Melbourne Heart/city

[JoyfulPenguin]

Melbourne Heart to stay in Red and White for next season. The decision to change to Sky blue was blocked by the FFA (Football Federation Australia) citing opposition from Sydney FC because of loss of identity in a 10 team league.

 

[zeven]

Thats a bad call for an organisation that is shit with no global or domestic appeal what so ever. It will be hard for CFG to include melbourne and negotiating global sponsorshipdeals now. The color is a big part of a unified brand.

I get a feeling City will not give them any starplayers this time around.

 

[sbrylski]

It's naive to think that Man City's intentions are guided by anything other than money. They're not doing this as a gift to the people of New York. It's to make money for Man City which they're perfectly entitled to do. Your point stands though. They won't make any money unless NYCFC is a success so they'll do their best to ensure that that is the case.

It seems like the bolded is assumed by everyone in this thread and has went unchallenged, but I think its subtly incorrect. NYCFC has been established to make Sheikh Mansour, his Abu Dhabi United Group, and the Steinbrenners money.

Where the investors focus their efforts will depend on marginal benefits. Currently, the MLS and the American market is capped at a small percentage of the profits the investors can reap off of MCFC, so while the initial startup costs of NYCFC are worth it, it will quickly fade from priority. That said, there is no reason that NYCFC, as the American and MLS markets develop, can't grow into a vehicle on par with the current overwhelming power of MCFC. It'll be a slow climb due to MCFC's extreme head start, but the potential is there. With the double revenue of two globally branded clubs (if we get our act together), the ownership group can field two world-class teams and lean on each other to fill temporary gaps. It is a hugely beneficial relationship that I can only imagine is frowned upon due to prior bias against MCFC for reasons such as a rivalry with a favorite EPL team.

You don't have to like MCFC to appreciate their value to NYCFC.

 

[Andy]

You all understand it´s only about the home shirt I take it?

Name and badge will most likely change, not that anyone in Melbourne will be very upset about that really, as for Global sponsorships a red&white shirt would suit Nissan just fine

 

[Melbourne City]

Yeah it's only the home top, away top will be sky blue... And if we make the Asian champions league, we can play all games in sky blue.

 

[Brahma_B]

As far as investment and return and if MCFC is any indication, ADUG is playing the long game. Even though their initial investment may seem exorbitant at present, there is solid evidence that it will be beneficial in the long run. The recent Donald Sterling incident has proven how valuable major markets truly are. I believe he purchased the Clipps for less than 30 million 30 years ago and is set to receive 2 billion.

 

[Andy]

You got that one right Brahma B.. ADUG and its stakeholders (there´s just one shareholder) got a vision of them having a select number of inner-city teams playing in iconic cities.
Apart from the core clubs (The clubs where they got a majority stake) they or rather CFG also want to create certain alliances with teams where they own a minor share it seems, like with the Nissan owned Yokohama FM.

Certain ITK´s who have a track record say that they are looking at South-Africa and a smaller European club right now.

The goal of CFG? Well, given the recent interview with the CFG chairman it seems like they intend to create a new platform for soccer, they find the current system (In Europe in particular) old fashioned and non-sustainable really while in other parts of the world it´s just underfunded or lacking know how.
They feel that having a group like CFG that can offer both global and local exposure to sponsors as well as offering promising youngsters all over the world a ladder that can reach the sky within the "family" they will profit in due time.

I could go on but this will do for now..

 

[BossNYC]

It really is brilliant. I think its a revelation for sports.

Most doubters were like "We already tried this with Chivas! No more farm teams!"And that was Chivas' stupidity in treating its MLS squad like a farm team. So incredibly short-sighted.

I think the analogy that works best is why own the Yankees and their farm team when you could own the Yankees and the Dodgers?

I have to believe when NYCFC proves CFG's point to the world, the Chivas fans will have to be pissed because they had a very, very good thing and they squandered it.

 

[Andy]

It´s actually not a "new" idea.. For example Ajax in Amsterdam owns Ajax in Cape Town, South Africa. RedBull got half a dozen clubs worldwide etc.

The difference is that CFG have a blueprint on how it all will fit together.. and of course the funds necessary to make it happen.
As the CFG chairman put it .. "Six years from know we´ll be in place, history will judge what was best for football" or something like that.

 

[BossNYC]

It´s actually not a "new" idea.. For example Ajax in Amsterdam owns Ajax in Cape Town, South Africa. RedBull got half a dozen clubs worldwide etc.

The difference is that CFG have a blueprint on how it all will fit together.. and of course the funds necessary to make it happen.
As the CFG chairman put it .. "Six years from know we´ll be in place, history will judge what was best for football" or something like that.

Come on though, Cape Town vs New York...

Also, Red Bull is just an advertising exercise and no one takes any of their clubs seriously.

 

[Andy]

Come on though, Cape Town vs New York...

Also, Red Bull is just an advertising exercise and no one takes any of their clubs seriously.

The idea is of course to steal a march on others that might very well like to use the same blueprint as CFG.. But when they get started we´ll be far ahead.
Funny thing is that I feel it´s such a logical step that I can´t understand why no one have done it earlier. The Glazer had a golden opportunity but preferred not to. Barcelona had the original plans but got caught up in their in-club politics.

