David Beckham toured Sun Life Stadium Saturday morning, and then visited FIU Stadium for an hour and a half, signs that he has more than just a passing interest in Miami as a Major League Soccer expansion city.

We might be able to get to phase IV of stadium expansion done faster.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumor...m-to-miami

highly doubtful this has any real impact on FIU.

The only way MLS returns to South Beach is if a new stadium is constructed for the team.

They might play their first few games at FIU Stadium or perhaps even a whole season, but playing at FIU would never be a long term option for this proposed expansion team.

The MLS is in a new era from the one that had teams in Tampa and Miami.

Instead of playing in college and NFL stadiums, they now (for the most part and likely almost completely in the not so distant future) play in soccer specific stadiums, where they are the primary tenant.

This is the new norm:

it could be bad for FIU. one more thing to compete against FIU football for a tight entertainment dollar.

It would produce revenue though, something all of the G5 schools could use more of. Soccer would go over much better in Miami then it would further north.

I know FAU has hosted a few soccer matches, most recently a Gemany vs Ecuador freiendly but I couldnt see it working in Palm Beach County. There has been some interestst in FAU hosting a MLL team as the attendance for a few events for that sport has been very good.

(06-03-2013 07:42 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  It would produce revenue though, something all of the G5 schools could use more of. Soccer would go over much better in Miami then it would further north.
I know FAU has hosted a few soccer matches, most recently a Gemany vs Ecuador freiendly but I couldnt see it working in Palm Beach County. There has been some interestst in FAU hosting a MLL team as the attendance for a few events for that sport has been very good.

The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

(06-03-2013 07:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

Very true, although the Marlins ownership has been SO shady in thier dealing with the city and fans that I dont blame anyone for not showing up to it. That owner is truly a world class douche.

I havent really watched MLS soccer much, is the style of play so different from European and South American that it would turn people off? Or is it simply needing a "name" like Donovan or some European star to come on board.

(06-03-2013 07:59 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

Very true, although the Marlins ownership has been SO shady in thier dealing with the city and fans that I dont blame anyone for not showing up to it. That owner is truly a world class douche.

I havent really watched MLS soccer much, is the style of play so different from European and South American that it would turn people off? Or is it simply needing a "name" like Donovan or some European star to come on board.

It's the name that drives things down here, unless the team is very good (like the '97 Marlins and early '70's Dolphins).

Also, to the Marshall fan, there are four stadiums competing for the MLS sight I would think, Marlins stadium, FIU, FAU and Sun Life. Each has its pro's and con's. The first picture you put on your post looks like FIU's stadium with a partial roof (at first I thought you had found an artist rendering of an MLS retrofit of our stadium).

It's an uphill battle down here for an MLS franchise; you've got to go big or not bother at all.

(06-03-2013 08:25 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:59 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

Very true, although the Marlins ownership has been SO shady in thier dealing with the city and fans that I dont blame anyone for not showing up to it. That owner is truly a world class douche.

I havent really watched MLS soccer much, is the style of play so different from European and South American that it would turn people off? Or is it simply needing a "name" like Donovan or some European star to come on board.

It's the name that drives things down here, unless the team is very good (like the '97 Marlins and early '70's Dolphins).

Also, to the Marshall fan, there are four stadiums competing for the MLS sight I would think, Marlins stadium, FIU, FAU and Sun Life. Each has its pro's and con's. The first picture you put on your post looks like FIU's stadium with a partial roof (at first I thought you had found an artist rendering of an MLS retrofit of our stadium).

It's an uphill battle down here for an MLS franchise; you've got to go big or not bother at all.

MLS has been adamant that any new franchise or franchise owner have its own stadium. The only profitable teams in MLS are those that own their own stadium because they reap full benefits from concessions,as well as the ability to make money off of hosting concerts without having pay rent to another entity. It doesn't matter if FIU's is the right size or not; what matters is the ownership of it and what the MLS team can do with it when they want and how they want.

Would FIU be willing to allow the potential Miami MLS team to keep 100% of concession revenue? Or let them host concerts at the stadium, with them keeping the lion's share of revenue?


**Also that first stadium is a bit different from FIU Stadium. It's Sporting KC's new place (2011), which cost $205 million to construct and won venue of the year in the 2012 Sports Business Awards, which is an international competition.

When this last came up, FIU basically gave up all revenues related to soccer events including rent. In addition, ancillary revenues were split pretty favorably towards the soccer team. I think the only item that FIU really got was naming rights to the stadium. The other benefit that FIU received was some capital improvements for the stadium and practice fields for the team.

MLS season runs from March - October, so the majority of its season is played before football starts

(06-03-2013 09:06 AM)mufanatehc Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 08:25 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:59 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

Very true, although the Marlins ownership has been SO shady in thier dealing with the city and fans that I dont blame anyone for not showing up to it. That owner is truly a world class douche.

I havent really watched MLS soccer much, is the style of play so different from European and South American that it would turn people off? Or is it simply needing a "name" like Donovan or some European star to come on board.

