Will MLS take another chance on Tampa Bay? (w/video)

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/soccer/will-mls-take-another-chance-on-tampa-bay-wvideo/2321991

Will MLS take another chance on Tampa Bay? (w/video)

(Follow link for full article.)

https://thefloridasqueeze.com/2017/04/27/yes-vote-on-tuesday-referendum-helps-but-still-doesnt-ensure-mls-in-st-pete/

“YES” vote on Tuesday referendum helps but still doesn’t ensure MLS in St Pete

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1488522134522128/

MAY 2

Al Lang Stadium Referendum Watch Party - Tues. May 2

Public · Hosted by Tampa Bay Rowdies

Tuesday at 6:30 PM - 8 PM

Al Lang Stadium

230 1st St SE, Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701

Join us on Tuesday, May 2, for a free Referendum Watch Party at Al Lang!

Bring your family and friends, as our #MLS2STPETE campaign continues.

Let us know how many guests you'll be bringing by emailing RSVP@rowdiessoccer.com

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.mor-tv.com/article/tampa-bay-rowdies/9162611

Watch Tampa Bay Rowdies on This TV

Watch Rowdies Soccer on This TV Tampa Bay!

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2017/01/04/fc-cincy-vs-silent-assassins-mls/96125434/

Is it FC Cincy vs. 'silent assassins' for MLS?

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/04/28/miami-mls-expansion-david-beckham-latest-overtown-investor

Lots of talk, little action on both MLS, Beckham sides amid Miami expansion quest

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.cltampa.com/arts-entertainment/sports/article/20859853/rowdes-defeat-richmond-kickers-10-in-usl

Rowdies riding bicycles all the way to victory

Deshorn Brown wants to do his bicycles.

Colin O'Hara

Apr 30, 2017 3 PM

Maybe you opened the Sunday edition of the Tampa Bay Times and saw the full Orlando City spread wrapping the sports section. Or maybe you’re literate and that’s why you’re reading Creative Loafing instead. Either way, it’s easy to see which publication is focusing its energy on supporting the Rowdies’ bid for Major League Soccer.

Since you may not read it elsewhere, allow us to make your soccer day: The Rowdies struck gold on Saturday night on the seat of a bicycle kick from Deshorn Brown.

Brown got the unexpected start over Georgie Hristov Saturday for “tactical reasons”, according to coach Stuart Campbell.

“It was just tactical,” Campbell said. “I couldn’t possibly just drop Georgie, he’s been fantastic all season. I knew they had a couple big center backs. I felt, especially at the start of the game, we needed someone who could match the physicality.”

Evidentially, Brown was up for the task.

“[Richmond’s defenders] are big strong guys,” Brown said. “Everywhere I go, I’m matched up with big defenders. I’m kind of used to it.”

Brown displayed a magnificent splendor on the pitch with goal that ultimately gave Tampa Bay the 1-0 win of the Richmond Kickers. Brown’s overhead kick is something he’s been working on, which he has apparently perfected.

“I like doing bicycles” Brown said. “I made up my mind to go for it and got the goal.”

It was as simple as that. He likes doing bicycles.

Brown wasn’t the only unexpected and successful start of the evening. Due to illness, star defender and rock of my life, Luke Boden, sat out, forcing midfielder Marcel Schafer to undertake the challenge of playing defense. Schafer didn’t flinch in the face of a change in roles and dominated the left side.

“Luke has done great for us,” Campbell said. “Unfortunately, he went down with an illness in the middle of the week and we were hoping he would be fit for the weekend, and we found out [Friday] he obviously wasn’t right. [The change] wasn’t’ something we panned.

Planned or unplanned, somethings just work out for the best. The Rowdies held Richmond to zero shots on target and out-passed their opponents 572 to 296.

It was a classic Tampa Bay domination win; Rowdies held over 66 percent of the possession while passing more than enough to make Richmond’s head spin, but were unable to break through the defense other than Brown’s lone wundergol.

“I wanted us to start the second half as if it were 0-0 and I wanted us to go out and get the next goal,” Campbell said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that. We had a couple of half-chances … but defensively, we were sound.”

Sound is an understatement. “Man Mountain” (Campbell’s words, not mine) Damion Lowe has possibly claimed his right as fastest member of the team, and fellow center back Neill Collins continued his Neill Collins-ness while Darnell King helped keep the team’s fourth clean sheet of the season.

Getting back to winning ways after a three-match winless streak is hugely important to the success of the Rowdies, but more important than the win is what’s coming up on May 2.

The city of St. Pete will hold a referendum for public vote on May 2 that will decide whether the club can take control of Al Lang Stadium and renovate it to meet the standards of MLS. This renovation will raise the capacity of the stadium to the required 18,000 seats and will be done 100 percent with private funding, leaving no tax money needed for the project.

Those 18,000 seats will need to be filled. The announced attendance was just shy of 5,000 Saturday night, leaving it the second-lowest-attended home game thus far. Though still averaging above the league average and sitting as the eighth-highest attended club in the league, critics have recently voiced valid concerns on whether the team can be sustainable in MLS. It’s time to prove them wrong.

It's no secret how I'm voting Tuesday. Only question is, if you care enough to read this, do you care enough to vote?

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sounderatheart.com/2017/4/29/15479836/this-stadium-is-no-tolkien-fantasy-its-real

This stadium is no Tolkien fantasy, it’s real

An amateur stadium in Henningsvær, part of the Lofoten Islands off the north of Norway, probably belongs in your next fantasy novel.

Yes, this is real. Yes, it is amazing. No, it is not for professionals. It’s “just” a funky location for the residents of nearby islands to play their most popular sport. But it’s something out of Tolkien, if Middle Earth played sports.

The Mirror called it the “world’s most awesome stadium.”

It makes the Fred Brown dream of a floating Sonics Arena seem quaint. It also has me fantasizing about so many more communities in our area that can find a way to fit a soccer field in between the waters and mountains of our beloved land.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/786594?referrer_id=2333971#.WQPrAxXPaSk.facebook

USL Top Five – Supporters’ Tifos

USL supporters’ creativity has hit some major heights over the years

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.facebook.com/events/263465960784962/

MAY 5

Cinco De Mayo 80's Flashback Festival

Public · Hosted by Stormy Bay Entertainment and Candela Pura TV
    
Friday, May 5 at 9 PM - 3 AM

May 5 at 9 PM to May 6 at 3 AM

Round Up Tampa
   
10051 W Hillsborough Ave, Tampa, Florida 33615

The Roundup Tampa is hosting the largest Cinco De Mayo party in Tampa bay... Playing the best of the 70's, 80's, 90's, Freestyle and a touch of Latin music all night..

$3 Corona / Corona Light Bottles, $4 Margaritas / Nacho Bar..Limbo Contest with Prizes..and many other drink and shots all night..

Join DJ uncle Luke, Matt the Bratt, Bald Guy Britt and DJ Speedy Jr spinning the tunes with our Special Guest DJ Dave "Flash" Morgan from Q105 FM!

Cover is $5 all night long!

Text 813-508-3544 for more info!

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4456740/Joe-Cole-isn-t-holiday-Rodney-Marsh.html

Joe Cole isn't out here for a holiday... he's electrified the pace in Tampa, insists former player Rodney Marsh

Rodney Marsh spent two seasons with the Rowdies between 1984 and 1986
Marsh has described Cole's work-rate and performances as 'outstanding' 
Joe Cole joined the Tampa Bay Rowdies in May 2016 after a spell at Coventry
Marsh recalls a time when he was asked if he was the 'White Pele' at Tampa

By Rodney Marsh For The Daily Mail

Published: 17:31 EDT, 28 April 2017 | Updated: 19:42 EDT, 28 April 2017

Joe Cole has electrified the place here in Tampa — I cannot begin to tell you the impact he has had.

It's been pretty dead here in a football sense for a few years, but everyone is talking about Joe — he's all over the newspapers and the television.

He is not here for a holiday either.

His work-rate and performances have been outstanding. He has so much skill, the crowd love him.

It's like the second coming of Rodney Marsh . . . with a crew-cut!

When I came here in 1976, I gave a press conference at the airport when they asked me what it was like to be 'the white Pele'. I responded by telling them they should ask Pele: 'What's it like to be the black Rodney Marsh?' It caused a bit of a storm.

Everyone was coming to the US then. Bobby Moore, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Eusebio, George Best. George was 28, I was 31. I had hair like Robert Plant, blond and 20 inches long and I used to rub lemon in it every morning. The owner told me: 'We are the Rowdies, we have a rowdy reputation and we want you to be rowdy!' I did my best to oblige.

The first day I arrived, two of my new team-mates were in prison and another in the hospital after a fight.

But we finished top of the league, hammering the New York Cosmos 5-1 at our place in front of 42,000 fans. We lost the return 5-4 in New York. In that game, Pele scythed me down (I'm sure it was a reaction to my comment).

The English referee saw the tackle and when I challenged him, he said: 'Look around you, do you really think I am going to send off Pele?' Pele and the Cosmos finished second to the Rowdies that season.

Now Joe is playing in the equivalent of the second tier here but he is certainly putting bums on seats and is provoking memories of the past.

I love watching him play — long may his impact continue.

Rodney Marsh is co-host of Grumpy Pundits on SiriusXM radio. He played for Fulham, QPR, Manchester City and Tampa Bay Rowdies, scoring 218 goals in 505 games.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/04/27/beckham-mls-group-adds-dodgers-part-owner-reports/

Beckham MLS group adds Dodgers part-owner: reports

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/04/28/mls-expansion-tampa-miami-beckham-investor-st-louis-sacramento-nashville-san-diego

MLS expansion latest: Tampa Bay's vote; Beckham's new investor; a pulse for St. Louis?

