North American Pro Soccer 2020

[sky1324]

Never liked the Dynamo's brand, I wouldn't be all that broken up to see it go away. The colors are very nice, but that crest is far too busy and the name is too... Russian for my liking. With a city as unique as Houston, you'd think that they could do some really neat things with the brand.

[Brian in Boston]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

The Athletic reporting that Houston Dynamo are considering a rebrand, and maybe a sale. Good luck with that.

The Houston Dynamo sports a unique color scheme within Major League Soccer, a name that's simultaneously a nod to modern North American and traditional international naming conventions, and a crest that is - while a bit busy - one of the better logos in the league.  Further, its an identity that has graced a pair of MLS Cup Championship-winning sides. As such, a rebrand would be an asinine waste of time, effort, and money.

If Dynamo management wants "to increase [the team's] prominence within Houston", they should concentrate on rebuilding the organization that made six trips to the MLS playoffs in its first seven seasons of existence, including four MLS Cup Championship appearances and the aforementioned league titles. Contrast that with just two playoff appearances in the last seven MLS seasons. It isn't the branding that's impacting the club's fan engagement in the market... it's current ownership's commitment to building a consistently compelling on-field product.

Finally, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't want to hear so-called die-hard soccer supporters grousing about the sport's supposed lack of tradition and authenticity in the United States and Canada, then turning around and advocating for clubs that have actually managed to build championship-caliber tradition to abandon the team identities that adorned it. A club doesn't establish authentic tradition by swapping-out its identity of a decade-plus at the first sign of supporter apathy or discontent. That's minor league-level trend-chasing, not a commitment to maintaining tradition.     



  

[Digby]

54 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

I hear some guy really wants to put a team in Austin.

Honestly I like the Dynamo name and branding. If they rebrand to Houston United City FC I'll be pissed.

 

 

Says here in the rulebook that's how to be "authentic" and "connect with your city," sorry.

 

What's Houston's flag color? Middle-ish blue? Perfect.

[Dilbert]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

 

Says here in the rulebook that's how to be "authentic" and "connect with your city," sorry.

 

What's Houston's flag color? Middle-ish blue? Perfect.

I like the orange with Houston. It stands out in a league filled with Blue, Red and Black. If Houston does rebrand there is a lot of potential but the way the league has been heading (Charlotte, St Louis, even Austin, Nashville, Cincinnati, LAFC, Atlanta, Minnesota) Im not holding my breath for something good.

[Digby]

3 hours ago, QCS said:

With a city as unique as Houston, you'd think that they could do some really neat things with the brand.

 

You'd think! I would say that "Dynamo" is a good name as far as the Soccer Epcot model goes, and their color scheme looks good and is pretty distinctive. Unfortunately modern MLS thinking assumes that a black roundel and a generic name will solve all the ills. Maybe giving the community an empty vacuum to fill organically is what Houston needs after all; I tend to think the community just wants a product worth paying for, which they haven't had since Brian Ching. And some shade from the Texas sun probably would help too.

[DEAD!]

The Dynamo should just have a new slogan:

 

"The one place in Houston where banging on trash cans is encouraged"

[Digby]

Three more games for everybody. Including Canadian "home" games in the states. The redundancy is odd... Seattle is away to Portland and home for LAFC again, the Revs are playing NYC at home and DCU away again (which they just did in the past 2 weeks), 4th El Trafico coming later this year (acc to Kevin Baxter). Scheduling whatever's available on the fly like a youth travel team.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/09/11/mls-regular-season-match-schedule-released-through-september

[Red Wolf]

I remember Houston being a thorn in SKC's side for years. Now they're a team that people almost forget exists. I personally like the Dynamo name though the logo is pretty blah. Their branding improved dramatically once they dropped the baby blue from the scheme because that just didn't work with orange. It made me feel sick. They have so many other issues that obviously exist because the team sucks and not because of the branding. A crap brand can get over in sports as long as you win.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

MLS Cup is December 12 this year, so it seems like playoffs will take a while, and it also seems like they won't take place in a bubble environment, though they probably should.

 

I forgot that last year was also a knockout tournament, so no home and home games (not that is matters this year).

[AnPheitseog]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

MLS Cup is December 12 this year, so it seems like playoffs will take a while, and it also seems like they won't take place in a bubble environment, though they probably should.

 

I forgot that last year was also a knockout tournament, so no home and home games (not that is matters this year).

Might move back to the Orlando bubble. If for no other reason, makes sure that there isnt snow for the finals.

[Dilbert]

So FC Cincinnati will finish this phase at NYCFC (at Red Bull) on Saturday, play New York Red Bulls for a third time this season (and second at NYRB) the following Saturday. Return to Nippert on Wednesday to face Philadelphia (first meeting this season) and then head back to Red Bull to play at NYCFC again. Might as well just move Cincy -Philly game to NJ to join the Impact, Red Bulls and NYCFC in the NJ bubble.  I mean no fans will be allowed at the Philly game here in Cincinnati so why have them leave NJ for one game just to go back. The scheduling doesnt make sense.

[Digby]

4 hours ago, _J_ said:

Might move back to the Orlando bubble. If for no other reason, makes sure that there isnt snow for the finals.

