Biggest reason is stadium size. Those clubs would all have to build/renovate/increase the size of their venues. USSF had minimum standards for that and other criteria to enable 1st div status.
New York Cosmos surive & move to Coney Island
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MLS is here and not too far from me but US Soccer's Eastern NY offices are out on Long Island.
http://www.enysoccer.com/about/contactus/
There are no FIFA/USSF mandates which prevent a competing Division 1. If all of those teams could get together, develop a consensus on a viable business model, implement it, and meet the reasonable USSF standards for a division 1, they will be division 1. Even if they did not get D1 status, that would really have no impact on their ability to challenge MLS, as the divisional standards have no salary caps.
The problem is, pretty much all of those teams you mentioned have numerous challenges that would not allow them to compete with MLS.
1. Indy Eleven- Stadium is not suitable, and attempts to get a purpose built stadium so far have failed.
2. San Francisco Deltas- Stadium is hardly a step above Hofstra and this franchise has no track record yet. Getting a 20k+ stadium built in SF is harder than NYC.
3. FC Cincinnati- Lot's of promise, but only one season so far.
4. St. Louis SC- Not really lighting the world on fire, doing ok.
5. Tampa Bay Rowdies- Nice club with aggressive owner, nice stadium but nowhere near MLS level.
6. Jacksonville Armada- Not a good stadium and attendance cratered in season 2. Owner appears incompetent.
7. Arizona United (Now Phoenix Rising SC, terrible name!)- No track record, no existing MLS level owners.
8. Pittsburgh Riverhounds- Lol.
9. Sacramento Republic- Great club with MLS ready stadium plan!
10. Ottawa Fury- Decent attendance, but 2nd rate market.
11. Louisville City- Not capable of competing with MLS clubs.
12. Carolina Railhawks- Maybe. Decent attendance.
13. Miami FC- Not sure what the hell this club's vision is. Tons of money, would have same stadium struggles as Beckham.
14. FC Edmonton- Lol
15. Nashville SC- Not very familiar.
16. Oklahoma City Energy- They draw a couple thousand out to a high school football stadium.
17. New York Cosmos- Would need legit owners and an actual stadium plan.
18. San Antonio FC- Sure.
Basically, these are mostly 2nd and 3rd rate markets, which would kill them on TV revenue. Mostly unsuitable stadiums, and mostly unsuitable owners. The cost of entering MLS is most likely significantly lower than the investment it would take to bring a rival league to the same level as MLS. Most of the above clubs who could actually be a viable 1st division club would more likely choose MLS instead of spending a ton of money on to form a rival league with much higher risk.
Yes, I'm familiar with the fact that they don't have stadiums on par with MLS. I'm also familiar with the fact that it isn't exactly a well kept secret that Gulati wants one D1 league right now. He wants one world class top flight league in the country before he thinks about two of them.
I've never really understood the logic of "2nd and 3rd rate markets!" Look at the money college sports generates. Some of the biggest money-makers are located in South Bend, Tuscaloosa, and Tallahassee. What about perhaps the most storied team in Football: the Green Bay Packers? Only the product matters at the end of the day, the location is nearly irrelevant.
I think the X factor here is the fact that these "2nd and 3rd rate cities" will still get a crack at MLS clubs, still get a crack at CCL and still get a crack against prestigious international clubs in friendlies. These are things 2nd and 3rd rate pro clubs in other American sports don't have the luxury of. Look at Sacramento. I'm sure MLS suits never even thought of Sacramento when they were thinking of expansion for years but the fanaticism of the fans pushed their hand. If Seattle didn't fill an NFL stadium regularly, do you really think good players would be lining up to go there? You only really need passionate people/fans to make things happen.
In order to get D1 status, teams need at least a seating capacity of 15k and 75% of the teams have to be in a city of at least 2 million people. All of those Canadian teams are also going to be going over to the CPL as soon as it starts up.
This.
Not this.
College teams and the Packers are not effective comparisons.
College teams draw on massive alumni support networks and have a built in process for bringing in thousands of brand new rabid fans every year.
The Packers - oh geez, so many reasons this isn't a good comparison. Just one example, NFL brings 100% of the top football talent in the world to their league. They have zero football competition other than college. Wisconsin is football obsessed. Imagine if the Packers formed today as a new team to the Canadian Football League. Would you assume they'd get the same TV revenue as an NFL team? No way.
It's like I said, this will make you hiss and snarl but you're comparing Apple to Oranges.
First of all, Columbia played the 3rd ever football game against Rutgers. Both are considered to be in the largest market in America. Both are completely insignificant in the world of college football. They have the same captive audience, they've been doing it longer, they're in the richest/biggest part of the country. So markets size isn't everything. The degree of passion in those markets can compensate for size.
Forming a new team in a league that has 100+ years of history competing against another league with 100+ years of history is a very different thing than forming a new team in a league with just a couple years of history competing against another league with just 20 years of history.
They're very much apples and oranges.
I will say though if the new CFL club had a chance to compete against NFL clubs in a meaningful competition, it would go along way towards helping their future.
Former Cosmos that I would invite to camp:
Goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer
Midfielder Andrés Flores
Midfielder Ruben Bover
Defender Ayoze García
Goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer
Midfielder Andrés Flores
Midfielder Ruben Bover
Defender Ayoze García
Gulati is teaching Principles of Economics on Tuesday/Thursday this semester. Though that room is booked from 11:40 - 12:55 Monday/Wednesday.
I'd love to sit in on one of his classes, though I've been told he doesn't really mention soccer much.
If I was going to hiss and snarl, it would sound different than this.
You miss or ignore my point entirely about the nature of college sports and the ease with which they build a fan base. You say their apples and oranges and then say success in one should predict success in the other.
We disagree. I'm done with this discussion.
It's over folks.
Credit to Empire of Soccer for fantastic reporting as always.
Shitty news for all those employees who get laid off before Christmas without getting paid for weeks.
Credit to Empire of Soccer for fantastic reporting as always.
Shitty news for all those employees who get laid off before Christmas without getting paid for weeks.
is anyone worth picking up? also what about the rest of the league? .....another rumor or theory is that cosmos declare bankruptcy and someone else buys the image rights etc after the fact.
EDIT: i would not say they wont ever play again like the article states.....Whoever keeps the rights may one day want to sell it to anyone that wants to start the team again.....like this second version happened.
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Jimmy Mauer would be a solid keeper to pick up. Other than that idk tbh.
I don't want us to do so, but I can't help but see tremendous upside. I think that there is definitely room for a lower division team in NY, and what other USL team can sell Pele and Beckenbauer kits?
I would rather us add a USL team through the Roughriders , especially if there is going to be a D2/D3 split in USL.
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