Miami Barca out of the race
Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
so who's actually left now???
Portland, St Louis, Ottawa, Vancouver????
I think this opens for the door for Ottawa even more. I'm looking at Ottawa and Portland, if both can get their stadium sorted out. I think Vancouver still has a chance, and maybe even Montreal after the 2011 expansion.
Oh man...Ottawa now actually has a chance! LOL!
I'm excited for them if they make it. A close, potential rival and another Canadian club. Should be interesting to see what MLS does.Originally Posted by Roogsy
Montreal will be in soon enough. It's a given. 2011 at the latest.
If Saputo pays the expansion fees.
i see them dropping from $40M.....if Barca doesn't want to pay that, how can they expect Saputo to?? I think Barca backing out will wake up MLS and maybe go with a $30M fee
Sha na na na, sha na na na, hey hey hey, good bye!
This is the best news I've heard in a while (since Atlanta dropped out)
Vancouver will get in before Ottawa
They arleady have plans to revamp BC place, much like the way the sounders are doing it with Qwest field, they have an established market, as the whitecaps are among the top attended teams in the USL. ANd the bid is being proposed by someone already in the soccer community (Whitecaps management)
Ottawa on the other hand, cant decide where to play, does not have a proven market, and is being run by Eugene Melnik, the biggest fraudster since Conrad Black...
Portalnd and Van get in, and Houston or Dallad move from the west to the east.
Thank goodness Miami is gone. I think MLS may be more relieved. This last group in the USL is going under too and they spent a lot to try and bring players in and with 2 failed MLS attempts in FLA already this is not good.
I always had mixed emotions, I thought why couldn't Barca be interested in say St. Louis or some other city, anywhere other than Miami. Now we don't have to worry about Miami any longer.
I think they should let all 4 groups in, saying you two are ready for 2011 and you two are ready for 2013 or something like that. I'd say Vancouver as they have a team already and their facility (well BC Place, not their much vaunted waterfront stadium) and St. Louis as they have the deal with the govt to get the stadium up.
Portland has the team, but if all the USL 1 teams are gone, I can't imagine they'd want to pay the money to be the only group on the west coast any longer.
Ottawa seems to be great. They remind me a lot of the Checketts group in Salt Lake. Believe me, none of us thought RSL belonged. SImilarities between RSL and Ottawa are pretty similar.
I would love to be able to go see a couple MLS matches out in the Northwest in the next couple years. We don't need big cities like Miami that can't support the league. With 20k tickets sold in Seattle, Philly doing well with their ticket deposits, and possibly a rethink of the Montreal situation, the league could be much stronger shortly. It seems that the newer teams are doing much better than the older teams (sans DCU) in terms of marketing properly.
because a Montreal MLS team has a better chance of succeeding and making that money back then Miami (ho already lost one MLS team) does?
I hope Ottawa gets it, not only cause a close rival would be sweet but there's a chance i might be moving there and it woudl mean more chances to catch TFC
Last edited by NF-FC; 03-03-2009 at 03:56 PM.
Ottawa does know where to play, they are just waiting for a decision from the city regarding the stadium.
Ottawa, Portland and Vancouver are all having stadium issues, but all are willing to pay the fees. The one hopeful that actually has an SSS in place won't pay the current fees. I hope they lower the fees, because if they do Montreal is certain to be awarded a team.
Looks like there are only two criteria:
1) Can you fog a mirror?
2) Do you have $40 million cash in hand?
It wouldn't surprise me if nobody meets both criteria
What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.
thought they were getting a waterside stadium?
Happy to hear this, would prefer clubs with their own identity. i did not want MLS to become a "farm league" much like the American Hockey League n such.
Miami is a deadzone for sports.
Best news I have heard in some time.
Vancouver gets in then, with one of Ottawa, St. Louis and Portland.
Of those three, I think the best bid is St. Louis', while the one most free from financial hang-ups is Ottawa.
It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
HAHAHA. Awesomeness.
Miami soccer fans were so cocky that they were gonna walse in and run MLS because Barca was backing the team.
Canada will definetely get one of the expansion slots now.
St. Louis is having trouble coming up with the funding... I'm pretty much counting them out as well. So if Portland city council vote not to help out the Timbers you may very well see Vancouver & Ottawa. Was HIGHLY unlikely when all teams were in the running, but now i'd upgrade it to unlikely.
apparently the have "new investors", which they having been claiming every other month for the last two years.
Vancouver and Ottawa for 2011, and Montreal for 2012.
That would be the perfect scenario, but right now is just a big bag of hurt...
The Whitecaps own the land on which the waterfront stadium is proposed to be built, but the city won't give them permission to actually build it.
They are moving into what will be a beautifully renovated BC Place following the Olympics, and then hoping for the waterfront stadium to materialize sooner rather than later.
The Whitecaps waterfront stadium has been delayed over and over again thanks to NIMBYs. Funding isn't even an issue in Vancouver, as the stadium would be entirely funded by the private sector. Only in that city would a sure thing be bogged down for no good reason.
They claim that, but they haven't shown it very well. I'm calling a bluff, its simply to either A) Attract even more investors or B) Buy themselves some time to attract more investors.
If they can't pony up the 40m, then see ya later.
I hope Vancouver and Portland get it this time around. and St. Louis and Montreal for the next round.
The rivalries out west are great and the towns are all fairly close so it would allow for some great support on the road.
Portland fans have been protesting in the streets for a team since Seattle got in
Two canadian teams will crush the talent pool into oblivion and Ottawa needs to get some things together before they have MLS
To save face, they'll keep the fee at $40 million but allow teams to use part of their own expansion fee to renovate or upgrade their stadiums etc.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote