North American Pro Soccer 2020

[Brian in Boston]

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and O Globo, Brazilian side Flamengo could be exploring the possibility of joining efforts to bring a Major League Soccer expansion franchise to Nevada's most populous city.

Brazilian team could join Las Vegas' MLS pursuit, report says

Since June of 2019, Las Vegas officials have been involved in exclusive negotiations with the Renaissance Companies regarding redevelopment of the city's Cashman Field site as part of a mixed-use project including residential and retail components, as well as a 25,000-seat soccer stadium. Under said plans, Las Vegas Lights owner Brett Lashbrook would sell his USL Championship team to the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, a firm led by billionaire Seth Klarman. Klarman would then partner with the Renaissance Companies to build the retractable-roof stadium and apply for an MLS expansion franchise to take the Lights' place on the Las Vegas pro sports scene.

Might the current Campeonato Carioca, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, and Copa Libertadores side be joining the coalition to bring MLS to Las Vegas? Stay tuned.

    

[schlim]

An interesting article in the Guardian today about MLS, attendance, TV ratings/contract, and its future.

[GDAWG]

38 minutes ago, Brian in Boston said:

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and O Globo, Brazilian side Flamengo could be exploring the possibility of joining efforts to bring a Major League Soccer expansion franchise to Nevada's most populous city.

Brazilian team could join Las Vegas' MLS pursuit, report says

Since June of 2019, Las Vegas officials have been involved in exclusive negotiations with the Renaissance Companies regarding redevelopment of the city's Cashman Stadium site as part of a mixed-use project including residential and retail components, as well as a 25,000-seat soccer stadium. Under said plans, Las Vegas Lights owner Brett Lashbrook would sell his USL Championship team to the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, a firm led by billionaire Seth Klarman. Klarman would then partner with the Renaissance Companies to build the retractable-roof stadium and apply for an MLS expansion franchise to take the Lights' place on the Las Vegas pro sports scene.

Might the current Campeonato Carioca, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, and Copa Libertadores side be joining the coalition to bring MLS to Las Vegas? Stay tuned.

    

 

Sigh. So NHL, NFL and maybe NBA and MLS in Las Vegas?  That's way too much for a city that only 5 years ago had zero professional teams.  I guess Las Vegas is not satisfied with having one team.  I guess their end goal is to have a team in every one of the Major Leagues.

[JayMac]

15 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Sigh. So NHL, NFL and maybe NBA and MLS in Las Vegas?  That's way too much for a city that only 5 years ago had zero professional teams.  I guess Las Vegas is not satisfied with having one team.  I guess their end goal is to have a team in every one of the Major Leagues.

Can we just go back to when all sports leagues thought it was a sin to gamble on the sport, and having a franchise in the Sin City was, well, a sin?

[BC985]

1 hour ago, Maroon said:

This makes me very sad. The presence of one league in a city shouldn't have to mean the death of another. Also, now there's no MLS OR USL soccer in St. Louis until 2023. All there is right now is USL2's Lions.

I agree, it is a loss for the region for the next few years. I kinda saw it coming because there was a report that STLFC had yet to commit to the 2021 USL season. 
 

I hope we learn more about this decision, but we know the primary owner of STLFC is a part owner of STLCSC. The removal of STLFC could help solidify the soccer fanbase in the city. Throw your support behind 1 club instead of 2. Second, STLCSC has spoken a lot about building their academy. With STLFC gone, you have facilities for STLCSC to use without tripping over another club.

 

STLFC was great for the city, and I believe their fan support won MLS over. Hopefully they can finish this season strong and leave a lasting memory on the city’s soccer timeline. 

[Camden Crazy]

1 hour ago, JayMac said:

Can we just go back to when all sports leagues thought it was a sin to gamble on the sport, and having a franchise in the Sin City was, well, a sin?

sure let’s stop with premarital sex and alcohol too that seems like a real fun time

[JayMac]

11 minutes ago, Camden Crazy said:

sure let’s stop with premarital sex and alcohol too that seems like a real fun time

Well I was being sarcastic with my point but I truly do think that the prospect of having 4 professional sports franchises within a matter of a few years is a bit much.