Yeah I get that you want to preserve home field advantage, but weird to do in this year where many teams have a totally blown “home” slate anyway.

 

if the league makes it that far without an outbreak, quit while you’re ahead, do a bubble, give the “home” teams some other advantage like better catering in the locker rooms or something, or put them in the luxe hotel while the low seeds get tents in a field.

[AnPheitseog]

20 hours ago, Digby said:

Yeah I get that you want to preserve home field advantage, but weird to do in this year where many teams have a totally blown “home” slate anyway.

 

if the league makes it that far without an outbreak, quit while you’re ahead, do a bubble, give the “home” teams some other advantage like better catering in the locker rooms or something, or put them in the luxe hotel while the low seeds get tents in a field.

Also, honestly? Soccer is built around teams being equal and not having home field advantage. Games are home and home in a balance league and in playoffs, so this isn't terribly far off from that.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

6 minutes ago, _J_ said:

Also, honestly? Soccer is built around teams being equal and not having home field advantage. Games are home and home in a balance league and in playoffs, so this isn't terribly far off from that.

 

Agreed. The summer bubble was great and I would expect a winter bubble to be just as good. And now that Portland is likely out without Blanco, they're unlikely to win two titles this season so any team can win. And if it's not Seattle, I'd be all in for a resurgent Orlando City.

[GDAWG]

Saw some NWSL today.  It was an interesting game.

[RevNet]

 

Quote

Oakland, CA – Oakland Roots Sports Club will join the USL Championship, the second division of US Soccer for the 2021 season. The USL is the largest and fastest growing professional soccer organization in North America with teams throughout the United States and Canada. The USL includes three divisions with the USL Championship sitting at the top.

 

“We are excited to join the USL Championship in 2021,” said club Chair Steven Aldrich. “Playing in the Championship is a great opportunity for Oakland Roots to continue our journey of using soccer as a force for social good. We can’t wait to showcase the passion, pride, and commitment of our players, fans, and The Town to an even wider audience next year.” 

 

The club will continue to play home games in the heart of Oakland at Laney College Stadium. Roots sold out their first five home games in club history, packing Laney with an average of over 5,000 fans per game with 5,723 on hand for the final home match of 2019 last October. 

 

“Oakland Roots Sports Club is one of the most impressive and purpose-driven organizations in the United States. We are thrilled to welcome them into the Championship,” said USL Chief Executive Officer Alec Papadakis. “When we think about the kind of clubs that can help drive our league forward, we look for committed ownership and fantastic community support. Oakland Roots possess those things in abundance, and we have no doubt they will be a huge success in our league going forward.”

 

The USL Championship will feature 35 teams in the 2021 season that are split into two conferences: East and West. With the move, Roots will play in the Western Conference along with teams like MLS bound Sacramento Republic FC, LA Galaxy II, and current San Jose Earthquakes affiliate Reno 1868 FC. Oakland Roots acquired the franchise rights from the USL East Bay group in order to join USL in 2021.

 

“This has been a long journey together of nearly 5 years,” said Roots Co-Founders Benno Nagel and Edreece Arghandiwal. “We can’t wait to take another step together as we continue to grow our roots."

 

https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/news_article/show/1122632

[Sport]

On 9/11/2020 at 8:07 PM, Dilbert said:

So FC Cincinnati will finish this phase at NYCFC (at Red Bull) on Saturday, play New York Red Bulls for a third time this season (and second at NYRB) the following Saturday. Return to Nippert on Wednesday to face Philadelphia (first meeting this season) and then head back to Red Bull to play at NYCFC again. Might as well just move Cincy -Philly game to NJ to join the Impact, Red Bulls and NYCFC in the NJ bubble.  I mean no fans will be allowed at the Philly game here in Cincinnati so why have them leave NJ for one game just to go back. The scheduling doesnt make sense.

On top of all that does major league soccer not own a map? Nashville is like four hours away and they haven’t played yet. It’s a weird decision 

[MJWalker45]

12 hours ago, Sport said:

On top of all that does major league soccer not own a map? Nashville is like four hours away and they haven’t played yet. It’s a weird decision 

The commissioner used to work for the NFL, it makes as much sense as Indy in the AFC South

[Maroon]

St. Louis City SC claims to have broken the 24-hour ticket deposit record in 15 minutes. A local reporter has tweeted that the previous MLS benchmark within was 30,000 reserved seats within 24 hours, and that, yes, there were that many seats reserved in St. Louis in 15 minutes. So the measurement is seats reserved and not individual deposits made, which apparently was the same measure used by Austin when they claimed the record. As you can see from the tweet below, there have been 50,000 seats "reserved" thus far, naturally meaning that a whole bunch of them will be wait listed in case some of the people making deposits don't actually decide to purchase the tickets when they become available. 

Regardless, I think it might be difficult to get seats in St. Louis.

 

 

[sky1324]

Glad to see that St. Louis is accepting MLS, I think it'll work out nicely. What I'm not glad to see is Saint Louis CITY Soccer Capital still insisting on obnoxiously stylizing their name like that.