Miami River site near Beckham’s stadium hits the market for $11.8M

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https://therealdeal.com/miami/2017/05/23/miami-river-site-near-beckhams-stadium-site-hits-the-market-for-11-8m/

Miami River site near Beckham’s stadium hits the market for $11.8M

Blue Road planned to develop the 1.1-acre site, but listed it due to stadium buzz

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http://www.cladglobal.com/news.cfm?codeid=332143

David Beckham consortium reveals new-look design for mooted Miami MLS stadium

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http://www.indomitablecitysoccer.com/2017/5/23/15678842/usl-eastern-conference-best-xi-week-9

USL Eastern Conference Best XI - Week 9

Check out the Eastern Conference Best XI for Week 9 here!

Defender: Darnell King, Tampa Bay Rowdies: 1698 pts

Leading Tampa in tackles, King makes another appearance among our Eastern Conference Team of the Week. King’s stellar defensive play is another reason why the Rowdies lead the Eastern Conference in clean sheets.

Midfielder: Joe Cole, Tampa Bay Rowdies: 2817 pts

The Rowdies captain leveled the match against Toronto FC II, by scoring his third goal of the season in the 68th minute, eventually leading the way for a 3-1 win for the second place club in the East. Cole is also tied for the most shots on target for Tampa Bay this season.

Honorable Mentions

Forward: Darwin Jones, Tampa Bay Rowdies: 2817 pts

Thoughts

After both clubs lost last week, Ottawa and Louisville rebounded with big road wins and sent three players each to this week’s Best XI. Ottawa’s Tucker Hume and Michael Salazar are two of the top three players in the East this week. Two Rowdies players make repeat appearances on the Team of the Week as well.

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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/soccer/2017/05/23/joe-cole-tampa-bay-rowdies-chelsea-rochester-rhinos-preview/340655001/

Former English Premier League player Joe Cole and Tampa Bay play Rhinos

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http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/nfl-rewards-tampa-bays-track-record-preparation-with-another-super-bowl/2324937

NFL rewards Tampa Bay's track record, preparation with another Super Bowl

Credit the Glazers. Credit Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Most of all, credit our secret weapon — Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins. Higgins is the Tom Brady of sports executives. A winner. A clutch performer. The guy you want in charge when time is running out and the stakes are high.

Dozens of others played a major part. Heck, if you're reading this, go ahead and take a bow yourself. We all share in this.

So, yeah, maybe we caught a break Tuesday because Los Angeles isn't going to be ready in time to host Super Bowl LV in 2021. But don't say we don't deserve this game. We've already done four of these Big Games and we've done them well. There's plenty of reason to believe the next one will be the best ever.

So how did this happen? Aside from rotten weather in Southern California, how did Tampa get another Super Bowl?

There were three important parts to this, the first going all the way back to February of 2010.

That's when Jeffrey Vinik (another who should get a thumbs up today) agreed to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning. Aside from Vinik helping revitalize downtown Tampa, including the building of the hotel rooms necessary to host a Super Bowl, it was something else that Vinik did that had a huge impact on Tuesday's decision.

Shortly after buying the Lightning, Vinik hired Tod Leiweke to be the team's CEO, a position he held for five years.

Know what Leiweke is doing these days? He is the chief operating officer of the NFL .

You don't think Leiweke had some influence in this? You don't think Leiweke was whispering just the right things in the ears of NFL owners while winking at his old friends back in Tampa?

That brings to the second part, which is something that happened exactly one year ago today. On May 24, 2016, Tampa Bay's bid to host a Super Bowl lost out to Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles.

Tampa Bay easily could have pouted, stomped its feet and held its breath over not getting a game. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan told Tampa Bay Times reporter Steve Contorno that it was "easy to get frustrated.''

But Tampa Bay took the high ground, said the right things, acted maturely even though there was a sliver of fear that it would never get another Super Bowl with so many state-of-the-art stadiums popping up across the country.

The NFL noticed how Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer handled the disappointment with class, how Buckhorn handled the news with grace, how Higgins put on a smile.

That brings us to the third part of all this.

Instead of holding a pity party, Tampa Bay pulled up its britches and proved that it could handle a big event as well as anyone. After the start of $150 million in renovations that have spruced up Raymond James Stadium, the 2017 College Football National Championship in Tampa was a smashing success.

The week was good. The game was great. The stadium was even better.

The new video boards look phenomenal. The new sound system is magnificent. The concourses are gorgeous.

Just in case anyone forgot, the College Football National Championship proved that we know how to do big games.

We have the stadium. And the weather. And the beaches. And the amusement parks. And the restaurants. And the hotels.

And we have the right people in charge.

That's why we have had Frozen Fours and women's Final Fours and NCAA Tournaments in recent years.

That's why we're going to get next year's NHL All-Star Game and the 2019 women's Final Four and the 2020 early rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

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http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2017/05/23/usl-reports-record-crowds-social-media-numbers/

USL reports record crowds and social media numbers

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http://tbrfootball.com/should-mls-introduce-promotion-and-relegation-to-its-league-system/

Should MLS introduce promotion and relegation to its league system?

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http://www.rhinossoccer.com/news_article/show/795631

Rhinos Host Tampa Bay Rowdies in First Match Since 2010

3-time England World Cup participant Joe Cole headlines Tampa Bay's roster

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http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/795913

USL Match Preview – #ROCvTBR

Rochester, Tampa Bay meet for first time since 2010 in USL Game of the Week