 

By the way, I'm all for the legalization of betting and I'm definitely pro-premarital sex and don't ever want to see a prohibition in my lifetime.

[sportsfan7]

3 hours ago, GDAWG said:

I think some NISA teams like Oakland should consider a move to USL

I would like to see Chattanooga, Roots, and Detroit City join USL, but I think the planned USL East Bay team and Chattanooga Red Wolves may complicate this.

[GDAWG]

8 hours ago, sportsfan7 said:

I would like to see Chattanooga, Roots, and Detroit City join USL, but I think the planned USL East Bay team and Chattanooga Red Wolves may complicate this.

 

Is East Bay actually happening anymore?  

[sportsfan7]

48 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Is East Bay actually happening anymore?  

I'm skeptical. There's been no activity on their Twitter for over a year and they just pulled the plug on a stadium in Concord, but the seem to be planning on playing next year.

 

Edit: It looks like they launched a youth team this year.

[Dilbert]

East Bay is in a Schrödinger's cat situation. Three years ago Mark Hall bought the territorial rights to start a USL club by 2021. Originally he looked at putting at stadium on the land at the Oakland Coliseum. After that fell through he turned to Concord. As of May of this year the Concord plan is dead and he is now looking elsewhere. His territorial rights include Santa Rosa, Alameda, Contra Costa and Turlock. At this point he should just team up or sell the territorial rights to the Roots.

[FiddySicks]

13 hours ago, Maroon said:

This makes me very sad. The presence of one league in a city shouldn't have to mean the death of another. Also, now there's no MLS OR USL soccer in St. Louis until 2023. All there is right now is USL2's Lions.

The move up is absolutely a celebration, but it’s certainly going to be weird when the current version of Sac Republic folds shop for MLS Sacramento. I absolutely understand the pain at that loss. They’ve run a great operation in their time in the USL. 

[Digby]

21 hours ago, schlim said:

An interesting article in the Guardian today about MLS, attendance, TV ratings/contract, and its future.

 

Long-running tough nut to crack for MLS. Feels like we've been hearing the same excuses for a long time -- the viewership is higher on hard-to-track OTT services, etc. Turns out 9am weekday starts aren't great for viewership, but I don't think we needed to run an experiment to figure that one out.

 

It's ultimately a bit like minor-league baseball, still -- fun to go a game for your local team, but not as many people are dying to watch a AA team on TV, you know? Obviously MLS's numbers are higher but I think the pattern is still closer to that than it is for the big four leagues.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Would a 36-year-old Messi spark ratings in MLS?

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4167274/man-citys-messi-contract-could-include-new-york-city-fc-clause-sources

 

My guess is yes. Especially once Ronaldo finally arrives in LA or Miami. And Suarez in Seattle.

[sky1324]

16 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Would a 36-year-old Messi spark ratings in MLS?

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4167274/man-citys-messi-contract-could-include-new-york-city-fc-clause-sources

 

My guess is yes. Especially once Ronaldo finally arrives in LA or Miami. And Suarez in Seattle.

Absolutely. Messi is one of those names you know, even if you're not really a soccer person. If you're a New Yorker who hasn't really followed MLS but you recognize the name Messi and all of a sudden he's on your local team, I'd say you'd be willing to check it out, at least for a bit. I don't think there's any harm in MLS teams giving aging stars contracts, especially people like Messi or Ronaldo. It'll be like Beckham all over again.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

9 minutes ago, QCS said:

Absolutely. Messi is one of those names you know, even if you're not really a soccer person. If you're a New Yorker who hasn't really followed MLS but you recognize the name Messi and all of a sudden he's on your local team, I'd say you'd be willing to check it out, at least for a bit. I don't think there's any harm in MLS teams giving aging stars contracts, especially people like Messi or Ronaldo. It'll be like Beckham all over again.

