MLS: General News & Discussion

[Ram23]

It's about class and the pretentiousness that soccer has projected for the past 30 years.  It was always a soccer field until about 2005, when suddenly it became a "pitch".  It would be like if we suddenly changed hockey terminology to French. 

 

The fact that this aura you speak of is so widespread that we have soccer teams in America calling themselves "Football Club" is what surprises me the most. It's funny that only some of them do this, while some call themselves"SC," so you can sort of pick out which places are pretentious.

[ryanlammi]

There's an identity crisis in American soccer. It's nothing about being "pretentious". Soccer is an incredibly popular worldwide sport. Pretty much everywhere in the world it is referred to as football, or some variant of that name except in the United States, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia.

 

Soccer started becoming popular again in the US after the 1994 World Cup, which was held here. There are many examples of teams that have used the word "football" throughout their history before this time. One of the most successful soccer teams in America in the early 1900's was Bethlehem Steel F.C. They were around from 1907-1930.

 

In 1996, MLS had it's first season, and the only team to take a stance in their name was Chicago Fire, whose full name was "Chicago Fire Soccer Club", but they were only ever referred to as "Chicago Fire". Almost never as CFSC, Chicago Fire SC, or any other variant.

 

In 1997, Miami Fusion FC was formed (didn't play until 1998). Now there are more "Football Clubs" than "Soccer Clubs" in the US and it's just a current trend.

 

It has nothing to do with pretentiousness. If you go into a soccer bar and start saying soccer, field, zero, etc. no one is going to care. There are definitely people out there who get mad at you for using the "wrong" terminology, but most people don't care at all and shame people who try to correct you because honestly, who cares? Most of the comments are from people who complain about the scarce few who do try to "correct" you. This is the problem with adopting a sport that is popular around the world, but often uses different terminology. If you read about your favorite team in England, for example, you're going to see the words "pitch" and "football" all over the place, so you just naturally start using them.

 

I've only been a real follower of soccer since early 2015, and occasionally catch myself saying "pitch" and it gives me a jolt because I think it sounds stupid when I say it. But it just naturally comes out sometimes because when I'm reading things, that's often the word that's used.

 

The vast majority of the British soccer jargon is due to the fact that many MLS, World Cup, etc announcers are from the UK and use those terms. Articles are written with those words in them because they are written in England, or by English pundits. It's not usually a conspiracy to be pretentious and sound knowledgeable.

[Gordon Bombay]

It's about class and the pretentiousness that soccer has projected for the past 30 years.  It was always a soccer field until about 2005, when suddenly it became a "pitch".  It would be like if we suddenly changed hockey terminology to French. 

 

Except hockey doesn't have its roots in france and has always called the surface "ice" or "rink."

 

Who cares if people started using the word "pitch" instead of "field." That's what the rest of the world calls it.

 

As far as pretentious goes, come to a match with us this year and hang out beforehand. Hardly pretentious at Mecklenberg Gardens and nowhere near as "pretnetious" as the people who can afford opening Day Reds tickets while blowing off the work day.

[ryanlammi]

the people who can afford opening Day Reds tickets while blowing off the work day.

 

Hey now!

[GCrites]

One time I was watching one of the London NFL games and they made a logo for the Falcons calling them Atlanta Falcons, AFC. This of course was controversial since the Falcons are an NFC team.

[Columbo]

Along with two new teams, MLS is getting two new stadiums this season.  Atlanta will be moving into a shared facility with the Falcons later this year.  But - after playing their first two seasons in the vintage Citrus Bowl -  Orlando City SC inaugurated a brand new soccer specific stadium on March 5th:

 

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/02/28/wall-wifi-more-10-things-about-orlando-city-scs-brand-new-stadium

 

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017/3/5/14822656/orlando-city-sc-stadium-smoke-device-area-wall-ruckus

 

Orlando's new 25,500-seat stadium incorporates a couple of a new wrinkles to the fan experience.  The main one being a Safe Standing Section (photo below).  The second being a designated area for smoke canisters (both of these are discussed in the above linked articles):

 

 

View of Orlando's new stadium during practice:

 

View of Orlando's new stadium on its MLS debut:

[Gordon Bombay]

the people who can afford opening Day Reds tickets while blowing off the work day.

