General MLS Discussion

[Gotham Gator]

• As Mark noted, the terms were established in 2018, you can't just renegotiate because the market has changed. And the way it's phrased in the video is so disingenuous "Rents have shot up 60% in the last year". Note that he didn't compare to 2018 because it would be much smaller I 'm sure. I'm sure rents have gone up that high in the last year because in most cities around the country, they dipped in 2020 due to the pandemic and now they are resetting to pre-pandemic figures plus probably typical YOY/inflation increases.

On the subject of renegotiating terms, let us never forget the full history of Miami's stadium plans.

Their franchise, and Beckham's ability to exercise his option, were held up for years because MLS would not award the franchise until Miami had deal with the city to build a stadium. They finally reached a great deal to build one in a neighborhood called Overtown, near downtown and on a light rail system. It was a great site.

Then, once MLS awarded the franchise based on that site, the group abandoned that deal in favor of the golf course site, which offered much larger upside as part of an overall real estate deal. Basically, the Mas brothers joined Inter Miami ownership because it offered a chance at a big real estate payday.

 

[mgarbowski]

On the subject of renegotiating terms, let us never forget the full history of Miami's stadium plans.

Their franchise, and Beckham's ability to exercise his option, were held up for years because MLS would not award the franchise until Miami had deal with the city to build a stadium. They finally reached a great deal to build one in a neighborhood called Overtown, near downtown and on a light rail system. It was a great site.

Then, once MLS awarded the franchise based on that site, the group abandoned that deal in favor of the golf course site, which offered much larger upside as part of an overall real estate deal. Basically, the Mas brothers joined Inter Miami ownership because it offered a chance at a big real estate payday.

The Overtown site was 9 acres, barely big enough for a stadium, had no parking, and they faced a lawsuit based on, of course, getting the land below fair market value without an open bid process.
If you ask me to guess whether any land deal involving a city government and real estate developers is crooked, and I have no actual information, I'm going to guess "yes." So there's probably something off about the golf course deal. But no matter where they try to build they'd end up facing the same accusations and opposition. I certainly don't care if the pulled a bait and switch on MLS.

This video leads me to wonder what David Samson's angle is. Maybe he's just publicly opposing the stadium out of the kindness of his heart, but I kind of doubt it.

I really don't understand why the video makers think "I got a sweetheart real estate deal from the city and cashed out, so now nobody else should (but I'm not making restitution either)" is a compelling storyline. He's not arguing against his own interests. He got his.

 

[danger]

FYI, for more on the Hernán Losada thing, Pablo Maurer was on David Gass's "MLS Today" daily thing which you can consume in podcast form (Mauer is on beginning at 19:30).

 

[Gotham Gator]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517260841820819457

 

[Shwafta]

lol @ new england having like a weird mirror of last season. They just lost by a 1-goal margin again.

 

[moogoo]

san jose with the "new coach" bounce and take down seattle in a thriller!

 

[canchon]

“Get Omar out of the game” is my bet

https://twitter.com/x/status/1518023442460823552

 

[mgarbowski]

san jose with the "new coach" bounce and take down seattle in a thriller!

And they play us next.

 

[mgarbowski]

lol @ new england having like a weird mirror of last season. They just lost by a 1-goal margin again.

Omar Gonzalez was directly implicated in DC's second and third goals. Altidore has 1 goal in 8 appearances including CCL. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for Bruce Arena to recreate that Couva magic in 2022.

Yes, I'm gonna beat this drum as long as I can. I had to listen and read about how Arena was a genius for about 10 months last year.

 

[moogoo]

Omar Gonzalez was directly implicated in DC's second and third goals. Altidore has 1 goal in 8 appearances including CCL. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for Bruce Arena to recreate that Couva magic in 2022.

Yes, I'm gonna beat this drum as long as I can. I had to listen and read about how Arena was a genius for about 10 months last year.