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.constructiondive.com/news/beckham-led-group-gets-investor-boost-for-300m-miami-mls-deal/441530/

Beckham-led group gets investor boost for $300M Miami MLS deal

(Follow link for full article.)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/beckham-mls-group-adds-dodgers-part-owner-reports/articleshow/58411122.cms

Beckham MLS group adds Dodgers part-owner: Reports

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/soccer/fl-sp-david-beckham-mls-investor-20170427-story.html

David Beckham adds new investor to Miami MLS group

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2017/04/26/34967232/portland-timbers-announce-50m-proposal-to-expand-providence

Portland Timbers announce $50M proposal to expand Providence Park

(Follow link for full article.)

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/beckham-mls-group-adds-dodgers-part-owner-reports-201958992--sow.html

Beckham MLS group adds Dodgers part-owner: reports

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/beckhams-miami-mls-project-secures-billionaire-investor

Beckham’s Miami MLS project secures billionaire investor

Todd Boehly, an American investment banker, to join Englishman's ownership group.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/timbers-unveil-plans-for-additional-4000-seats/2017/04/26/c46b7b4a-2af6-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html

Timbers unveil plans for additional 4,000 seats

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.inquisitr.com/opinion/4178271/do-you-hate-soccer-you-wont-ok-you-might-still-but-its-worth-a-try-after-reading-this/

Do You Hate Soccer? You Won't After Reading This [Opinion]

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/3113489/portland-timbers-plan-to-expand-providence-park-by-4000-seats

Portland Timbers plan to expand Providence Park by 4,000 seats

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/new-england-revolution/story/3114404/talks-over-new-england-revolution-stadium-in-south-boston-halted

Talks over New England Revolution stadium in South Boston halted

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/soccer/jones-mls-rowdies-sounds-good-but-not-sold-on-it-happening/2321995

Jones: MLS Rowdies sounds good, but not sold on it happening

(Follow link for full article.)

https://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/04/28/mls-expansion-phoenix-bid-loses-mls-experienced-head-coach/

MLS Expansion: The wild ride that is the Phoenix MLS bid

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.constructiondive.com/news/beckham-led-group-gets-investor-boost-for-300m-miami-mls-deal/441530/

Beckham-led group gets investor boost for $300M Miami MLS deal

(Follow link for full article.)

http://pulse.ng/sports/football/david-beckham-retired-footballers-mls-group-adds-dodgers-part-owner-reports-id6594343.html

Retired footballer's MLS group adds Dodgers part-owner: reports

David Beckham has added Todd Boehly, a part-owner of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, to his investment group seeking a Major League Soccer club in Miami, newspapers reported Thursday.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://ussoccerplayers.com/2017/04/portland-plays-the-new-mls-stadium-game-major-league-soccer.html

Portland plays the new MLS stadium game

(Follow link for full article.)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/beckham-mls-group-adds-dodgers-part-owner-reports/articleshow/58411122.cms

Beckham MLS group adds Dodgers part-owner: Reports

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.us/new-england-revolution/story/3114404/talks-over-new-england-revolution-stadium-in-south-boston-halted

Talks over New England Revolution stadium in South Boston halted

(Follow link for full article.)

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn-ratings-increases-nba-playoff-weekend-sunday-night-baseball-major-league-soccer.html

ESPN Ratings: Increases for NBA Playoff Weekend, Sunday Night Baseball, Major League Soccer

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tbo.com/sports/soccer/jones-mls-rowdies-sounds-good-but-not-sold-on-it-happening/2321995

Jones: MLS Rowdies sounds good, but not sold on it happening

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/looking-ahead-to-kriseman-vs-baker/2322144

Looking ahead to Kriseman vs. Baker

ST. PETERSBURG — Bill Edwards Group president Rick Baker spoke to the Tampa Bay Tiger Bay Club luncheon last week, promoting Tuesday's election asking voters to let city leaders negotiate a long-term lease for an expanded waterfront stadium if the Tampa Bay Rowdies become a Major League Soccer franchise.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.richmond.com/sports/richmond-kickers/kickers-recap-against-tampa-bay-rowdies/article_be6ac7d7-bce0-5a00-86fa-71f227c16650.html

Kickers recap against Tampa Bay Rowdies

(Follow link for full article.)

https://theprideoflondon.com/2017/04/30/joe-cole-recalls-john-terry/

Joe Cole recalls John Terry’s leadership at Chelsea: “Like an older brother”

Joe Cole is enjoying his resurgent football career with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The ex-Chelsea man talked about the impact John Terry had during their time as Blues.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/stateroundup/looking-ahead-to-kriseman-vs-baker/2322144

Looking ahead to Kriseman vs. Baker

PETERSBURG — Bill Edwards Group president Rick Baker spoke to the Tampa Bay Tiger Bay Club luncheon last week, promoting Tuesday's election asking voters to let city leaders negotiate a long-term lease for an expanded waterfront stadium if the Tampa Bay Rowdies become a Major League Soccer franchise.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4456628/Joe-Cole-experiencing-new-lease-life-Tampa.html

Joe Cole on following in the footsteps of Rodney Marsh in Florida: 'I thought I was finished but I feel alive in Tampa'

Joe Cole joined the Tampa Bay Rowdies in May 2016 after a spell at Coventry
Rodney Marsh spent two years with the Rowdies between 1984 and 1986
Cole struggled with the attention he received when he was back in England

By Sam Cunningham for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:30 EDT, 28 April 2017 | Updated: 20:00 EDT, 28 April 2017

There used to be a joke around Tampa Bay that St Petersburg was where old people went to die. 'God's waiting room,' they called the city.

But for Joe Cole, now a football veteran, joining Tampa Bay Rowdies has given him his life — and playing career — back again.

In an interview at his plush apartment in downtown St Pete — as the locals call it — Cole reveals how he almost retired from playing in 2015 when his body failed him, explains why he has become Tampa Bay's resident expert on Brexit and what former club Chelsea will miss most when his friend John Terry leaves in the summer.

Yet while he talks enthusiastically about the game, an aspect he most relishes about moving away from England is that he can walk down the street and not get asked about football.

Rowdies employees say the thing they like about Cole is that although he is a big star, he is known as 'Joe who gets coffee every morning', at the local coffee shop on 2nd Avenue, and 'Joe who watches the game at the bar' — favouring The Moon Under Water, a British pub beneath his apartment building.

It is here that he spends time watching more Premier League football than he ever did back in England, sitting under the Scotland and St George's flags hanging from the ceiling and the Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool scarves around the bar, a small part of home, 4,500 miles away.

'I walk down the road every day, I'll say "Hello" to the guys in the coffee shop. They'll ask how we got on at the weekend — that's it. Then it'll be like, "Lovely day", or "What's going on with Theresa May and the election?" — that'll be the new one now.'

Cole, now 35, returned to England last Christmas and found the attention difficult. 'It was really getting to me because I'd not had it for seven months. I realise the anonymity I get here is precious.'

Yet none of this would be an issue if Cole had retired at Aston Villa. 'I was considering packing it in, because my body was letting me down,' he admits.
'At Villa a doctor said I needed surgery on my hip but I couldn't afford the time. I was training on one leg for six months. I should've just got it sorted. It didn't work and I was disenchanted.

'I went all around the world looking for people: Belgium, Germany, America, all the best people and no one could sort me out. Ever since I did my knee at Chelsea (in 2009) it was an uphill struggle.

'I tried all the weirdest, wackiest treatments: chiropractors, osteopaths, reflexologists, acupuncturists, physios, kinetic energy people, I've had nutters putting magnets on me. I stopped short of seeing a faith healer. I went to see a guy in London and it was last-chance saloon.'

Cole was taught to listen to his body and to stop putting pressure on it. He adds: 'Then I moved to Coventry and played without injury and I got my love back for the game, then Tampa Bay came along. I'm just as proud of anything I achieve now as what I achieved in my prime. I wish I found this way (of managing my body) six years ago, just after I did my knee. I'm convinced I'd still be playing in the Premier League.'

Unlike Cole, his former England and Chelsea team-mate Terry largely avoided injury and only now, at 36, has he decided to leave Stamford Bridge. Cole used to go out drinking in Essex with Terry and Michael Carrick when they were younger players.

Cole was in the massage room at Chelsea's training ground with Terry when the defender received the call from Steve McClaren in 2006 to say he was being made England captain.

'When I signed for Chelsea, he was the first person to see me as I walked through the door,' Cole says. 'Although he's only a few months older, he put his arm around me and it was like, "I'll look after you" like the new kid at school, like an older brother.

'Chelsea will miss that. They are a well-run club but forget everything he does on the pitch, it's the unseen things as a captain. I remember I was having a bit of a rough time there. He recognised it and got one of the video analysts to make a compilation of all my best bits. It was a little touch but it really lifted me.

'For him to even notice that... in football you're so focused on yourself and your own game, to have an eye on everyone else in the club is remarkable. You can't quantify that. He was a younger man then, as well, and to have that empathy — that's one of a million things the club will miss.

'They'll have to spend a lot of money to replace him. He'd love it out here. He'd be perfect for any club out here. Anyone would take him.'

The Florida way of life might be more relaxed for Cole but the sporting demands are still intense. When we meet for this interview, he has just been away for six days playing games in Louisville and Cincinnati.

His one-year-old son Max is already in bed, but Ruby, seven, and Harry, four, have waited up to see dad. As the discussion continues, they both climb on a knee and Ruby calls him the best daddy ever. 'Why you being nice to me? You're never nice to me!' Cole jokes, and they dissolve into giggles.

'It's nice to be playing football and still wanted — that's what I do it for,' Cole says, the words muffled by his children's cheeks squashing his face. 'I'd love still to be playing in the Premier League but my body unfortunately slowed down a lot quicker than other people's.

'I started young, similar to Wayne Rooney, I blew out my knee at 28. I'd love still to be playing for England. I watched the Champions League games the other week and felt that buzz.'

Here, Cole is part of something bigger than just football: he is a key player in a shift of sporting culture. Football once flourished in the area, when Rodney Marsh arrived in 1976 with his long golden locks — complementing the club's gold and green colours — and they won the North American Soccer League in his first season.