 

Hey now!

 

haha, to be fair, I'm generalizing a lot of people and that's not really accurate, but back when I used to go to 20+ Reds games a season, opening day was always my least favorite. I stopped going eventually and started enjoying it in other ways. Got so tired of seeing people with off-brand Reds shirts from Kroger over their collared, button down shirts and ties sit there, pan the team, and leave in the 6th inning.

 

Very, very thankful FCC has an entire section devoted to people who are truly there for the match rather than just the "experience." Most of them anyways.

[surfohio]

Best thing to happen in San Diego this year, sports wise.

 

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/mls-expansion-team-name-footy-mcfooty-face-april-fools-day-joke

[Columbo]

The St. Louis expansion bid has taken a big hit after a municipal measure intended to secure public financing for a soccer-specific stadium was defeated yesterday, 53-47 percent, falling short by an estimated 3,000 votes:  http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-results-soccer-stadium-defeated-metrolink-sales-tax-passes/article_c30360fe-6ffc-5f40-a296-f9bd4f45c82f.html

 

MLS statement on the vote:  http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/04/05/mls-releases-statement-after-st-louis-votes-down-soccer-stadium-funding

[jmblec2]

Where was St. Louis in terms of rankings/estimate to get a team?

[ryanlammi]

St. Louis was definitely a front runner if the stadium subsidy had passed. The ownership group seems to believe they can't pull it off now, at least in their public statements. I think MLS still wants a team in St. Louis, though.

[climberguy714]

I don't know the whole story, but why aren't they planning on using the old Rams stadium instead of building a new one? That seems like a duh to me.

[Columbo]

More MLS Snow Soccer!

 

Real Salt Lake hosted Vancouver last weekend.  The snow started falling just before halftime.  By the start of the second half, a full-blown snow storm was underway and they switched to the orange ball:

 

http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2017-04-08-real-salt-lake-vs-vancouver-whitecaps-fc/recap

 

[Gordon Bombay]

I don't know the whole story, but why aren't they planning on using the old Rams stadium instead of building a new one? That seems like a duh to me.

 

Too big/cavernous and too old. By the time you reduced the capacity, upgraded it, put in better turf or removed the roof and installed grass you might as well built a soccer-specific stadium from the ground up.

[Old AmrapinVA]

I don't know the whole story, but why aren't they planning on using the old Rams stadium instead of building a new one? That seems like a duh to me.

 

Too big/cavernous and too old. By the time you reduced the capacity, upgraded it, put in better turf or removed the roof and installed grass you might as well built a soccer-specific stadium from the ground up.

 

I get too big but too old? It was built 22 years ago.

[Guest jmecklenborg]

^The Georgia Dome only made it 23~ years.  The lifespan of the stadiums that replaced the multipurpose stadiums is even shorter.  Riverfront Stadium was financed with 40-year bonds but was torn down after its 33rd season. 

[Columbo]

Couple of big-name coaches in the news for the L.A. teams this week:

 

---

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/07/27/la-galaxy-fire-curt-onalfo-hire-sigi-schmid-replacement

 

The existing L.A. team fired their first-year coach after a terrible 2017 start.  They replaced him with league legend Sigi Schmid - a year and a day after he was fired by the Seattle Sounders last season.

 

The Galaxy are currently 9th in the West (6-10-4).  But they're only 5 points below the playoff line, so an improved final 14 games could still get them back in the playoffs.  Particularly since the Galaxy also signed Mexican national team midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos from Spain’s Villarreal club.

 

---

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/07/27/lafc-hire-bob-bradley-first-head-coach-club-history

 

The future L.A. team - LAFC - announced that former USMNT head coach Bob Bradley will become their first head coach when they join MLS next year.

 

I'm sure that LAFC & Bradley are hoping he fares much better than in 2016, when he was named head coach of English Premier League club Swansea City.  Bradley made history by became the first American to manage in the EPL, but was fired by Swansea last December after only three months on the job.

[Columbo]

Last weekend saw MLS bring a video review system into its league matches for the first time this season.  Up til these games, MLS had been doing a video review dry-run during this 2017 season.  Basically, the video review system was operating during these games, but not counting or effecting the on-field action until now.

