Mornin'
No TFC News for now.
Canadian team can benefit from Jackson's strong play
Mornin'
No TFC News for now.
Canadian team can benefit from Jackson's strong play
buy a lottery ticket today.
FRIDAY 13th !
SPOooooooooooooooooooooooooooKY !
How do I buy my ecuadoir tickets today>?
ps. . Dear Valencia - KIRK BROADFOOT FOR CANADA!
NOTICE: Wager with STB: OVER 2 shots on goal in the First half wins a Pint at HT.
Anyone going to keep up with Norwich in the Premiership next year? Anybody gonna pick up a Jackson kit on June 1st at the game??
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
MLS confirms contact over possible Minnesota expansion
Vikings owners eager to bring MLS to Twin Cities with new stadium in works
May 11, 2011
Simon Borg
MLSsoccer.com
Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf.
Photo Credit:
Getty Images
NEW YORK — Major League Soccer has confirmed that there has been contact with the ownership group of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings regarding their interest in an MLS team for the Twin Cities.
“We have kept in contact with the Vikings throughout their stadium process and look forward to learning more about the project,” MLS President Mark Abbott told MLSsoccer.com.
The Wilf family, owners of the Minnesota Vikings, participated in a Tuesday press conference in which it was announced that the NFL team had reached agreement with local municipalities on the construction of a new stadium in Arden Hills, Minn.
“With the event of a full retractable stadium, our goal is to bring Major League Soccer ... to Minnesota,” Zygi Wilf said.
The Vikings’ new stadium, which will include a retractable roof, is set to be constructed just a few miles from downtown Minneapolis and is projected to open in 2015.
The NSC Minnesota Stars, coached by former MLS star Manny Lagos, are currently the state’s highest level of professional soccer, sitting in fourth place in the second division NASL with a 1-1-3 record.
^Is anyone else concerned that MLS sees "$$$" from new prospects and ignore the real problem of attendance elsewhere in the league? Should we be hoping for perhaps moving less successful franchises to new cities vs just heaping more teams into the league?
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
is this an NFL stadium being built??
^Retractable roof? I seriously doubt that's an SSS.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
No. More important to get two divisions where then promotion exist. That's how you get weak teams out of the top division, not moving them.
Never liked moving teams (NA solution). MLS did after all made a conscious move some years ago to structure the game here along the lines how it is elsewhere played.
^I couldn't agree with you more boban. I just wish the rest if the continent believed it could be done. I admit it wouldn't be easy.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
If they copy BCE in Vancouver it can be accomadating as a SSS. They might just have to use the roof concept of BCE. I would be more concerned about field turf. Portland, Seattle and Vancouver being allowed to use field turf is a bit of a downer on what are fantastic markets.
I'd rather see a freeze on MLS expansion for the time being - it's growing too fast. Top out at 20 teams perhaps, but that should be it for the time being. Ensuring the stability of the teams that currently exist is more important IMHO.
While I agree that promotion/relegation would be a nice thought, it's not happening in MLS, as has been discussed in a gazillion other threads.
New Minnesota Vikings Stadium Could Also House MLS, Owner Zygi Wilf Says
By Jeremiah Oshan
Minnesota has a relatively rich soccer tradition.
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May 11, 2011 - The big, headline out of Zygi Wilf's proposal for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium was, undoubtedly, the $1 billion price tag for the retractable-roof facility. Combined with the $240 million worth of estimated infrastructure upgrades that the surround area the Twin Cities suburb -- plus whatever inevitable cost overruns -- we're talking about one of the most expensive sports facilities ever built in the United States. But there was a notable subhead to the story that IMSoccer News pointed out: Wilf apparently likes the idea of having a MLS team as one of the stadium's tenants.
"Also, with the event of a full retractable stadium our goal is to bring Major League Soccer back to Minnesota. The location of here (Arden Hills) being close to Blaine and their facilities for soccer and for youth soccer I think could make this stadium an important part of our youth soccer programs in addition to whats up in Blaine. We are very excited for what this stadium could bring to our fans and the development will take place after we see what our needs will be."What makes this at least somewhat interesting is Minnesota's relatively rich soccer history. The NSC Minnesota Stars currently play in the second division NASL and there's been pro soccer played in the area pretty regularly ever since the original NASL's Minnesota Kicks moved to town in 1976.
While support for those teams has, at times, been relatively strong, all of them have struggled financially. Whether or not MLS team could really succeed in Minnesota is very much an open question.
Wilf, a German immigrant, seems to have a genuine interest in soccer, which is a nice start. He also seems to have relatively deep pockets, another plus as far as MLS is concerned.
The fact that the proposed stadium would have a retractable roof is certainly another positive, as it would likely allow for grass instead of turf. But the idea of a team playing in a huge facility like this, in what is very much a suburb, are not things that bode well. The Seattle Sounders are the only MLS team to have really been able to maximize playing in a NFL stadium, and Qwest benefits greatly from being located in a downtown area.
It also seems unlikely that MLS would consider expanding to Minnesota anytime in the near future, as a second New York team still seems like the front-runner for team No. 20, the Southeast is still without a team and even Southwest cities like Las Vegas seem to be better fits.
Not sure if promotion/relegation system will work over here. Potential owners may stay away and current owners may reject the idea simply because of the risk of being relegated into a lower revenue stream.
mornin d
wow 2016 and things are looking up --- come on you reds lets go
Info on Chicgao fire
how the fans are handling their rebuild, what formation they'll be playing and who to look out for on Saturday. these guys apparently.
Minnesoeta HAS NO CHANCE of getting an MLS team...Garber has already said the league will be capped at 20 teams!!! and the NY Cosmos have pretty much been confirmed as the 20th team....
Absolutely right. The wild swings in revenue that teams would experience if relegated would kill their business models quite quickly. Can you imagine what would happen attendance-wise in a place like Dallas if they got relegated? This was an MLS Cup finalist and you saw how empty their stadium was on Wednesday. Now imagine how empty it would be if they had a second-division tilt against the Rochester Rhinos or whatever the fuck.
Yeah, try telling the owners of any second division club, "well, number one, you won't be competing for the league title this year. Oh, and that boost at the gate you were hoping to get when the likes of Beckham and Henry come to town? Uh yeah, sorry, you aren't playing them this year". I can see that going down well with North American owners.
Well NA move teams because the people move so much. Places like Detroit and Buffalo are losing population and becoming smaller and southern cities becoming much larger. Maybe they should just add more teams as markets get bigger.
And then they could have relegation and every year a couple of small market teams will go down and a couple of other small market teams will get promoted for a year or two. It would probably be interesting for the few cities involved in that but it won't happen until LA, NY, Chigaco and a couple of other big markets are in no danger of being relegated - like every other league in the world where the big teams are in no danger.