The original Rowdies averaged 30,000 attendances at their peak and Marsh became one of the Bay's most loved athletes. They folded in 1994, but the Rowdies returned in 2008 and real estate billionaire Bill Edwards became majority owner in 2013. Cole is Edwards's Marsh.

'There were a couple of times when I needed to get home for a family emergency and Bill let me use his jet,' Cole says. 'Imagine how much that costs him. My grandad was a big QPR fan so he grew up telling me stories about Rodney Marsh. He wanted me to play like him. Tampa Bay Rowdies were always in my mind.'

Now, they are challenging towards the top of the United Soccer League's Eastern Conference and a bid to join the MLS has been lodged at the league's New York HQ. The recognition Cole brings is a major part of that.

At the club, he is helping coach younger players and has input into decisions with manager Stuart Campbell. Cole wants a crack at management after he retires, although he has not decided when that will be. He has helped coach England Under 18s and is completing his A licence. The ultimate aim will be to manage the national team he is passionate about, having been part of the under—achieving 'golden generation'.

'John Stones, Ross Barkley, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier — they're better than us, better players, a better group, they just need a bit of time and belief and they can do it.

'Ross Barkley or Dele Alli could win you the next World Cup, but they've got to be allowed to make mistakes.

'The "golden generation" came from the fact we were all so young doing so much in the Premier League. Most of these guys have taken slightly longer to get in the teams but they'll be more seasoned than us come tournament time.'

'God's waiting room' has brought Joe Cole back to life.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://saintpetersblog.com/rowdies-defeat-richmond-deshorn-brown-moment-brilliance/

Rowdies defeat Richmond on Deshorn Brown ‘moment of brilliance’

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/soccer/rowdies-hope-for-return-to-winning-form-vs-richmond/2322063

Rowdies hope for return to winning form vs. Richmond

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.kentucky.com/sports/other-sports/article147474274.html

Pro soccer in Lexington? Louisville City’s league wants to make it happen

United Soccer League, the organization that brought professional soccer to Louisville, is actively gauging whether there is enough interest in Lexington to establish a lower-division franchise that would begin play here in 2019.

Steven Short, vice president of USL Division 3, visited Lexington on Tuesday and Wednesday talking up his organization’s plans to establish a third-tier league with Lexington as one of its founding franchises.

“It was very positive,” Short said of his tour of Lexington. “I heard in several meetings that Lexington is right for professional soccer. Youth soccer is continuing to grow in the region. Obviously, there are some strong clubs in the area, some strong supporter groups. I even learned that several individuals have season tickets to USL teams in Louisville and Cincinnati.”

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.constructiondive.com/news/beckham-led-group-gets-investor-boost-for-300m-miami-mls-deal/441530/

Beckham-led group gets investor boost for $300M Miami MLS deal

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/04/28/miami-mls-expansion-david-beckham-latest-overtown-investor

Lots of talk, little action on both MLS, Beckham sides amid Miami expansion quest

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/rick-kriseman-to-update-tampa-council-on-cross-bay-ferry/2321766

Rick Kriseman to update Tampa council on Cross-Bay Ferry

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2017/04/27/rick-kriseman-says-bon-voyage-to-ferry-with-pitch.html

Rick Kriseman says bon voyage to ferry with pitch to bring it back

(Follow link for full article.)

http://saintpetersblog.com/rick-kriseman-cross-bay-ferry-get-mixed-reviews-tampa-city-council/

Rick Kriseman, Cross-Bay Ferry get mixed reviews from Tampa City Council

(Follow link for full article.)

http://miami.curbed.com/2017/4/27/15452382/david-beckham-mls-miami-todd-boehly

David Beckham finalizes MLS Miami funding by adding billionaire Todd Boehly, per report

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.ibj.com/blogs/4-the-score/post/63557-indy-elevens-effort-to-score-mls-franchise-takes-hit

Indy Eleven's effort to score MLS franchise takes hit

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.expressnews.com/sports/columnists/roy-bragg/article/A-new-soccer-club-to-address-soccer-s-problems-11110596.php

A new soccer club to address soccer’s problems

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/786984

Rowdies Relish Return to Winning Ways

Tampa Bay back tied for first in East after victory against Kickers

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/tampa-bay-rowdies-vote-breaks-mold-of-past-waterfront-spats-in-st/2322228

Tampa Bay Rowdies' vote breaks mold of past waterfront spats in St. Petersburg

Charlie Frago, Times Staff Writer

Monday, May 1, 2017 4:25am
   
ST. PETERSBURG — There's an election about to take place in the city.

No, not the mayoral election. Although one could be excused for mistaking former Mayor Rick Baker's tour of neighborhood associations and political groups as a campaign to challenge incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman in November.

Baker was actually stumping for the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether the city should negotiate a 25-year lease with Rowdies owner Bill Edwards. He and his investors, in turn, would then spend up to $80 million to expand and upgrade Al Lang Stadium, more than doubling capacity to 18,000 seats.

It's all being done in the hope that Major League Soccer will award St. Petersburg — and the Tampa Bay region — an expansion franchise in the next few years. The lease would be contingent on MLS awarding the franchise, and it would have to be approved by City Council.

But unlike the contentious fights over the city's precious waterfront in years past, Edwards' proposal hasn't produced the kind of organized and vocal opposition that disrupted past plans: The failed 2003 effort to turn Albert Whitted Airport into parkland; the Tampa Bay Rays' defunct 2007 plans to build a stadium on the Al Lang site; and the Pier's replacement, the $50 million Lens, which was rejected by voters in 2013.

So why, then, is the Rowdies' referendum seemingly unopposed? Baker said it's because they laid the proper groundwork.

"I think it's because we frankly spent the year before we announced talking to the folks about the plan so we tried to identify what the issues were," he said after giving a now-familiar pitch to the Suncoast Tiger Bay club luncheon on Wednesday.

The Rowdies assured Saturday Morning Market organizers that they could still hold their popular weekly event in Al Lang's parking lot. They also promised to build stadium restrooms that will be accessible to market-goers. They met with opponents of the Rays' Al Lang plans and waterfront activists, Baker said, and gathered feedback about the added seating.

In early March, when the City Council unanimously approved holding Tuesday's referendum, downtown residents turned out in force. Most of them supported the idea, a stark change from previous efforts to transform the waterfront.

Downtown Neighborhood Association president Gina Driscoll said residents felt included in process: "It makes all the difference in the world when someone gives you a seat at the table from the beginning and your opinion matters."

The Rowdies' plan to build no higher than the neighboring Mahaffey Theater and avoid negatively impacting nearby streets and sidewalks were selling points, she said. As was the promise to keep the Saturday Morning Market in the Al Lang parking lot.

Some downtown residents, though, continue to voice fears of a parking crunch, excessive noise and glaring lights at night.

Edwards' promise to spend his own money on the stadium was also a big plus, Driscoll said. The Rowdies' owner is also paying the $271,000 bill for the referendum.

City Council member Steve Kornell echoed the reason why the Rowdies' plans haven't generated the kind of pushback the Rays received in 2007: The Rowdies are paying for everything, and said they won't expand the Al Lang footprint.

"It's a good deal and it doesn't expand the footprint on the waterfront," Kornell said. "Al Lang was already there and . . . it's a good way to use it. I haven't heard any negatives."

But some still have concerns. At the Tiger Bay gathering last week, community activist Vince Cocks asked Baker about an ongoing federal lawsuit which alleges that Edwards looted millions from his defunct mortgage company. Baker repeated Edwards' stance that the lawsuit has no merit.

"Where's there's smoke, buddy, there's fire," Cocks said. "This is not a frivolous case."

Council of Neighborhood Associations president Marlene Murray said she is concerned that the referendum hasn't been properly vetted.

"My biggest concern, I just felt that not enough information was given," Murray said. "Everything was rah-rah, everything was great. There are more questions to be asked."

The details of the use agreement won't be known until negotiations begin after the vote, Murray said, meaning that the City Council has to be the watchdog for any major changes.

And, she asked, how long does the right to expand Al Lang for MLS last? It won't expire after MLS awards two teams during the upcoming round of expansion, said Assistant City Attorney Jeannine Williams. But the city has to research when those rights would expire.

A dozen cities, including San Diego; Sacramento, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C., are competing for the two MLS expansion teams being awarded this year and the two to be awarded in the future. If St. Petersburg is selected, Edwards and his partners would be responsible for paying the $150 million expansion fee to MLS.

David Beckham's Miami investment group adds Todd Boehly - sources

This announcement is obviously as a result of the MLS meeting this week. We've known that MBU were in talks with potential investors. MLS wanted an update on the status of MBU, so MBU had to say who they were talking to. Now we know who, too: Todd Boehly. 

Does this really mean anything? Does this change anything? Is Todd Boehly likely to say 'yes' in regards to the same situation with MBU at Overtown, that at least three other potential investors, that we know about (and possibly many more that we don't know about), all said 'no' to?

It seems unlikely to me, but who knows. If announcements and agreements start being made public soon and work appears to be getting done, maybe this time is different. But if this is followed up with months of more silence, then not good for MBU. 

This story says Todd Boehly has been added to the MBU investment  group, but nothing official from either MBU or Todd Boehly has stated that yet. I would think if this were true they will want to get it on the record very soon. 

We shall see. 

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/3113378/david-beckhams-miami-investment-group-adds-todd-boehly-sources

David Beckham's Miami investment group adds Todd Boehly - sources

By Jeff Carlisle

David Beckham's goal of bringing an MLS expansion franchise to Miami is inching closer to the finish line, with banker Todd Boehly being added to his investment group, sources confirmed to ESPN FC.

The Daily Mail was the first to report Boehly's involvement in the project.

The MLS Board of Governors met earlier this week in Colorado Springs, and a source confirmed that the terms of the deal adding Boehly to Beckham's group, known as Miami Beckham United, were discussed.

