North American Pro Soccer 2019

[Rockstar Matt]

I’m really pleased to see the MLS All-Star game won’t be against a European team but rather against Liga MX All-Stars. 

 

I might actually watch the game for once.  

[tBBP]

On 11/18/2019 at 6:08 PM, willmorris said:

How about Racing Club de Charlotte and let them have black and white checkered kits?

 

Every now and then, it's good to pull from something so unique to a local community's identity--but this one is WAY too stereotypical. (And I say that as if Indy Eleven doesn't pull inspiration from their racing heritage, Haha--but it works better for them since other than corn there really isn't too terribly much else tangible enough to pull from in Indy's history/identity.

 

23 hours ago, QueenCitySwarm said:

Hahaha, my name wouldn't be too bad of a choice. It feels a little minor-league to me, however. I'd be down for using Queen City in the name (since it actually makes sense for us) and any it could heat up the inevitable "Queen City Derby" with Cincinnati (and Toronto?). I'll stick to my Racing Club Charlotte choice, however. 

 

And Seattle, as it's also a "Queen City".

 

As great as Carolina United would be, for the reasons you previously stated, Atlanta jacked that one up for y'all by also going with United so soon after Minnesota went with it (which, given the whole Twin Cities thing plus the fact that very few people outside the state could actually name one other town in the state--and Minnesota's a big state--it makes sense for them, too).

 

And you know what, now that I think about it..."Charlotte Swarm", might actually be a decent way to go--either that, or "SC Charlotte" to keep it simple, but with an identity lending itself to the unofficial nickname "Swarm", like MMUFC and "Loons". It'd be a great way to tie into the in town (uptown?) Hornets, and if they're ambitious enough to somehow fuse together the Hornets' and Panthers' color schemes, it could make for one of the more interesting visual identities to come along in quite some time.

 

(I feel like I'm giving away free ideas here...somebody go mock this up! )

[Dilbert]

Looks like the New York Cosmos are joining NISA. So in other words, dont expect NISA to last long.

[Gothamite]

Ah, so the perfection fantasy can continue down in D3.  That’ll be fun. 

[Jer15]

So, I heard something interesting today that kind of follows up on a rumor that I spoke about earlier in the year.

With all the expansion teams coming in, Montreal is apparently just looking to wait out getting the money from the expansion fees and then are thinking of selling the Impact (to someone who will move them to the USA).....and then get a CPL team. 

It's interesting to me that these type of rumors continue to pop up every now and again pertaining to Montreal only. (not Vancouver or Toronto). 

 

I'm still of the "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind but what's the old saying? where there's smoke there's fire.

[GDAWG]

3 minutes ago, mr.negative15 said:

So, I heard something interesting today that kind of follows up on a rumor that I spoke about earlier in the year.

With all the expansion teams coming in, Montreal is apparently just looking to wait out getting the money from the expansion fees and then are thinking of selling the Impact (to someone who will move them to the USA).....and then get a CPL team. 

It's interesting to me that these type of rumors continue to pop up every now and again pertaining to Montreal only. (not Vancouver or Toronto). 

 

I'm still of the "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind but what's the old saying? where there's smoke there's fire.

 

I heard the rumor.  Right now I am in the I'll believe it when I see it camp. 

[FiddySicks]

What kind of a fanbase do they have? Are they struggling to sell tickets/gain revenue/etc? 

 

I know absolutely nothing about the Montreal Impact. 

 

 

[Jer15]

Just now, Bucfan56 said:

What kind of a fanbase do they have? Are they struggling to sell tickets/gain revenue/etc? 

 

I know absolutely nothing about the Montreal Impact. 

 

I'm sure someone from Montreal can speak better to this but my understanding is that they do well.

Last I heard Montreal has about 9,000 season seat holders and the number has stayed consistent for all of their time in MLS. 

 

I think this is less about revenue and about the owner's preference.

When I was last hearing these type of rumors the Impact felt that they could be the "big fish in the small pond".  

[Digby]

1 hour ago, mr.negative15 said:

 

I'm sure someone from Montreal can speak better to this but my understanding is that they do well.

Last I heard Montreal has about 9,000 season seat holders and the number has stayed consistent for all of their time in MLS. 

 

I think this is less about revenue and about the owner's preference.

