Scholarship table
Might not be fair to compare MASL to MLS, but I also don't think it's fair to look at Cincinnati's one year of data, and say it'd be a success. It was the new ticket in town, teams always do well in their first year. They were also the worst team in the league by a considerable margin (although this was expected), if they continue to be terrible, that attendance won't remain high for long. Minnesota's attendance dropped from '18 to '19, and both Columbus and Chicago have been bottom 5 in attendance for a while now. Comparing Milwaukee to cities that are actually getting a team (Sacramento, Austin etc.) and the overall level of interest in the sport isn't even close.
Peter Wilt was instrumental in getting the Madson USL club up and running this past year. The League One side outdrew many USL Championship level teams.
I was referring to FC Cincinnati’s entire history. Part of the reason they got an expansion club there was the success of their attendance as a USL squad. They’d routinely draw 20K+ as a “minor league” team. So I’d disagree their attendance will fall off. This wasn’t a curiosity, new car smell attendance boost. Their numbers compared fairly closely with their USL days, only like a 5% increase. Columbus attendance ebb and flow has been a curiosity, but Chicago isn’t fair. That’s a rabid soccer market, but the attendance is entirely affected by stadium location. With the Fire returning to the city next year, I think it’s a different story.Not sure why the interest is “not even close”...based on? Austin, sure, Sacramento is only an expansion player cause they have an established USL team, not exactly a large, vibrant market. Milwaukee is no less a viable candidate than St Louis. Nashville is literally only getting a team because multiple billionaire families are spearheading it. If Milwaukee had a USL team, it would be in the discussion easily if the city had abided. And look at Madison to see the success of upstart soccer in Wisconsin.
Story in today's Charlotte Observer about how the new MLS franchises in St. Louis and Miami have not needed to use taxpayer dollars at all. Sad to see taxpayers here footing a billionaire's bill.
It can produce localized benefits. Like to a neighborhood or a downtown. But usually not to an overall region.
Is that greater than the taxpayer burden?
I'll stick with my opinion on Gold. He'll be in foul trouble within the first eight minutes.
It's official.https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/4014801/sources-charlotte-to-become-mls-30th-franchise-for-record-$325-millionReally hope they stop at 30, the quality in play has slowly been dropping for a few years now. Commit to 30, stay with it for the foreseeable future, let the franchises develop their respective academies, and overall quality will rise across the board. Also, stop bringing in the ageing stars, I like that more and more of the DP's have been younger players.
December/January brings FA cup 3rd round, busy Christmas league schedule, closing of Champions League group stage and possibly League Cup games. Right when you think you’re out of the busy game schedule, congratulations make the semis of the League Cup and you’re given a two legged playoff! Fantastic….. All for qualification into the black hole that is Europa league. Big clubs don’t need the League Cup unless of course they have the squad players to make a deep run. Given the choice, no manager or fan for that matter would prioritize League Cup ahead of the other three competitions listed.
Bumphttps://twitter.com/lfc/status/1207005070396706818
Hey, with a Longstaff on your side, not all is bad.
They're only throwing out the youth team because of the Club World Cup game tomorrow. Klopp's not even there. You won't see full strength sides, but in the other 3 League Cup games tomorrow, you will not see a full squad change that Liverpool was forced into. If the 1st team wasn't in Qatar right now you would see a lot more familiar faces.
Still think the biggest questions are in the defensive end, Steffen hasn't exactly lit up Germany since going back, Brooks hasn't been great either, but I still think he's the best CB of the group, Miazga's been disappointing based on his potential, CCV needs to move on, and it's tough to gauge Palmer-Brown when he's only in Austria. I really don't want to have to be reliant on the MLS CB's, but if they're the only one's getting consistent game time, I don't know what other choice there is.
I dont think this is fair at all. Hes unfortunately not on a very good club, but he's draw plenty of praise for his play. Numerous team of the week honors in the Bundesliga, and even when Fortuna has gotten shelled, people have been quick to defend him and remove fault from him. He's been battling some knee issues since mid fall, but otherwise I think his performance has been very encouraging and there isn't much out there to say otherwise.