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North American Pro Soccer 2019


Gothamite

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In the wake of news that Boston-based hedge fund manager Seth Klarman was spearheading an effort to lift Las Vegas Lights FC from the USL Championship to Major League Soccer, there are now reports that a second "Sin City" MLS expansion bid is in the works. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal story, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is eyeing obtaining an MLS franchise that could play in the new Raiders stadium.

Golden Knights owner Bill Foleye eyes MLS team for Raiders stadium 

Golden Knights say they are pursuing MLS soccer team

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6 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

In the wake of news that Boston-based hedge fund manager Seth Klarman was spearheading an effort to lift Las Vegas Lights FC from the USL Championship to Major League Soccer, there are now reports that a second "Sin City" MLS expansion bid is in the works. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal story, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is eyeing obtaining an MLS franchise that could play in the new Raiders stadium.

Golden Knights owner Bill Foleye eyes MLS team for Raiders stadium 

 

This has gotten out of hand.  Las Vegas will go from zero to three major league teams in less than a decade.

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19 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

In the wake of news that Boston-based hedge fund manager Seth Klarman was spearheading an effort to lift Las Vegas Lights FC from the USL Championship to Major League Soccer, there are now reports that a second "Sin City" MLS expansion bid is in the works. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal story, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is eyeing obtaining an MLS franchise that could play in the new Raiders stadium.

Golden Knights owner Bill Foleye eyes MLS team for Raiders stadium 

Golden Knights say they are pursuing MLS soccer team

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I feel like Las Vegas deserves this.

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It strikes me that Mr. Foley might well be thinking that while owning one of three pro sports franchises in a nascent big-league market like Las Vegas is a risky proposition, controlling two of said entities would allow him to hedge his bets. Hell, if he could convince Mark Davis to partner with him on an MLS bid, they'd each be back to square-one: controlling half of the Las Vegas pro sports market.

That said, my gut is telling me that, all things being equal, Don Garber-and-company brass would prefer a Las Vegas-based MLS franchise to be its owner's primary sports focus, rather than an adjunct to an NHL or NFL team. We'll see. 

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8 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

It strikes me that Mr. Foley might well be thinking that while owning one of three pro sports franchises in a nascent big-league market like Las Vegas is a risky proposition, controlling two of said entities would allow him to hedge his bets. Hell, if he could convince Mark Davis to partner with him on an MLS bid, they'd each be back to square-one: controlling half of the Las Vegas pro sports market.

That said, my gut is telling me that, all things being equal, Don Garber-and-company brass would prefer a Las Vegas-based MLS franchise to be its owner's primary sports focus, rather than an adjunct to an NHL or NFL team. We'll see. 

As long as they act more like Seattle and less like New England, I don't think he really cares. 

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7 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

It strikes me that Mr. Foley might well be thinking that while owning one of three pro sports franchises in a nascent big-league market like Las Vegas is a risky proposition, controlling two of said entities would allow him to hedge his bets. Hell, if he could convince Mark Davis to partner with him on an MLS bid, they'd each be back to square-one: controlling half of the Las Vegas pro sports market.

That said, my gut is telling me that, all things being equal, Don Garber-and-company brass would prefer a Las Vegas-based MLS franchise to be its owner's primary sports focus, rather than an adjunct to an NHL or NFL team. We'll see. 

I'm not sure that matters much. St. Louis' MLS aspirations were resuscitated by the sudden and unexpected involvement of the Taylor family of Enterprise Holdings. Yet both the Taylors and their partner in the bid, World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh, hold an ownership stake in the St. Louis Blues. 

 

I think it comes down to the largesse of the individual making the bid. 

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I would not be at all surprised if Las Vegas submits its name in the running for expansion in both MLB and NBA, when both leagues officially announce expansion, which at this rate probably won't be for another 50 years for baseball and another ten for the NBA.

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34 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

As long as they act more like Seattle and less like New England, I don't think he really cares. 