One source added that MLS is currently reviewing the proposal, and has yet to sign off on the deal, and may come back with recommendations. The source confirmed The Daily Mail's reporting in that some current owners are pushing back over Beckham's discounted expansion fee of $25 million, which was agreed upon back when Beckham was a player in the league.

Beckham exercised that option amid much fanfare back in February of 2014. Currently, MLS is asking expansion candidates for upwards of $150 million, and there is a sense among some owners that additional investors shouldn't be able to piggyback on Beckham's arrangement.

MLS has spent three years trying to aid Beckham's expansion quest, and his desire to bring in additional investors has been widely known, so the pushback from MLS owners is somewhat surprising. MBU has already spent $19 million on a six-acre parcel of land in Miami's Overtown neighborhood.

A remaining three-acre parcel is yet to be acquired, but the holdup there was that MBU wanted to round out its investment group first. Now that has been accomplished, and with the added credibility that Boehly would bring, it is believed that there would be little standing in the way of MBU acquiring the needed land.

An MBU spokesperson declined to comment when reached by telephone.

Boehly is the chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries. Boehly previously served as the head of Guggenheim Investments at Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC, where he was responsible for the firm's asset management business. Prior to that, he also served as the President at Guggenheim Partners, where he was responsible for launching the firm's credit investing business. He remains part of the ownership group that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2012.

Boehly joins Beckham, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, CEO of Oak View Group Tim Leiweke and Beckham's business partner Simon Fuller on MBU's investment team.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article147016129.html

Beckham’s Miami MLS group adds L.A. Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly

By Michelle Kaufman

David Beckham and his partners took another step toward securing a Major League Soccer team in Miami, revealing to league owners late Tuesday that their group has added billionaire Todd Boehly to help finance the project, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Boehly is an American investment banker who is part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and chairman of Eldridge Industries, which counts among its holdings Hollywood Reporter and Billboard magazines and Dick Clark Productions.

The Beckham-led Miami MLS deal has been dragging on for more than three years, and league Commissioner Don Garber and other owners are getting increasingly frustrated.

One of the holdups was finding significant, reliable financial backing for the project, which is expected to top $300 million between stadium construction and the team startup. The involvement of Boehly should give Beckham’s group more credibility with MLS owners, who must approve the deal.

The MLS Board of Governors met in Colorado Springs on Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics, one of them being the Beckham ownership situation. No vote was taken, but the board will be reviewing the terms of the deal, and Boehly’s involvement, in the coming days. A vote is expected in the near future.

Garber said last Friday that a decision “has to be made this year,” or they will look elsewhere.

As part of Beckham’s contract when he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy as a player, he was promised a deeply-discounted franchise upon retirement. He reportedly will pay $25 million for a team, while owners of other new teams are paying $150 million. MLS is counting on Beckham’s international celebrity status to raise the global profile of the league. As owner of a team in Miami, his reach into Latin America is viewed as a valuable asset.

“I believe in the Miami market,” Garber said in New York City at a meeting with several of the nation’s sports editors. “There’s never been a successful international market that wasn’t a successful MLS market.”

But, he said, Beckham’s group had yet to fulfill the requirements necessary to have an MLS franchise – proper financing, a viable stadium plan in place and a solid ownership group.

Miami Beckham United — the name of the soccer icon’s investment group -- is backed by Beckham and partners Marcelo Claure (CEO of Sprint) and Simon Fuller (Beckham’s agent and a creator of “American Idol”). Boehly is now the fourth heavy hitter.

Tadd Schwartz, the Miami-based spokesman of the group, declined comment Wednesday night, but a statement may be released on Thursday.

Beckham announced his plans to bring MLS to Miami in February 2014. The plan has since fizzled at three would-be sites and a parcel of the current site in Overtown is still being negotiated.

In the meantime, Atlanta and Minnesota franchises joined MLS this season, and a 23rd team is scheduled for 2018 in Los Angeles.

“A decision has to be made this year,” Garber said. “David knows this, it’s time to move forward or not, and that time is upon us.”

If Miami falls through as the 24th team, it would open up a spot for one of the many teams vying to join the league.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4448806/David-Beckham-confident-MLS-backing-Todd-Boehly.html

David Beckham confident of securing backing from billionaire financier Todd Boehly as he looks to finalise Miami franchise's entry into MLS

Billionaire Todd Boehly could be brought into Miami MLS franchise funding team

Project is being spearheaded by former England captain David Beckham

Beckham is looking to buy franchise rights for around £19.5million

Boehly has previously been part of a group interested in buying Tottenham

By Charles Sale for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:30 EDT, 26 April 2017 | Updated: 18:48 EDT, 26 April 2017

David Beckham is set to complete the funding team for his proposed Miami franchise ownership but their entry into MLS is still in the balance.

The Beckham group are confident billionaire American financier Todd Boehly will come on board to help give the blueprint a sound financial base, with the final obstacle being the MLS owners agreeing to Miami's entry in 2019.

Some owners are understood to resent Beckham being able to buy a franchise for a bargain $25million (£19.5m) as part of his LA Galaxy playing terms when the entry point is now approaching £150m.

But it is difficult to understand how MLS could block Beckham's bid after the way he boosted the profile of the league on and off the pitch, his long search for the right premises in Miami and the potential support for a Florida team.

And the involvement of Boehly will give the Miami project even more credibility.

The investment banker, who was part of an American consortium who were interested in buying Spurs, invested instead in the LA Dodgers baseball team for which his group paid $2bn (£1.55bn) — a record for a sports franchise — seeing off a bid from Arsenal's Stan Kroenke in the process. 

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/67l886/7_days_to_go/

7 days to go! (self.TampaBayRowdies)

submitted 23 hours ago by Tampa Bay Rowdiesdietrich14

By this time next week, we will either be elated or depressed.... All signs point to elated but as a Tampa resident I'm quietly holding my breath. COYR! COStPete!

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.wmnf.org/rick-baker-pushes-yes-vote-rowdies-stadium/

Rick Baker pushes for ‘yes’ vote on Rowdies stadium

Posted April 26, 2017 by Seán Kinane & filed under Elections, Local Government, News and Public Affairs, Sports.

St. Petersburg voters will decide next Tuesday whether the city should lease a historic waterfront sports stadium to the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team for 25 years. The Rowdies want to expand the stadium with the hopes of landing one of four Major League Soccer expansion teams. Former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker works for the owner of the Rowdies and made his pitch Wednesday to the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club.

Baker is the former Mayor of St. Petersburg and is widely expected to run again, though he deflected multiple questions on the subject.

Rick Baker also response to people who worry there won’t be enough parking for an expanded Rowdies stadium.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/baker-wants-to-talk-about-the-rowdies-but-tiger-bay-was-interested-in-if/2321698

Baker wants to talk about the Rowdies, but Tiger Bay was interested in if he's running for mayor

Charlie Frago, Times Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 2:16pm

Former Mayor Rick Baker came to the Tiger Bay luncheon Wednesday to talk about the Tampa Bay Rowdies' bid to join soccer’s big leagues.

Pretty much everyone else wanted to know if he plans to run for mayor of St. Petersburg against incumbent Rick Kriseman.

“Which would you rather be? The president of a major-league soccer franchise based in Tampa Bay? The governor of Florida? Or the mayor of St. Petersburg,” asked Peter Schorsch, a political consultant and owner of SaintPetersblog who also introduced Baker to the smallish crowd at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.

Baker paused.

“So I’m going to answer that question as directly as I can,” Baker began before abruptly returning to a previous question about how a Major League Soccer franchise playing in an expanded Al Lang Stadium would affect downtown parking that prompted laughter from the crowd..

After running out the clock, Baker mock apologized for not having enough time to address Schorsch’s question.

After several more attempts to pry out the former mayor’s plans, the final questioner was blunt:

“Are you going to run for mayor or no?”

“So the answer is that I’m going to vote on May 2 for the Rowdies,” Baker said.

Baker made a  now familiar case for residents to approve a referendum that would authorize the city to negotiate a 25-year lease with the team for Al Lang Stadium. The ballot language also states that city money wouldn’t be used to expand the stadium to an MLS-required 18,000 seats and is contingent on the Rowdies gaining one of four expansion slots being contested by a dozen cities.

An MLS franchise would be the next step in the city's renaissance over the last 30 years, Baker said.

The league is expected to make a decision by the end of the year.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://saintpetersblog.com/rick-baker-not-yet-ready-talk-publicly-challenging-rick-kriseman/

Rick Baker not yet ready to talk publicly about challenging Rick Kriseman

Mitch Perry

With speculation fire that Rick Baker could announce another run for St. Petersburg Mayor as soon as next week, one could assume he’d show some leg on his political future during an appearance Wednesday at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club.

Well, you know what they say about assuming …

Instead of taking about his political future, Baker did what he’s done nonstop for the past two months: making the case for voters to support a referendum giving Bill Edwards — his boss — a 25-year lease at Al Lang Field

Edwards would then expand capacity of the venerable park, making it viable for the Tampa Bay Rowdies to join Major League Soccer, the leading soccer league in the U.S.

And while that might be interesting enough, if there was any doubt about the worthiness of the project, the fact is, there is scant organized opposition to an issue that involves no taxpayer money. Edwards and his investors are footing the $250,000 cost of the May 2 special election, as well as approximately $80 million for expansion of Al Lang from its current 7,000 seat capacity to 18,000.

For the record, Baker was asked three times (in one fashion or another) to discuss his potential candidacy for mayor, a job he held 2001-2009. All three times, he chose to initially act as if he hadn’t heard the question.

Instead, Baker went straight to referendum talking points, slyly acknowledging that, in fact, he had heard the question, but wasn’t about to offer anything quotable.

Finally, Baker conceded that any comment not related to the Rowdies would only come after next week’s election.

“Maybe we’ll have that discussion another time,” he said when asked how he would manage the city versus the incumbent, Rick Kriseman.

