3 Things the Rowdies Need to Fix, Fast

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http://www.coinflipsoccer.com/2017/07/3-things-rowdies-need-to-fix-fast.html

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

3 Things the Rowdies Need to Fix, Fast

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6lhbhz/3_things_the_rowdies_need_to_fix_fast/

3 Things the Rowdies Need to Fix, Fast (coinflipsoccer.com)

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http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/810803

Rowdies’ Schäfer Sizing Up Opportunities

Long-range strike provided memorable moment in first meeting with Cincinnati

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/tom-sorensen-blog/article159658359.html

Charlotte needs Major League Soccer, so city should help. But only one site makes sense.

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http://www.nashvillepost.com/sports/sports-business/article/20866472/does-nashville-have-room-for-mls

Does Nashville have room for MLS?

Ticket sales, income numbers, corporate sponsorship and more will dictate if the market exists for a pro soccer team

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https://mlsgb.com/2017/07/05/ashley-cole-future-mls-chelsea-return/

Ashley Cole talks up bright future for MLS as he eyes Chelsea return

Ashley Cole says MLS will be 'very big' as he talks up Chelsea return

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http://www.90min.com/posts/5230694-la-galaxy-pursuing-zlatan-ibrahimovic-as-they-attempt-to-convince-star-striker-to-move-to-mls

LA Galaxy Pursuing Zlatan Ibrahimovic as They Attempt to Convince Star Striker to Move to MLS

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/next-great-mls-coach-ignored-nasl-usl-analysis-giovanni-savarese-marc-dos-santos

And the next great MLS coach is… ignored: What we're missing in NASL, USL

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https://www.ibj.com/blogs/4-the-score/post/64450-indy-runaway-attendance-leader-in-north-american-soccer-league

Indy runaway attendance leader in North American Soccer League

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/david-beckham-inducted-psgs-online-hall-fame-having-played-12-games

David Beckham inducted into PSG's online hall of fame... having played 12 games

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http://www.buro247.sg/watches-and-jewellery/trends/tudor-black-bay-david-beckham.html

Redefine your watch with Tudor and David Beckham

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/miami-dade/fl-fea-real-madrid-soccer-team-opening-restaurant-in-downtown-miami-20170705-story.html

Real Madrid soccer team to open a restaurant in downtown Miami

Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid is kicking off its first U.S. restaurant in downtown Miami.

The Read Madrid Cafe, a 12,000-square-foot restaurant, will open at 340 SE Third St. in the new Met Square tower in early 2018, according to The Miami Herald.

The move is part of an expansion of the organization’s branded eateries, where fans can watch live soccer matches on large screens while drinking and dining. The first restaurant to open outside Spain was in Dubai in 2014.

The two-story Miami restaurant will feature a bar, a VIP lounge and a store selling Real Madrid memorabilia. The soccer team is known for its high-profile players including Cristiano Ronaldo.

David Beckham, who has been working on building a soccer team and stadium in Miami’s Overtown, was also a star player for Real Madrid.

Once completed, the Met Square complex will reportedly have 43 stories and feature a Silverspot Cinema, restaurants, retail outlets and luxury residential units, according to the website for the developer, MDM Development Group. Met Square was the former home of one of Miami’s first hotels, the Royal Palm Hotel, which railroad magnate Henry Flagler opened in 1897.

Met Square is the final leg of the $1 billion Metropolitan Miami project by the MDM Development Group, which already includes a residential tower, Whole Foods market, Wells Fargo Center, the JW Marriott Marquis Miami and Hotel Beaux Arts Miami in downtown Miami. The tower is expected to open in the second quarter of 2018.

“Real Madrid Cafe is consistent with the developers’ vision of bringing first to market elevated dining and experiential entertainment,” said Lyle Stern, president of Koniver Stern Group, in a release. Stern’s group represented MDM in the leasing deal with the restaurant.

Also in Miami, soccer power Real Madrid will be facing its rival FC Barcelona at Hard Rock Stadium on July 29. “El Clasico Miami,” part of the 2017 International Champions Cup, will mark the first meeting between the Spanish rivals in the United States. Other events, including a meet-and-greet, also are planned as part of the festivities.

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http://www.90min.com/posts/5228838-premier-league-legend-ashley-cole-hopes-to-return-to-chelsea-as-a-coach-when-playing-days-are-over

Premier League Legend Ashley Cole Hopes to Return to Chelsea as a Coach When Playing Days are Over

​Premier League legend Ashley Cole has revealed that he would like to return to Chelsea one day as part of their backroom staff.

Cole who is currently playing in the MLS with LA Galaxy spoke exclusively to ​FourFourTwo  about his plans for when he retires from playing, claiming:

"I’m enjoying it here at the moment, but I would like to go back to England and work for Chelsea in some capacity if I could, so that would be my first choice."

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http://www.fccincinnati.com/news_article/show/810706

Match Preview: 7/6 at Tampa Bay Rowdies

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-lions/on-the-pitch/os-sp-orlando-city-news-0706-story.html

Orlando City looking forward to staying put for a while

After spending the past two weeks on the road and playing seven of its last 12 matches away, Orlando City is ready to be home.

“It’s crazy. A lot of traveling lately, a lot of busy, busy months the past couple of months,” Orlando City coach Jason Kreis said. [ . . . ]

Da Silva will miss Saturday’s match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and others against the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Charleston Battery on July 13 and 29, respectively.

Former Orlando City defender Luke Boden, who now plays for Tampa Bay, also was in the report for picking up his fifth yellow card, resulting in a one-game suspension.

