It has AstroTurf starting right outside of the football lines, but they are taking that out and making it all grass.
Expansion Rumors Megathread
- Thread starter MagnusPax
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It has AstroTurf starting right outside of the football lines, but they are taking that out and making it all grass.
i didnt know that the stadium would not be ready till summer, it can be delayed till late august no? thats bad for season ticket holders that made a deposit and not they get a smaller less fancy stadium.
It was supposed to be ready, but there have been delays.
I actually think the Ga Tech stadium looks great.
i never been im sure its great. i just assume people are pissed since they were promised the super fancy new mercedez stadium and may have already deposited money for it.
i do wonder now if i do make my atlanta trip which stadium will i go to.
I really feel that Minnesota United was a loud message that this is it for clubs called "United."
The league really didn't want to let them in as Minnesota United but clearly realized the name actually has a greater meaning there and it wasn't worth the fight to have them change it. I'm hoping for AC Miami or Internac/tional Miami as both would make a lot of sense for Miami even if it is a strong play off of the Milan clubs.
Cincinnati will be a good boost for Columbus. It'd be nice for the Midwest clubs if Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville get in.
Looks like St. Louis could be a go, and possibly as early as 2020.
St. Louis group unveils plans for MLS expansion team and new stadium http://espnfc.com/major-league-socc...-plans-for-mls-expansion-team-and-new-stadium
St. Louis group unveils plans for MLS expansion team and new stadium http://espnfc.com/major-league-socc...-plans-for-mls-expansion-team-and-new-stadium
So Tampa's a thing now. My guess is that Bill Edwards wants to use the stadium to drive up tourism, to drive up people wanting to move to places where he has houses.
Whatever the motivation (love of soccer & making $$), that area is a great one to develop. My father-in-law lives down there, so I've spent some time in that very area, and there's a fantastic waterfront that they're tying in to. And I give them props for working the stadium to stay within their footprint while keeping the original baseball stadium motif and yet expanding to something practical numbers-wise. I've always liked the quirkiness of Portland's stadium, and in many ways this will also have its own identity for the the fans and also players. And there's that funny word, Populous, again being thrown around....So Tampa's a thing now. My guess is that Bill Edwards wants to use the stadium to drive up tourism, to drive up people wanting to move to places where he has houses.
If TB can get their season tix up, this could be a great addition geographically. And it's a total hotbed for youth soccer... lots to choose from for their academy.
Recency bias, but I'll guess:
25 - Sacramento
26 - St. Louis
27 - Tampa Bay
28 - Detroit/Cincinnati
25 - Sacramento
26 - St. Louis
27 - Tampa Bay
28 - Detroit/Cincinnati
So Tampa's a thing now. My guess is that Bill Edwards wants to use the stadium to drive up tourism, to drive up people wanting to move to places where he has houses.
It's interesting how in this rendering the baseball seats looks like they're facing the pitch normally. In another one I saw they're still tilted to face the baseball diamond.
Wouldn't it be better from a fan perspective to just knock down the guts of the baseball stadium and rebuilt the seat configuration?
On a separate note, MLS is going to expand from 28 teams. But it will be a while until it hits its true number.
My thought process is that we'll get two MLS leagues fighting for the same MLS Cup. (All East, All West, All North, All South, or a mix). USL, at division two, is going to get a lot of teams. Some will be those that are MLS ready for promotion (writing a nice fat check), others will want to keep USL status because they're not in a big enough market or are a B team.
Maybe when this giant USL league gets tv contracts and the infusion of money that MLS currently has, USSF can build out a true pro/rel system. Or maybe not.
My guess would be...
24 - St. Louis (2019)
25 - Miami (2020)
26 - Tampa Bay (2020)
27 - North Carolina (2021)
28 - Sacramento / Cinci / San Antonio??? (2021)
But only the Don truly knows.... Up until yesterday I would have said that Cinci would be the next team, but I didn't realize how small a TV market it is. I think they're going to take a team that's ready to go asap, in order to fill the Miami gap. I'm sure they'd like to never have uneven conferences again, but we'll see.
Southeast is still a huge missing piece - Orlando and Atlanta aren't enough. If they get Tampa and Miami in addition to Orlando, the three would probably feed off of each other and get more of a collective buzz going in Florida. I think NC is probably the most critical geographic gap remaining, though. Why they had to rebrand as another "FC" is beyond me (but i'll restrain myself from getting into that conversation again).
Tampa is an interesting option. Big city, good owner, stadium plan, but very close to an existing team in Orlando. MLS would be the first major league with teams in both cities.
I think it can be a good option - probably better even than Miami.
And I agree we need more in the south. NC is a good option. Jacksonville might be too. Give us some more warm weather teams so we can launch the season earlier.
I think it can be a good option - probably better even than Miami.
And I agree we need more in the south. NC is a good option. Jacksonville might be too. Give us some more warm weather teams so we can launch the season earlier.
I'm not sure North Carolina is a tier one market and ownership, but definitely a geography gap. I think Miami, St. Louis, and Detroit are in that top tier, and I really think they'll be in by 28.
In tier two you have Tampa Bay and probably Sacramento. Very good markets with a local rival multiplier. Maybe Phoenix goes here due to it's size, but I think for various reasons it can be bumped to tier three.
And then tier three is Cincinnati (probably bump to tier two due to insane fan support), North Carolina and Charlotte, San Diego, Nashville, and San Antonio.
So as long as Tampa Bay's stadium is legit, I think they're in pole position for the 28th spot. Further expansion will come from tier three.
All definitely good points. It's just incredibly exciting that there are this many options and possibilities for expansion. I love it. Think of all of those teams having multiple levels/ages of academies, and the exponential growth in the number of young players being seen. Going to be huge for the league and for USMNT.
Definitely seems like it's a matter of time until this league is over 30 teams. I'm sure the league is thinking about it, but I hope there's a longer term plan in place for what to do when the league is that size or larger. I think someone said it earlier... most likely is probably like other pro sports leagues in the country... two conferences that mostly meet only in the MLS Cup and maybe some scatter inter-league play.
I honestly do not think Tampa can hold a team. Its not a manor city, the general population isntthat high (nevermind the soccerpopulation). Lets look at demographics:
White pZopulation is mostly southern families with children. These families stick to tradition and play football/baseball.
The black population is concentrated near Busch Gardens and judging by the keep up of the houses in that area, for the most part do not meet the income to attend games with season tickets, plus general disinterest in the sport
The hispanic population is large and spread. Mostly middle class workers. However alot of them rely on public transportation, and Tampa public transportation should not be relied on by anyone for rides to games
White pZopulation is mostly southern families with children. These families stick to tradition and play football/baseball.
The black population is concentrated near Busch Gardens and judging by the keep up of the houses in that area, for the most part do not meet the income to attend games with season tickets, plus general disinterest in the sport
The hispanic population is large and spread. Mostly middle class workers. However alot of them rely on public transportation, and Tampa public transportation should not be relied on by anyone for rides to games
I don't know about that. The market is sneakily large.
According to Neilsen, their TV market is the 11th largest at 1.8 million TV homes. That's larger than Phoenix, Detroit, Miami, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sacramento, and St. Louis. It's about twice as large as other expansion candidates such as Charlotte, Indianapolis, Nashville, San Diego, Raleigh, San Antonio, and Las Vegas.
They'll be looked at extremely hard.
Disagree. Soccer is massive in the TB area. I grew up in Florida and the club Clearwater Central chargers were top dogs in the state every year, and that was against very good select team competition from all over. Football is $$-king in Florida, but the youth soccer movement is massive.
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