 

I'd say that as long as they act like Atlanta and less like New England.

The reality is that - while there's no denying that Paul Allen's investor/operator stake in Seattle Sounders FC played important dividends for the franchise - the initial investments in the team were, according to reports from the Seattle Times, closer to Joe Roth holding a 50% stake in the enterprise, and Adrian Hanauer and Paul Allen's Vulcan Sports and Entertainment each putting up 25% of the MLS buy-in. Did Allen's allowing the team to play at Qwest (now CenturyLink) Field save the soccer franchise the cost of building its own facility or leasing from an outside entity? Yes. Did having Vulcan Sports and Entertainment and Seattle Seahawks personnel help out with front-office tasks save the soccer franchise from having to foot-the-bill for an entire staff of its own, particularly in areas such as ticket sales? Yes. Did operating Seattle Sounders FC with the knowledge that, should the club hit a particularly rocky patch with regard to finances, there was always the potential for one of the wealthiest individuals in the world to ride to the rescue with his tens of billions of dollars? Absolutely.   

That said, the investor-operator rights for Seattle Sounders FC were never wholly-owned by Paul Allen, as is the case with the Kraft family's control of the New England Revolution or Arthur Blank's stewardship of Atlanta United FC.     

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2 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Vegas will get an NBA team before Seattle, huh.

 

I could see them bidding for an NBA expansion team along with Seattle, although I think Seattle wins out in the end and they add another city in the East to balance things out. 

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5 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

I could see them bidding for an NBA expansion team along with Seattle, although I think Seattle wins out in the end and they add another city in the East to balance things out. 

Or they move Memphis to the East.

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36 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I would not be at all surprised if Las Vegas submits its name in the running for expansion in both MLB and NBA, when both leagues officially announce expansion, which at this rate probably won't be for another 50 years for baseball and another ten for the NBA.

 

Lol Vegas will be long dried up and abandoned by then. 

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

I'm not sure that matters much. St. Louis' MLS aspirations were resuscitated by the sudden and unexpected involvement of the Taylor family of Enterprise Holdings. Yet both the Taylors and their partner in the bid, World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh, hold an ownership stake in the St. Louis Blues. 

 

I think it comes down to the largesse of the individual making the bid. 


I agree, in all likelihood it will ultimately depend upon how ready, willing, and able a potential owner is to loosen the pursestrings. 

That said, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Andy and Barbara Taylor, Jim Kavanaugh, and Dave Steward are currently but a handful of investors in a St. Louis Blues ownership group that numbers 15 or 20 people in total. I'd be surprised if they account for a majority of the money that's been placed on the line in the Blues ownership structure.

By contrast, Bill Foley is already the majority owner of the Vegas Golden Knights. As for Marc Davis, he and his mother Carol's 47% ownership stake in the Raiders give them controlling interest in the franchise, as said percentage represents a larger chunk of ownership than any other individual currently holds.

As many people have pointed out in this thread, Las Vegas is a market that is looking at going from playing host to no major professional sports franchise to being asked to potentially support three of them in relatively short order. As a result, most of said people seem to be of the opinion that Las Vegas is being spread too thin. That being the case, will Garber and the MLS brass be more comfortable awarding franchise rights to an investor/operator whose primary focus within the realm of pro sports is said MLS club, or will they opt to go the route of granting said rights to an investor/operator who, arguably, has a more vested interest in another pro sports property?

Time will tell.          

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2 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Well 50 years is likely how long it's going to take to resolve the stadium issues in Tampa and Oakland.

 

Florida will be completely under water and California will be hanging out with Hawaii by then. 

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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3 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

Florida will be completely under water and California will be hanging out with Hawaii by then. 

 

Well lets hope that Tampa and Oakland resolve their stadium issues by then. 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

Florida will be completely under water and California will be hanging out with Hawaii by then. 

 

Las Vegas might be oceanfront property by then. Gotta play the long game.

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