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/david-beckham-inducted-paris-saint-10746387

David Beckham inducted into Paris Saint-Germain Hall of Fame - despite playing just 14 times for them

Beckham ended his illustrious playing career with a Ligue 1 title at PSG - and it was enough to earn his place in the Hall of Fame

Countdown is on for Nashville SC's inaugural USL season

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http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2017/07/03/countdown-nashville-scs-inaugural-usl-season-2018/432709001/

Countdown is on for Nashville SC's inaugural USL season

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http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2017/07/03/sports-business-reporter-takes-in-his-first-soccer.html

Sports business reporter takes in his first soccer game

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http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/07/03/fc-cincinnati-chicago-fire-drew-hundreds-of.html

FC Cincinnati-Chicago Fire drew hundreds of thousands of viewers on ESPN

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http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/dining/st-pete-restaurant-staple-z-grille-is-closed-for-good/2329209

St. Pete restaurant staple Z Grille is closed for good

ST. PETERSBURG — Zack Gross has joked about closing before, as part of his ongoing April Fool's pranks. But Sunday afternoon, it was for real. Z Grille, one of downtown St. Petersburg's earliest and most long-standing ambitious independent restaurants, has closed.

He didn't want fanfare, he didn't want a throng of diners coming to pay their respects. Nonetheless, ex-employees found their way to the bottom floor of Signature Place on Saturday and Sunday, as did a who's who of Tampa Bay chefs and restaurant folks. David Benstock of Il Ritorno, Greg and Michelle Baker of the Refinery and Fodder & Shine, Brad Dixon of Bern's Steak House, Jason Ruhe of Brick and Mortar, Chris Fernandez of the Red Mesa group — they all came to clink glasses with Gross and his wife-partner Jennifer, and maybe grab a last plate of Dr. Pepper ribs or deviled eggs.

Z Grille's space at Second Street and First Avenue South has been for sale since September, without a buyer emerging for either the Z Grille concept or the space. Even in the face of financial uncertainty (the Grosses have a lease until 2029), they have decided to call it quits, putting their house on the market with the intention of relocating to Upland, Calif., near Los Angeles.

"We decided we couldn't make it work any longer under the current circumstances. We could have stayed open and struggled more. I'm burned out," Gross said. "My relationships are more important than that place."

So, what happened? While new big-ticket projects like Doc Ford's at St. Petersburg's Pier are being discussed and Mayor Rick Kriseman speaks of studies showing room for more growth in the dining sector, one of downtown's iconic restaurants couldn't make it. The reasons are complicated.

Some may be location: Gross, who was a James Beard semifinalist in 2009, points to two nearby closed restaurants, Station House and the Rowdies Den (which will reopen soon as Ford's Garage), as impediments to foot traffic. Then add in residual scaffolding at Signature Place from improperly installed stucco, and Gross suspects would-be diners didn't know his restaurant was open. It's not Beach Drive, it's not the booming Central Avenue corridor in the EDGE District or Grand Central. Maybe Z Grille was in no man's land.

Gross thinks what really doomed Z Grille was saturation.

"It's true. I'm doing way less money than I was doing before. You've got 20 different options now. There's another 300-seat restaurant going in at the new (Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement), and the Hyatt Place will have restaurants, too," Gross said.

Then, in his characteristic blunt style, he added: "There's a ton of mediocre things going in and a tremendous amount of money had by people with no real skills. It's like I'm the f---ing (Tampa Bay) Rays. I can't compete with these people."

Still, in the world of restaurants, Z Grille has had a long run. It opened in its original Central Avenue location in 2005. Gross relocated to Signature Place in 2008, and took a more upscale approach. It wasn't quite fine dining, but it wasn't a casual stop-in place, either. In 2015, Gross shifted the menu from shock-and-awe, put-an-egg-on-it indulgences to healthier food. The next year, he shifted again, this time to more affordable options.

It has outlived several dozen of the more than 100 restaurants crowding the area between Eighth Street N east to Tampa Bay, and between Second Avenue S and Fourth Avenue N.

Here's a sampling of the defunct: A slew of restaurants at what is now Sundial (Bambu, Grill 121, etc.), Buona Vita, Diner 437, The Garden, Green Chili Indian Bistro, Hammerheads, L'Olivier, Patanegra, Paddy Burkes, St. Pete Brasserie, Yummy Mama, Zapata's. And the future of other enormous projects like Hofbrauhaus St. Petersburg seem wobbly.

On Sunday afternoon, Z Grille joined the list. After selling out of food, the Grosses turned out the lights and put a sign on the door: "On vacation."

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http://sport360.com/article/football/239399/fox-deal-could-well-be-catastrophic-for-us-soccer-federation/

Fox TV deal could well be catastrophic for US Soccer Federation

Sport360's Steve Brenner believes the 2026 WC TV rights does US Soccer and their president Sunil Gulati no favours in maximising revenues.

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http://saintpetersblog.com/z-grilles-closing/

On Z Grille’s closing

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/07/03/twim-forty-nine-mls-players-shine-concacaf-gold-cup-rosters

TWIM: Forty-nine MLS players to shine on CONCACAF Gold Cup rosters

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http://www.cltampa.com/food-drink/food-features/article/20866325/food-network-guy-fieri-buya-saint-petersburg

BREAKING: Food celebrity possibly captured in Bigfoot-esque downtown St. Pete photo

Could this spiky-haired enigma be Guy Fieri on his way to Buya?

Not an hour ago, we at CL were texted a candid, far-away photo of what appears to be Food Network show host, restauranteur, Donkey Sauce creator, refrigerator racing stripe enthusiast and insanely polarizing pop-cultural figure Guy Fieri getting out of his trademark red Mustang Camaro on downtown St. Pete's Central Avenue.

Is it him?

It sure looks like him. AND, super-hip EDGE District ramen-and-Japanese-whisky destination Buya announced via its Facebook page that the restaurant would be closed for lunch today — and Sunday! — "due to a private event."

Related? Almost certainly. What's going on?

We'd hate to speculate, but could the visored upscale-greasy-spoon aficionado be in town to film a little more coverage of the Bay area's burgeoning food scene?