 

MLS Video Review can be used in four game situations:  Goals, Penalty Calls, Direct Red-Card Incidents and Cases of Mistaken Identity (when it relates to the issuing of yellow and red cards):  https://www.mlssoccer.com/video-review

 

The video review was first used in the 79th minute of the first game of the weekend.  It resulted in a goal being taken off the scoreboard for Dallas against Philadelphia:  https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/05/watch-first-ever-use-video-review-official-mls-match

 

Here's a breakdown of other video reviews during last weekend's matches:  https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/06/breaking-down-first-weekend-video-review-mls

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Here is the latest letter to shareholders of Ingram Industries stock:

 

So shareholders will own a privately-held and eclectic conglomerate that includes a marine shipping company, a publishing company and book distributor, and...a professional soccer team. 

[Columbo]

Nashville awarded an MLS expansion team last month:

 

https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/12/19/nashville-mls-expansion-team

[Columbo]

Miami (and David Beckham) awarded an MLS expansion team today:

 

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/01/29/miami-mls-david-beckham-expansion-team

 

[AmrapinVA]

Is MLS sitting on the Cincy bid to see what happens with Columbus?

 

TBH, this league feels like it has too many teams now. I know attendance has been OK but how are they going to truly compete with the Euro Leagues when TV revenue is miniscule and would be divided among 30 teams.

 

I have a lot of soccer crazy friends from other countries and most don't even see the MLS even along the lines of AAA baseball. They don't watch it at all.

 

What's the end game here? Are they trying to compete with something like the Premier League?

[ryanlammi]

The 2040 plan is probably to be competitive with the Premier League on an international level. But right now, they need to take it one season at a time.

 

I would personally like to see a total of 40 teams in MLS, with a clear divide of East/West. Perhaps have the winners from the east and west enter an inter-league championship tournament every 2 years. The US is huge, and to have only one league is pretty tough. Having an biannual championship tournament would keep the value of winning the East or West MLS season as the cap of the season and make it important. Currently, winning the East is seen like winning the AFC - it hardly matters if you don't win the MLS Cup (Super Bowl).

 

Most people recognize MLS as around the 10th best worldwide league. But it's so new, and still growing compared to the rest of the world.

[jwulsin]

The MLS is still growing its fanbase, and having more cities with a local team will get more people excited about the sport/league. It's far away from hitting a "saturation" point, so I think for the foreseeable future, adding more teams will help add to the overall growth. The MLS should still by "choosy" and grow deliberately... but I'm not worried at this point about having too many teams.

[AmrapinVA]

Just did a Wiki search and saw that MLS is the 17th largest worldwide league by revenue per team at 34.6 million Euro. It's not even remotely close to the NHL, let alone the bigger North American leagues and the Premier. It's just above the 2nd tier Championship league in England. It had 22 teams when the stat was put up but if this average continues there are no 30 team leagues which have so little revenue per team.

 

Expansion will create more overall revenue but at some point these teams need to generate more money to have a shot at paying the bigger stars that are over in Europe. It's never going to be taken seriously internationally or get serious TV $$ until then.

 

Are we sure the end game is the Premier League? I would think it would make more sense to market it as an alternative in some way instead of praying that each team will generate 20 times the revenue they have now by 2040.

[ryanlammi]

MLS has the 9th highest revenue per team out of all national soccer leagues. If the goal is to compete with other national soccer leagues across the world, it doesn't matter how much money Formula One, the NHL, or Japanese baseball brings in.

 

The current MLS TV deal is abysmally small. The league collects $90 Million per year for its contract with ESPN, Fox Sports, and Univision. That means each team (with 22) collects about $4 Million in revenue from the national tv deal.

 

The current contract ends in 2022. MLS is rapidly expanding so that it reaches its goal of 26 teams by 2020 (with two additional teams in the following years) and has a strong position to ask for higher revenues in a new TV contract. 26 teams would be 8 more than when they negotiated the deal in 2014 with 18 teams total. I expect the new deal to eclipse the deal that was negotiated in 2014 by quite a large sum.

 

Nothing happens overnight. MLS has to keep promoting themselves as a top tier league and pushing itself further up the ladder until it is competitive with other leagues.

 

The US is a country with 330 million people spread out over the three million square miles. We have almost half the population of Europe over 3/4 the area. You don't think we can support 40 teams over that area/population, when the European continent is split up into 24 leagues of 18-22 teams per league?

