Support Al Lang

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Support Al Lang

Firstly, thanks to this entire community for the amazing support and growth over the last year. There are some important dates coming up in the next couple months to help push the referendum across the finish line. The St. Petersburg City Council will be holding a First Reading (February 16, 3:00 PM) and a Public Hearing (March 2, 8:30 AM) – all of this in advance of the Special Election (Referendum) scheduled for May 2nd. The Referendum will allow the City Council to negotiate a 25-year lease extension for the Rowdies as part of their bid for Major League Soccer. As far as we understand, there will be opportunities for public comment at both events. Meetings will take place at St. Petersburg City Hall (175 5th St. N., 2nd Floor).

Take the opportunity and make your voice heard!

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https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/13/In-Depth/Guest-speakers.aspx

Visitors bring expertise from the world of sports business to classroom

Published February 13, 2017, Page 20

A sampling of sports business management program guest speakers this academic year. University of South Florida Fall 2016: ■ Don Garber, Major League Soccer ■ Jessica Gelman, Kraft Analytics Group ■ Tod Leiweke, NFL ■ Deno Anagnost, Tampa Bay Buccan...

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http://www.icflorida.com/sports/mls/orlando-city/security-protocols-for-new-orlando-city-stadium/493735795

Security protocols for new Orlando City Stadium

 Orlando City SC introduces upgraded security protocols for the 2017 Major League Soccer (MLS), National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and United Soccer League (USL) seasons in Orlando City Stadium. The Club’s new stadium will feature a clear bag and walk through metal detector policy upon entering the venue effective for all events in the stadium leading up to Opening Day on March 5, including Kickoff Week events.

For more information visit www.OrlandoCitySC.com/stadium/clearbag

The following types of bags will be allowed upon security inspection:

• Clear totes made of plastic, vinyl or PVC measuring no more than 12”x12”x6”
• One gallon resealable, clear plastic storage bags
• Small, handheld clutch purses or wallets measuring no more than 4.5”x6.5”

Each ticket holder, including children, may carry an approved clear bag and a clutch purse. All items must fit inside the approved bags, including small cameras, binoculars, cell phones and diapers. Diaper bags are not permitted.

Guests will be asked to either take prohibited items back to their car or dispose of prohibited items at the gate.

These policies will remain in effect for all other events at the stadium, unless otherwise announced.

For Opening Day on March 5, the stadium will open its doors two hours early at 3 p.m. to help fans get settled in their new seats.

Fans can contact the Orlando City Stadium guest services department at (855) ORL-CITY for more information regarding stadium policies.

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http://www.tbnweekly.com/editorial/local_entertainment/festivals/content_articles/021317_lefest-04.txt

Rowdies Invitational highlights MLS teams

ST. PETERSBURG – The Tampa Bay Rowdies will once again host the Rowdies Suncoast Invitational in February as five Major League Soccer teams spar in six games spread over three days at two venues in Pinellas County.

Four of the five MLS teams in this year’s edition of the Invitational qualified for the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

In addition to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the teams will be the Montreal Impact, D.C. United, Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire and Toronto FC.

Al Lang Stadium will host five of the matches: a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 18, and a tripleheader on Saturday, Feb. 25. A sixth game will be played Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater.

Match Schedule

• Feb. 18 – Al Lang Stadium
Montreal Impact vs. D.C. United, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 22 – Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex
Philadelphia Union vs. Montreal Impact, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, Feb. 25 – Al Lang Stadium
Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire, 3 p.m.
Philadelphia Union vs. D.C. United, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay vs. Montreal Impact, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for games played at Al Lang range from $15 to $20 in the main stadium bowl to $30 for the Midfielder’s Club and Reserve sections. A ticket includes all matches on a specific day. 2017 Tampa Bay Rowdies season ticket members will receive a complimentary ticket to one of the two match days of their choice (Feb. 18 or 25).

Tickets are available at Ticke­tmast­er.co­m.

