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 Post subject: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:54 am 
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I imagine maybe 5 people here besides me care about this, but the bullshit the league is currently pulling with Columbus still deserves to be ripped apart, and IMO is arguably worse than any of the more infamous franchise moves from the bigger leagues like the Sonics or Browns. The tldr is that asshole oil heir buys the Columbus Crew in 2013, refuses to do any marketing for the team at all, and is now citing "business metrics" to justify moving the team to Austin. It's come out that when he bought the team in 2013, the owner specifically negotiated for a provision that he'd be allowed to move the team to Austin, even though this generally would not be approved by the league.

Several things however makes this worse than the typical asshole owner tries to move team story. First, it would be blatantly hypocritical for a league that continuously pays lip service to the idea of organic growth and community support. MLS constantly tries to portray teams as analogues of the European clubs, where the team belongs to the city, as opposed to all those other sports franchises that are concerned about the bottom line above all else. Obviously the franchise model was a necessary evil in the league's early years, but this rubbish about being different from other US leagues because teams are more connected to their communities is currently being destroyed.

One of the things the MLS likes to cite as evidence for the importance of community support is their elaborate expansion policy, in which prospective cities demonstrate a clear level of interest in the MLS (and of course pay the league exorbitant application fees). Austin however has never shown much interest at all in bringing an MLS team to the city, has had 2 failed USL teams, and has already declared the Crew owner will not get a cent of public money to facilitate the move. Indeed, to try to justify Austin jumping the line on all the cities actually going through the expansion and franchising application process, the Crew's owner invented his own fake "community of supporters" looking to bring MLS to Austin.

Besides screwing Columbus, the league also may have committed fraud against San Antonio by encouraging the city to purchase a stadium as part of its own bid for MLS expansion while the Crew owner served on the committee for expansion. The league isn't going to have teams in both Austin and San Antonio, so it's kind of a bad look to be instructing San Antonio how to spend money to improve its chances of getting a new team all the while knowing Austin would be getting an old one. This doesn't even get into the other cities that were going through the expansion process but will be jumped in line.

Lots of people assumed when this story broke last month, it was a standard owner stadium hustle. This isn't even the case though because the owner still wants to move the team even if Columbus ponies up for a new stadium and Austin refuses to sell him any public land. Likewise, all ownership bids from Columbus people attempting to keep the team in the city are not even being considered. As a cherry on top of the shit sundae however, the commissioner of the MLS had the generosity to suggest that Columbus could pay the various expansion bid fees and begin the application process if they lose the team.


Last edited by ZephMarshack on Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:00 am 
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Still stunned at this one.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/m ... elegation/

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:28 am 
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conns7901 wrote:

Eh, I'd love nothing more than a promotion/relegation system but besides the obvious objections the owners would have to it, that deal wouldn't even kick in for 6 years anyway.


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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:31 am 
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ZephMarshack wrote:
Several things however makes this worse than the typical asshole owner tries to move team story. First, it would be blatantly hypocritical for a league that continuously pays lip service to the idea of organic growth and community support. MLS constantly tries to portray teams as analogues of the European clubs, where the team belongs to the city, as opposed to all those other sports franchises that are concerned about the bottom line above all else. Obviously the franchise model was a necessary evil in the league's early years, but this rubbish about being different from other US leagues because teams are more connected to their communities is currently being destroyed.


This is one of the things that I'll admit has turned me off MLS: without even getting into how ridiculous constructions like "Real Salt Lake" and "Sporting Kansas City" are, the evangelizing of the league as serving a higher calling than selling beer, billboards, and parking spaces like the unenlightened leagues has always rung hollow, especially considering many of the MLS owners are the same souped-up carnies who run those other leagues: the Hunts, the Krafts, the Kroenkes, Anschutz, and the ever-detestable MLSE. I'm surprised Ilitch, Jacobs, and our local liquor wholesaler never got in on the grift.

Also, when comparing Columbus and Austin, what this comes down to is moving a team from one overgrown government/university/office-drone town of ~2.5MM to another, while obliterating all the goodwill of what I believe to be a charter franchise of the league in favor of...I'm still not sure, exactly, seeing as how Austin is an infrastructural nightmare as it is without plunking down a stadium no one really asked for.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:50 am 
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It's Ohio, so technically, it doesn't really matter.....

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:25 am 
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Curious Hair wrote:

This is one of the things that I'll admit has turned me off MLS: without even getting into how ridiculous constructions like "Real Salt Lake" and "Sporting Kansas City" are


not to mention any club named "F.C.", as if anyone in this country would call a soccer team a "football club".

as far as the promotion/relegation goes, you have to show that MLS is an actual premiere league first before you try to start to build lower tier franchises.


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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:32 am 
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W_Z wrote:
Curious Hair wrote:

This is one of the things that I'll admit has turned me off MLS: without even getting into how ridiculous constructions like "Real Salt Lake" and "Sporting Kansas City" are


not to mention any club named "F.C.", as if anyone in this country would call a soccer team a "football club".

as far as the promotion/relegation goes, you have to show that MLS is an actual premiere league first before you try to start to build lower tier franchises.



A friend of mine has a pretty big job with Sporting Kansas City. He explained the concept to me and I had to fight not to roll my eyes. It seemed obnoxiously European.

And you know, Americans invented advertising. We love to be sold shit. But one thing we take umbrage with is advertising on uniforms. Keep that shit in France and Germany. (I actually don't know if MLS has advertising on their "kits", but it seems as if they might.)

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:33 am 
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shirtless driver wrote:
It's soccer, so technically, it doesn't really matter.....
Fixed.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:34 am 
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I like soccer.

I don't like MLS soccer. It's crap.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:40 am 
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ZephMarshack wrote:
It's come out that when he bought the team in 2013, the owner specifically negotiated for a provision that he'd be allowed to move the team to Austin, even though this generally would not be approved by the league.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:01 am 
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nomination denied unless all soccer is encompassed int his DBOTW. Soccer sucks. The average player dives more than a Sedin

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:04 am 
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rogers park bryan wrote:
ZephMarshack wrote:
It's come out that when he bought the team in 2013, the owner specifically negotiated for a provision that he'd be allowed to move the team to Austin, even though this generally would not be approved by the league.

Image

Here is a list of players we will be inviting to camp.

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:05 am 
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Looks like Cincinnati is going to approve a soccer stadium, RIP Crew.


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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:28 pm 
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Ogie Oglethorpe wrote:
rogers park bryan wrote:
ZephMarshack wrote:
It's come out that when he bought the team in 2013, the owner specifically negotiated for a provision that he'd be allowed to move the team to Austin, even though this generally would not be approved by the league.

Image

Here is a list of players we will be inviting to camp.


Image

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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:10 pm 
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They also waited to announce it until the week after next years season ticket deposits were due.


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 Post subject: Re: MLS
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:29 pm 
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KDdidit wrote:
They also waited to announce it until the week after next years season ticket deposits were due.

The owner generously offered people who renewed a week to get refunds out of the goodness of his heart.


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