(02-27-2021 03:24 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-27-2021 01:27 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Sacramento has had an owner pull out, so their expansion bid may now be in jeopardy.

Looks like there was a fundamental disagreement about stadium cost. MLS was apparently insisting on a brand new stadium in Sacramento that would cost over $300 million to build, on top of a $200 million expansion fee. In contrast, MLS permitted Inter Miami to back out of its commitment to build a brand-new stadium before beginning MLS play, instead letting Inter Miami play in a renovated stadium 30 miles away in Fort Lauderdale while pretending that they will eventually build something new in downtown Miami.

Sucks for Sacramento soccer fans, but can't blame Burkle for not wanting to get jerked around by MLS.

You don't think InterMiami is going to go come through with their stadium proposal? If it is privately funded then it should breeze through. But after the Marlins Park fiasco, there won't be any public funds available.

(03-03-2021 01:18 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(02-27-2021 03:24 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-27-2021 01:27 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Sacramento has had an owner pull out, so their expansion bid may now be in jeopardy.

Looks like there was a fundamental disagreement about stadium cost. MLS was apparently insisting on a brand new stadium in Sacramento that would cost over $300 million to build, on top of a $200 million expansion fee. In contrast, MLS permitted Inter Miami to back out of its commitment to build a brand-new stadium before beginning MLS play, instead letting Inter Miami play in a renovated stadium 30 miles away in Fort Lauderdale while pretending that they will eventually build something new in downtown Miami.

Sucks for Sacramento soccer fans, but can't blame Burkle for not wanting to get jerked around by MLS.

You don't think InterMiami is going to go come through with their stadium proposal? If it is privately funded then it should breeze through. But after the Marlins Park fiasco, there won't be any public funds available.

I don't know about their state or local politics. I do know that this is their 3rd or 4th or 5th stadium proposal over the last several years and they haven't had anything approved, let alone funded.

And, it makes sense that even billionaires look at the prospect of paying $200 million or more as an expansion fee plus $300 million for a stadium, if they have to pay for the stadium themselves, and think that investment is not going to become profitable.

From the potential owner's perspective, given the way MLS has accommodated not only InterMiami, but also teams that are allowed to play in American football stadiums (Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, New England) or even a renovated minor league baseball park (Portland), it's understandable that someone might walk away if they're told that, unlike those other teams, "Sorry, you can only have a team if you build a brand new stadium."

(03-03-2021 02:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(03-03-2021 01:18 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(02-27-2021 03:24 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-27-2021 01:27 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Sacramento has had an owner pull out, so their expansion bid may now be in jeopardy.

Looks like there was a fundamental disagreement about stadium cost. MLS was apparently insisting on a brand new stadium in Sacramento that would cost over $300 million to build, on top of a $200 million expansion fee. In contrast, MLS permitted Inter Miami to back out of its commitment to build a brand-new stadium before beginning MLS play, instead letting Inter Miami play in a renovated stadium 30 miles away in Fort Lauderdale while pretending that they will eventually build something new in downtown Miami.

Sucks for Sacramento soccer fans, but can't blame Burkle for not wanting to get jerked around by MLS.

You don't think InterMiami is going to go come through with their stadium proposal? If it is privately funded then it should breeze through. But after the Marlins Park fiasco, there won't be any public funds available.

I don't know about their state or local politics. I do know that this is their 3rd or 4th or 5th stadium proposal over the last several years and they haven't had anything approved, let alone funded.

And, it makes sense that even billionaires look at the prospect of paying $200 million or more as an expansion fee plus $300 million for a stadium, if they have to pay for the stadium themselves, and think that investment is not going to become profitable.

From the potential owner's perspective, given the way MLS has accommodated not only InterMiami, but also teams that are allowed to play in American football stadiums (Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, New England) or even a renovated minor league baseball park (Portland), it's understandable that someone might walk away if they're told that, unlike those other teams, "Sorry, you can only have a team if you build a brand new stadium."

I get why the potential Sacramento owner balked based on the bolded. But I figured the only way InterMiami's plan for Ft Lauderdale was approved was become of a commitment to build a new stadium near MIA.

