North American Pro Soccer 2019

[Dilbert]

1 hour ago, 4_tattoos said:

Don't know about Cincy, but DCU signed on to a multi year deal with Flo. They're stuck unless there ends up being a loophole for them to exploit or a buyout option. Most DC United fans downright refuse to subscribe to the service, frequently pointing out several OTA broadcast and regional cable networks the club could/should have made a deal with over Flo.

Yeah I believe FCC signed a 2 year deal. Dont think Donnie boy wanted us to go any further than that for TV/streaming deals.

[FiddySicks]

Why in the world would a brand new franchise sign a streaming deal with a service that limits their viewer base so heavily? 

[Rockstar Matt]

Damn, that ending to the game was crazy.

 

Both teams had an opportunity to steal a win in the closing moments.

 

LAFC are perhaps a bit unlucky to not come out with a win (they missed some amazing chances) as Seattle were down to 10 men for nearly the entirety of the game and down to 9 for the last few minutes, but all credit to Seattle for holding on and nearly stealing it at the end. 

 

Onto Chicago!

[Viper]

Meanwhile Minnesota has just done the impossible (by their standards, anyway): Post two straight clean sheets - against teams led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney, no less.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

50 minutes ago, Rockstar Matt said:

Damn, that ending to the game was crazy.

 

Both teams had an opportunity to steal a win in the closing moments.

 

LAFC are perhaps a bit unlucky to not come out with a win (they missed some amazing chances) as Seattle were down to 10 men for nearly the entirety of the game and down to 9 for the last few minutes, but all credit to Seattle for holding on and nearly stealing it at the end. 

 

Onto Chicago!

 

Today was definitely one of those ties that was a win for Seattle.

 

I hope these two teams meet again in the playoffs.

[FiddySicks]

So, Tulsa Rouchnecks FC just set a damn good example for the rest of soccer. 

 

One of their players was accused of using a serious racial slur against an opponent, and THIS was their response (revised).

 

Thats a tough move to make from a competitive standpoint because this particular player is a pretty big part of their system. But this was also the right move to make. Sometimes, the right moves are the most difficult. I truly commend them for this. 

[Dilbert]

1 hour ago, Bucfan56 said:

Why in the world would a brand new franchise sign a streaming deal with a service that limits their viewer base so heavily? 

Heres the long story

 

So here is how FC Cincinnatis market is laid out. Cincinnatis MLS market includes Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington and Louisville. FCC has many fans in Dayton as well as some in Lexington. Louisville is very questionable as the market is served by our former rivals Louisville City in USL Championship. The over the air television rights are with Sinclair Broadcast group who operate WKRC TV (Local 12,CBS and 12.2 The CW), and WSTR (Star 64, MyNetwork TV). All games (home and road) are broadcast on Star 64. Star 64 is only viewable in the Cincinnati market and a small souther sliver of Dayton. There are no over the air TV deals in Dayton, Lexington or Louisville. Not sure if the team attempted to make any with the local tv stations there or not. So that fans in the other markets could view the team they wanted a streaming partner. They approached several streaming partners (YouTube TV, ESPN+ as well as others) but nobody wanted them except for FloSports. This seems odd to me as FC Cincinnati has been a team that made themselves known around the country and the world for that matter for how this team has taken its fans by storm. According to the team, with out the Flo deal no one outside of the Star 64 viewing area would be able to see the team unless it was nationally televised on Fox or ESPN. Flo became the exclusive streaming partner for the team meaning any other streaming service would be blacked out in those four markets (However it appears Columbus may now be part of the blackout area too). This meant that even if you were streaming Star 64 via other streaming services it would be blacked out. This requires fans to watch the game over the air with antenna or purchase a Flo subscription. As many DC United fans know Flo is not that great. Its fairly new, expensive ($30 a month), not always reliable and the content is not that great of quality. FC Cincinnati fans were pissed by this deal and many (as have I) have refused to purchase a subscription to Flo. A discounted subscription was available to DC but not to Cincinnati. After outcry, Cincinnati received a deal available to only the first 2,000 fans or until April 12th whichever came first. The special deal honestly wasnt any better (by maybe like a couple bucks). Last year fans were able to purchase a $5 subscription to watch the games on ESPN + as that is the USL league wide subscription partner. MLS has a deal with ESPN + but its only for out of market games meaning local fans would still not be able to see FCC. We signed a 2 year deal for both Star 64 and Flo as thats the furthest the league wants us to go when the leagues national deals run out. Supposedly at that time the league wants to do new league wide streaming and TV deals which may jeopardize how the team is viewed on TV or streaming locally. The team has always let the supporter groups be involved in just about everything but this apparently was kept secret from them and pissed them off too. Long story short fans are pissed that basically we dont have a good option  to view our team online. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[PrimalCookie]

29 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

So, Tulsa Rouchnecks FC just set a damn good example for the rest of soccer. 

 

One of their players was accused of using a serious racial slur against an opponent, and THIS was their response.

 

Thats a tough move to make from a competitive standpoint because this particular player is a pretty big part of their system. But this was also the right move to make. Sometimes, the right moves are the most difficult. I truly commend them for this. 

You really made me think that they actually did something about it, and then I clicked the link.

 

"More information will be given when it is available" is code for "we're going to let this quietly fade away, and hope everyone forgets".

 

EDIT: I think you gave the wrong link. I see now that they actually released the player. Great on them, and hopefully they're a role model for everyone else.

The correct one should be here.

[FiddySicks]

Shoot, you’re right. Somehow I got the two links mixed up. It’s corrected in the original post. 

 

tl;dr, they cut the player almost immediately after the report was made. Like I said, tough move competitively, but absolutely the correct move.

 

[Jer15]

So, went to the first CPL game. Just a couple points:

 

1 - York had a good amount of travelling fans. They were loud. It was very cool. 

2 - I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of quality. From player to player you could see a difference but all in all it was not as bad as I feared. 

3 - Despite Forge giving away tickets and saying the game was "sold out", the place was not full. I expected this was going to happen. It wasn't the warmest day so people probably just bailed. The nice thing is that they gave out a discount count to those who attended. Only a couple bucks off but rewarded those who actually attended.

4 - I adopted Forge early on as my team but I was surprised how invested I was. I love TFC (that's probably no surprise to anyone in this thread) and I thought i'd like Forge but not feel the same as I do about TFC. Honestly, this came close.  

 

I'm going to the next home game, already grabbed my tickets. It's a Wednesday night so it should be interesting to see how that does in terms of attendance.

[GDAWG]

From the USL League ONE Chattanooga Red Wolves SC:

 

 

[Maroon]

23 hours ago, GDAWG said:

From the USL League ONE Chattanooga Red Wolves SC:

 

 

 

I read the comments on that tweet and it seems that the NPSL's Chattanooga FC fans are not happy about the existence of this USL League One team. also, not a fan of the Red Wolves logo at all. The forehead and eyebrows just seem way too overdone.

[Gothamite]

NPSL is semi-pro.  What’s wrong with a professional club moving into town?

[Jer15]

They just want those kids off their lawn. 

[Maroon]

18 hours ago, Gothamite said:

NPSL is semi-pro.  What’s wrong with a professional club moving into town?

 

I personally don't see the problem and would actually like some more history on it. Commenters seem to have a problem with it because Chattanooga FC is "Supporter Built" and the Red Wolves are trying to "highjack a team, it's fan, it's city" and CFC fans call them "red carpetbaggers."

[Gothamite]

32 minutes ago, Maroon said:

Commenters seem to have a problem with it because Chattanooga FC is "Supporter Built" and the Red Wolves are trying to "highjack a team, it's fan, it's city" and CFC fans call them "red carpetbaggers."

 

Just more of the "we're more organic than thou" toxicity that unfortunately infects the sport's lower divisions.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

35 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

Just more of the "we're more organic than thou" toxicity that unfortunately infects the sport's lower divisions.

 

I read some DC fans who were complaining about Audi Field and how now more fans from different backgrounds attend the games.

 

I don't even know why to say to that.

[GDAWG]

Quote

A hearing for the suit is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on May 1, but on Tuesday workers began tearing down the light stanchions that ring the stadium. Ft. Lauderdale city manager Chris Lagerbloom denied that demolition work had begun on the site.

“Demolition is not occurring,” Lagerbloom said in an email to ESPN. “The only work being performed on the City-owned property, as of today, is the removal of stadium lights in conjunction with aviation authorities and Florida Power and Light in accordance with the approved Interim Agreement.”

David J. Winker, acting as counsel for FXE Futbol, went to court to put a halt to the work. In an email to ESPN, he said the work being done a day before the scheduled hearing marked “a new low” in the 25 years he had practiced law.

“Their defense was that they were only ‘removing the lights in anticipation of demolition.’ This is clearly not true as evidenced by the many pictures on social media.

 

https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2019/05/competing-group-aims-to-stop-alleged-lockhart-stadium-demolition-work/

 

The saga of Inter Miami continues

[SFGiants58]

12 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2019/05/competing-group-aims-to-stop-alleged-lockhart-stadium-demolition-work/

 

The saga of Inter Miami continues

 

MLS should step in and tell either Inter Miami or FXE to GTFO. It’s their stupid acceptance of Beckham’s team that has stagnated MLS’ footprint in Florida. 

 

With hindsight being 20/20, would MLS accept Beckham’s proposal?

[GDAWG]

5 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

MLS should step in and tell either Inter Miami or FXE to GTFO. It’s their stupid acceptance of Beckham’s team that has stagnated MLS’ footprint in Florida. 

 

With hindsight being 20/20, would MLS accept Beckham’s proposal?

 

If they wanted a second team in Florida, just add the Tampa Bay Rowdies.  This whole stadium saga with Inter Miami doesn't look good for anybody.