Queensboro FC

[Korker]

I don't think that's necessarily true - I think that's bias and entitlement speaking. NYCFC isn't the phenomenon us fans think it is, a "can't miss" opportunity for the city. There is nothing preventing another well organized soccer club from putting forth a superior proposal.

I agree on the proposal side, but there is a lot more to it than just that. CFG has more money than God at this point stashed away in their Dubai banks, so any plan that is laid out and on the track for approval, they could easily come in and either expand it or up the budgets on the plan to help them win the approval.

Also, this team hasn't revealed any financial backers to it at all. Villa isn't the primary financial backer of this team and has associated himself to it to give it some legs as well as a outlet for his academy players.

And then you have the last elephant in the room, does MLS want this club to happen? MLS and USL are tied at the hip, and if MLS thinks that this club could damage their products, attendance, etc, they won't allow it to happen. A lot of moving parts are involved in this and I'd think this is more of a dream at this point than anything.

 

[sbrylski]

I agree on the proposal side, but there is a lot more to it than just that. CFG has more money than God at this point stashed away in their Dubai banks, so any plan that is laid out and on the track for approval, they could easily come in and either expand it or up the budgets on the plan to help them win the approval.

Agreed, but it still requires them to actually do it. If they are playing hardball, they can easily lose the battle and the site.

Also, this team hasn't revealed any financial backers to it at all. Villa isn't the primary financial backer of this team and has associated himself to it to give it some legs as well as a outlet for his academy players.

There's enough smoke to assume there's more financial backing in place, but correct, this is one of the things we need to wait and see about.

And then you have the last elephant in the room, does MLS want this club to happen? MLS and USL are tied at the hip, and if MLS thinks that this club could damage their products, attendance, etc, they won't allow it to happen. A lot of moving parts are involved in this and I'd think this is more of a dream at this point than anything.

The article cites a source that says MLS is not supportive of this project. MLS and USL aren't as buddy-buddy as some people think. USL is going to do whatever is best for their organization and MLS doesn't really hold much over their heads right now. What would the repercussions be if USL did something against MLS wishes?

 

[adam]

I know Garber has already come out and said they have no more plans for expansion in NY (this was brought up to him about the Cosmos however, so take that as you will given their bad blood). But I still would strongly doubt they ever get into MLS without Pro/Rel for the simple fact of RBNJ don't draw well and NYCFC's numbers have been falling year over year (Yes, i know, Yankee Stadium blah blah blah). I don't think they will want to dilute the fan bases here anymore than they already have.

When Garber said that the 3rd team in NY was drawing 5k a game and had a front office at odds with MLS (actually trying to take it down). If there was a 3rd team with stable ownership and a former MLS MVP as the face of it (like Beckham) drawing 20k+ per match in a SSS, they would have take the idea of a $200mm expansion fee from them seriously.

 

[Korker]

When Garber said that the 3rd team in NY was drawing 5k a game and had a front office at odds with MLS (actually trying to take it down). If there was a 3rd team with stable ownership and a former MLS MVP as the face of it (like Beckham) drawing 20k+ per match in a SSS, they would have take the idea of a $200mm expansion fee from them seriously.

Agree with this point 100%, but I highly doubt they would draw 20k a game. NYCFC struggle to draw that now, even after their inflated numbers, so I just don't see it happening. For the sake of growing the game though, I really hope I am wrong about this and they take off and are both successful on the field and off to push this conversation further and to help expand the game.

 

[sbrylski]

Agree with this point 100%, but I highly doubt they would draw 20k a game. NYCFC struggle to draw that now, even after their inflated numbers, so I just don't see it happening. For the sake of growing the game though, I really hope I am wrong about this and they take off and are both successful on the field and off to push this conversation further and to help expand the game.

Yeah, I think the most optimistic would be in the 8-12k range, depending entirely on where they play. Something like Belson would be more like 3k. The Cosmos were getting around 5k in what I would call worse locations than Willets, so give it a minus for not being "the cosmos" but three pluses for a better league, better location, and David Villa as a figurehead.

 

[adam]

Agree with this point 100%, but I highly doubt they would draw 20k a game. NYCFC struggle to draw that now, even after their inflated numbers, so I just don't see it happening. For the sake of growing the game though, I really hope I am wrong about this and they take off and are both successful on the field and off to push this conversation further and to help expand the game.