Maybe he just likes ramen.

And hell, maybe it's not even him.

(It's totally him. Didn't you see the license plate?)

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https://www.reddit.com/r/StPetersburgFL/comments/6kacm8/guy_fieri_spotted_in_downtown_st_pete_filming_at/

Guy Fieri spotted in downtown St Pete, filming at Buya Ramen (cltampa.com)

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http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2017/06/27/tampa-ranks-higher-than-la-new-york-and-san.html

Tampa ranks higher than LA, New York and San Francisco for art buying, report shows

Jun 27, 2017, 6:55am EDT

Tampa is the fourth biggest art buying city in the United States, according to a new report from marketplace Artfinder.

Artfinder examined art buying habits across the country and found that 789 artworks were bought per million Tampa area inhabitants in 2016, more than buyers in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco, according to a release.

Tallahassee is ranked the top city, with 1,303 artworks bought.

“We are now seeing a new generation and a new kind of art buyer emerging, our audience are typically younger than those who buy from galleries, and they don’t necessarily classify themselves as ‘collectors’ – they’re not buying for investment, they’re buying because they want something handmade by a real person on their wall, something no-one else has got,” said Jonas Almgren, Artfinder’s CEO, in the release.

Locally, St. Petersburg's reputation as an arts destination is growing, as the number of museums increases. Tom James, chairman emeritus of Raymond James Financial Inc., and his wife, Mary, plan to open a museum later this year in downtown St. Pete. The couple have personally invested more than $50 million in the Tom & Mary James Museum of Western + Wildlife Art.

Artfinder discovered regional differences in the art that customers are buying — people in big cities prefer abstract, non-figurative works; those outside of cities prefer animals, flowers and plants and landscapes, sea and sky. Artfinder sells original art from 10,000 artists in 113 countries, according to the release.

See below for a breakdown of the results.

Top 10 U.S. cities (on customers per 1 million inhabitants):

    Tallahassee (1,303)
    New Haven, Connecticut (953)
    Anaheim, California (842)
    Tampa (789)
    Raleigh, North Carolina (770)
    San Francisco (726)
    Miami (620)
    Austin, Texas (592)
    Santa Monica, California (578)
    Boston (572)

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http://stpeterising.com/home/2017/6/25/lolitas-wine-market-now-pouring-in-downtown-st-pete

Lolita’s Wine Market Now Pouring in Downtown St. Pete

June 27, 2017

Last year, when husband and wife Alex and Kelly Rodriguez adopted Lola, a Golden Retriever/Louisiana Catahoula Hound mix from Golden Retriever Rescue of Mid-Florida (GRRMF), they had no idea it would drive them and friend CF Hawkins to open a wine bar.  You see, Lola is sassy and has a penchant for trouble.  “When Lola is bad, we call her ‘Lolita’ and when she is bad, she causes us to drink. So, in order to afford to drink good wine, we had to open a wine market.  So here’s to Lola!” says Kelly with a grin.

Lolita’s Wine Market quietly launched last week at 16 18th Street South in the Grand Central District of St. Pete.  The space is a cozy 974 square feet — just enough room for around 25-30 people.  And the vibe is comfortable and laid-back.  “We want people to feel like they are coming to somebody’s house, not necessarily to a restaurant that they have to get dressed up for.  We like to describe it as a wine shop meets coffee shop concept,” says Kelly. 

Lolita’s specializes in wines from all over the globe, not just American or regional wines.  The focus will be on boutique wines and interesting blends and varietals.  Kelly, who is developing the wine program, said she wants to take a good-better-best approach by offering a little bit of everything — everyday drinking wines, mid-tier wines and some pinnacle wines.

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http://www.tbo.com/blogs/media/guy-fieri-in-tampa-buying-fireworks-eating-ramen-in-st-pete-food-network/2329218

Guy Fieri in Tampa buying fireworks? Eating ramen in St. Pete? Food Network star spotted across Tampa Bay

Perhaps you've heard that celebrity chef, Food Network host and hair icon Guy Fieri was all up in St. Petersburg last week.

He was filming Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but apparently his Tampa Bay encounters went beyond the one he had with a steaming bowl of Buya's ramen.

Phantom Fireworks on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa posted some photos on their Facebook page after Fieri stopped in to buy fireworks there — around $2,000 worth of them, a store manager later estimated.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/tampa/comments/6l1xkn/guy_fieri_walks_into_a_store_in_tampa_and_buys_2k/

Guy Fieri walks into a store in Tampa and buys $2K worth of fireworks (tbo.com)

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https://orangeandbluepress.com/2017/07/04/cheat-sheet-fc-cincinnati-tampa-bay-rowdies/

Cheat Sheet: FC Cincinnati at Tampa Bay Rowdies

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http://www.espnfc.us/match?gameId=477750

2017 United Soccer League, USL - REGULAR SEASON

Tampa Bay Rowdies

ESPNU 7/6 

8:00 PM ET

FC Cincinnati

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https://archpaper.com/2017/07/america-new-sports-stadiums/

America’s biggest and best upcoming sports stadiums

There’s nothing more American than sports, so just in time for America’s birthday, here’s a look at some of the biggest stadium projects in the works—from the world’s most expensive stadium to a celebrity-backed soccer field.

Banc of California Stadium (Los Angeles Football Club)

The 22,000-seat and $250 million stadium for the LAFC is now under construction. Designed by Gensler in a “European-style” arrangement with steeply-raked and sweeping seating areas, the open-air stadium is meant to bring viewers in a closer relationship to the field and players.

David Beckham’s Major League Soccer stadium

Soccer star David Beckham is making moves with a Populous-designed, 25-000 seat stadium. What’s catching attention, however, is not the celebrity attachment: it’s that there won’t be parking. Instead, fans are expected to use Metromover, Metrorail, water taxis, ridesharing, and plain-old walking to get to the stadium.