When I was last hearing these type of rumors the Impact felt that they could be the "big fish in the small pond".  

 

I suppose that makes sense. On the other hand it's hard to picture "Thierry Henry, CPL manager".

 

There's always been something funky about Montreal since they entered MLS -- not just the dicey performance but, a lack of merchandising supply, a new but very barebones stadium, even keeping jerseys around extra years... I don't know. Montreal as a market size is in the top half of MLS, I believe, and I'd think that would be enough to overcome the extra burdens of being a Canadian team if they really wanted to.

[Wings]

Let's trade the Impact to Tampa Bay straight up for the Rays

[GDAWG]

So if Saputo were to sell the Impact to an outsider, does that outsider come from one of the cities in the bidding for spots 30-32?  Or does it come from out of nowhere? 

[Jer15]

6 minutes ago, Wings said:

Let's trade the Impact to Tampa Bay straight up for the Rays

Assuming that happens, what do the new Expos need to trade the Canadians to get Youppi back?

[sky1324]

22 hours ago, Buc said:

And Seattle, as it's also a "Queen City".

 

As great as Carolina United would be, for the reasons you previously stated, Atlanta jacked that one up for y'all by also going with United so soon after Minnesota went with it (which, given the whole Twin Cities thing plus the fact that very few people outside the state could actually name one other town in the state--and Minnesota's a big state--it makes sense for them, too).

 

And you know what, now that I think about it..."Charlotte Swarm", might actually be a decent way to go--either that, or "SC Charlotte" to keep it simple, but with an identity lending itself to the unofficial nickname "Swarm", like MMUFC and "Loons". It'd be a great way to tie into the in town (uptown?) Hornets, and if they're ambitious enough to somehow fuse together the Hornets' and Panthers' color schemes, it could make for one of the more interesting visual identities to come along in quite some time.

 

(I feel like I'm giving away free ideas here...somebody go mock this up! )

I'd rather not have a "city name plus SC/FC" name, it's way too bland. Not a huge fan of actually using "Swarm" as the official name, but as an unofficial nickname? 100% down. Also down to have the Panthers and Hornets color schemes mixed (I'd prefer Panthers Blue with the brighter purple the old Hornets used). (Also yes, the Hornets are located Uptown.) I'd love to see a simplified hornet's nest on the crest, it lends itself to the Swarm nickname and also leans into the city's history (a hornet's nest is on the flag/seal and is used as the CMPD logo).With all this discussion, I wouldn't be surprised if the final name does end up being Queen City Swarm. (Maybe I'll sue!)

[Dilbert]

Another name I wouldnt mind would be the Charlotte Cougars. It'd be a good nod to the Panthers and to Carolinas ABA team.

[GDAWG]

 

[Gothamite]

And the tailspin continues.

 

Last month, we had the second-best record in the league, made the conference semifinals and were primed for a good sustained run.  Since then we’ve lost our manager and sporting director and are in real danger of falling apart. 

 

Sports is a hell of a drug. 

[BC985]

Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said on Dan McLaughlin's podcast that he has been told the St. Louis name and colors will come during the first-half of 2020. That is a big time frame, by his own admission, but it is an update. 

[Digby]

Tidbit for my fellow conference alignment obsessives. This would make 13 in each conference next year.

 

 

[Brian in Boston]

42 minutes ago, Digby said:

Tidbit for my fellow conference alignment obsessives. This would make 13 in each conference next year.

 

 

 

If Nashville SC has truly been slotted into the Eastern Conference, I'd presume that Chicago Fire FC is heading to the Western Conference... even if only temporarily. 

 

Ultimately, if a two conference set-up is retained long-term, I see Chicago returning to the EC (along with Charlotte being slotted there, as well). Austin, Sacramento and St. Louis would wind-up in the Western Conference.

[Digby]

That seems to be the most logical and likely thing. Normally I wouldn't like all the jerking around that would mean for Chicago, but if they're going to dump this garbage rebrand on us then I don't care.

 

Ideally I would prefer Chicago, STL and SKC to be in the same conference to preserve regional rivalries. Not sure how to do that logically in a two-conference setup. Given that MLS is already at the point where conferences are probably too large to do the "two games against your home conf, one game against the other" schedule, I wouldn't mind a more non-traditional to encourage regional rivalries. Balance isn't going to happen anyway.