[AmrapinVA]

MLS has the 9th highest revenue per team out of all national soccer leagues. If the goal is to compete with other national soccer leagues across the world, it doesn't matter how much money Formula One, the NHL, or Japanese baseball brings in.

 

The current MLS TV deal is abysmally small. The league collects $90 Million per year for its contract with ESPN, Fox Sports, and Univision. That means each team (with 22) collects about $4 Million in revenue from the national tv deal.

 

The current contract ends in 2022. MLS is rapidly expanding so that it reaches its goal of 26 teams by 2020 (with two additional teams in the following years) and has a strong position to ask for higher revenues in a new TV contract. 26 teams would be 8 more than when they negotiated the deal in 2014 with 18 teams total. I expect the new deal to eclipse the deal that was negotiated in 2014 by quite a large sum.

 

Nothing happens overnight. MLS has to keep promoting themselves as a top tier league and pushing itself further up the ladder until it is competitive with other leagues.

 

The US is a country with 330 million people spread out over the three million square miles. We have almost half the population of Europe over 3/4 the area. You don't think we can support 40 teams over that area/population, when the European continent is split up into 24 leagues of 18-22 teams per league?

 

I think this is very optimistic. TV ratings have been mostly flat since the last contract and they are tiny. NBCSN is getting higher ratings for the Premier League regularly on weekend mornings. You have to deliver eyeballs to advertisers to get that larger sum of cash. I agree the new deal will be larger but not large enough to boost revenue per team if it keeps expanding.

 

Also, the NBA is a problem for MLS. It's more popular in the US, it is the "premier league" of basketball, it's growing just as fast but not expanding and is eating away at the US TV revenue that the MLS could get.

 

I'm not against the MLS, I just don't get why they think they need to be the #1 league if that's the plan. I don't think it'll work.

[YABO713]

MLS will never be a top-tier league until their schedule changes. You cannot recruit the world's best talent to a summer league. I know you don't want to compete with NFL, but MLS has to go fall to spring or it will continue to stagnate talent-wise.

[AmrapinVA]

MLS will never be a top-tier league until their schedule changes. You cannot recruit the world's best talent to a summer league. I know you don't want to compete with NFL, but MLS has to go fall to spring or it will continue to stagnate talent-wise.

 

The other logistical issue is weather. North American winters are quite harsh compared to Europe. There would be a lot of cancelled games due to snow/cold unless northern teams played indoors.

[ryanlammi]

I disagree about the winter/summer league. If the money is there, the international talent will follow.

 

I don't even think it's a matter of competing against the NFL. The NFL season all but ends on January 1. Some of the coldest cities often have domes (Detroit, Minnesota). While a couple of outliers (New England, Buffalo, Green Bay) will be playing outside, they only have (at most) 1 or 2 games each season that will be cold enough to turn fans away because the season ends when the country starts getting bitingly cold (late December through February).

 

MLS would have to take a ~2 month break to allow places like Minnesota, Chicago, and New England to thaw out. The United States gets a lot colder than Western Europe during the winter.

 

If the MLS teams are willing (and able) to pay top dollar for top talent, I think they can get the biggest stars to come to MLS within 20 years. It has to be a slow build, though. Every few years the salary caps will be raised and better players will continue to play. If US Soccer can figure out what its doing, American players will continue to get better and will likely prefer to play in their home country.

[YABO713]

I disagree about the winter/summer league. If the money is there, the international talent will follow.

 

I don't even think it's a matter of competing against the NFL. The NFL season all but ends on January 1. Some of the coldest cities often have domes (Detroit, Minnesota). While a couple of outliers (New England, Buffalo, Green Bay) will be playing outside, they only have (at most) 1 or 2 games each season that will be cold enough to turn fans away because the season ends when the country starts getting bitingly cold (late December through February).

 

MLS would have to take a ~2 month break to allow places like Minnesota, Chicago, and New England to thaw out. The United States gets a lot colder than Western Europe during the winter.

 

If the MLS teams are willing (and able) to pay top dollar for top talent, I think they can get the biggest stars to come to MLS within 20 years. It has to be a slow build, though. Every few years the salary caps will be raised and better players will continue to play. If US Soccer can figure out what its doing, American players will continue to get better and will likely prefer to play in their home country.