The Portland Timbers’ stadium expansion

Allied Works Architecture (AWA) has unveiled designs for a $50 million expansion to the 91-year-old soccer stadium in Portland, Oregon’s Providence Park, home to the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns soccer teams. The stadium expansion, according to information on the AWA website, is conceptually inspired by William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and will aim to add roughly 4,000 seats to the existing stadium complex.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3947414/david-beckham-paris-saint-germain-hall-of-fame/

WHAT THE BECK? David Beckham included into Paris Saint-Germain ‘Hall of Fame’… despite playing just 14 games

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https://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/07/04/nasl-miami-fc-mls/

NASL: How would Miami FC do in MLS?

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http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/07/05/how-nashvilles-mls-expansion-bid-could-get-big-boost-gold-cup-match/442468001/

How Nashville's MLS expansion bid could get a big boost with the Gold Cup match

Fort Lauderdale Strikers: Looking forward and reflecting on why viable ownership bids were rejected by NASL?

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https://thefloridasqueeze.com/2017/06/28/fort-lauderdale-strikers-looking-forward-and-reflecting-on-why-viable-ownership-bids-were-rejected-by-nasl/

Fort Lauderdale Strikers: Looking forward and reflecting on why viable ownership bids were rejected by NASL?

June 28, 2017

by Kartik Krishnaiyer

in Fort Lauderdale Strikers FC

Last week’s transfer via public auction of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers copyright and brand to St Petersburg magnate Bill Edwards hasn’t sat well with some Strikers fans. But the club which has been controlled previously by owners from Brazil now is for the first time in its post mid 1990’s history in the hands of an American businessman based in Florida. A more localized custodian of the brand who will understand the proper value of the club’s trademarks in addition to the real estate, political and soccer landscape in Florida better than foreign owners is a plus for the Strikers. Some fans would like to see the Strikers name retired for time being and not further run through the mud so to speak. This is a very valid and emotional response to the disastrous downfall of the club, but it can be argued with that in mind the brand is better off in Edwards’ hands (for now) than in that of someone else.

As Jake Nutting of Empire of Soccer  (EoS) reported two months ago, several bid have been rejected by NASL for the Strikers. One bid from PSG Miami (dba FC Miami City) who operate a PDL team was rejected in early January for according to to Nutting’s reporting and additional sources for not having an adequate budget proposal for NASL. It’s worth noting at this point NASL has seen several teams collapse the last few seasons due to higher than anticipated operating costs and arguably poor vetting of potential owners. It has been speculated that NASL when admitting new clubs or approving new owners were not as forthright about the high cost of operating in a sprawling continental league with minimal sponsorship opportunities in the 2013 to 2015 period, leading to multiple ownership or club failures. However, now NASL’s cost structure is more of an open book and prospective owners understand the costs involved in operating within the league.

At the time the PSG Miami deal was rejected, NASL’s other owners were having to bail out a failing team in Jacksonville and had just found an unlikely owner who saved the New York Cosmos who seemed destined to fold. The eleventh hour sale of sale of Cosmos allowed NASL to keep a minimum number of clubs to be sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) without the Strikers. Another NASL club, RayoOKC ran into financial difficulty and suspended operations after the 2016 season while two of the few successful NASL teams from a business standpoint, Ottawa and Edwards’ Tampa Bay Rowdies bailed on the league and its higher cost structure, joining the rival USL, based in Tampa which has a lower cost structure and a more vibrant and active league office to assist owners in the operation of teams. Edwards move of the Rowdies from NASL to USL is potentially critical in the Strikers story.

It’s refreshing in some respect to hear that NASL is vetting owners more tightly than they have in the past – but in the past the league often sold a line (including to me) that it was not expanding as quickly as USL because they had more stringent standards for admission and ownership than the rival league.  But that didn’t prevent multiple failures after the last two seasons. Now in 2017, we’re hearing NASL has made its standards even more stringent and that is why none of the proposed Fort Lauderdale sales have been approved.

Of course NASL had approved the initial sale of the Strikers from Traffic Sports to the group headed by Paulo Cesso in September 2014 because on paper the group was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and its spokesperson Ricardo Geromel talked a good game about the Strikers being a “global brand” and once even took a shot at David Beckham calling him an “underwear model,” and seeming unconcerned about potential local competition from MLS.

The new NASL vetting producers likely wouldn’t stop a Cesso-like group from buying a team but has stopped others, who are locally based. As a result the Strikers still have employees and vendors owed tens of thousands of dollars. NASL probably feels this is not their problem (requests from comment from the league have gone unanswered). However, it is soccer’s problem because if someone wants to start a professional team again in Fort Lauderdale or the adjoining area, vendors who have been burnt and others you need to be successful in what is a largely specialty professional may be less willing to engage without up-front payment or some other arrangement. But from NASL’s standpoint that might not be a consideration at all. As we enter July 2017, several vendors and employees are still owed money by the Strikers previous owners from over a year. It’s also true that NASL’s owners are technically owed money by the club’s former owners as well, including league dues which we understand were never fully paid last season.

Here’s potentially why – Miami FC, a local rival to the Strikers, whom Geromel  reluctantly conceded to allow joining NASL in May 2015, due to assurances from the league to protect the Strikers market (assurances that were not completely met by either the league or Miami FC per Strikers sources) is now the golden child of the league with the fading of the New York Cosmos star. A league that has now for several years craved international recognition and appeal is in a sexy city (well at least the club’s offices are) and have a billionaire owner in Riccardo Silva, an Italian broadcast giant. NASL got to Miami before MLS did with David Beckham’s tortoise-paced effort leaving the door open. Irrespective of how people spin things, Miami and Fort Lauderdale ARE the same market. The interest in American professional soccer isn’t developed enough for the markets to be split and compete with one another. In 2014, the last year I have available data for, close to a quarter of the Strikers season ticket holders came from Miami-Dade County. Lob a quarter of the ticket holders off an already tenuous situation and you have greater issues. Toss in mismanagement and an absentee owner and you have a club failure.

