North American Pro Soccer 2019

[FiddySicks]

1 hour ago, GFB said:

 

Comparing David Beckham to LeBron James is being very kind to Beckham. Beckham's fame came from off the field publicity as his play on the field... and that's not a slight against Beckham, it's just the truth of the matter. Beckham finished in the Ballon d'Or final voting one time in his career (2nd in 1999). LeBron has finished in the top 3 for NBA MVP voting nine times. For added comparison, both Stephen Gerrard and Frank Lampard have as been Ballon d'Or finalists as many times as David Beckham. 

 

I think a better comparison would be Stephon Marbury going to play in China about the same time Beckham came to MLS. 

 

 

Ehh, I don't know about that one. You're absolutely right that Beckham's on the field prowess wasn't as big as it was made out to be (Which is why I said from a marketing perspective in my earlier post), but comparing him to Stephon Marbury feels like a bit of a poor comparison in the other direction. Marbury had a few really good NBA seasons, and did have rather large star status for a few seasons, but Beckham was also an international superstar at the time due to his famously good looks (At least, that's what all the magazines said), as well as being married to a really famous pop star. 

 

Unless I'm somehow underrating the celebrity prowess of Stephon Marbury. 

[Gothamite]

Beckham was, in his day, one of the biggest football superstars on the planet.  Certainly the biggest in the English-speaking world.  He was a pop culture icon, a touchstone who continues to be referenced in films and television even in this country. Marbury never came anywhere close to those heights. 

 

You can say Beckham was overrated, you can say that he was mostly a tabloid celebrity or that he wasn’t all that on the pitch, but you can’t deny that he was a global superstar. We can’t deny that he brought instant notoriety and credibility to a still-fledgling league. We can’t deny that the league is where it is today partly because they got him to sign on that dotted line. 

[Jer15]

Some more on Ottawa......if you follow the link (it’s a 2 tweet thread) you’ll see a few more points. 
Seems like Ottawa really was just being stubborn. 

[Digby]

USL's talking about starting a division 1-level women's league to compete with NWSL. Only reason I can think of for this is that the USL powers that be have zero faith in the people running NWSL, which I guess I can understand?

 

https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/11/15/usl-pro-women-soccer-league-rival-nwsl-new-league

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

USL's talking about starting a division 1-level women's league to compete with NWSL. Only reason I can think of for this is that the USL powers that be have zero faith in the people running NWSL, which I guess I can understand?

 

https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/11/15/usl-pro-women-soccer-league-rival-nwsl-new-league

Anyone remember the ABL? This will have the same fate if they can't strike a deal with US Soccer to cover USWNT players like NWSL has. I would love for San Antonio take advantage of their stadium and put a ladies team in here as well, but at the NWSL. I think that most teams in USL should look at this as an investment in women's soccer AND a way to get MLS and NWSL to come to an agreement regarding feeder teams for those two leagues by acting as the Division 2 level for the women's game. 

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

USL's talking about starting a division 1-level women's league to compete with NWSL. Only reason I can think of for this is that the USL powers that be have zero faith in the people running NWSL, which I guess I can understand?

 

https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/11/15/usl-pro-women-soccer-league-rival-nwsl-new-league

 

That doesn't make any sense since the newly (and stupidly) named Proof Louisville FC is owned by Louisville City FC to began play in the NWSL in 2021.  How is that going to work?  Is this new league going to allow Proof Louisville to remain in NWSL?  Or are they going to have to jump ship to this new league? 

 

Also what happens to The North Carolina Courage when this league launches since it's owned by USL's North Carolina FC?  Not to mention too that Real Salt Lake and Portland have USL teams. 

[Digby]

12 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

That doesn't make any sense since the newly (and stupidly) named Proof Louisville FC is owned by Louisville City FC to began play in the NWSL in 2021.  How is that going to work?  Is this new league going to allow Proof Louisville to remain in NWSL?  Or are they going to have to jump ship to this new league? 

 

Also what happens to The North Carolina Courage when this league launches since it's owned by USL's North Carolina FC?

 

All great questions! And why none of this makes any sense. But I assume Grant Wahl wouldn't run with just any old source.

 

Since the USSF is absolving itself of administrative responsibility for the NWSL next year, my best guess is that somebody -- USL execs, or maybe team owners -- want USL to take over running NWSL, and they think the only way to do it is a hostile takeover after planting breakaway threats. The "dual league" thing is nuts so that can't possibly be a real endgame.