Like I pointed out in a previous post, NYCFC sold over $20k to a regular season match in 10 days in October 2017. I think CFG really underestimated how soccer crazy Queens is when they got into bed with the Yankees. And it's the final nail in the coffin for them with me if they could have built in queens and turned their noses at it. Then Villa came in a beat them to the punch. How many times have we said here it's so hard to get a stadium built in NYC. If you have the opportunity, you jump on it! You don't force it into the Bronx for some weird fetish for the area because it's close to the Yankees.

 

[Korker]

Yeah, I think the most optimistic would be in the 8-12k range, depending entirely on where they play. Something like Belson would be more like 3k. The Cosmos were getting around 5k in what I would call worse locations than Willets, so give it a minus for not being "the cosmos" but three pluses for a better league, better location, and David Villa as a figurehead.

I agree as well. I'd say 10k, one level stadium, would be the sweet spot for a USL team trying to get a stadium in NYC. A number like that can fly under the radar more community wise, and if a situation ever did arise in the future where they wanted/needed to expand, they could add a second level easily.

 

[Fantazma]

Agree with this point 100%, but I highly doubt they would draw 20k a game. NYCFC struggle to draw that now, even after their inflated numbers, so I just don't see it happening. For the sake of growing the game though, I really hope I am wrong about this and they take off and are both successful on the field and off to push this conversation further and to help expand the game.

i think you underestimating how important to some people it is to actually be in SSS. also maybe its just me but lots of queens people travel all that time to go to BX....proabably alot more will want to go some where much closer. i know for sure a few friends recently moved to queens who would most likely take this option.

 

[adam]

Another 20k USL Stadium in a major metropolis when the established MLS team doesn't draw. There's precedent.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/f...orth-side-could-be-significant-soccer-chicago

 

[Fantazma]

Another 20k USL Stadium in a major metropolis when the established MLS team doesn't draw. There's precedent.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/f...orth-side-could-be-significant-soccer-chicago

i though this would happen first, but seems like villas queens team will happen first. Should Don Garber be all antsy now that two markets with MLS foothold getting USL teams to basically take their audience

 

[Korker]

Like I pointed out in a previous post, NYCFC sold over $20k to a regular season match in 10 days in October 2017. I think CFG really underestimated how soccer crazy Queens is when they got into bed with the Yankees. And it's the final nail in the coffin for them with me if they could have built in queens and turned their noses at it. Then Villa came in a beat them to the punch. How many times have we said here it's so hard to get a stadium built in NYC. If you have the opportunity, you jump on it! You don't force it into the Bronx for some weird fetish for the area because it's close to the Yankees.

i think you underestimating how important to some people it is to actually be in SSS. also maybe its just me but lots of queens people travel all that time to go to BX....proabably alot more will want to go some where much closer. i know for sure a few friends recently moved to queens who would most likely take this option.

You two are pretty much in sync so gonna respond to both at once

I agree Queens is a huge soccer hotbed. I also think CFG knew this because before the team was announced, they were trying to get in with the Wilpons and the Mets to bring in the team all the way back in 2008. Then, Madoff happened, and Wilpons backed out and CFG went into bed with the Yankees. I think since then, they've obviously focused heavier on the Bronx than Queens, which is sad. I'm originally from LI, so I'd much rather drive to the CIti Field area than Yankee Stadium. I'd love for a team to happen in Queens, and i'd love it even more if CFG and them shared a stadium so that both could exist and not have stadium issues, but for now it's only a dream.....reading Word Up! magazines.

 

[Korker]

Another 20k USL Stadium in a major metropolis when the established MLS team doesn't draw. There's precedent.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/f...orth-side-could-be-significant-soccer-chicago

This is a proposed stadium that has yet to be voted on and will be reduced. I've kept tabs on this one for a bit and the new rumor floating around is the number is being cut in half because of local opposition to it. They are also losing the retractable roof as well most likely.

 

[adam]

You two are pretty much in sync so gonna respond to both at once

I agree Queens is a huge soccer hotbed. I also think CFG knew this because before the team was announced, they were trying to get in with the Wilpons and the Mets to bring in the team all the way back in 2008. Then, Madoff happened, and Wilpons backed out and CFG went into bed with the Yankees. I think since then, they've obviously focused heavier on the Bronx than Queens, which is sad. I'm originally from LI, so I'd much rather drive to the CIti Field area than Yankee Stadium. I'd love for a team to happen in Queens, and i'd love it even more if CFG and them shared a stadium so that both could exist and not have stadium issues, but for now it's only a dream.....reading Word Up! magazines.

Was CFG supposed to partner with the Wilpons? I remember that it was the USTA that created a sham lobbying group to oppose the stadium so they could build a new tennis stadium instead, killing the Flushing Meadows project. Homeless and not as intimately familiar with the NYC Sports scene as most of us are they jumped on the idea of partnering with the Yankees and their "success" in NYC. And here we are, 6 years later...