Mario Noriega, a Broward County-based investor had his bid to buy the Strikers and operate it in NASL rejected by the league’s expansion committee of which Miami FC holds according to a source “a disproportionate amount of weight.” Another source it must be stated refuted that in saying that the most influential owner on that committee is San Francisco’s ownership which ironically includes Geromel who was bought out of Fort Lauderdale in the fall of 2015 and now is on the west coast. But even if this second source is correct, Miami might still hold more weight when it comes to south Florida specifically. Noriega had previously attempted to team up with Cesso to provide additional Strikers investment – this too was rejected by the league.
Noriega met all of the league’s “on-boarding” requirements we are told and according to sources had submitted a realistic D2 level budget to the league for consideration. But Noriega’s bid was ultimately rejected by the league. Had Noreiga been able to assume control of the Strikers, he likely would have made good on his promise to pay back vendors and other creditors owed money by the club.
In light of the amount of money Miami FC has spent on all facets of the club’s business in the last two years, it’s perfectly reasonable they would use influence within NASL to lock off the southeast Florida market for themselves, especially given the Strikers past failings. If in fact Miami FC has used its influence to block Strikers sales, it not only has hurt local vendors and former club employees but it has opened the door for Bill Edwards now in control of the Strikers brand to explore the market and place a team in another league. The unintended consequences could be enormous or could end up being minimal – it is simply too early to tell.

Fort Lauderdale has the distinction of being the only city in North America to lose both an MLS and NASL team. While the soccer infrastructure in southeast Florida is more developed than in other parts of the country the market has failed repeatedly. But it’s worth recalling that the Tampa Bay Rowdies were on the brink of collapse, potentially giving that area yet another failed pro soccer club when Edwards stepped in to the fray early in 2014. Today, Tampa Bay is on the shortlist for MLS expansion after heavy investment from Edwards. It is true that the Downtown area of St Petersburg includes several properties owned or of interest to Edwards. But what if an investor like Edwards saw potential in southern Florida, using the Strikers or perhaps the to-be-auctioned Lockhart Stadium property as a potential anchor?

Sources also indicate Noriega might be interested in pursuing another professional club, which perhaps he can do in cooperation with Edwards at the USL level or the new USL D3 league that will begin play in 2019.

USL isn’t high on the Fort Lauderdale market I’ve been told, though it is often forgotten they tried to place a team in the area in 2011 and even applied to the USSF for D3 status with a Fort Lauderdale club listed. It was also speculated that USL might relocate its Antigua club to Fort Lauderdale when the decision was made to exit the Caribbean completely a few years later but that did not happen.

The Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach area is fragmented market with 8 NPSL & PDL teams (Division 4) in addition to Miami FC and the likely coming MLS team associated with David Beckham. The market has no absence of professional and semipro soccer to consume, though it is

This story continues to develop and no doubt we’ll be covering it closely here.

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http://www.ksat.com/sports/safcs-devin-vega-fulfills-dream-by-returning-home-believes-club-mls-ready

SAFC's Devin Vega fulfills journey by returning home, believes club MLS ready

SA native in first season with San Antonio FC

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sports-with-the-oldest-and-youngest-tv-audiences-2017-06-30

The sports with the oldest — and youngest — TV audiences

Published: June 30, 2017 1:34 p.m. ET

Of 24 sports looked at, all but women’s tennis has seen the average age of viewers increase

For those who still believe baseball is as American as mom and apple pie, just realize that the red, white and blue sport has some significant gray streaks.

Major League Baseball’s television audience is among the oldest in professional sports, according to data recently released by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Magna Global. The average age of a baseball viewer is 57, up from 52 in 2006. There won’t be a youth movement, either, as just 7% of baseball’s audience is below age 18.

In one way, baseball’s in great company. Of the 24 professional sports that the SBJ and Magna looked at, all but women’s tennis has seen the average age of viewers increase. On the other hand, the only sports with an average age higher than baseball’s are Nascar (58), men’s tennis (61), horse racing (63), figure skating (63) and any form of golf (63 to 64). They’re also the only sports drawing fewer young people, with the under-18 crowd ranging from 6% for women’s tennis and figure skating to a dismal 3% for golf.

Don’t laugh, football fans, because it isn’t as if your sport is looking much better. While the average NFL viewer is 50, only 9% of the NFL’s audience is kids under 18. Blame devices and attention spans all you’d like, but NFL viewership dropped by 8% on average last year, with Sunday and Monday night games down 10% to 12%.

Table: Where are the kids?

The average age of viewers of all but one of these sports has gone up in the past decade.

Granted, football still draws 16.5 million viewers on average and remains a ratings juggernaut, but a mix of aging audiences and reduced viewership can have considerable implications for sports broadcasting. Consider this: ESPN currently pays $700 million a year for the rights to Major League Baseball and $1.9 million annually for the rights to various National Football League properties. However, it pays just $45 million a year for the rights to Major League Soccer and US Soccer and, before renewing its deal in 2014, paid roughly $500 million for rights to the National Basketball Association.

However, ESPN DIS, +0.51%  has watched viewership drop from 100 million in 2011 to roughly 87 million this year. It’s gone through multiple rounds of layoffs — including 100 high-profile staffers earlier this year — while charging cable and satellite subscribers more than $9 a month just for ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. It has bet big on live sports, but is starting to put its money toward sports with growth potential. The network pays just $42 million a year for the rights to college sports championships in everything but football and basketball and has already seen ratings for both the College World Series and Women’s College Softball World Series balloon this year. The SPJ didn’t include either among its age rankings, but ESPN has tracked digital streaming of those events to gauge younger viewership.