Otherwise, it was all Rowdies stadium talk, all the time.

Perhaps the most interesting questions pertained to the stability and trust in Edwards, the Treasure Island entrepreneur who turned BayWalk around and single-handedly boosted the Mahaffey Theater with his financial largesse.

And while he’s continued to spend his money on making the Rowdies a first-class organization, not all is perfect in his world. There’s that legal case about his now-defunct mortgage company, Mortgage Investors Corp., accused of cheating veterans and the public in refinancing VA loans.

“He feels there’s no merit to it and that he’s a veteran himself and he fought in Vietnam and was wounded in the hospital for two years,” Baker said. “He believes he’s going to prevail.”

But activist Vince Cocks wasn’t satisfied with that response. While Edwards said he could personally pay a judgment to the 42 investors suing him, Cocks asked how would such a result effect the city of St. Petersburg?

“Well, that’s based on speculation,” Baker responded, earlier saying there would need to be a succession plan put in place. He preferred to answer how it would affect the construction of the Al Lang expansion, which wouldn’t be an issue, as the bonding would already be in place.

“People are not going to go out there and get a construction company in there building a stadium without confirmation that there is funding available,” Baker said.

The former mayor began with the 10-minute presentation he’s given to community and neighborhood groups around the city over the past couple of months. Baker provided a monologue on how much the city has developed over the previous three decades, with the Rowdies and the significance of professional soccer on downtown, just the latest element in making the city a great place.

Even if the taxpayers approve the Al Lang expansion next week, construction will remain on hold until the team learns if its MLS bid is accepted, which Baker says probably won’t happen until this December.

Eleven franchises are vying for four slots in MLS.

The criteria to be chosen by the league: a $150 million buy-in to join; reside in a major media market (Tampa Bay is 11th in the nation; Baker noted the Top 10 markets already have an MLS franchise); community support (the Rowdies currently average over 5,000 fans a game) and a stadium with a seating capacity of 18,000, which is what next Tuesday’s vote will decide.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/785689

What's In A Number?

By Rowdies Communications, 04/26/17, 11:45AM EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 26, 2017) — For fans, players are often synonymous with the number they wear on the back of their jersey. As an example, it’s hard to imagine the name “Savage” on the back of a jersey with anything other than a “22” below it. The same could be said for the pairing of “Hristov” and “10.”

But for the players themselves, numbers don’t always carry a lot of weight. For a handful of players on the Rowdies’ roster this year, the number doesn’t mean much more than just being the number a player in their position should wear. Leo Fernandes and Darwin Jones, for example, wear 11 and 7, respectively, because those numbers are strongly associated with wide attacking players.

Often times, when a player signs with the Rowdies makes a huge impact on what number they choose. Sign early in the offseason and you may get your favorite number, sign late in the offseason or mid-year and the choices are limited.

Here’s a little more insight into why the Rowdies wear the numbers they wear.

No. 1 – Nico Campbell: “It’s a standard number for goalkeepers. I wore it as a kid.” If Campbell didn’t get the No. 1 jersey, he likely would’ve taken 21, the number he wore for Jamaica at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2011.

No. 2 – Darnell King: “I wore 21 in Fort Lauderdale, but it was taken when I signed with the Rowdies, so I picked 2 because it’s the number I wore when I was a young player.”

No. 3 – Neill Collins: “I was assigned 3 when I signed with Wolves. I’ve worn a bunch of different numbers in my career, but 3 was available when I came here, so I took it.”

No. 4 – Marcel Schäfer: “I always wore 4 at VfL Wolfsburg. It’s a special number for me because two of my kids were born on the fourth of a month and my other kid was born on the 24th.”

No. 7 – Darwin Jones: First time wearing 7, just chose it because of where he plays on the field.

No. 8 – Deshorn Brown: First time wearing 8. “My favorite number is 26. That’s what I wore in Colorado and Norway, but that’s taken here. I wore 9 in China, but that was also taken.”

No. 9 – Alex Morrell: “I wore 9 as a youth player, but it’s usually one of the first numbers taken because of the famous players that have worn it. I was surprised it was available when I signed with the Rowdies.”

No. 10 – Georgi Hristov: “When I joined the Rowdies, it was the only number available that I liked. Throughout my career, I always wore 9 or 11, and 10 is right between them.”

No. 11 – Leo Fernandes: First time wearing 11, just chose it because of where he plays on the field.

No. 13 – Justin Chavez: “I took 13 when I signed with Fort Lauderdale because it was either 13 or a really high number. I wore 6 as a kid and in college, but that number is retired here.”

No. 14 – Luke Boden: “There’s no real significance to the 14 shirt for me. Before our first preseason game in Orlando in 2011, they laid out all the jerseys that were available and I just picked 14.”

No. 15 – Zac Portillos: “I’ve never worn 15 before, but now it’s my first professional number.”

No. 17 – Tamika Mkandawire: “I was given 17 when I went to Hereford United on loan and I played well, so I stuck with it for a while. My favorite number is 7, but you can’t play center back and wear 7. That just wouldn’t be right. I came to the Rowdies in the summer in 2014 and had to take 27, but I moved down to 17 after that first year.”

No. 18 – Matt Pickens: “When I was really young, I was a field player that wore 8. When I started playing goalkeeper around 11 years old, I switched to 1 and when I turned pro, I put them together as 18.”

No. 19 – Martin Paterson: “My youngest son was born on the 19th and 19 was available when I signed with the Rowdies, so I took it.”

No. 22 – Keith Savage: “My dad, Bruce Savage, wore 22 throughout his career for both club and the US national team, so I’ve always worn it. When I was getting ready to sign with the Rowdies, another player had 22, but it all worked out.”

No. 26 – Joe Cole: “When I signed with West Ham, I was given 26. At Chelsea and Liverpool I wore 10. When I went to Lille in France, 10 was taken by a guy called Eden Hazard, so I went back to 26. I’ve always tried to wear 10 or 26.”

No. 31 – Damion Lowe: “My dad, Onandi Lowe, wore 31 in his career for club teams and the Jamaican national team. I’ve worn 31 most of my career, but if not 31, I wear 17, another number my dad wore.”

No. 32 – Martin Vingaard: “I joined the Rowdies in the summer last year and there weren’t many numbers left. I used to wear 20, but it was already taken, so I picked 32, the number David Beckham wore for PSG. I’m Danish and there’s a famous Danish striker named Peter Møller that wore 32 as well.”

No. 50 – Akira Fitzgerald: “I used to wear 1, but I switched to 50 to honor my mother because that’s the year she was born in.”

No. 90 – Kyle Porter: “I wear 90 because my dad encouraged me to pick a unique number and I was born in 1990.”

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/american-owners-world-soccer-clubs-football-beyond-premier-league

Beyond the Prem: 9 lesser-known clubs with American owners

American owners in the Premier League are nothing new. Here are nine other places where U.S. investment is impacting foreign clubs.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12096/10851419/orlandos-kaka-is-highest-earner-in-major-league-soccer

Orlando's Kaka is highest earner in Major League Soccer

(Follow link for full article.)

https://abc7chicago.com/sports/orlandos-kaka-tops-mls-salary-list-bastian-schweinsteiger-7th-at-$54m/1916568/
    
Orlando's Kaka tops MLS salary list, Bastian Schweinsteiger 7th at ..

WLS-TV

... Kaka remains the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer, according to ... MLS and its clubs do not reveal salary information when announcing ...

(Follow link for full article.)

http://starrfmonline.com/2017/04/26/jonathan-mensah-is-the-highest-paid-ghanaian-in-mls/

Jonathan Mensah is the highest paid Ghanaian in MLS

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/mls-salaries-revealed-ashley-cole-earnings-dwarfed-by-stars

MLS salaries revealed: Ashley Cole earnings dwarfed by stars

(Follow link for full article.)

https://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/04/26/cyle-larin-coming-up-clutch/

Orlando City: Cyle Larin Coming up Clutch

(Follow link for full article.)

http://ghanasoccernet.com/jonathan-mensah-claims-title-of-highest-paid-ghanaian-player-in-mls

Jonathan Mensah claims title of highest paid Ghanaian player in MLS

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2017/04/26/34957422/why-does-kaka-continue-to-top-the-mls-salary-chart

Why does Kaka continue to top the MLS salary chart?

The Brazilian is the highest-paid player in the North American league for the third straight season, which sources tell Goal isn't a coincidence.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/609030/MLS-player-salaries-wages-annual-earnings-Major-League-Soccer-sportgalleries

MLS player salaries confirmed: Three former Premier League stars among 10 highest earners

THERE is plenty of big money to be earned in Major League Soccer.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://yen.com.gh/92263-richest-ghanaian-players-mls.html

Richest Ghanaian players in the MLS

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/3112872/what-do-mls-goalkeeper-woes-say-about-the-state-of-the-united-states-national-team-pipeline

What do MLS' goalkeeper woes say about the state of the U.S. pipeline?

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.ibj.com/blogs/4-the-score/post/63557-indy-elevens-effort-to-score-mls-franchise-takes-hit

Indy Eleven's effort to score MLS franchise takes hit

April 26, 2017

Anthony Schoettle

The Indy Eleven’s bid to join Major League Soccer appeared to take a serious blow last week when the Indiana General Assembly concluded its session without passing legislation that would help fund a downtown soccer stadium that the team’s owner says is necessary to land a spot in the sport's top U.S. pro league.

For those who were unaware the North American Soccer League franchise made a plea for help from state lawmakers during the recently concluded General Assembly: You probably weren’t alone. The Eleven made an eleventh-hour pitch for aid with most of the presentations conducted privately and quietly.

Eleven officials declined this week to discuss what they requested or what this does to their effort to join Major League Soccer, opting instead to email a one-sentence statement in response to an interview request.

“Indy Eleven remains committed to continuing conversations with interested and supportive parties regarding a public-private partnership that can bring a new multipurpose stadium to downtown Indianapolis,” said Eleven President Jeff Belskus in the statement.