 

So, MLS teams are going to pay top dollar for talent and miss their players every other summer for more than a month for Euro's/Gold Cup/Copa America + World Cup..... Would you pay a player max dollars if you knew they'd miss at least a month every other year due to injury?

[Columbo]

There probably hasn't been a bigger supporter of MLS here on UrbanOhio than me - which shouldn't be surprising given that I'm the most prolific poster from Columbus and that Columbus has had an MLS team since the league was founded in 1996.  But then the current team ownership - led by California trust fund scion J. Anthony Precourt - announced their intention to move the team to Austin in 2019.  And then we learned that this was being done with the assistance (and one could argue encouragement) of MLS leadership, despite commissioner Don Garber's backpedaling and silence on it lately.  Unsurprising, my enthusiasm in MLS has waned.

 

Going into 2017, things were looking very positive for MLS.  They had a dozen cities vying for expansion teams.  Plus, it had its newest expansion team, Atlanta, breaking attendance records set during the league's inaugural 1996 season.  However, exiting 2017, most if not all of that positive momentum had been squandered.  With the league planning to move one of its oldest and most historic teams, it is telling other fan bases that it really doesn't matter how much you support your team - it could still get moved without warning.  It basically told its fans that MLS wasn't any different from the other American sports leagues - and that supporting your local MLS team wasn't anything like the fans of Man City/Man U supporting their clubs.

 

This Crew-to-Austin proposal has sent shock waves throughout MLS fandom.  Not only did it start the #SaveTheCrew movement, but it also derailed what was once a very promising expansion process for the league.  The last of four new expansion teams was supposed to be announced before the 2018 season began.  But that looks to be on-hold for an indefinite time.  San Antonio, which was participating in the expansion process, is now suing MLS because the league is allowing nearby Austin to add a team outside this expansion process, while encouraging San Antonio to jump through the hoops of the process at the same time.  Columbus is suing Precourt/MLS to keep their team under the existing State of Ohio Modell Law and is pressing for discovery of team and MLS finances.  Meanwhile, Austin seems rather lukewarm about getting a MLS team.  And the actions of the Precourt team and Garber's MLS team have only contributed to the whole mess.

 

Like I said, my enthusiasm in MLS has waned.  And I have to wonder if the enthusiasm of other MLS fans isn't also waning.  I came across this twitter post about the TV viewership of last Sunday's Seattle at Portland match: https://twitter.com/FutbolIntellect/status/996414613368463361

 

 

Keep in mind that the Seattle/Portland matchup is probably the best MLS has to offer. (I always enjoy it and tuned into the 2nd-half on Sunday.)  But apparently not many others did.  It received half the viewership on ESPN as did the bowling tournament that aired prior it!

 

And for those who will say "Americans just don't watch soccer on TV", there's this twitter post in the comments:

 

An EPL match airing at 10AM on a non-sports channel (MSNBC) - which was airing it because nine other EPL games were also being broadcast at the same time on other NBC-owned stations - outdrew the MLS match airing at 4PM later on Sunday!  Adding up all ten EPL games shown for the 'Championship Sunday' broadcast, the EPL got roughly 5X the viewership of the Seattle/Portland game!

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Why is the Crew owner so set on moving the team to Austin, specifically?  Why not a bigger city that doesn't have an MLS team (i.e. Detroit)?

[surfohio]

Why is the Crew owner so set on moving the team to Austin, specifically?  Why not a bigger city that doesn't have an MLS team (i.e. Detroit)?

 

Detroit specifically is already vying for a team with Dan Gilbert and other heavyweights involved.

 

Austin is the sexy, still-single, young new era market that is looking for a prom date. Precourt just has virtually no connection with Columbus.

 

I think the fact that you cannot have top-level teams in both Austin AND San Antonio shows a real problem with U.S. soccer.

[Columbo]

David Beckham's ownership group has produced another stadium plan for MLS in Miami.  This makes version number (?) - I've lost track of what version this is.  But it is actually a pretty good-looking version.  This proposed stadium complex would be part of a $1 billion redevelopment that would replace a city-owned golf course near Miami International Airport.  Because it is city-owned, it would require Miami's elected officials to vote to put this proposal to a referendum in November.

