North America Pro Soccer 2024

[tBBP]

1 hour ago, Brian in Boston said:

Tom Glick - a sports executive who helped launch both New York City FC and Charlotte FC - is rumored to be heading up the process of bringing together an ownership group/leadership team for an Indianapolis MLS bid. 

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2024/04/26/tom-glick-leading-group-of-investors-for-indy-mls-team-per-reports/73463540007/

As for Ersal Ozdemir's Indy Eleven stadium deal being "all but done", that assessment would seem to be a bit optimistic. 
 
https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/james-briggs/2024/05/09/indy-eleven-has-a-bigger-problem-than-money-at-diamond-chain-site/73627540007/

 

Ozdemir being able to afford completion of the stadium's construction without the public sector having to a shoulder an increased investment in the project seemed uncertain... and that was before the task of recovering, identifying, and reinterring human remains was added to Keystone Group's list of responsibilities.

It would appear that Mayor Hogsett, in an attempt to cover the city's fiscal keister and procure a bigger bang for the public coffer's bucks, tried to line up an alternative pathway to soccer-related investment for Indianapolis. He seems to be of the mind that landing a Major League Soccer club for the city is a better investment of public dollars than securing the city's USL Championship present and future. Whether he's right or wrong about that - indeed, whether the city can pull together an investment group that will be successful in obtaining admittance into MLS - is unknown at this time.

However, if Major League Soccer is Mayor Hogsett's target, I'd have to say that having Tom Glick - a guy who has extensive experience as an executive in the pro soccer space ( CEO of Derby County, CCO of City Football Group and first President of New York City FC, President of Tepper Sports & Entertainment who oversaw the acquisition and launch of Charlotte FC, and CEO of Chelsea FC) - heading up the effort to put together the ownership group and management team capable of doing so is a better bet than Ersal Ozdemir.            

 

If they can pull in any of that money nesting up there in Hamilton County (Carmel/Fishers/Noblesville/Westfield) into this bid, then I'd say full steam ahead on the mayor's plan. Considering Indy is and has long been hellbent on being Sports Town USA (which in my four-year quasi-Hoosier experience I'd say they do a fine job of), I'll also say that pushing for expansion into the top-level league is right on brand for the city (which, sorta off to the side yet still relevant, has made REMARKABLE strides in recent years just in improving itself as a city). 

 

Now, that said, question (because this is the limit of my knowledge on this kind of stuff, which is to say I know very little): say the east side stadium development deal goes through and MLS let's Indy into the big show. Would there be a chance of the Eleven being elevated into that spot like Nashville FC did (in becoming SC), or were/are those two separate situations?

[Brian in Boston]

41 minutes ago, tBBP said:

Now, that said, question (because this is the limit of my knowledge on this kind of stuff, which is to say I know very little): say the east side stadium development deal goes through and MLS let's Indy into the big show. Would there be a chance of the Eleven being elevated into that spot like Nashville FC did (in becoming SC), or were/are those two separate situations?

As of right now, what I've been able to glean from media reports - as well as info from friends and colleagues in Indiana - indicates that it's likely an either-or situation.

The Indy Eleven name making its way to a Major League Soccer club would be dependent upon either Ersal Ozdemir somehow being involved in ownership, or - in the event he isn't a part of an Indianapolis-based MLS club's ownership/management team - being compensated for the intellectual property. Either way, while the name might make the transition to Major League Soccer, the club would most likely  adopt a new crest. The latter was the case with the likes of Orlando City SC and FC Cincinnati.  

[Sykotyk]

7 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

As of right now, what I've been able to glean from media reports - as well as info from friends and colleagues in Indiana - indicates that it's likely an either-or situation.

The Indy Eleven name making its way to a Major League Soccer club would be dependent upon either Ersal Ozdemir somehow being involved in ownership, or - in the event he isn't a part of an Indianapolis-based MLS club's ownership/management team - being compensated for the intellectual property. Either way, while the name might make the transition to Major League Soccer, the club would most likely  adopt a new crest. The latter was the case with the likes of Orlando City SC and FC Cincinnati.  

