sure says a lot about the league's vetting process for them to speak of inevitability when you haven't even taken a cursory look at the finances yet. You would figure they'd have learned their lesson on that one by now. Either way, the optics are poor and makes them look pretty second-rate to keep making these same mistakes if you ask me.

 

Quote

Sacramento could be in the league. They could sill get in the league. They just need to follow through. Which is all on the team’s ownership.   I just hope they do. 

 

I'm not sure if I'm emphasizing enough the connection a certain person has to this team and how much of a headache it’s been. A King sized headache, in fact. You want to know what caused Whitman and others to turn and back away? That’s pretty much your answer. It’s a total piss off because those who actually work on this project on a daily basis are shouldering a lot of the blame for what is being done by people who are ultimately figureheads and do (other than finance the thing, and yes I know how important that is), literally, NOTHING with this team other than cause problems. It’s almost as if they want their particular level of dysfunction to spread to the rest of the city and it’s actually painful to witness. Sigh, we’re so :censored:ing close to this thing being viable, too. All it takes is some stability. Barring any more REAL stupidity, that’ll come. 

[Wings]

I'd love for the Kraft's to sell the Revolution to someone who has the time and consideration to care about the franchise. New stadium and maybe a complete re-brand.

 

Boston Revolution F.C. or Boston Rebellion F.C. 

 

[Wings]

19 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

Well, to be fair, neither did we. That was as much of a surprise to us as it was to the league. 

 

 

I wouldn't say the issues Sacramento has had were the league's fault, but it sure says a lot about the league's vetting process for them to speak of inevitability when you haven't even taken a cursory look at the finances yet. You would figure they'd have learned their lesson on that one by now. Either way, the optics are poor and makes them look pretty second-rate to keep making these same mistakes if you ask me.

 

 

I'm not sure if I'm emphasizing the connection a certain person has to this team and how much of a headache it’s been. A King sized headache, in fact. You want to know what caused Whitman and others to turn and back away? That’s pretty much your answer. It’s a total piss off because those who actually work on this project on a daily basis are shouldering a lot of the blame for what is being done by people who are ultimately figureheads and do (other than finance the thing, and yes I know how important that is), literally, NOTHING with this team other than cause problems. It’s almost as if they want their particular level of dysfunction to spread to the rest of the sports world in this city. 

 

 

Is this "King" sized headache basically sabotaging the Republic bid from within so as not to be competition for a certain basketball team?

[dfwabel]

56 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

Well, to be fair, neither did we. That was as much of a surprise to us as it was to the league. 

 

 

I wouldn't say the issues Sacramento has had were the league's fault, but it sure says a lot about the league's vetting process for them to speak of inevitability when you haven't even taken a cursory look at the finances yet. You would figure they'd have learned their lesson on that one by now. Either way, the optics are poor and makes them look pretty second-rate to keep making these same mistakes if you ask me.

 

 

I'm not sure if I'm emphasizing enough the connection a certain person has to this team and how much of a headache it’s been. A King sized headache, in fact. You want to know what caused Whitman and others to turn and back away? That’s pretty much your answer. It’s a total piss off because those who actually work on this project on a daily basis are shouldering a lot of the blame for what is being done by people who are ultimately figureheads and do (other than finance the thing, and yes I know how important that is), literally, NOTHING with this team other than cause problems. It’s almost as if they want their particular level of dysfunction to spread to the rest of the city and it’s actually painful to witness. Sigh, we’re so :censored:ing close to this thing being viable, too. All it takes is some stability. Barring any more REAL stupidity, that’ll come. 

 

[FiddySicks]

11 hours ago, Wings said:

Is this "King" sized headache basically sabotaging the Republic bid from within so as not to be competition for a certain basketball team?

 

So, you could look at this scenario and think it's some nefarious plan to sink another competing organization. Or, you can see it as a case of there being very little correlation between wealth and intelligence. 

 

 

 

[FiddySicks]

10 hours ago, dfwabel said:

 

 

[dfwabel]

2 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

 

[Dilbert]

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/05/29/major-league-soccer-awards-expansion-team-cincinnati

 

Cincinnati is officially beginning MLS play in 2019

[Digby]

How the conferences will shake out will be interesting. If the Crew stays put seems like it'll be fine -- slot Cincy there next year, Nashville and Miami both the year after with Chicago moving West. But if Columbus moves to Austin, I dunno. They'd obvi have to go to the West so maybe Minnesota moves East?

[Sport]

2 hours ago, Dilbert said:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/05/29/major-league-soccer-awards-expansion-team-cincinnati

 

Cincinnati is officially beginning MLS play in 2019

 

It was a great day!

[MJWalker45]

18 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

 

It was a great day!

I hope there's three great days next year too.

[FiddySicks]

?

[Wings]

So 27 and 28 scheduled for 2022.  (crossing fingers for Sac to turn it around). I'm guessing they pick 2 from Phoenix, Detroit (even with Ford Field) and possibly rejuvenated bids from Sacramento & San Diego. 

 

 

 

[GDAWG]

4 hours ago, Dilbert said:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/05/29/major-league-soccer-awards-expansion-team-cincinnati

 

Cincinnati is officially beginning MLS play in 2019