Article published on Monday, Feb. 13, 2017

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http://tucson.com/sports/local/record-number-of-mls-teams-taking-part-in-saturday-s/article_6cf811d4-bd7a-52a7-b154-2bfb1fcd9996.html

Major League Soccer

Record-number of MLS teams taking part in Tucson's Desert Diamond Cup

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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben-frederickson/benfred-kavanaugh-calls-on-st-louis-fc-supporters-for-mls/article_9810e8b0-a83a-51a2-b0b8-b2826a1bce34.html

BenFred: Kavanaugh calls on St. Louis FC supporters for MLS campaign

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2017/02/13/strong-proposal-submitted-for-usl-expansion-team-in-baltimore/?utm_term=.4783fdccb2a5

‘Strong’ proposal submitted for USL expansion team in Baltimore

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http://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/02/12/mls-commissioner-garber-talks-canada-whitecaps-season-launch/

MLS commissioner Garber talks Canada at the Whitecaps Season Launch

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http://www.socceramerica.com/article/72290/eric-wynalda-gets-new-coaching-gig-for-open-cup.html?edition=16816

Eric Wynalda gets new coaching gig for Open Cup

by Paul Kennedy, February 10th, 2017 9:04PM

Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda, who led Cal FC to the quarterfinals of the 2012 U.S. Open Cup, will get another chance in the Open Cup as he has taken over as head coach of the L.A. Wolves FC in the United Premier Soccer League.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/soccer/bs-sp-baltimore-usl-soccer-0214--20170213-story.html

Group interested in bringing USL expansion team to Baltimore, league officials say

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-lions/on-the-pitch/os-orlando-city-b-reurns-ahead-of-usl-season-20170213-story.html

Orlando City B returns to training ground ahead of 2017 USL season

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https://squareup.com/store/fltropics/item/pdl-lakeland-tropics-tryouts

PDL - Lakeland Tropics Tryouts

$50.00

Regular

Lakeland Tropics - PDL Open Player Tryouts Sunday March 5th, from noon-4pm at Southeastern University.

Sign-In begins at 11am. $50.00 if pre-paid by March 1st, or $75.00 March 1st and after.

Space is limited.

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http://www.npsl.com/news_article/show/756605?referral=rss&referrer_id=2168389

#CFCvATL Brings Excitement, Huge Crowd

http://mashable.com/2017/02/13/soccer-team-wants-a-chief-tattoo-officer/#uJ8vE6peiPqh

Major League Soccer team seeks 'chief tattoo officer'

Soccer players love to get tattoos, as five minutes viewing any match will tell you. Fans love to get them too, as the internet has shown us.

So, uh, I guess this is the trend's logical conclusion?

A Major League Soccer team is looking to a hire a "chief tattoo officer." There's an ad online and everything.

In what appears to be a first for the sports world, the Philadelphia Union seek to hire someone they say "will be responsible for providing services to players and front office staff.  Occasionally, fan events will also be held with the CTO for the most loyal fans who want a tattoo to represent their passion for their favorite soccer club, the Union."

The job listing stipulates that there are, however, some requirements all candidates must meet. The club says these include:

    Must operate at a permanent shop of residency in the PA/NJ/DE market

    If an individual artist, must have endorsement of shop owner to serve this role

    If a full shop, must disclose participating artists (if not all artists will be part of program)

    Due to player schedules, work may occasionally occur off-site at Philadelphia Union facilities

    Minimum 5 years experience (post-apprenticeship)

    Diverse skillset as needed by clientele  including American Traditional, Realism, Japanese and more

    Must enjoy tattooing snake designs (after all, we have a snake in our crest)

To reiterate, the team is apparently not joking.

"This is an exciting initiative for all of us here at Philadelphia Union as we look to provide a revolutionary service for our players and front office, particularly those new to the area," Doug Vosik, its vice president of marketing, said in a post to the team website. "Our hiring process begins immediately; we are looking for a partner with a wide variety of talents and skills, and someone who can offer a broad range including American traditional, as well as Japanese, realism, new school and more."

Looks like its time to polish up those resumes, tattoo artists of the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Delaware region.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2017/02/13/rowdies-stadium-referendum-heads-to-city-council.html

Rowdies stadium referendum heads to city council this week for first vote

Feb 13, 2017, 2:57pm EST

Janelle Irwin

St. Petersburg City Council will take a preliminary vote Thursday on ballot language for a lease expansion referendum for Al Lang Stadium, as the Tampa Bay Rowdies want to sign a 25-year lease with the city in order to begin an $80 million renovation to the stadium.