They'd create a new crest if only to have new merch to sell. Portland, Minnesota, Seattle, etc all did as well.

 

[MJWalker45]

20 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

As of right now, what I've been able to glean from media reports - as well as info from friends and colleagues in Indiana - indicates that it's likely an either-or situation.

The Indy Eleven name making its way to a Major League Soccer club would be dependent upon either Ersal Ozdemir somehow being involved in ownership, or - in the event he isn't a part of an Indianapolis-based MLS club's ownership/management team - being compensated for the intellectual property. Either way, while the name might make the transition to Major League Soccer, the club would most likely  adopt a new crest. The latter was the case with the likes of Orlando City SC and FC Cincinnati.  

The crests all change because the league controls all branding. In most cases it's a downgrade because they want to look different from the badge the teams wore previously. 

[Brian in Boston]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

The crests all change because the league controls all branding. In most cases it's a downgrade because they want to look different from the badge the teams wore previously. 

If I'm not mistaken, Major League Soccer controlling all club branding has been the league's modus operandi since Day 1. It stretches back to the initial decision to operate the league under a single entity structure. 

As for MLS badges of clubs that formerly operated in other leagues automatically being "downgrade[s]" because they're "different from the badge[s] the teams wore previously", I'm not ready to make that leap... at least not as a blanket, across-the-board assessment.

For instance, to my mind, Orlando City SC's MLS  badge is a vast improvement over the crest the team sported in USL Pro.  

As for FC Cincinnati's retooling of its crest upon entering MLS, that's another upgrade over the USL branding in my book. While I rather liked the minimalist rendering of the lion in the USL mark, I don't think the new lion represents a downgrade... rather, simply an alternative artistic interpretation that is equally attractive. As for the overall composition of the two crests, I much prefer the contained shield of the MLS badge to the "crowned shield with free-floating soccer ball panel" of the USL mark.

The one change in crest that I don't consider to have been an improvement was the move from the roundel sported by Nashville SC of the USL Championship to the badge currently worn by Major League Soccer's Nashville SC.  

Indy Eleven's current crest is one of my favorites in the USL Championship. Off the top of my head, it's easily amongst the top five to ten badges in the league. Could it make the jump to MLS unchanged based upon aesthetic merits? To my mind, yes. Would the powers-that-be at MLS headquarters insist on alterations to make it the league's own insofar as branding is concerned? Almost certainly. Perhaps some of the details in the depiction of the statue of Victory from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument would be simplified and sharpened. Maybe the font would get changed. It would be "tweaked" in one manner or another.

In any event, we shall see what the future holds - both club-wise and crest-wise - for professional soccer in Indianapolis.      

[Brian in Boston]

Detroit Free Press - Detroit City FC acquires abandoned hospital site for future soccer stadium

USL Championship News - Detroit City FC announces acquisition of land to build a soccer-specific stadium

Detroit City FC has acquired land in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood with an eye towards building a soccer-specific-stadium with a seating capacity of up to 14,000. The club is targeting the 2027 USL Championship season as its first in the new facility.

[Dilbert]

2 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

Detroit Free Press - Detroit City FC acquires abandoned hospital site for future soccer stadium

USL Championship News - Detroit City FC announces acquisition of land to build a soccer-specific stadium

Detroit City FC has acquired land in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood with an eye towards building a soccer-specific-stadium with a seating capacity of up to 14,000. The club is targeting the 2027 USL Championship season as its first in the new facility.

Wonder how long before MLS poaches Detroit

[Sykotyk]

2 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

Detroit Free Press - Detroit City FC acquires abandoned hospital site for future soccer stadium

USL Championship News - Detroit City FC announces acquisition of land to build a soccer-specific stadium

Detroit City FC has acquired land in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood with an eye towards building a soccer-specific-stadium with a seating capacity of up to 14,000. The club is targeting the 2027 USL Championship season as its first in the new facility.