Since 2014, when ESPN and Turner Sports entered a nine-year deal that pays the National Basketball Association $24 billion for the right to air its games, the NBA Finals have averaged between 19.9 million and 20.3 million viewers each year. Those are numbers the league hadn’t seen since the last time Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to the NBA Championship in 1998. They’re also bolstered by an NBA viewership with an average age of 42 and kids accounting for more than one in 10 viewers (11%).

The biggest growth potential, however, comes from soccer. Major League Soccer’s average audience of 308,000 last year is small by just about any standard, but up nearly 20% from a decade earlier. Fox Sports 1’s MLS average of 188,000 is similarly tiny, but more than double what the former Fox Soccer drew during its last year of MLS broadcasts in 2011. Most tellingly, the 696,000 that the MLS drew to five Fox network-television broadcasts last year was the league’s highest viewership ever — on any channel.

MLS viewers are an average of just 40 years old, and 15% are younger than 18. The only other leagues with that kind of following among kids are also soccer related: The English Premier League (43 on average, 10% under 18), international soccer like Fox and ESPN’s UEFA Champions League coverage (39 on average, 13% under 18) and Mexico’s Liga MX (39 on average, 17% under 18).

Fox pays just $30 million a year for its rights to MLS and $53 million for FIFA World Cup coverage, while NBC pays $160 million annually for the English Premier League. All of those rights deals come up for renewal in five years, right around the same time as NBC and Fox Sports’ combined $740 million deal for Nascar. With Nascar’s audience aging rapidly and its ratings slipping, its nine-figure deal starts to look bloated compared with what Fox, NBC and even ESPN are paying for rising soccer viewership and a younger core audience.

Nascar, Major League Baseball and even the NFL have long been able to slide on big U.S. viewership and even bigger television contracts. However, as a new generation cares less about designated hitters and pit stops than it does about the Cleveland Cavaliers/Golden State Warriors rivalry and Real Madrid’s Champions League run, all-American sports programming is being dragged into a more cosmopolitan era.

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https://ussoccerplayers.com/2017/06/us-open-cup-mls-expansion-soccer.html

The US Open Cup and MLS expansion

By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 30, 2017) US Soccer Players - The scene in Cincinnati on Wednesday night would have been mind blowing if it wasn’t so similar to the scene just two weeks ago in the same stadium. More than 32,000 fans filled Nippert Stadium to see FC Cincinnati, a second-year club playing in the USL, beat a second consecutive MLS side in this year’s edition of the US Open Cup.

This time it took penalties for the Ohioans to win, with goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt stopping three Fire spot kicks to lead his team to victory. He's already a hero in Cincinnati soccer circles no matter what happens in the next round of the tournament.

FC Cincinnati’s next opponent will be the only other second division team left, the NASL’s Miami FC. Alessandro Nesta’s team got a late winner from Kwadwo Poku to oust Atlanta in that club’s first US Open Cup campaign. By virtue of a coin flip held at US Soccer headquarters prior to the round of 16, Miami will host the game between NASL and USL teams in two weeks’ time.

For Cincinnati, their incredible showing at the gate helped entice ESPN into broadcasting the game on their flagship channel. A combination of a hole in the network’s schedule, familiarity with FC Cincinnati’s venue due to college football, and the big crowd prompted a rapid move to cover the game.

There was another factor at play, of course, and it came up on the broadcast: MLS expansion. FC Cincinnati is a remarkable story aside from their bid for one of the four MLS expansion slots. They're among the dozen cities vying for the league’s attention. That gives ESPN what it loves most, a compelling story line. It wasn’t just a big crowd out to support a team from a second division against a team from the topflight. It was a big crowd people will use to argue that Cincinnati deserves a Major League Soccer team.

Miami FC isn’t tied to an MLS expansion bid. The city they play in does have an expansion story unfolding within it. Stories reporting on David Beckham’s effort to bring the league back to South Florida don’t often mention Miami FC. The NASL club has an ambitious owner, a famous coach and a rising profile in the area. Expansion is part of Miami FC’s story because the club is trying to carve out a successful existence in Miami despite the specter of the top division coming to town in the very near future. They represent an element antagonistic to the MLS model.

It’s hard to deny that the US Open Cup is benefiting from all of this expansion and expansion-adjacent attention. The tournament's reputation takes regular hits due to sparse crowds and lack of interest among the competitors. MLS teams have become notorious for undervaluing the Open Cup until the final few rounds. That usually warns fans off from games. The message that the Open Cup doesn’t really matter pervades, infecting even teams that do care.

Miami FC drew just over 9,000 for their match against Atlanta. While it’s a respectable number, it pales in comparison to FC Cincinnati's attendance. The Open Cup now has Cincinnati as the road team, disrupting the best story in this year's tournament. Still, it's the second division that remains the focal point.

So what happens when MLS stops expanding? With the topflight locked in place even more than it already is, will second division clubs still be able to outdraw the big teams? That won’t make the Open Cup less important. It will close the window on a double-whammy of interest from local soccer fans. There's no point in making noise about expansion and MLS-ready cities if no places are available.

Maybe that's good for the Open Cup. We all know that the tournament can be better. Nights like Wednesday prove that the tournament has a more vibrant life than the one it is currently living. Proponents of spending money on bigger prizes and more publicity will point to what happened in Cincinnati.

It would be unfair, and unprovable, to say that Cincinnati’s fans only come out because of an MLS carrot. Or, that Miami FC is only a story because David Beckham wants to put an MLS club in their backyard. Both of those things are probably partly true. Still, the lion’s share of credit goes to Cincinnati’s newfound enthusiasm for the game and Miami FC’s commitment to fielding a strong team on a second division budget.