The team has submitted a proposal to Major League Soccer to become one of four expansion teams.

Because the stadium is on downtown waterfront property owned by the city, voters must approve any lease longer than five years.

The ordinance, scheduled for a first reading Thursday, would set a special election May 2. The team’s owner, Bill Edwards, plans to fund the election.

Ballot language requires a six-person vote in the affirmative. If approved, council will schedule a public hearing and second vote.

The measure restricts any long-term lease for the Rowdies to no more than 25 years. It also stipulates that a long-term lease will only be approved if the Rowdies are picked as an MLS expansion team.

The ordinance blocks the Rowdies from asking the city to pay for any upgrades or expansion to Al Lang Stadium or any fees or charges imposed by MLS if St. Pete is chosen for an expansion site.

St. Pete will maintain access to the stadium for events as long as the city doesn't interfere with its primary soccer events.

The ordinance is likely to be approved, but there could be some debate. City Council member Karl Nurse previously expressed concerns over financial troubles facing Edwards as a result of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in Atlanta still pending. The suit has been tied up in the appeals process for years.

Nurse wants to ensure any referendum protects the city from being left on the hook for stadium upgrades should the lawsuit take a turn against Edwards.

The council meeting starts at 3 p.m.

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http://www.empireofsoccer.com/sehgal-of-nasl-is-bullish-on-division-ii-super-cup-57845-57845/

Sehgal of NASL Is Bullish on Division II Super Cup

by JAKE NUTTING

Shortly after the United States Soccer Federation mandated provisional sanctioning for the North American Soccer League and the United Soccer League at the Division II level, word began to seep out that the owners of the eight NASL clubs were interested in organizing a match between the league champions.

In an interview with EoS, Rishi Sehgal, the NASL’s interim commissioner, confirmed the interest from his league’s owners and said the NASL would discuss the matter with USL officials in an effort to make the game a reality.

“I think that is a really exciting concept,” Sehgal told EoS. “One thing we saw in the tumultuous off-season was tremendous interest in the marketplace from fans, partners and others supporting the idea of both the NASL and the USL going forward. That drama and interest was largely about things off the field. This game is on the field. So I think it would be amazing to take all of that drama and all of that interest and passion, put it back on the field and let the fans see what they want.”

Both leagues’ schedules are favorable to the NASL’s proposal. Both leagues will kick off their coming seasons the final weekend of March and will play their championship finals the second weekend in November.

“It seems to me there could be a really interesting opportunity for a game between the two champions the following week,” Sehgal said. “I think it’s something that could be interesting. There haven’t been official talks, to my knowledge. It’s something I’m sure we’ll keep thinking about and we’ll see if we can make it happen.”

Neither the NASL nor the USL has masked its animosity toward the other league. Bill Peterson, the former NASL commissioner, repeatedly referred to the USL as a reserve league because of the number of MLS reserve teams in the league, while the USL tried to ignore the NASL as it positioned itself for a move up from the third tier of the US soccer pyramid.

With a new lease on life, though, the NASL is open to mending fences with the USL after a humbling off-season that saw the league on the brink of collapse, only to emerge with eight teams, down from 12 last year.

“The divide [between the NASL and USL] is one that is largely business related, or it has been,” Sehgal said. “On the soccer side we continue to work together, continue to find ways to improve the quality of the game in North America. On the field we’re collaborative, we always have been. Off the field our approach is to try and grow together. We’re open to anything and everything. We’ll certainly make a more concerted effort to be more collaborative.”

The prospect of the NASL and the USL champions should excite soccer fans. Matches among teams from the two leagues in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup have been heated and entertaining.

“All the normal logistics would have to be worked out but I think we’ve got a lot people with experience of creating events and games,” Sehgal said. “That’s something that I think could definitely be positive for the fans. To have another high level game with another trophy on the line that creates drama on the field. We’ll talk to the USL about creating something like that.”

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http://www.npsl.com/news_article/show/756703?referral=rss&referrer_id=2168389

PDX FC Joins the NPSL