Expansion Rumors Megathread

[Jon]

Does anyone think they will?

They're going to be bottom half. Worst case, they're the MLS's Monaco: https://www.transfermarkt.com/ligue-1/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/FR1

They'll have some star players, build a decent following distributed among the Caribbean, but I'm definitely not anticipating a large local fervor for the club.

Miami / South Florida has to be one of the worst fan bases in the entire country. It doesn't help that a huge part of that population came from somewhere else in the US. If I retire and move from NY to FL it's not like I'm going to become a Marlins/Heat/Dolphins fan. I'm still going to follow my NY teams.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

They said that about Atlanta.

 

[Ulrich]

They said that about Atlanta.

True, but Miami really is an abysmal city of fans. Every sports team there has trouble drawing fans, and both the Marlins and Heat have won recent championships.

I think it comes down to the weather. I grew up in Tallahassee which is as hot/humid as south Florida, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a midday game in Miami if the alternative is the beach. Now if the stands were completely shaded and they designed the venue to passively funnel the breezes through, then maybe it'd be bearable to watch.

 

[Dnigly13]

True, but Miami really is an abysmal city of fans. Every sports team there has trouble drawing fans, and both the Marlins and Heat have won recent championships.

I think it comes down to the weather. I grew up in Tallahassee which is as hot/humid as south Florida, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a midday game in Miami if the alternative is the beach. Now if the stands were completely shaded and they designed the venue to passively funnel the breezes through, then maybe it'd be bearable to watch.

As a south floridian i can attest, Miami has the worst sports fans in the US, but we have the best bandwagon fans in the US. Nobody does events like Miami.

 

[dannd23]

I think Miami can succeed if they play to the Haitian community. Sign 2 big name Euro DPs with the Beckham connections, then get Altidore as a DP, plus sign some Haitians like Reginal Goreux at Standard Leige and Mustivar from SKC. Maybe even try to get Ozzy Alonzo (if its in the next year or two) to get the Cuban community on board. Don't underestimate those connections.

That formula will draw interest from all + tourists for the big Euro names and then get a loyal fanbase from the Haitian + Cuban communities.

IMO.

 

[413Blue]

I think Miami can succeed if they play to the Haitian community. Sign 2 big name Euro DPs with the Beckham connections, then get Altidore as a DP, plus sign some Haitians like Reginal Goreux at Standard Leige and Mustivar from SKC. Maybe even try to get Ozzy Alonzo (if its in the next year or two) to get the Cuban community on board. Don't underestimate those connections.

That formula will draw interest from all + tourists for the big Euro names and then get a loyal fanbase from the Haitian + Cuban communities.

IMO.

Ethnic pandering has had very little success in MLS history.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Ethnic pandering has had very little success in MLS history.

Works great in politics, though.

(Rimshot)

Tip your waitresses.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

http://deadspin.com/cincinnati-home-of-terrible-stadium-deals-is-being-ex-1796232899

 

[LionNYC]

http://deadspin.com/cincinnati-home-of-terrible-stadium-deals-is-being-ex-1796232899

Well, one of their stadium sites is Newport, Kentucky. So will they rename the team Kentucky Football Club?

 

[mgarbowski]

They will instantly become our biggest rivals.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

They will instantly become our biggest rivals.

You know he didn't swallow.

 

[mgarbowski]

Also, right next to CR7 as a search result for "KFC bucket" is this, because this is my gift.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Also, right next to CR7 as a search result for "KFC bucket" is this, because this is my gift.

What an athletic young woman. (I willl not write "and wet, too". Won't do it.)

 

[JGarrettLieb]

What an athletic young woman. (I willl not write "and wet, too". Won't do it.)

By writing that you won't write it, you have already written it...

Wow I'm a miserable pedant before coffee.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

By writing that you won't write it, you have already written it...

Wow I'm s miserable pedant before coffee.

Completely humorless. Where's adam? He's obviously the target audience for that joke.

 

[21Architect]

If I retire and move from NY to FL it's not like I'm going to become a Marlins/Heat/Dolphins fan. I'm still going to follow my NY teams.

One of the biggest -if not the biggest- problems with pro sports in Miami is that people who moved away from NY/Philly/Chicago/etc 20 years ago still root for those teams.

I know a guy who moved away from Philly 25 years ago who only goes to Marlins Park to watch the Philly's.

I moved from NY to Miami 20+ years ago. I don't root for the Yankees anymore. I'm a Marlins fan and I've raised my sons Marlins fans. But you still have idiots here who raise their Miami born children as fans of teams of places the father lived in 1989.

 

[21Architect]

True, but Miami really is an abysmal city of fans. Every sports team there has trouble drawing fans, and both the Marlins and Heat have won recent championships.

I think it comes down to the weather. I grew up in Tallahassee which is as hot/humid as south Florida, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a midday game in Miami if the alternative is the beach. Now if the stands were completely shaded and they designed the venue to passively funnel the breezes through, then maybe it'd be bearable to watch.

The Marlins have played in a retractable roof air conditioned ballpark since 2012. They still don't draw good crowds.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I moved from NY to Miami 20+ years ago. I don't root for the Yankees anymore. I'm a Marlins fan and I've raised my sons Marlins fans. But you still have idiots here who raise their Miami born children as fans of teams of places the father lived in 1989.

I don't disagree with the avenue you've taken, but why are people idiots for raising their children as fans of the teams for which they are fans of?

I lived for 11 years in the south (born in Atlanta) before moving to the Chicago suburbs, going to college in Milwaukee, and have now been on the East Coast the past 7 years (DC then NYC). All my life as long as I can remember I've been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. My dad and his brothers were raised in Atlanta their whole lives and were raised as Steelers fans, as their parents grew up north of Pittsburgh but relocated before having my dad.

Our family get togethers around Steelers games are some of my favorite family moments and is a great excuse for us to get together as we are all spread out now (grandparents in Atlanta, one uncle in Indiana, one uncle in Denver, my dad and siblings in greater Chicago area, me in NYC).

 

[21Architect]

Idiots was a poor choice of words.

 

[Davo15]

I feel like you can get a weird mix though. Many of the people I know who have relocated from NY to Miami are still Yankees fans but switched over to the Dolphins/ Heat