I know where there's one large plot of already cleared land that previously held a stadium.

[Dilbert]

5 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

I know where there's one large plot of already cleared land that previously held a stadium.

In Detroit? Tiger Stadium has a new field built on it. The Silverdome in Pontiac is now home to an Amazon warehouse and new development is being built on the Joe Louis Arena site. The Palace of Auburn Hills site is a big parking lot though, but MLS is done with its new stadium in the suburbs phase

[Sykotyk]

56 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

In Detroit? Tiger Stadium has a new field built on it. The Silverdome in Pontiac is now home to an Amazon warehouse and new development is being built on the Joe Louis Arena site. The Palace of Auburn Hills site is a big parking lot though, but MLS is done with its new stadium in the suburbs phase

A turfed field on the footprint of old Tiger Stadium will not be a detriment to doing anything on that site.  FCC had a bigger HS field they had to move a street over to build TQL Stadium and that was barely a thought in the process.

[Dilbert]

12 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

A turfed field on the footprint of old Tiger Stadium will not be a detriment to doing anything on that site.  FCC had a bigger HS field they had to move a street over to build TQL Stadium and that was barely a thought in the process.

Yes but unlike Stargell Stadium in Cincinnati, the Tiger Stadium land is on a historic site with a baseball diamond on the spot. Although soccer was played at Tiger Stadium, I wouldnt want to see anything but a baseball diamond on that spot.

[Digby]

All kinds of rumors on Twitter of locker room infighting amongst Revs players and coaches.  Based on the petulance and bus-throwing I've seen from Caleb Porter so far this season, it's difficult to imagine that Bruce Arena could possibly have led a more toxic workplace.

 

Going to be a fun few years in Foxborough, now that the Krafts no longer have anyone to hide behind for either of their teams.

[Digby]

 

Still not sure what the realistic endgame for this competition is, but here we are.

[GDAWG]

54 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

Still not sure what the realistic endgame for this competition is, but here we are.

 

What is interesting about all of this is that this league is owned by the USL and in the same divisional hierarchy as the NWSL, but the NWSL has two teams owned by USL teams in Racing Louisville FC and North Carolina Courage.

[GDAWG]

 

[GDAWG]

I am curious to know what the end game of the USL Super League is going to be.  If she ever decided to play professionally in the United States, the USL Super League would have no shot at Catarina Macario I would think.  

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

I am curious to know what the end game of the USL Super League is going to be.  If she ever decided to play professionally in the United States, the USL Super League would have no shot at Catarina Macario I would think.  

I think it's to force US Soccer to combine them with the NWSL. With how poor some of the facilities are for the Super League I don't see US Soccer just agreeing to that. Are they counting on USWNT players to choose playing on the same schedule as Europe to bring them over? Because that's not a good enough reason to switch to the league either. 

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think it's to force US Soccer to combine them with the NWSL. With how poor some of the facilities are for the Super League I don't see US Soccer just agreeing to that. Are they counting on USWNT players to choose playing on the same schedule as Europe to bring them over? Because that's not a good enough reason to switch to the league either. 

 

There are two women's teams in DC, with the DC Power of the Super League apparently owned by the MLS DC United. 

[MJWalker45]

15 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

There are two women's teams in DC, with the DC Power of the Super League apparently owned by the MLS DC United. 

And both are playing at Audi Field. So in DC's case it looks like they are making sure to have the venue in use year round. But for other cities and teams, are they in relationships with MLS teams that would get them a venue like this? 

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

And both are playing at Audi Field. So in DC's case it looks like they are making sure to have the venue in use year round. But for other cities and teams, are they in relationships with MLS teams that would get them a venue like this? 

 

Only DC Power is owned by an MLS team.