On Jan. 31, the Eleven submitted a bid to become one of four expansion teams in MLS—a proposal that included a $100 million-plus stadium. Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir told IBJ in January the stadium is necessary whether the team moves up to the MLS or stays in the NASL.

“Without a new stadium, we have some serious decisions to make,” he said.

Ozdemir said in January he is seeking a 20,000-seat venue to meet the MLS’ minimum for capacity and because of the city’s midsize status. But he added that the stadium would be designed with expansion in mind and said he wasn't fearful the Eleven would have difficulty filling it.

Playing at Lucas Oil Stadium or Victory Field is out of the question. MLS has begun mandating that new teams not play in venues built for football and baseball and instead play in soccer-specific stadiums. Indy Eleven currently competes in the Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium at IUPUI.

MLS officials did not return calls seeking comment this week.

During this year’s Indiana legislative session—in which a two-year state budget was crafted—there was never a bill drawn up to aid stadium construction. But multiple sources confirmed to IBJ that Eleven officials during the last month of the session—which concluded Saturday—gave private presentations to a handful of influential lawmakers in hopes of getting something passed this session.

This marks the fourth session of the General Assembly in which Eleven officials have been unsuccessful in getting the legislation they want to build a new stadium.

Influential budget writer Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, was at one of the private confabs where Ozdemir asked for a state help to build a new stadium. Ozdemir was accompanied by Belskus and automotive dealer Andy Mohr, an investor in the MLS expansion effort. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett also attended.

Part of the proposal, Kenley said, involved setting up a professional sports district where state sales and income tax dollars would be captured to help the team with what it needs financially. Some of those taxes, Kenley said, would come from Ozdemir’s proposed downtown hotel on the southeast corner of Illinois and Market streets.

Thomas Cook, Hogsett’s chief of staff, said Hogsett supports the idea of a downtown soccer stadium providing it does not require a city tax increase to fund stadium construction or any money from the city’s general fund.

Instead, said Cook, Hogsett favors a state law that allows the City-County Council to set up a professional sports district where primarily state taxes are captured for the construction of the stadium. Cook said the mayor is willing to discuss having the city’s Capital Improvement Board own the new stadium if construction funds can be secured.

“We’re still willing to discuss what we can do creatively to put the city in a position to secure a Major League Soccer franchise,” Cook said.

Kenley seems much less bullish on the proposition.

“It didn’t seem like to me it all added up,” he said. “I didn’t think the [Eleven’s] presentation was well thought out.”

Kenley also said the latest proposal was disappointing because Ozdemir and the city didn’t seem to be putting much money into the project. Cook said the team is willing to contribute $10 million.

Kenley said overall “I didn’t feel comfortable with the last-minute effort.”

While Kenley questions whether the Eleven ownership “has the wherewithal to get this done,” Cook said the mayor “has a great deal of respect for a number of people in the investor group.”

In January, as part of his MLS push, Ozdemir floated a plan for a downtown stadium that would be built between Lucas Oil Stadium and the White River as part of a public-private partnership.

The Eleven and 11 other teams are vying for four available openings in the 22-year-old MLS. Two successful applicants would join MLS by the 2020 season as the league’s 25th and 26th teams.

Teams 27 and 28 would begin playing at a “later” but undetermined date, the league has said.

The league expects to announce the first two winners of expansion franchises in the second or third quarter of this year.

MLS set the fee for expansion teams 25 and 26 at $150 million and said the fee for the other two teams would be announced later.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.sundayworld.com/sport/soccer/bastian-schweinsteigers-hefty-mls-salary-is-revealed

Bastian Schweinsteiger's hefty MLS salary is revealed

(Follow link for full article.)

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/kaka-becomes-top-paid-major-league-soccer-player-for-third-straight-year-4629136/

Kaka becomes top-paid Major League Soccer player for third straight year

Kaka is the highest-paid Major League Soccer player for a third consecutive year with over $7 million in annual earnings.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/ghana/story/3112983/jonathan-mensah-tops-earning-table-of-ghanaians-in-mls

Jonathan Mensah tops earning table of Ghanaians in MLS

(Follow link for full article.)

https://abc7chicago.com/sports/zlatan-ibrahimovic-should-make-the-move-to-mls---bastian-schweinsteiger/1914944/

Zlatan Ibrahimovic should make the move to MLS - Bastian Schweinste..

WLS-TV

... Bastian Schweinsteiger has called on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to follow him in making the move from Manchester United to Major League Soccer.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.the42.ie/kevin-doyle-mls-salary-3359577-Apr2017/

Kevin Doyle's seven-figure salary puts him in the top 30 MLS earners

The Ireland and Colorado Rapids striker is set to earn a base salary of $1 million.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.football-italia.net/101698/giovinco-and-pirlo-big-mls-earners

Giovinco and Pirlo big MLS earners

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/26/san-jose-earthquakes-payroll-ranks-13th-in-major-league-soccer/

San Jose Earthquakes’ payroll ranks 13th in Major League Soccer

Chris Wondolowski, Simon Dawkins each make $800,000

(Follow link for full article.)

http://sport360.com/gallery/football/231229/top-10-mls-salaries-kaka-and-andrea-pirlo-among-the-highest-earners

IN PICS: Top 10 earners in MLS

Sport360 lists the highest paid footballers in Major League Soccer.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.kxl.com/portland-timbers-want-providence-park-become-cathedral-soccer/

Portland Timbers Want Providence Park To Become “Cathedral For Soccer”

By Jim Ferretti

Apr 26, 1:46 PM

Portland, Ore. — The Portland Timbers want a bigger stadium. Wednesday the team announced plans for a 4,000 seat expansion to Providence Park.

The team issued a written statement regarding the proposal.

Since the Portland Timbers’ arrival in Major League Soccer in 2011 and the addition of Portland Thorns FC and the National Women’s Soccer League in 2013, Providence Park has become one of the foremost venues in North American soccer. It has won numerous awards for its unrivaled fan experience and atmosphere and has been named FourFourTwo’s Best Stadium for Soccer in the United States as well as the top MLS stadium experience across all sports by StadiumJourney.com.

Originally built in 1926 in the downtown core of Portland, its 91-year history has seen the likes of soccer, football, baseball, dog racing, concerts, ski jumping, presidential visits and much more. Now nearly a century since it first opened, Providence Park is poised for another transformation. An already great stadium for sport will become an even greater cathedral for soccer, while helping meet the ever-increasing demand for tickets.

Club leaders have proposed a modern, yet historically influenced $50 million-plus, privately financed expansion project for the east side that would add approximately 4,000 new seats, a striking new street-level colonnade and an iconic, modernized expansion—all at no cost to the city or public. An expanded Providence Park will make the stadium viable for the future and help ensure that Timbers and Thorns FC remain in their unique downtown location long-term, well beyond the expiration of the current operating agreement in 2035.

The proposed design by internationally renowned and Portland-based architecture firm Allied Works would add a 93-foot high covered structure on the east side of the stadium, taking a vertical approach to a relatively small footprint while integrating well with the existing stadium. The proposed project includes four new levels on the expanded east side, with three of the four levels created for reserved and group seating sections to help meet demand, while including a unique, pedestrian-friendly public arcade along SW 18th Avenue.

While Providence Park is already a top destination for soccer, challenges for the future remain. The stadium has sold out for every single Timbers regular-season and playoff match at home since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011. The Timbers currently have an ever-growing waiting list of more than 13,000 fans for season tickets. MLS matchday ticket demand for the available supply is at a premium. In short, more people want to get in than can be accommodated.

“Providence Park is one of the most special stadiums in sports,” said Mike Golub, president of business for the Timbers and Thorns FC. “With our proposed expansion, we will enhance the incomparable fan experience and intimacy and provide the opportunity for some of the more than 13,000 members of the waiting list to become season ticket holders.”

Additionally, MLS is evolving rapidly as the league continues to grow in all areas and additional expansion teams come on line in the upcoming years. Stadia in Major League Soccer are growing in size and the rising economics of the league are making it increasingly challenging to compete, as Providence Park – with an existing capacity of 21,144 for soccer – currently ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of size.

Inspired in part by the famous Shakespearean Globe Theatre in London and the iconic La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires—both with their upright vertical seating areas and literal on-top-of-the-action perspective—the new Providence Park expansion would complete the full U-shape stadium design as was envisioned by the original then-Multnomah Stadium architects of A.E. Doyle and Morris Whitehouse in 1925. The end result would “finish” the stadium after almost 100 years, completing a transformation to a fully realized, urban soccer stadium.

“The expansion of Providence Park will continue to honor the rich history and traditions of the stadium and city of Portland and marry them with the best of modern stadia,” said Golub.

This private investment into the city-owned venue also goes a long way towards keeping the club’s unique urban environment viable well beyond its current operating agreement. The added capacity to the century-old, community gathering space will better position it to attract additional, larger-scale soccer and special events, and will benefit other stadium users, such as Portland State University football. The expansion and ensuing increased capacity and public use would substantially increase the city ticket tax revenue that benefits directly back to the City of Portland.

While the team continues to work with the city and neighborhood association on specifics of the proposed project and the initial design-review process commences, the potential construction timeline would include a two-offseason process, beginning either at the conclusion of the 2017 or 2018 season at Providence Park and concluding in time for either the beginning of the 2019 or 2020 MLS season.

“This proposed project is a win-win for everyone involved, and we’ve been very encouraged by the collaborative work that’s been put into this project to date,” said Golub. “We still have some work to do, but we are actively working with the city and neighborhood association, and everyone is excited by the prospect of an expanded Providence Park and ensuring the long-term viability of this unique stadium.”

