North American Pro Soccer 2014

[Gothamite]

I remember hearing that at the time.

Here's the complete expansion fee history:

1993 All original clubs: $5M

1997 Chicago: $5M (owner Anschutz had his option price locked in from 1993)

1997 Miami: $20M

The league then contracts Miami and Tampa Bay and is in real danger of collapsing. Expansion resumes at a much lower price point.

2004 Chivas USA: $7.5M

2004 Salt Lake City: $7.5M

2005 Toronto: $10M

2007 Beckham locks in $25M rate

2007 San Jose: $20M

2007 Seattle: $30M

2008 Philadelphia: $30M

2009 Vancouver: $35M

2009 Portland: $35M

2010 Montreal: $40M

2013 New York City: $100M

2013 Orlando: $70M

So you can see a pretty steady increase, until NYCFC wrecks the curve. Presume that was MCFC/Cosmos bidding war, but it also reflects the general health of the league.

[Nyk33]

I remember hearing that at the time.

Here's the complete expansion fee history:

1993 All original clubs: $5M

1997 Chicago: $5M (owner Anschutz had his option price locked in from 1993)

1997 Miami: $20M

The league then contracts Miami and Tampa Bay and is in real danger of collapsing. Expansion resumes at a much lower price point.

2004 Chivas USA: $7.5M

2004 Salt Lake City: $7.5M

2005 Toronto: $10M

2007 Beckham locks in $25M rate

2007 San Jose: $20M

2007 Seattle: $30M

2008 Philadelphia: $30M

2009 Vancouver: $35M

2009 Portland: $35M

2010 Montreal: $40M

2013 New York City: $100M

2013 Orlando: $70M

So you can see a pretty steady increase, until NYCFC wrecks the curve. Presume that was MCFC/Cosmos bidding war, but it also reflects the general health of the league.

I am guessing that is what probably happened. Especially since the Cosmos knew 3 months before NYCFC was announced that they were going to be NY2.

[Gothamite]

I'm sorry, I don't follow. Are you saying they had an agreement, or just an assumption? I remember MLS being very cagy when dealing with the Cosmos.

[Nyk33]

I'm sorry, I don't follow. Are you saying they had an agreement, or just an assumption? I remember MLS being very cagy when dealing with the Cosmos.

It's just an assumption I made since the Cosmos stated they knew that NYCFC would NY2 three months before NYCFC was announced.

[Gothamite]

Oh, I misunderstood your post. Thanks.

I don't know if we'll ever get the whole story of those negotiations, but it does seem clear that the competition drove up that price. Wonder if Orlando's fee would have been nearly that high without it, although the NYCFC announcement had already raised the profile of the league.

[Nyk33]

Oh, I misunderstood your post. Thanks.

I don't know if we'll ever get the whole story of those negotiations, but it does seem clear that the competition drove up that price. Wonder if Orlando's fee would have been nearly that high without it, although the NYCFC announcement had already raised the profile of the league.

NP. I should have probably made my initial post more clear.

I do think that Orlando's fee definitely got raised because of NYCFC.

[crashcarson15]

^ I think the same way re: 2nd-tier down. Shoot for all we know the Eleven (I still can't get over that nickname, but whatevs ) could well end up becoming the NASL's equivalent to Indy's other second-level team, the MiLB's AAA Indians--perennial contender, consistently ranked among the top clubs if not right at the top-and the entire time I was there I saw pretty good fan support for them. The city's dang-near on fire for the Eleven right now, and Lord knows Naptown needs some new lifeblood...I believe the Eleven could fill that role quite nicely, both for the NASL and for the city. And given the success of IU's soccer program, and the direct conduit that could prove to be, that only bodes even better for Indy's soccer future.

Oh, absolutely. There's not near enough money there right now for it to happen. It'd take someone else from the city to step up and make a big investment in the team.

Not sure who that'd be though to be honest.

[VictoriaGooner]

So with NYCFC being 100M and Orlando 70M, I can see the next two clubs expansion slots being 80 and 90M respectively. Though I am really hoping that MLS stops their expansion at 24 clubs and go to a single table...oh how a football supporter dream

[-kj]

Blah blah single table blah blah...

[Nyk33]

So with NYCFC being 100M and Orlando 70M, I can see the next two clubs expansion slots being 80 and 90M respectively. Though I am really hoping that MLS stops their expansion at 24 clubs and go to a single table...oh how a football supporter dream

They aren't going to be stopping at 24 since Miami is #22 and MLS is already thinking about including SA, Minnesota, and Atlanta to make MLS go to 25 clubs.

MLS is also never going to go single table (even though I would like them to) since North American sports is obsessed with the idea of conferences within a league.