 

[adam]

This is a proposed stadium that has yet to be voted on and will be reduced. I've kept tabs on this one for a bit and the new rumor floating around is the number is being cut in half because of local opposition to it. They are also losing the retractable roof as well most likely.

I'm trying to see where Chicago's Lincoln Yards Stadium got downgraded? This is the most recent article I can find and it still quotes 20,000 seats and says LiveNation is a partner and will be partially funding it, along with Ricketts of course.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/com...terling-bay-buys-more-land-next-lincoln-yards

https://archpaper.com/2018/05/lincoln-yards-soccer-stadium-music-venues-along-the-chicago-river/

And there never was a retractible roof. It looks like it will be lopsided, with most the seats on one side to make the most sense as a concert venue that also houses Soccer with views of Lake Eerie.

 

[Korker]

I'm trying to see where Chicago's Lincoln Yards Stadium got downgraded? This is the most recent article I can find and it still quotes 20,000 seats and says LiveNation is a partner and will be partially funding it, along with Ricketts of course.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/com...terling-bay-buys-more-land-next-lincoln-yards

https://archpaper.com/2018/05/lincoln-yards-soccer-stadium-music-venues-along-the-chicago-river/

And there never was a retractible roof. It looks like it will be lopsided, with most the seats on one side to make the most sense as a concert venue that also houses Soccer with views of Lake Eerie.

The downgrading hasn't been voted on yet, but it's a major community concern and will most likely happen, hence me claiming the rumor aspect of it. Livenation is also only involved in the booking of events/construction for the smaller "amphitheater" style venues they are building along with it and aren't directly tied into the soccer stadium.

 

[Ulrich]

I know Garber has already come out and said they have no more plans for expansion in NY (this was brought up to him about the Cosmos however, so take that as you will given their bad blood). But I still would strongly doubt they ever get into MLS without Pro/Rel for the simple fact of RBNJ don't draw well and NYCFC's numbers have been falling year over year (Yes, i know, Yankee Stadium blah blah blah). I don't think they will want to dilute the fan bases here anymore than they already have.

Garber has said many things that have changed down the road - buying/selling league for one.

See my post above. I give a few possibilities as to how this could be played out as a share, sell, assimilate.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if MLS allowed a NYC3 for a former star player to head up much like what they did with Backham, especially if he has a stadium built.... but I still think it’s one of my other possibilities.

 

[Ulrich]

I agree on the proposal side, but there is a lot more to it than just that. CFG has more money than God at this point stashed away in their Dubai banks, so any plan that is laid out and on the track for approval, they could easily come in and either expand it or up the budgets on the plan to help them win the approval.

Also, this team hasn't revealed any financial backers to it at all. Villa isn't the primary financial backer of this team and has associated himself to it to give it some legs as well as a outlet for his academy players.

And then you have the last elephant in the room, does MLS want this club to happen? MLS and USL are tied at the hip, and if MLS thinks that this club could damage their products, attendance, etc, they won't allow it to happen. A lot of moving parts are involved in this and I'd think this is more of a dream at this point than anything.

As S sbrylski pointed out, MLS and USL are not aligned 100% and the USL would absolutely jump at the opportunity to have their flagship club in NYC. If MLS were to try and stop this, there’d be a pretty big push back and I’m not so sure they’d want to go to court over it.

That said, I’d love the idea of having a NYC club not affiliated with despot owners, and instead headed by a true champion of the sport. Throw in a fun stadium and it’d be hard not to want to support them. And if Villa has a pro team in conjunction with his academy, NYCFC will have a tough time recruiting head2head for the best talent in the city - I’d expect it’ll be a magnet for all of the serious queens/LI players as a start.

 

[Rimil]

It definitely says something that I'm annoyed it's been 6 minutes since I posted on this topic and no one else has added more news or analysis since then.

I remember feeling this kind of excitement around certain signings, the appearance of stadium news, etc.

But it feels like it's been a while since I've felt this eager to know what else might someone know or say on a topic here.

ETA: Shwafta and Korker posted right before I hit publish.

Caught me at an unusually busy day. Otherwise i'd have been here post #2.

 

[Korker]

All this optimism has me reminiscing about season 1. What a beautiful time.

 

[adam]

All this optimism has me reminiscing about season 1. What a beautiful time.

It’s like Villa read the forums and everything we complained about with CFG and said, “here you go you beautiful people”. Stadium, local ownership (including hometown soccer hero), it’s own NYC identity. I’m hooked.