Altidore as a super sub I can kinda understand... Gonzalez is just terrible and hasn't been good for a long time. Arena is going senile!

 

[Revfugee]

Altidore as a super sub I can kinda understand... Gonzalez is just terrible and hasn't been good for a long time. Arena is going senile!

My schadenfreude is implicit…

 

[moogoo]

hate to say it - but red bulls look to be performing pretty well so far this season. this year's HRD is going to be wild and will hopefully go in our favor.

 

[moogoo]

beautiful stadium... largest in the country. will ours match or exceed this 30K capacity and will we be able to fill it consistently? The "man of the match" live cut record is a great idea that integrates the music heritage of the city. very nice touch.

 

[LionNYC]

beautiful stadium... largest in the country. will ours match or exceed this 30K capacity and will we be able to fill it consistently? The "man of the match" live cut record is a great idea that integrates the music heritage of the city. very nice touch.

It looks cheap without any covering on the sides. The supporter section is bleachers with rails rather than true safe standing with a seat that folds straight up.

 

[moogoo]

It looks cheap without any covering on the sides. The supporter section is bleachers with rails rather than true safe standing with a seat that folds straight up.

It is cheap... 350 million was it? I am willing to bet our stadium will cost at least double when it's all said and done with all the NYC red tape. Also, considering our stadium will probably just look like a giant concrete blob... who's to say open steel beams are actually worse?

but at least they have one.

 

[Schwallacus]

It looks cheap without any covering on the sides. The supporter section is bleachers with rails rather than true safe standing with a seat that folds straight up.

Any reason for the lack of corner seating? I agree that the lack of sides does make it look weird/cheap.

Pitch itself looks great and I am also jealous of the fact that another team has a stadium. Good for them, looks like a decent setup. I'm more curious what the food/drink options will be. Only new stadium that put an emphasis on that was Minnesota's with their restaurant/brewery built into part of the stadium, which I thought was a cool/distinguishing feature.

 

[moogoo]

Any reason for the lack of corner seating? I agree that the lack of sides does make it look weird/cheap.

Pitch itself looks great and I am also jealous of the fact that another team has a stadium. Good for them, looks like a decent setup. I'm more curious what the food/drink options will be. Only new stadium that put an emphasis on that was Minnesota's with their restaurant/brewery built into part of the stadium, which I thought was a cool/distinguishing feature.

agree food is important. if food options at the stadium are good and reasonably price, that alone puts butts in seats, I think.

 

[mgarbowski]

I like the open look from the outside a lot. Inside the shell it does have a certain "under the high school bleachers" feel. But even then, I'm so negative these days on the grey East German psychiatric prison ward vibe of the interior of Yankee stadium that I still prefer this.

considering our stadium will probably just look like a giant concrete blob... who's to say open steel beams are actually worse?

Exactly. NYCFC will have soulless enclosed interior spaces with zero natural light. A few years back someone posted some photos and video of the new sections of Man City's stadium, and while they were limited in having to retro-fit over an existing structure, I doubt anything prevented them from adding on a somewhat open shell. They didn't. It's not in their nature.

 

[danger]

I'm more curious what the food/drink options will be.

if food options at the stadium are good and reasonably price, that alone puts butts in seats, I think.

My sister and brother-in-law are season ticket holders and went to the preview day last week. They'll have local food options, including Prince's which cinched it for me

https://twitter.com/x/status/1506680994618908672

 

[danger]

The supporter section is bleachers with rails rather than true safe standing with a seat that folds straight up.

If that's your definition of safe standing, it's Euro-centric. The reason they have seats at all is because even for countries where standing was allowed in domestic play (e.g. Germany) vs countries where it was not (e.g. England after Hillsborough disaster) FIFA and UEFA mandated 'all-seaters' for international competitions. Otherwise, they would have just added rails to terraces.

The point of safe standing is for the rails to prevent a crush. Minnesota's Wonderwall supporters standing section doesn't have seats of any kind.