Looks like Sacramento will lose its place in the MLS expansion queue to another western city, unless someone in Sacto quickly emerges to put several hundred million dollars on the table.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league...nsion-hold

Quote:In the wake of Major League Soccer's announcement last month that Sacramento's expansion team is on indefinite hold, MLS commissioner Don Garber said the league has moved forward vetting alternative options for its 30th team.

"Right now, there are other markets that we're looking at," Garber said on Monday. "I'm sure people are expecting that, whether that be Las Vegas or San Diego or whether it be Phoenix and we'll see how all those develop."

Quote:Multiple sources have told ESPN's Jeff Carlisle that initial discussions have taken place between MLS and San Diego State University regarding the framework of a deal that would see an MLS expansion team play in 35,000-seat Aztec Stadium, which is projected to open in September 2022.

But Garber said the league will continue to work with stakeholders in Sacramento to salvage that bid.

Very unfortunate for the Republic. They have great fans. I'd sure like to see Sacramento get it.

As to San Diego, it is a weird city for sports...despite 3.4m people in the metro area, they've failed with the NBA and NHL. It's by far the largest metro area with just one of the big 4 sports leagues...Orlando and Portland are next at ~2.4m. Buffalo and New Orleans both support two Big 4 franchises despite 2m less people than San Diego.

Austin is the big outlier in the other direction as the only metro area larger than 2m to have no Big 4 and just MLS.

(04-13-2021 02:41 PM)CitrusUCF Wrote:  Very unfortunate for the Republic. They have great fans. I'd sure like to see Sacramento get it.

As to San Diego, it is a weird city for sports...despite 3.4m people in the metro area, they've failed with the NBA and NHL. It's by far the largest metro area with just one of the big 4 sports leagues...Orlando and Portland are next at ~2.4m. Buffalo and New Orleans both support two Big 4 franchises despite 2m less people than San Diego.

Austin is the big outlier in the other direction as the only metro area larger than 2m to have no Big 4 and just MLS.

I would guess the issues are similar for San Diego and Orlando -- weather is nice all the time, lots of sports fans who grew up elsewhere and still root for teams from where they used to live, and only two hours away from a larger metro area with more pro sports teams. Those issues are probably more serious for San Diego because it has a lot of folks who moved there from LA, and they're still Dodgers fans and Lakers fans. In some ways, San Diego is to LA as southern Connecticut is to NYC (and Orange County is to LA as northern New Jersey is to NYC).

Orlando, at least by population in the city proper, was smaller than Mobile, Alabama when it got a NBA team. The metro area of course is sizable, and it simply has had explosive growth, especially with the exodus out of Puerto Rico. Coupled with the rise of soccer, a well-timed renovation of the Citrus Bowl/Camping World Stadium, the growth of UCF, and an increasing number of companies with a large presence in the area, and it works for MLS. Florida not having an income tax also works well for players, whether making $25K in the USL or $200K (if not more) in MLS.

San Diego has a larger urban core and metro area,, but suffers from its proximity to LA, and Liga MX. The USL's San Diego Loyal really haven't had much of a chance to play in front of home fans, so that is a wildcard. A team being a tenant will be an issue long-term in regards to revenue generation, and perhaps even scheduling.

(04-13-2021 10:34 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  San Diego has a larger urban core and metro area,, but suffers from its proximity to LA, and Liga MX. The USL's San Diego Loyal really haven't had much of a chance to play in front of home fans, so that is a wildcard. A team being a tenant will be an issue long-term in regards to revenue generation, and perhaps even scheduling.

Proximity to LA or TJ wouldn't be an issue for a soccer team. It would be an issue for an NBA team because there are a lot of Lakers fans in SD, but I doubt there are many folks there with strong attachments to the Galaxy, let alone to the 2-year-old LAFC team. TJ isn't an issue because the difficulty in going across the border and back probably means that only a few hundred super-dedicated people from SD, at most, cross the border to go to Xolos matches.

An SD MLS team would be a tenant -- but being a tenant means avoiding the $200 million cost of building your own stadium, and that would greatly outweigh the inability to collect a few bucks from hosting a monster truck and tractor show in the stadium.