The mistake is taking this for granted as the next step towards a better tournament. Not by US Soccer, the Open Cup organizers. Not by the clubs benefiting from the stage and competition. Not by the fans who want the Open Cup to truly matter not just during the MLS expansion era, but far into the future.

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https://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/06/30/most-watched-soccer-games-on-us-tv-for-june-21-28-2017/

Most-watched soccer games on US TV for June 21-28, 2017

Major League Soccer made its return to the FOX broadcast network this week for the Hudson River Derby immediately following Mexico’s final Confederations Cup group stage match against hosts Russia. Although FOX shed 40% of its viewer count after the conclusion of Mexico’s match, it was still good enough to rank as the second most-viewed match on the English networks and the fourth most viewed overall in 2017. Major League Soccer will feature on FOX for the final time this season on July 30 as Atlanta United host Orlando City SC.

A pleasant surprise this week was the 300,000 viewers that tuned into the US Open Cup Round of 16 game between Cincinnati and Chicago Fire, which had more viewers than the Portland-Seattle derby on Sunday night.

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http://247sports.com/Bolt/Second-division-soccer-team-outdrawing-Bearcats-at-Nippert-53393123

Second-division soccer team outdrawing Bearcats at Nippert

The low interest in 2016 Cincinnati football and the high interest in FC Cincinnati's 2017 U.S. Open Cup run combined to create an interesting statistic.

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http://www.wcpo.com/sports/fc-cincinnati/why-not-nippert-fc-cincinnati-gm-calls-uc-football-stadium-an-implausible-option-for-mls

Why not Nippert? FC Cincinnati GM calls UC football stadium an 'implausible' option for MLS

CINCINNATI -- Why not Nippert Stadium? That's what lots of newly minted soccer fans are asking this week, after FC Cincinnati's heart-thumping performance on ESPN Wednesday night.

Could the University of Cincinnati modify Nippert -- or the contract terms dictating its use -- to make its on-campus venue a permanent home for Major League Soccer?

"We really haven't had those discussions," UC Athletic Director Mike Bohn said. "Not at this point, but that doesn't mean there won't be (talks in the future)."

Bohn would support such talks "as long as we continue to provide a great experience and a great venue for soccer fans, football fans and the community. I mean. that was the partnership that started from day one, but again their aspirations in the MLS are paramount and we're 110 percent in support of that vision for them."

FC Cincinnati is still in stadium-development mode.

"Nothing has changed. We're full in pursuit of a new stadium, which is directly tied into earning an opportunity to being promoted into the first division in our country (MLS)," FC Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding said.

He reiterated that the MLS requires franchises to play in a "soccer-specific stadium."

"It doesn't have to be soccer only but has to be designed to soccer specifications," Berding said.

He has heard the groundswell of interest in making Nippert work for FC Cincinnati, but the complications involved in making it the franchise's permanent home are bigger than meet the eye.

"It's not that we're obtuse. We understand that there are plenty of our fans and supporters who are out there who want this to work," Berding said. "But to the best of our judgment, the ability to turn Nippert into a soccer-specific stadium is implausible due to some insurmountable challenges."

As an upgraded but historical stadium, Nippert has some disadvantages, with no kitchens inside the stadium and all concessions delivered from a remote location.

Entrances are relatively narrow, especially for soccer, where fans tend to march in together en masse.

Concession stands and restrooms are used differently, too, with soccer fans tending to rush to them together after the uninterrupted 45-minute first half.

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https://mlsgb.com/2017/07/01/could-mls-find-success-by-following-the-nfl-in-sending-teams-to-wembley/

Could MLS find success by following the NFL in sending teams to Wembley?

Is the next step for MLS expansion to go global by bringing regular fixtures to Wembley?

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article159265979.html

Miami FC finally earned local fans’ respect

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http://sport360.com/article/football/239306/stateside-fox-2026-world-cup-deal-could-well-be-catastrophic-for-the-united-states-soccer-federation/

STATESIDE: Fox 2026 World Cup deal could well be catastrophic for the United States Soccer Federation

The USSF were absolved in Michael Garcia's FIFA report but with Fox acquiring the 2026 World Cup TV rights for a tournament likely to be played in the US, it could be a bad piece of business for Sunil Gulati and Co.

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http://wantedonline.co.za/watches-and-jewellery/2017-06-29-tudor-announces-david-beckham-as-the-watch-brands-new-ambassador/

Tudor announces David Beckham as the watch brand’s new ambassador

Tudor, a sibling brand to Rolex, recently launched the #borntodare campaign with one of the world’s most successful footballers as the face of the campaign

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http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/cincinnati-is-a-soccer-city/article_576f2c87-13e3-5a28-88e2-fc0e34ad5ade.html

Cincinnati is a soccer city

FC Cincinnati making strong case for MLS

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https://www.soccernation.com/episode-33-nasl-arrives-in-san-diego-what-does-this-mean-plus-usmnt-gold-cup-roster-bonus-material/

Episode 33 – The NASL Arrives in San Diego – What Does This Mean? + USMNT Gold Cup Roster + Bonus Material

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2017/06/29/fc-cincinnati-continues-mls-expansion-push-with-another-record-setting-performance/#10ca44531d5d

FC Cincinnati Continues MLS Expansion Push With Another Record-Setting Performance

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http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/06/30/17/35/20170630-feat-usoc-great-eight-round-of-16

The Great Eight Rd. of 16: Ohio Pandemonium & Miami Magic

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http://www.fwbusiness.com/business/latest/businessweekly/article_f27ca654-5c14-11e7-93e2-23607290851a.html

USL kicks around idea of Fort Wayne soccer team

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http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/06/28/mls-commissioner-don-garber-visit-nashville-study-expansion-bid/435025001/

MLS Commissioner Don Garber to visit Nashville to study expansion bid

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http://www.sportspromedia.com/insight/americas-bulletin-bach-meets-trump-fox-gets-digital-mlss-growing-pains-and

Americas Bulletin: Bach meets Trump; Fox gets digital; MLS’s growing pains and more

SportsPro’s Americas Bulletin, dishing up a regular diet of news, views and insight from across the business of sport in the Western Hemisphere.