 

Below is a screengrab of the proposal video from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article214536159.html

 

The promo video is also available at

 

 

^ This Miami proposal is so impressive that #SaveTheCrew supporters couldn't help comparing it to Precourt's bargain basement proposal made to Austin: 

 

[Columbo]

 

DC United held a ribbon cutting yesterday for their new home - Audi Field.  Their first home match in Audi Field is Saturday.

 

I'm happy for this fellow MLS charter team and especially happy for all the long-suffering DCU fans.  Leading up to this Saturday, DCU fans had 22 seasons in the decaying hulk of RFK Stadium and then practically being a homeless team in 2018 until Audi Field construction finished.  DCU had only 2 "home games" in its first 14!  And those "home games" were jury-rigged sites like the Maryland Soccerplex and Navy Stadium. Of DCU's final 20 MLS games, 15 will be at Audi Field.

[Columbo]

Twitter coverage of yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony for Audi Field and tour of the new facility: 

 

Unfortunately, DC United had to invite the creepy commissioner of MLS - Don Garber - to the ceremony.  Garber's remarks included asking DCU fans to "sell out every game" of the 20,000-seat stadium.  Standard remarks in normal circumstances.  But with his twitter alter-ego @thesoccerdon also threatening to move another MLS charter team because he doesn't like their business metrics, it came off like a mob boss saying "youz better sell out every game in yer shiny new stadium, cuz i'd be a shame if something happened to yer nice soccer club dat ya luv":

 

[Columbo]

MLS Stadium News Roundup:

 

-- DC United had their Audi Field grand opening last Saturday - and went very well with a 20,000+ SRO sell-out, Rooney assisted in one of DC's goals, and DC won:  https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/dc-united/what-it-was-like-to-be-at-dc-united-audi-field-grand-opening/

 

-- They also met their opening game deadline by getting the new stadium prepped all the way up to game time - including resorting to a duct tape fix to keep some railing sections together(!): 

 

-- And, in addition to the last minute construction issues, the front office is having a nasty dispute with two DCU supporters groups, who held a loud protest outside the new stadium on opening night:  http://dcist.com/2018/07/dc_united_audi_field.php

[Columbo]

But at least DC finally got their new stadium after playing 22 years in RFK.  For New England Revolution fans, it doesn't look like any new soccer specific stadium is in sight after 23 years in old Foxboro Stadium / new Gillette Stadium.  Which, although not falling apart, still isn't a great venue for Revs soccer games:  https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/new-england-revolution/jorge-mas-revolution-stadium-boston/

[Columbo]

Nashville made some important progress in their stadium quest for their expansion team.  The Nashville Board of Fair Commissioners approved a 30-year ground lease that would allow property at the city's fairgrounds to be used for a new MLS stadium.  However, there are still votes that the Nashville Metro Council needs to take up later this summer, where the project still faces questions, before MLS in Nashville is a done deal:

 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/07/17/mls-stadium-nashville-fairgrounds-lease-soccer/788155002/

 

[Columbo]

Miami also got closer in their lengthy effort to lock down an MLS stadium site.  The latest proposal - a stadium complex that would be part of a $1 billion redevelopment replacing a city-owned golf course near Miami International Airport - got approved 3-2 by City Commissioners to go to a November referendum vote:

 

http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/3569602/new-miami-mls-stadium-decision-to-go-to-november-referendum

 

 

[AmrapinVA]

Twitter coverage of yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony for Audi Field and tour of the new facility: 

 

Unfortunately, DC United had to invite the creepy commissioner of MLS - Don Garber - to the ceremony.  Garber's remarks included asking DCU fans to "sell out every game" of the 20,000-seat stadium.  Standard remarks in normal circumstances.  But with his twitter alter-ego @thesoccerdon also threatening to move another MLS charter team because he doesn't like their business metrics, it came off like a mob boss saying "youz better sell out every game in yer shiny new stadium, cuz i'd be a shame if something happened to yer nice soccer club dat ya luv":

 

 

Well, DCU is driving away the Latino community by forcing the hand of their two largest fan clubs to come under the umbrella of the club that caters to a much whiter community. Those clubs -- the District Ultras and Barra Brava DCU -- had a march before the opening of the game at Audi. This can't help attendance going forward. I do notice some MLS franchises are going to war a bit with Latinos about general rowdiness and off-color chants. The league needs to be careful how they thread this needle if they want attendance numbers to keep climbing.