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.timbers.com/post/2017/04/26/soccer-cathedral-grows-providence-park-add-approximately-4000-new-seats-modern

A soccer cathedral grows: Providence Park to add approximately 4,000 new seats in modern expansion

April 26, 20179:45AM PDT

Timbers.com Staff

Since the Portland Timbers’ arrival in Major League Soccer in 2011 and the addition of Portland Thorns FC and the National Women’s Soccer League in 2013, Providence Park has become one of the foremost venues in North American soccer. It has won numerous awards for its unrivaled fan experience and atmosphere and has been named FourFourTwo’s Best Stadium for Soccer in the United States as well as the top MLS stadium experience across all sports by StadiumJourney.com.

Originally built in 1926 in the downtown core of Portland, its 91-year history has seen the likes of soccer, football, baseball, dog racing, concerts, ski jumping, presidential visits and much more. Now nearly a century since it first opened, Providence Park is poised for another transformation. An already great stadium for sport will become an even greater cathedral for soccer, while helping meet the ever-increasing demand for tickets.

Club leaders have proposed a modern, yet historically influenced $50 million-plus, privately financed expansion project for the east side that would add approximately 4,000 new seats, a striking new street-level colonnade and an iconic, modernized expansion—all at no cost to the city or public. An expanded Providence Park will make the stadium viable for the future and help ensure that Timbers and Thorns FC remain in their unique downtown location long-term, well beyond the expiration of the current operating agreement in 2035.

The proposed design by internationally renowned and Portland-based architecture firm Allied Works would add a 93-foot high covered structure on the east side of the stadium, taking a vertical approach to a relatively small footprint while integrating well with the existing stadium. The proposed project includes four new levels on the expanded east side, with three of the four levels created for reserved and group seating sections to help meet demand, while including a unique, pedestrian-friendly public arcade along SW 18th Avenue.

While Providence Park is already a top destination for soccer, challenges for the future remain. The stadium has sold out for every single Timbers regular-season and playoff match at home since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011. The Timbers currently have an ever-growing waiting list of more than 13,000 fans for season tickets. MLS matchday ticket demand for the available supply is at a premium. In short, more people want to get in than can be accommodated.

“Providence Park is one of the most special stadiums in sports,” said Mike Golub, president of business for the Timbers and Thorns FC. “With our proposed expansion, we will enhance the incomparable fan experience and intimacy and provide the opportunity for some of the more than 13,000 members of the waiting list to become season ticket holders.”

Additionally, MLS is evolving rapidly as the league continues to grow in all areas and additional expansion teams come on line in the upcoming years. Stadia in Major League Soccer are growing in size and the rising economics of the league are making it increasingly challenging to compete, as Providence Park – with an existing capacity of 21,144 for soccer – currently ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of size.

Since the Portland Timbers’ arrival in Major League Soccer in 2011 and the addition of Portland Thorns FC and the National Women’s Soccer League in 2013, Providence Park has become one of the foremost venues in North American soccer. It has won numerous awards for its unrivaled fan experience and atmosphere and has been named FourFourTwo’s Best Stadium for Soccer in the United States as well as the top MLS stadium experience across all sports by StadiumJourney.com.

Originally built in 1926 in the downtown core of Portland, its 91-year history has seen the likes of soccer, football, baseball, dog racing, concerts, ski jumping, presidential visits and much more. Now nearly a century since it first opened, Providence Park is poised for another transformation. An already great stadium for sport will become an even greater cathedral for soccer, while helping meet the ever-increasing demand for tickets.

Club leaders have proposed a modern, yet historically influenced $50 million-plus, privately financed expansion project for the east side that would add approximately 4,000 new seats, a striking new street-level colonnade and an iconic, modernized expansion—all at no cost to the city or public. An expanded Providence Park will make the stadium viable for the future and help ensure that Timbers and Thorns FC remain in their unique downtown location long-term, well beyond the expiration of the current operating agreement in 2035.

The proposed design by internationally renowned and Portland-based architecture firm Allied Works would add a 93-foot high covered structure on the east side of the stadium, taking a vertical approach to a relatively small footprint while integrating well with the existing stadium. The proposed project includes four new levels on the expanded east side, with three of the four levels created for reserved and group seating sections to help meet demand, while including a unique, pedestrian-friendly public arcade along SW 18th Avenue.

While Providence Park is already a top destination for soccer, challenges for the future remain. The stadium has sold out for every single Timbers regular-season and playoff match at home since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011. The Timbers currently have an ever-growing waiting list of more than 13,000 fans for season tickets. MLS matchday ticket demand for the available supply is at a premium. In short, more people want to get in than can be accommodated.

“Providence Park is one of the most special stadiums in sports,” said Mike Golub, president of business for the Timbers and Thorns FC. “With our proposed expansion, we will enhance the incomparable fan experience and intimacy and provide the opportunity for some of the more than 13,000 members of the waiting list to become season ticket holders.”

Additionally, MLS is evolving rapidly as the league continues to grow in all areas and additional expansion teams come on line in the upcoming years. Stadia in Major League Soccer are growing in size and the rising economics of the league are making it increasingly challenging to compete, as Providence Park – with an existing capacity of 21,144 for soccer – currently ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of size.

Inspired in part by the famous Shakespearean Globe Theatre in London and the iconic La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires—both with their upright vertical seating areas and literal on-top-of-the-action perspective—the new Providence Park expansion would complete the full U-shape stadium design as was envisioned by the original then-Multnomah Stadium architects of A.E. Doyle and Morris Whitehouse in 1925. The end result would “finish” the stadium after almost 100 years, completing a transformation to a fully realized, urban soccer stadium.

“The expansion of Providence Park will continue to honor the rich history and traditions of the stadium and city of Portland and marry them with the best of modern stadia,” said Golub.

This private investment into the city-owned venue also goes a long way towards keeping the club’s unique urban environment viable well beyond its current operating agreement. The added capacity to the century-old, community gathering space will better position it to attract additional, larger-scale soccer and special events, and will benefit other stadium users, such as Portland State University football. The expansion and ensuing increased capacity and public use would substantially increase the city ticket tax revenue that benefits directly back to the City of Portland.

While the team continues to work with the city and neighborhood association on specifics of the proposed project and the initial design-review process commences, the potential construction timeline would include a two-offseason process, beginning either at the conclusion of the 2017 or 2018 season at Providence Park and concluding in time for either the beginning of the 2019 or 2020 MLS season.

“This proposed project is a win-win for everyone involved, and we’ve been very encouraged by the collaborative work that’s been put into this project to date,” said Golub. “We still have some work to do, but we are actively working with the city and neighborhood association, and everyone is excited by the prospect of an expanded Providence Park and ensuring the long-term viability of this unique stadium.”

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2017/04/26/should-vanderbilt-play-football-games-mls-stadium-fans-surveyed/100942812/

Should Vanderbilt play football games at MLS stadium? Fans surveyed

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/04/26/nashville-soccer-ceo-how-music-city-can-make-m.html

Nashville soccer CEO: How Music City can make MLS officials "take notice" this summer

(Follow link for full article.)

https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/kaka-tops-major-league-soccer-salaries-for-3rd-straight-year-sebastian-giovinco-next/

Kaka tops MLS salaries for 3rd straight year; Giovinco next

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/04/26/kurt-larson-mls-fans-and-all-los-angeles-should-root-galaxy-revival

Kurt Larson: MLS fans and all of Los Angeles should root for Galaxy revival

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/article147000484.html

MLS This Week: Fredy fits in, the Atomic Ant and Chicharito

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.portada-online.com/2017/04/26/chicharito-could-become-mls-best-payed-player/

Chicharito May Become MLS’s Best-Paid Player

(Follow link for full article.)

https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/ottawa-fury-fc-toronto-fc-ii-create-new-rivalry-in-the-usl

Ottawa Fury FC, Toronto FC II Create New Rivalry in the USL

New Impact Affiliate Faces Rival Toronto, USL President Comments on FC Montreal, Canadian League

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/796432/Bastian-Schweinsteiger-Manchester-United-Zlatan-Ibrahimovic-MLS-transfer-news-gossip

Bastian Schweinsteiger: This Manchester United star should join MLS

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC should move to Major League Soccer, according to his former Manchester United team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/mls-this-week-fredy-fits-in-the-atomic-ant-and-chicharito/2017/04/26/e2a9c4a0-2ad7-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html

MLS This Week: Fredy fits in, the Atomic Ant and Chicharito

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.socceramerica.com/article/73187/report-miami-beckham-united-adds-new-investor.html

Report: Miami Beckham United adds new investor

by Paul Kennedy, April 26th, 2017 11:19PM

More than three years after first announcing plans to exercise his option on an MLS expansion team in Miami, David Beckham's group is still without a finalized stadium plan but has added a new investor, Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner and media mogul Todd Boehly, reported ESPN FC.

Jeff Carlisle's report followed reporting by the Daily Mail's Charles Sale of Boehly's involvement in Miami Beckham United.

ESPN FC reported that the new deal was discussed at the MLS Board of Governors' meeting in Colorado Springs but it confirmed the Daily Mail's reporting that some MLS owners were unhappy with additional investors piggybacking on Beckham's deal for a cut-price expansion team ($25 million).

Boehly's media business -- Eldridge Industries -- recently concluded a funding agreement in DraftKings. Another investor in DraftKings is the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Revolution.

Eldridge Industries' other interests include Dick Clark Productions, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, Spin Media and Mediabistro.

Miami Beckham United has been seeking for more than three years to get a stadium project off the ground. Deals at three sites -- PortMiami, downtown Miami and Little Havana, next to Marlins Park -- collapsed.

Miami Beckham United then turned its attention in 2015 to Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, where it purchased two pieces of land covering six acres but needs to buy another three-acre plot of land from Miami-Dade County.