 

You're actually answering a different question than I asked. Yes, absolutely New Yorkers will show up to see Messi play. And he'd likely sell out opposing venues as well. But I asked if signing Messi would spark ratings on American TV; Beckham didn't, Henry didn't, the dos Santos brothers haven't, I'm not sure if Zlatan did, and so on.

 

While Messi (and Ronaldo) are arguably bigger names than all of those guys, I'm still not sure how you build MLS viewership on TVs as well as they've done in the stands.

[GDAWG]

48 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Would a 36-year-old Messi spark ratings in MLS?

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4167274/man-citys-messi-contract-could-include-new-york-city-fc-clause-sources

 

My guess is yes. Especially once Ronaldo finally arrives in LA or Miami. And Suarez in Seattle.

 

A player with a big of a name as Messi will need to do one thing that Beckham, Henry and Zlatan were able to do: conduct interviews in English.  As far as I know, Messi speaks no English at all, although I could be wrong about that.  Ronaldo can speak English and I think Suarez does too.  If Messi arrives in the US now, he will need a translator the first time he does media.  If he spends a few years with Man City he may not need a translator by the time he gets here.

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, QCS said:

Absolutely. Messi is one of those names you know, even if you're not really a soccer person. If you're a New Yorker who hasn't really followed MLS but you recognize the name Messi and all of a sudden he's on your local team, I'd say you'd be willing to check it out, at least for a bit. I don't think there's any harm in MLS teams giving aging stars contracts, especially people like Messi or Ronaldo. It'll be like Beckham all over again.

 

I would not bring Messi into MLS right now due to his one limitation: he doesn't speak English.  The advantages that guys like Henry and Zlatan had when they go to MLS were their fluency in English due to their time in the EPL.  I don't doubt Messi is a big name, but him going to MLS now would limit him.  If Ronaldo decided right now to leave Juventus and wanted to play in MLS, Ronaldo would have an easier transition in MLS due to his time at Manchester United.  Let Messi play for Man City for a few years.  He can flourish there and once he's mastered the English language, he can come to MLS with a ton of fan fair and his transition would be easier.  You can't have one of the best soccer players in the world, a name as big as Messi and not have him speak any English come and play in MLS.  Yes there are a number of players in MLS who don't speak English, but this is Messi.  If you want him to be a major signing for MLS (which he would be), he would have to speak English and speak it quite well.  

 

Same issues would abound for Neymar the moment he leaves PSG and those MLS rumors start to pop up for him. Go play in the Premier League for a few years, master the English language and then come to MLS.  

[sky1324]

2 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

I would not bring Messi into MLS right now due to his one limitation: he doesn't speak English.  The advantages that guys like Henry and Zlatan had when they go to MLS were their fluency in English due to their time in the EPL.  I don't doubt Messi is a big name, but him going to MLS now would limit him.  If Ronaldo decided right now to leave Juventus and wanted to play in MLS, Ronaldo would have an easier transition in MLS due to his time at Manchester United.  Let Messi play for Man City for a few years.  He can flourish there and once he's mastered the English language, he can come to MLS with a ton of fan fair and his transition would be easier.  You can't have one of the best soccer players in the world, a name as big as Messi and not have him speak any English come and play in MLS.  Yes there are a number of players in MLS who don't speak English, but this is Messi.  If you want him to be a major signing for MLS (which he would be), he would have to speak English and speak it quite well.  

 

Same issues would abound for Neymar the moment he leaves PSG and those MLS rumors start to pop up for him. Go play in the Premier League for a few years, master the English language and then come to MLS.  

I wasn't aware that he didn't speak English, that is a big issue. Wholeheartedly agree to have him spend some time with Man City before coming to the States for NYC. I think we'll see those foreign players spending the last couple years of their career in MLS, but they'll need to brush up on their English first.

[sportsfan7]

If I had to project Messi's career arc it would be something like; 5ish years at Man City, then 2 or 3 at NYCFC, and then play for Newell's Old Boy's (His boyhood club) until he retires.