Do you really want MLS?

[007]

After this garbage...

*With San Jose rejoining this year and Seattle on the way in 2009, Commish Don Garber said the league will be careful about future expansion.


"We are thinking about what should we be doing with teams 17 and 18 and what we do with teams 19 and 20 and what impact that has on our TV contracts, how does it fit with our player pool and our continued discussions with U.S. Soccer on the player limitations. There are so many different things now that are convincing us that we should take a step back and create a strategic plan before we announce 17 and 18. We do have offers for 17 and 18, two different markets, but we put those deals on hold until we have had a better chance to create our plan."

At the last board meeting, the league formed an expansion committee that will be chaired by Phil Anschutz, "which is pretty remarkable in itself," Garber said in reference to the league's most influential investor who has remained in the background on many league matters. Anschutz apparently does not sit on any committees in other leagues in which he is involved.

Guy at the PB summed it up best...

n plain English: "The cities we really want aren't ready yet, so we came up with this 'strategic plan' stall to give them time, while continuing to string along you suckers in St. Louis."

[Blues Fan in TX]

who cares?

[007]

who cares?

I'm starting to not care that you don't care...

[kmeyer]

I would rather have NBA....

[007]

I would rather have NBA....

Let's keep it realistic...

[kmeyer]

Let's keep it realistic...

I am being realistic, because right now they are about even keel to even come here....

Back to the topic at hand, yes, I would like an MLS franchise...I think it would rejuvenate the interest of the sport in the city.....

[Blues Fan in TX]

I'm starting to not care that you don't care...

That's the spirit!

[007]

I am being realistic, because right now they are about even keel to even come here....

Back to the topic at hand, yes, I would like an MLS franchise...I think it would rejuvenate the interest of the sport in the city.....

There is, at this time, zero chance the NBA comes to St. Louis...Checketts is leveraged to the hilt on owning the hockey team and would have to own the NBA team for it even to remotely make sense...

But back to the topic: MLS should come to St. Louis b/c the market would support it but if the league wants to play this game, they can keep the franchise...

[WinstonSmith]

What cities do they really want?

[kmeyer]

There is, at this time, zero chance the NBA comes to St. Louis...Checketts is leveraged to the hilt on owning the hockey team and would have to own the NBA team for it even to remotely make sense...

But back to the topic: MLS should come to St. Louis b/c the market would support it but if the league wants to play this game, they can keep the franchise...

The question is, how long will we have to wait since Philly was awarded the next franchise...and, will there be any other cities in the running?...I think with the popularity of outdoor soccer in Europe, it would go over bigger and better than the old NASL of the '70s....

[007]

The question is, how long will we have to wait since Philly was awarded the next franchise...and, will there be any other cities in the running?...I think with the popularity of outdoor soccer in Europe, it would go over bigger and better than the old NASL of the '70s....

The MLS wants bigger -- or more appealing -- markets like Atlanta, Vegas, Cleveland, and for some reason, Portland, Ore....

As things stand now, it sounds like a stall tactic is being put into place so Atlanta can get their shit together, which would slide St. Louis for '18' at best...

[007]

Oops: left out Miami, which would put them toward the front of the list (probably behind Atlanta)

[kmeyer]

I think that is horseshit for a city that has always been a 'soccer' market per se, going back to the days when the Steamers were the class of the MISL....Vegas has yet to lure a professional team in any of the major sports....Atlanta is a large market, but I can't gauge their soccer interest...Cleveland only had mediocre attended MISL teams to my knowledge and Portland used to have the Timbers in the original NASL, but that was almost 30 years ago.....

St. Louis continues to get screwed in expansion for just about any sport....

[Ohio Blues]

I would go to a game or two. But I wouldn't lose sleep if it doesn't happen.

[Sheriff Blaylock]

They got it here and I couldn't care less. But I'm not really the target market as English is my first language.

Of course my hometown soccer team wins the championship in season one and the WNBA team here is like the Yankees of women's basketball. It is like some kind of sick joke.