Only last month Miami-Dade commissioner Xavier Suarez said he was losing patience with Beckham's plan for the soccer stadium on the site, which houses a vehicle depot and could be used to build affordable housing.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/soccer/bastian-schweinsteigers-hefty-mls-salary-is-revealed

Bastian Schweinsteiger's hefty MLS salary is revealed

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.artesianews.com/1450059/mls-this-week-fredy-fits-in-the-atomic-ant-and-chicharito.html

MLS This Week: Fredy fits in, the Atomic Ant and Chicharito

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/kaka-tops-mls-salaries-list-20170426

Kaka tops MLS salaries list

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2017/04/26/timbers-unveil-plans-for-additional-4-000-seats/100962250/

Portland Timbers unveil plans for additional 4,000 seats in Providence Park

AP Published 11:27 p.m. ET April 26, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland Timbers have unveiled plans for a privately funded addition to Providence Park that would add 4,000 seats.

The estimated cost of the expansion project is $50 million, paid for by the Timbers. It would add four levels to the east side of Providence Park.

The Timbers are popular in Portland with 112 straight sellouts of their downtown stadium that seats 21,144 (that's every MLS regular season and playoff game since the team's inception in 2011). There are some 13,000 fans on the waiting list for season tickets.

"For the last several years we've been studying how we can expand Providence Park, and keep this amazing essence and environment that we've built, but also allow up to 4,000 more fans to attend our games on a regular basis. So today we announced plans to do just that," Timbers President of Business Mike Golub said Wednesday.

The MLS club will have its first meeting with the city's Design Commission on May 11. The commission must approve the plan before it can move forward.

The team's operating agreement will also have to be amended to reflect the expansion, which must be approved by the City Council.

If the expansion is approved, the Timbers expect complete it in two phases over the course of two offseasons, possibly starting late this year.

The process really started back in 2012, the Timbers' second season in Major League Soccer.

"We saw where our demand was, we also saw where the league economics and growth as going, and we know that for us to be viable and competitive not and well into the future that we had to make plans," Golub said. "We've been thinking about it for quite some time."

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.venuestoday.com/news/detail/la-galaxy-inks-sponsored-tailgating-deal

L.A. Galaxy Inks Sponsored Tailgating Deal

MLS team will partner with Jim Beam, Hornitos for tailgate parties

by Gil Kaufman

Published: April 26, 2017

Pregaming just got way more intense at L.A.Galaxy games, thanks to a partnership with Jim Beam/Hornitos that has brought in-stadium tailgate parties to StubHub Center, Carson, Calif., for the majority of the Galaxy’s home games in the 2017 season.

Fans interested in starting things off early are now able to enter the venue three hours before game time, where they’ll find live music from California pop band Will Maker and the Red Line, enjoy snacks from food trucks and drink specials during the “LA Galaxy x Jim Beam” and “LA Galaxy x Hornitos” tailgate events.

“The partnership [with Jim Beam] was originally executed mid-way through last year and the tailgate idea was originally part of a loose concept that we developed with Jim Beam/Hornitos that had mutually beneficial objectives,” said Robert Vartan, senior director of partnership sales for the Galaxy and StubHub Center, about the deal brokered by AEG Global Partnerships. “We have an area called the [Jim Beam] Champions Lounge near the locker rooms that are typically a hospitality area for higher priced tickets that are close to the players and that was our priority last year with onboarding Jim Beam.”

With the Champions Lounge activated in 2016, the next pillar of the partnership with Jim Beam was a deal that encompassed the Galaxy and StubHub Center.

The events kicked off Sunday, April 23, at the team’s home match vs. the Seattle Sounders FC. Incentive to arrive early — gates open one hour before general gates on game days — came in the form of $5 Hornitos margaritas and $5 Jim Beam cocktails up until halftime at StubHub Center’s Pitch & Pale, which is in the southeast corner of the stadium.

“For any sporting event or team, the stadium wants fans to come as early as possible and enjoy the property, beat traffic and this is a way for us to work with a partner and provide content and excitement to promote fans coming early, through a specific gate,” said Vartan. “When you walk in there will be Hornitos or Jim Beam depending on the game — sometimes we’ll mix brands — and they’ll provide a drink special and some content.” The best part is that Jim Beam/Hornitos has incorporated the Galaxy brand and look into their style for the lounge.

Vartan said that while the Galaxy aren’t “reinventing the wheel” with the concept — a spokesperson for Major League Soccer (MLS) said they were not aware offhand of any other teams that are doing similar promotions — this pre-party could not have happened without the right partner to provide a fun hospitality event with custom food and drink. “They’ve invested in making the lounge look and feel like a hybrid of them and us,” he said.

Fans do not need to purchase a ticket to enter the tailgate area, which the Galaxy is promoting through its social feeds as well as StubHub’s channels, media releases and on both entities’ websites.

“We’ll keep promoting periodically throughout the year if there’s a food or drink special they want to showcase, and once we see the on-boarding this year, maybe we can do some stuff with retail and their on-premise partnership,” said Vartan, pointing at potential opportunities to get the word out through Jim Beam’s prime accounts at area grocery and liquor stores.

Through three home games the lounge — open to patrons 21-plus through kickoff — has drawn an average of 100 fans. Vartan said the team will need a full season to figure out if it is a break-even proposition, a revenue generator or loss leader. “With the game schedule, game times and matchups, it’s hard to base [potential revenue] off of a few games,” he said. “Our focus is not about the number but about the added fan experience and we’d love to get to a place where you have to line up to get in.”

Though initial numbers are modest, there is plenty of space to expand in the 100 x 150 sq.-ft. outdoor area and Jim Beam — signed on through the end of 2018 — has not set any requirements about the amount of product they expect to move or sales benchmarks. Vartan was not at liberty to discuss the amount of sponsorship dollars being offered by Jim Beam, though he said it was “significant,” and definitely fair market in the category for a deal between a spirits maker and a sports team/venue, “if not slightly above.” As for why the promotion is happening now, Vartan said it comes down to the investment from Jim Beam. “The financial support and having the right brand to tie in food and beverage is the cleanest way to do it and make the content relevant,” he said.

And, not for nothing, though the concept is not totally new, Vartan was also not aware of any other MLS teams with similar promotions. “I’d like to think we’re blazing a trail,” he said.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/last-chance-to-ride-cross-bay-ferry/434485484

Last chance to ride Cross Bay Ferry

Jenny Dean, WTSP 4:02 AM. EDT April 27, 2017

Have you taken a ride on the Cross Bay Ferry yet? This weekend is your last chance.  It was a six month pilot project funded by Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties and the cities of Tampa and St. Pete.  It cost taxpayers about $1.5 million  and will probably only recoup about $150 thousand.

But St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman says transportation rarely makes money, and he tells me it's more successful than they ever imagined.  "I think people are going to miss it."

The Cross Bay Ferry makes its final voyage on Sunday. Mayor Kriseman began lobbying for it early last year and managed to make it a reality in a matter of months.  He says they expected it to be busy on the weekends, but really questioned whether commuters would use it.  "There's been several surprises to me. We've had better commuter numbers than I expected. We've had more Tampa Bay residents riding than tourists."

Mayor Kriseman says they now have the information they need to ask for transportation dollars from the state and federal governments.  And the data is so promising, the Hillsborough County Commission is committing money to try and start a commuter ferry service between Apollo Beach and Macdill during the week.  Those same ferries could be used on the weekends for recreational riders.

But what about those who say they'll never use it and it's a waste of taxpayer money?  Kriseman says "If we're going to really be a competitive community that brings people and business into our region, we've got to have better transportation choices. Because we can't compete with a lot of other regions that have good mass transit we don't have."

There are a lot of cities that use ferries like this as a means of regular transportation. 

The ferry being used here is on loan from Massachusetts and runs regular routes there between Boston and the south shore town of Hingham. 18-times a day,  almost every-hour. For $84 a month you can ride it any time you want.  Seattle and San Francisco have similar programs. 

So far, there is support for bringing back the service next year, but no definite decision has been made. 

Again, this weekend is your last chance to ride the ferry.  You can reserve a spot on their website here.

http://crossbayferry.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CrossBayFerryTB/

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/04/26/warner-suing-concacaf/

Warner suing CONCACAF

(Follow link for full article.)

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/timbers-unveil-plans-additional-4-000-seats-030559321--mls.html

Timbers unveil plans for additional 4,000 seats

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/david-beckham-mls-franchise-miami-10305112

David Beckham 'confident of securing funding from American billionaire' for Miami MLS franchise

Former England captain Becks is hopeful of gaining approval for the franchise in time for the 2019 MLS season

By Liam Corless

10:14, 27 APR 2017 Updated10:37, 27 APR 2017

David Beckham is reportedly confident of securing funding from American Todd Boehly for his proposed US soccer franchise in Miami.

Beckham believes the billionaire banker is keen to climb aboard and help the franchise in its bid to be approved in time for entry into the MLS in 2019.

Former England captain Becks is hoping to buy franchise rights for a bargain £19.5million - almost ten times less than the current going rate of around £150million.

The Daily Mail say Beckham's reduced rate is part of the terms he agreed to when joining LA Galaxy as a player in 2007.

Investment banker Boehly was part of a consortium which paid £1.55billion to gain ownership of the LA Dodgers baseball team in 2012, seeing off a bid from Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke.
 
(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/67pdpl/a_soccer_cathedral_grows_providence_park_to_add/

A soccer cathedral grows: Providence Park to add approximately 4,000 new seats in modern expansion (timbers.com)

The butt-hurt is strong in this one (reader comments in reaction to this, below, are priceless):

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2017/apr/24/letter-bring-baseball-back-to-portland/

Letter: Bring baseball back to Portland

By John Casper, VANCOUVER

Published: April 24, 2017, 6:00 AM

Well here it is — another spring in the Vancouver-Portland area and, in years past, the Portland Beavers would have been starting a new season. But not anymore. For seven long, boring summers baseball has not been in Portland. Instead, we are forced to suffer though a foreign so-called sport where most of the time nobody wins. It saddens me to think I will never be able to take my kids or grandkids to another Beaver baseball game. I also feel sorry for the kids who will never get to see a AAA baseball team in Portland.

My hope is that someday the Timbers will go to Europe, were they belong, and our Portland Beavers will return to Portland, where they belong. I live and hope for that day.