[edale]

The whole fan club aspect of MLS seems incredibly weird to me. Rival fan clubs of the same team is just stupid. That whole article about the opening of stadium in DC was pretty lame. People complaining about wifi availability and which fan club gets preferential treatment from the team just sounds so...nerdy? Maybe it's a DC thing more than soccer, though. In my experience, DC has the most boring, white bread, square population of any major city I've spent time in.

[AmrapinVA]

The whole fan club aspect of MLS seems incredibly weird to me. Rival fan clubs of the same team is just stupid.

 

I don't get it either. I mostly go to NBA games where there are no fan clubs. Those MLS clubs acquire large blocks of season tickets though so it's nothing ownership can ignore.

 

As for DC, Captials fans are worse than DCU. My daughters plays at their practice facility. Fans soooooooooo smarmy and uptight. It's like no laughing or fun is allowed. Why I attend Wizards games. A completely opposite experience except when LeBron rolls to town. :)

[edale]

^ I've had fun at Nats games, but even those have felt like a giant corporate function or something haha. I absolutely love DC's architecture and neighborhoods, and some of my best friends live there, so I'm not trying to hate on DC!

[Guest jmecklenborg]

I live and work near UC and get caught in gridlocked FC Cincinnati traffic regularly.  Last Saturday I was stuck at a red light with an officer directing traffic and I was like...whoa, a black family attending the game.  Otherwise it's 98% suburban white, zero Appalachian whites.   

[YABO713]

The whole fan club aspect of MLS seems incredibly weird to me. Rival fan clubs of the same team is just stupid. That whole article about the opening of stadium in DC was pretty lame. People complaining about wifi availability and which fan club gets preferential treatment from the team just sounds so...nerdy? Maybe it's a DC thing more than soccer, though. In my experience, DC has the most boring, white bread, square population of any major city I've spent time in.

 

In Europe, particularly England, this happened organically, as access was often restricted and specific to which street your stand was adjacent to. So, neighbors at home were oft neighbors at the game, with their own chants, etc.

[AmrapinVA]

The whole fan club aspect of MLS seems incredibly weird to me. Rival fan clubs of the same team is just stupid. That whole article about the opening of stadium in DC was pretty lame. People complaining about wifi availability and which fan club gets preferential treatment from the team just sounds so...nerdy? Maybe it's a DC thing more than soccer, though. In my experience, DC has the most boring, white bread, square population of any major city I've spent time in.

 

In Europe, particularly England, this happened organically, as access was often restricted and specific to which street your stand was adjacent to. So, neighbors at home were oft neighbors at the game, with their own chants, etc.

 

Yeah, I just don't get why the need to divide fans following a single team. Didn't those clubs lead to the violence English football had in the 80s? It's great the Euros do this, I'm glad (outside of MLS) we don't.

[YABO713]

The whole fan club aspect of MLS seems incredibly weird to me. Rival fan clubs of the same team is just stupid. That whole article about the opening of stadium in DC was pretty lame. People complaining about wifi availability and which fan club gets preferential treatment from the team just sounds so...nerdy? Maybe it's a DC thing more than soccer, though. In my experience, DC has the most boring, white bread, square population of any major city I've spent time in.

 

In Europe, particularly England, this happened organically, as access was often restricted and specific to which street your stand was adjacent to. So, neighbors at home were oft neighbors at the game, with their own chants, etc.

 

Yeah, I just don't get why the need to divide fans following a single team. Didn't those clubs lead to the violence English football had in the 80s? It's great the Euros do this, I'm glad (outside of MLS) we don't.

 

No, no, no. Some of them certainly partook in violence... and some of the firms were aggressive, but that violent nature actually formed some of the firms/clubs - not the other way around

[Guest jmecklenborg]

It's great how all the yuppie soccer fans in the United States fawn over European soccer hooligan "culture" but talk down the same sort of fan behavior at U.S. sports.

 

The big difference between sports rivalries in the United States versus England is that visitors can much more easily attend "away" games, since those "away" games are often just a few miles "away".