And then there were four: Miami bows out of MLS expansion
Here’s the official release from MLS about Miami dropping out. I’m sure the Miami paper will have more on Wednesday, and it will be interesting to see what they say there. In any case, the four expansion candidates are now St. Louis, Vancouver, Portland and Ottawa. And here’s the thing: I just don’t see the league choosing Vancouver and Ottawa, or Vancouver and Portland. It makes little sense, at least to me, to pick two Canadian cities, or two Pacific Northwest cities. The only way the league doesn’t choose St. Louis is if they absolutely, positively think the bid stinks. At least that’s the way it seems to me. There are two pots now of franchises: One has Vancouver, Portland and Ottawa. The other has St. Louis. The league will choose one from each. St. Louis gives them a rival for Kansas City, which needs all the help it can to sell tickets, and a rival for Chicago wouldn’t hurt either.
And, keep in mind, Portland could still be a non-factor if they don’t get a stadium deal approved. There very well could be three finalists for the two spots.
At the draft, a few of us were talking to commissioner Don Garber. Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America asked if the league was committed to adding two teams this year, if with the state of the economy it might be a good idea to just put everything on hold. Garber couldn’t have been more emphatic: We will add two teams.
Anyway, here’s the release:
NEW YORK (March 3, 2009) - Major League Soccer, FC Barcelona, and Marcelo Claure have jointly agreed that Miami is no longer a candidate to be one of the next two MLS expansion teams. After extensive discussions and collaborative evaluation a decision was made that at this time because it was determined that it was not feasible to launch a Major League Soccer team in South Florida in 2010 due to adverse market conditions.
Notwithstanding, FC Barcelona remains committed to Major League Soccer and the U.S. market and will continue to work with MLS and Marcelo Claure on other soccer-related projects.
”I want to thank both FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure for the tremendous effort to bring an MLS expansion team to Miami,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “FC Barcelona is one of the best managed and strategically operated sporting clubs in any sport in the World and I appreciate the opportunity that we have had to work with them and Marcelo Claure over the last few months.”
”The U.S market continues to be a priority for FC Barcelona,” said FC Barcelona CEO Joan Oliver. “We will continue our comprehensive game promotion and marketing agreement with Soccer United Marketing and will look for additional ways to strengthen our relationship with MLS and America’s soccer fans.”
”I remain a believer in MLS and the future of professional soccer in America… particularly in South Florida,” said Marcelo Claure. “Although we have not been able to move forward at this time for a wide variety of reasons, I will work with FC Barcelona on other soccer projects in South Florida.”
An interesting conclusion. But what about Ottawa and Portland? It satisfies your premise that it won’t be two Canadain teams nor two from the PNW.
Garber’s routinely said the top two bids will be the two franchises selected. He’s implied that two Candian teams is a long shot but he’s said, when asked directly, that Portland and Vancouver could both be awarded franchises if they are the top bids.
Portland still has a hurdle, but if it clears it the Portland bid is stronger than St. Louis’ in every criteria delineated by MLS.
while I wish St Louis the best of luck in their persuit of MLS franchise, we need to focus on what are the tangible assets brought forth by each “contender”.
Either Portland nor Vancouver has asked MLS for a discount in the admitance fee.
Both cities, and especially the Timber Army (Porland supporters) have a proven record of supporting their team and going to away games.
There is a natural rivalry (and also the Cascadia Cup) between Portland, Vancouver and Seattle.
A high speed train will soon connect these three cities making it easy for fans to follow their team to away games.
IF growing the sport is what MLS wants it will award the 2011 expansion to Portland and Vancouver.
St. Louis needs a USL 1 team first.
Your logic seems sound, Tom. I just am always a little wary of using “logic” and MLS in the same conversation.
Both Portland and Vancouver would be nice additions, but not together - especially after just adding Seattle. Ottawa has absolutely no chance and has only been kept around as a pawn.
When will Cooper speak on this situation?
USL-1? Really? St. Louis doesn’t need a minor league team to “grow the game” here.
I sincerely doubt that a portland-seattle rivalry or one of either of those cities with vancouver would equal an STL CHI rivalry. Someone who says it does either is uneducated or biased. And anyone who has ever seen a Cards game in KC can testify that it’s not a problem to get 30,000 people to drive across the state for a sporting event (I know the fan base will not be like the Cardinals’, just speaking on behalf of the fan’s commitment).
The soccer community is so huge here and so many st louisans do not even know it. Go to stlouissoccerunited.com and you will see that basically every soccer personality in this country supports the STL bid. Not granting st louis a bid at this point would be a huge mistake. You can go for a few quick dollars at the beginning on the west, or commit to a loyal fan base that will attract further sponsorship in STL. Thanks for covering, Tom. Tell your editor we need more soccer coverage. Hey editor, we need more soccer coverage!
Here’s the article running in the Miami Herald:
http://www.miamiherald.com/628/story/930624.html
Sure would be nice to have a ‘Total Soccer / Futbol Total’ section in our paper to show the ‘huge’ support the sport has here…
Seems logical that we will get a team. But the MLS is run by Don Garber who is an arrogant twit and not fan friendly. With that being said the sheer logic of us getting a team is yes. We have done our due diligence! Two to Three times!
St. Louis - Dallas makes for a good rivalry, too. Just as it did in the cardiac days of the mid-1970s when the game was American football.
But I think the PNWers have the inside track here. Does that mean St. Louis is DOOOOOOOOOMED?
Garber emphatically wanting to add 2 teams in the current economic conditions shows just how out of touch he is, better to take a team out of a weak market (i.e. Kansas City) and allow them to move to a bigger/stronger than trying to add teams just for the sake of expansion.
The ownership group here in STL was deemed under-funded before and is relatively unchanged so take it for what it is. With virtually no credit available for the real estate development that is to accompany this project and the severe deterioration of the housing market I wonder if this is still a viable project for this group.
St. Louis has a great soccer tradition but when our own “local” paper does not even have a soccer section as a daily feature I think it’s hard for anyone on the national level to take this market seriously.
St Louis been a great soccer area. More soccer fields than baseball. I do agree though that the media’s lack of coverage on radio or TV is horrendous. They drag out stories of “who cares” when they could be putting more emphasis on the soccer heritage of this great city. It may not be baseball, but it’ll draw.