[Gothamite]

Agreed, this seems more like leverage to force a merger and gain control.

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

 

All great questions! And why none of this makes any sense. But I assume Grant Wahl wouldn't run with just any old source.

 

Since the USSF is absolving itself of administrative responsibility for the NWSL next year, my best guess is that somebody -- USL execs, or maybe team owners -- want USL to take over running NWSL, and they think the only way to do it is a hostile takeover after planting breakaway threats. The "dual league" thing is nuts so that can't possibly be a real endgame.

 

8 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Agreed, this seems more like leverage to force a merger and gain control.

If they can fix Sky Blue FC, more power to them. 

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Agreed, this seems more like leverage to force a merger and gain control.

 

 

 

[GDAWG]

He reported it, so it must be true:

 

 

[GDAWG]

NWSL Players association responds to USL rumors:

 

 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

8 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

He reported it, so it must be true:

 

 

 

If this is all-star team vs. all-star team, then that would be a great improvement over the current format.  The MLS All-Stars playing a club team is less and less appropriate as the stature and the quality of MLS grows. 

I understand that the big club teams bring out the audience; but that's what summer friendlies are for.  The MLS All-Star Game should be about the MLS players; and it's not right for these players to be consistently upstaged.  For this reason, the ideal All-Star Game format is East vs. West, just a celebration of the league.

[MJWalker45]

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

If this is all-star team vs. all-star team, then that would be a great improvement over the current format.  The MLS All-Stars playing a club team is less and less appropriate as the stature and the quality of MLS grows. 

I understand that the big club teams bring out the audience; but that's what summer friendlies are for.  The MLS All-Star Game should be about the MLS players; and it's not right for these players to be consistently upstaged.  For this reason, the ideal All-Star Game format is East vs. West, just a celebration of the league.

With Euro 2020 going on next year, this will be a better matchup too since the European stars at the biggest clubs would probably skip the US Tours. 

[sky1324]

No idea how reliable this is, but worth posting anyway: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charlotte/comments/dwsu7n/some_insider_news_on_mls_to_charlotte/

 

 

Big points:

• Announcement as early as Dec. 6th.
• Team will start in 2021, before Sac Republic and St. Louis
• Temporary HQ locations are being selected before a permanent location
• Names being considered include "Queen City" but the city of Charlotte wants "Charlotte" (as do I) but either Tepper or Tom Glick said the team would have "Carolina" as the name

Very excited about this news, but take it with a mountain full of salt. I have no idea who this guy is and if he's reliable or not. Either way worth a discussion.

[Digby]

I assume the only reason a team starting from zero like Charlotte would start a year before Sacramento is that the latter has no temporary facility before their actual stadium is built?

[sky1324]

3 hours ago, Digby said:

I assume the only reason a team starting from zero like Charlotte would start a year before Sacramento is that the latter has no temporary facility before their actual stadium is built?

Probably, the post said Tepper is "VERY aggressive" about MLS and Bank of America is already soccer-ready. Plus, Tom Glick, the guy that helped with NYCFC, is part of the Panthers organization and helped with the MLS process.

[dfwabel]

3 hours ago, Digby said:

I assume the only reason a team starting from zero like Charlotte would start a year before Sacramento is that the latter has no temporary facility before their actual stadium is built?

Revenue bump to appease the Players Union.  Charlotte has commitments for at least 60 of their 151 suites at $100K/season.  Add in the stadium capacity, especially the Club Level, and it is an additional cash grab.  In addition, the Club Level has 11,300 seats, so they'll be sold at a premium too. 

 

[sky1324]

12 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

Revenue bump to appease the Players Union.  Charlotte has commitments for at least 60 of their 151 suites at $100K/season.  Add in the stadium capacity, especially the Club Level, and it is an additional cash grab.  In addition, the Club Level has 11,300 seats, so they'll be sold at a premium too. 

 

Plus, we actually, you know, have a stadium to play in.

[dfwabel]

11 minutes ago, QueenCitySwarm said:

Plus, we actually, you know, have a stadium to play in.

Hence the financial commitments.  My four sentences dealt with Bank of America Stadium.  It's on you that I did not mention it by name.