It's the name that drives things down here, unless the team is very good (like the '97 Marlins and early '70's Dolphins).

Also, to the Marshall fan, there are four stadiums competing for the MLS sight I would think, Marlins stadium, FIU, FAU and Sun Life. Each has its pro's and con's. The first picture you put on your post looks like FIU's stadium with a partial roof (at first I thought you had found an artist rendering of an MLS retrofit of our stadium).

It's an uphill battle down here for an MLS franchise; you've got to go big or not bother at all.

MLS has been adamant that any new franchise or franchise owner have its own stadium. The only profitable teams in MLS are those that own their own stadium because they reap full benefits from concessions,as well as the ability to make money off of hosting concerts without having pay rent to another entity. It doesn't matter if FIU's is the right size or not; what matters is the ownership of it and what the MLS team can do with it when they want and how they want.

Would FIU be willing to allow the potential Miami MLS team to keep 100% of concession revenue? Or let them host concerts at the stadium, with them keeping the lion's share of revenue?


**Also that first stadium is a bit different from FIU Stadium. It's Sporting KC's new place (2011), which cost $205 million to construct and won venue of the year in the 2012 Sports Business Awards, which is an international competition.

(06-03-2013 07:59 AM)OwlFamily Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 07:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  The only way futbol works down here is if it's tied to a major European side. Excitement was high for the new Miami/Barcelona MLS team a couple of years ago. There was a lot of push-back then from multiple sources. Miami's a star driven market, if ownership doesn't give the market what it wants, we'll just go on with our lives until they do (see Marlins, MLS, Florida Panthers, etc).

Very true, although the Marlins ownership has been SO shady in thier dealing with the city and fans that I dont blame anyone for not showing up to it. That owner is truly a world class douche.

I havent really watched MLS soccer much, is the style of play so different from European and South American that it would turn people off? Or is it simply needing a "name" like Donovan or some European star to come on board.

The MLS style of play is very different. It's just not as crisp, fluid, fundamentally sound as it is in other leagues.(it is by no means an awful league, but it isn't anywhere near top tier either) We, as a country, are still not producing the talent that many other countries do. And when we do produce the talent, I always hope the players go overseas(Bradley, Howard, Dempsey, etc.) so they can better themselves by playing against other world class players.

That being said, the MLS is not nearly as bad as it was years ago. Getting rid of that dumb*** shootout format was a quick and necessary decision. The MLS now needs to attempt to get away from the playoff atmosphere it created. Set the league up for a home and home with every other team like the most popular leagues do. Soccer doesn't have to be like every other sport in this country, where a team can squeak into the playoffs and win a title. Then, work towards some sort of relegation system, and create National Cups where the NPSL and NASL teams play the MLS teams, and put the MLS teams in road situations many times to draw local fans and fans who aren't close to MLS cities.

I think there's a great chance of this happening considering billionaire Claure is on FIU's board of trustees.

"The iconic former English captain has been in town since mid-week, exploring the city with Marcelo Claure, the Bolivian billionaire owner of Brightstar Communications who tried in 2009 to bring an MLS team to Miami. Claure is on the FIU Board of Trustees"

I thought I had heard MLS was going to hold at 20 clubs for a while...

To be honest I think what's more likely is either a NEW stadium, or renovations to Sun Life. Either way, I hope it happens and we get something good here.

(06-03-2013 10:47 AM)Ole Blue Wrote:  To be honest I think what's more likely is either a NEW stadium, or renovations to Sun Life. Either way, I hope it happens and we get something good here.

Sun Life is too big for MLS.

(06-03-2013 10:47 AM)Ole Blue Wrote:  To be honest I think what's more likely is either a NEW stadium, or renovations to Sun Life. Either way, I hope it happens and we get something good here.

There won't be a new stadium because no ones going to use there own money to build a $60 million + stadium with MLS as the only tenent; and South Florida has no appetite to use public money on stadiums, esp. soccer which has never got off the ground down here.

The reason this is coming up is basically because the Dolphins need more 'dates' at the team owned stadium. They were used to having the Marlins there for 80+ dates and the canes and the Dolphins. Now they have about 16 football games and I'm sure they're not used to paying that big note with so few events. Enter soccer.

Sun Life needs little renovation to host soccer if any. The problem is, if you draw less that 20,000 the place looks empty. FIU and FAU appear the most promising until the team takes-off because they have 25-35,000 seat stadiums. Marlins park doesn't look good for an entire season because baseball and soccer overlap too much.

Whoever takes the risk will decide where they play. I know Claure is a big soccer fan, I just hope he knows what he's doing.

Given the anti tax sentiment in South Florida, I would say there is no way a new stadium is built using tons of millions $$$ county/city funds with the approval of area residents in the near term (5-10 years). As FIU Fan and '4Ever stated, Sun Life is "too big" and most likely too expensive for MLS ownership. If the decision is for a team within the next 3-4 years, it's either FIU or no team in Miami/South Florida.