[VictoriaGooner]

I know...US sports love the conference league play with multiple rounds of play-offs. I too would love to see a single table but probably never happen. And yes I know expansion is not going to stop at 24 clubs. There is always hope.

[Gothamite]

MLS is also never going to go single table (even though I would like them to) since North American sports is obsessed with the idea of conferences within a league.

I don't think that has anything to do with it - it's all about playoffs, baby. Conferences are just the easiest way to set up a title game.

[TrueYankee26]

The biggest issue with Indy and MLS: I don't think there are any current or potential owners that are willing to spend $100mil for expansion fees plus more for operating costs.

The support could be there, but if there isn't money somewhere there isn't a point in worrying about it.

I think Orlando paid only $75 million if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, after NYCFC paid $100M (so I don't want to hear anything about favoritism from the league ). So Indy will have to pay at least in the neighborhood of $70M if not higher. Do they have an ownership group that can pay the tab and still have $150M left over to get an MLS team started up?

Let's not even get into the extremely low amount that Beckham FC had to pay ($25 million).

I hope the Metro's actually go the distance this year.. getting tired of early playoff exits.

I wonder if they are going to break the Curse of Red Bull Arena this year and finally win a playoff game there.

They'd better - they've one more year to do something before their claim on the market gets a much larger and well-funded challenge.

Yup, though I imagine virtually one half of the city that is Blue and Orange will vehemently hate NYCFC because they're partly Yankee-owned, but it is true.

[Gothamite]

You're presuming that the blue and orange section of the city approaches anywhere near 1/2....

[TrueYankee26]

I know lol, just an exaggeration

[pcgd]

MLS is also never going to go single table (even though I would like them to) since North American sports is obsessed with the idea of conferences within a league.

I don't think that has anything to do with it - it's all about playoffs, baby. Conferences are just the easiest way to set up a title game.

North America is also huge. It's much easier to play more games against closer opponents than to try to play everyone equally across the countries.

Also playoffs baby.

[-kj]

Also: It's ok when some countries do things a bit different than other countries. When people yammer on and on about single table, no playoffs, single season, everyone does it... well, have you noticed the Mexican league? Playoffs and split season; hell, they used to have groups during their seasons. No one bags on the Mexican league for that, and generally considers it a pretty high-level league; why doesn't the same standard apply for MLS?

[Nyk33]

I hope the Metro's actually go the distance this year.. getting tired of early playoff exits.

I wonder if they are going to break the Curse of Red Bull Arena this year and finally win a playoff game there.

They'd better - they've one more year to do something before their claim on the market gets a much larger and well-funded challenge.

Yup, though I imagine virtually one half of the city that is Blue and Orange will vehemently hate NYCFC because they're partly Yankee-owned, but it is true.

You have to also keep in mind that Mets fans can also either root for solely for the Cosmos or just not give a damn about domestic soccer.

You're presuming that the blue and orange section of the city approaches anywhere near 1/2....

According to the most recent poll I could find on Google here are the numbers concerning the baseball breakdown in NYC:

Yankees - 61%

Mets - 39%

Neither - 9%

http://maristpoll.marist.edu/330-more-yanks-than-mets-fans-in-nyc-%E2%80%A6-yanks-prepared-for-season-mets-not-so-much/

[VictoriaGooner]

The fact that MLS keeps screwing around with alignment and play-off structure every year to two years. You have football pundits and journalists not just around North America but abroad thinking that MLS is not even close to a Top 20 league in the world. Why screw with something that has been proven throughout every country with a single table format, most points at the end of the season wins. Ok so you want play-offs like every American wants...well have a League up competition single knockout like the FA Cup or Capital One Cap running concurrently through the season? As for Mexico and other Central and South American countries having split seasons. I have nothing wrong with that. It works well for those countries because they have had that format in place for 50 plus seasons and they know it is proven. They still have play-offs but it's the winner of the Spring league v winner of the Winter league for domestic rights into their confederation competition. If the MLS just used other proven domestic leagues as a template, it would be taken more seriously.

[rams80]

1. If we're following the template of everyone else, the Canadian teams go. Have fun watching a domestic Canadian League wither and die. (But they'll be single table at least.)

2. The MLS is trying to field a league that covers a larger population and geographic base than arguably any other league. If you limit yourself to single table, you limit yourself to 20 teams.

3. Promotion/Relegation is a non-starter with publicly funded SSS, so stop thinking about proposing that right now.

4. (and this is a generally good idea for the MLS) WHO GIVES A WHAT EUROPE THINKS OF US. We're running something that from a logistical standpoint is more in line with the Champions League than any domestic league, so their model really isn't appropriate.