 

[Brahma_B]

One other consideration, and this is absolutely the incorrect thread, but soccer in America is ascendant. And in that vein, the next 10-15 years will be critical in determining which teams become "iconic". The Cowboys aren't the Cowboys because they are from Dallas and you could purchase the Mets for cheaper than I bought 4 beers at a Yanks game last summer. When, and if to some, the MLS blows up, we best be Arsenal(gently cutting my wrists) and not Fulham.

 

[Andy]

One other consideration, and this is absolutely the incorrect thread, but soccer in America is ascendant. And in that vein, the next 10-15 years will be critical in determining which teams become "iconic". The Cowboys aren't the Cowboys because they are from Dallas and you could purchase the Mets for cheaper than I bought 4 beers at a Yanks game last summer. When, and if to some, the MLS blows up, we best be Arsenal(gently cutting my wrists) and not Fulham.

I think you can look at all these CFG ventures in that light.. It´s a bet on the world catching up more with Europe and South-America in a way.

 

[ando]

There's some interesting discussion going on here.

Personally I have no problem with MCFC, and am quite excited to see NYCFC enter the MLS next year. MLS is getting bigger and bigger, and there's far too many hipsters following Portland just for kicks over here. So, nice to have a club to follow now.

The investment that CFG brings to Melbourne Heart is lovely, but we're pretty keen to retain our red and white. We haven't had much luck since our foundation, and I guess there's a bit of the old 'well you might as well start afresh' around the place. At the end of the day, the red and white is representative of Melbourne as a city. Anyway, this is a bit of a ramble but I'm definitely keen to head over next year when you guys start to take in a game or two at Yankee Stadium. What a great experience that would be.

 

[Andy]

There's some interesting discussion going on here.

Personally I have no problem with MCFC, and am quite excited to see NYCFC enter the MLS next year. MLS is getting bigger and bigger, and there's far too many hipsters following Portland just for kicks over here. So, nice to have a club to follow now.

The investment that CFG brings to Melbourne Heart is lovely, but we're pretty keen to retain our red and white. We haven't had much luck since our foundation, and I guess there's a bit of the old 'well you might as well start afresh' around the place. At the end of the day, the red and white is representative of Melbourne as a city. Anyway, this is a bit of a ramble but I'm definitely keen to head over next year when you guys start to take in a game or two at Yankee Stadium. What a great experience that would be.

The FFA have already ruled that sky blue is out of the question (Sydney objections) so why shouldn´t you get to keep red&white is beyond me..

 

[NYCFCFan10]

Wait, there's Portland fans....in Australia?

There's actually a supporters group of Portland fans in NY. They go to RBNY games when Portland comes to town.

 

[kun]

Looks like they're signing Damien Duff. Not quite as ambitious as Villa or Lampard, but a decent signing none the less.

 

[grandsolo]

If the team is even close to a mini MC, it will fail. They need to keep that association in the background as much as possible. Shared ownership needs to be the extent of it, and the "global branding" talk needs to settle down (I think they are starting to pick up on that).

I appreciate that they have money, but any NYC owner given the franchise was going to have a shit load of that. We don't owe MC respect or gratitude because they are doing the minimum of what's expected.

That's it for me. You can keeping tugging your sky blue veiner now.

Pulling David Villa, with Lampard on the way & you don't owe MCFC any gratitude? Minimum? David Villa is minimum? Sorry to burst your bubble but remind me who's office David Villa was in when he signed his contract. Damn sure wasn't Claudio's.

 

[grandsolo]

What in trying to say is, why not give them the benefit of doubt. Until now your "horror stories" are not justified in the actions taken by the club. My impression of NYCFCs management might be different to yours. i see some of the best qualified ppl in the business doing what they can to make nycfc a true NYC club. PS. if i could chose between an asian tycoon who love watching football on tv or an actual football club with the infrastructure and know how, i know wich kind of owner i rather hage to support me. I guess i feel someone need to defend MCFC a bit until they show us the contrary.

Without MCFC there is never NYCFC. Why does MCFC need defending. MCFC needs thanking from every NYCFC supporter.

 

[grandsolo]

It's naive to think that Man City's intentions are guided by anything other than money. They're not doing this as a gift to the people of New York. It's to make money for Man City which they're perfectly entitled to do. Your point stands though. They won't make any money unless NYCFC is a success so they'll do their best to ensure that that is the case.

I'm happy to let that go on in the background though. As a fan of NYCFC I'm uneasy with the idea that our owners see us as their side project. New York City shouldn't be a side project. Plenty of fans around the world are unhappy with their ownership; Hull, Cardiff, Newcastle to name but three in Britain. This doesn't diminish their love of the team and their love of the team doesn't stop them from speaking out about their ownership.

The difference here is that no one is a hard core, dedicated fan of Vincent Tan, for example. There are plenty of hardcore, dedicated fans of Man City who are more than willing to fight back if someone speaks out against them!

You'd be surprised at how generous our owners are. Not everything is money.