Meanwhile questions have been raised over Major League Soccer’s (MLS) stated timeline for expansion to 28 teams, with the league having said in January that it hopes to announce its 25th and 26th franchises by the end of the year. In cities across the US, almost all of the 12 would-be ownership groups hoping to land a coveted slot in MLS have come up against a litany of issues, including political opposition, financial red tape, and continued public apathy towards the use of taxpayer money for stadium projects.

Of the 12 groups in the running, only Sacramento - whose United Soccer League (USL) outfit, Republic FC, are poised to begin construction work on a new stadium - has fulfilled all of the criteria for MLS expansion. Two of the other early favourites - in St Louis and San Diego - have run into public opposition, perhaps as a hangover of recent departures by NFL teams. No group has yet dropped out of the race, but as Sports Illustrated’s Brian Straus noted on Friday, it could be that ‘what was once a sprint contested by 12 fit and fast runners has become a race of attrition that will be won by those left standing’.

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https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017/6/29/15891714/fc-cincinnati-chicago-fire-2017-us-open-cup

FC Cincinnati shows there is no limit to what American soccer can become

On Wednesday night, over 32,000 people showed up to watch a minor-league team play in a scarcely covered secondary competition. It was incredible.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/fc-cincinatti-upsets-chicago-fire-us-open-cup-penalty-shootout-2017-6

A lower division club pulled off a huge upset over the Chicago Fire in the US Open Cup behind the heroic effort of their keeper in a shootout

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article158755694.html

Miami FC stuns Atlanta United in final minute of extra time to advance in U.S. Open Cup

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http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2017/06/29/tampa-s-united-soccer-league-ceo-realizing-major.html

Tampa’s United Soccer League CEO realizing major expansion goals (Video)

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/trigaux-ten-tampa-bay-movers-and-shakers-to-watch-in-second-half-of-2017/2328975

Trigaux: Ten Tampa Bay movers and shakers to watch in second half of 2017

If Rick Baker becomes mayor?

9. Bill Edwards, owner of the Edwards Group. Edwards owns the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer franchise and the SunDial St. Pete shops. He's the successful operator of St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theater. He's an area philanthropist. Edwards is probably the most influential private citizen in St. Petersburg, using his wealth and legal muscle to make things happen — usually in ways that he wants. His Achilles heel, if he has one? A lingering federal lawsuit lodged by two whistle-blowers accusing Edwards of looting millions from his defunct mortgage company. Now comes former St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker challenging incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman in this fall's election. Since 2012, Baker happens to have run Edwards' company, making six figures pushing to expand Edwards' business empire. If Baker beats Kriseman, it's doubtful Edwards will need to call ahead to see Mr. Mayor. Then again, Edwards has pretty much had the run of St. Pete for awhile.

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http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2017/06/29/qcfc/charlotte-mls-bid-in-homestretch/

Charlotte MLS bid in homestretch

Website latest attempt to rally support

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http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2017/06/29/qcfc/charlotte-mls-franchise-bid-launches-website-outreach/

Charlotte MLS franchise bid launches website outreach

Goal is to galvanize support for expansion

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http://www.wcpo.com/sports/fc-cincinnati/espn-broadcasters-adrian-healey-and-julie-stewart-binks-very-impressed-by-fc-cincinnati-support

ESPN broadcasters Adrian Healey and Julie Stewart-Binks very impressed by FC Cincinnati support

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2017/06/29/we-love-the-u-s-open-cup-because/?utm_term=.1efccd6a0627

Why do we love the U.S. Open Cup? Let us count the ways.

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https://franklinhomepage.com/major-league-soccer-commissioner-to-visit-for-gold-cup/

Major League Soccer commissioner to visit for Gold Cup

Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer, plans to visit Nashville, July 7 – 8, to study Nashville’s bid for an MLS expansion club and attend the Gold Cup match between the United States Men’s National Team and Panama.

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http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/06/29/jail-bids-gilbert-complex-proposal/103284780/

Dueling visions put forth on Wayne County jail

Detroit — The years-long effort by Wayne County to finish its partially built jail in Greektown has come down to whether officials will embrace another blockbuster downtown development or take what they may view as a safer choice of completing the jail.

On Wednesday, billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert submitted a revised plan to build a criminal justice complex for the county with a 2,280-bed jail that will cost at least $520 million on a different Detroit property near Interstate 75 than he initially proposed last year. But the county also would be responsible for $380 million of the project plus the cost of acquiring the land from the city.

That complex would allow Gilbert’s Rock Ventures to build in Greektown another multimillion development that includes three high-rise buildings and potentially an MLS soccer stadium. That development could have more than $2.4 billion economic impact for construction of both sites, the company said.

Also on Wednesday, Gilbert’s competitor, Chicago-based Walsh Construction, pitched its plan to complete the existing Greektown jail site with two options: one has 1,608 beds at $269 million and the other calls for 2,200 beds at $317.6 million.

Now it’s up to Wayne County Executive Warren Evans to decide which deal is better. He has stressed the chosen plan can’t put county taxpayers at risk.

“It’s not about soccer, and it’s not about politics,” Evans said in a statement. “It’s about a county, with very real fiscal limitations, financing a desperately needed jail, which has already cost taxpayers millions.”

Evans plans to make a decision by late July.

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http://cincinnatisoccertalk.com/2017/06/29/initial-tv-ratings-good-fc-cincinnati-vs-fire/

Initial TV Ratings are Good for FC Cincinnati vs. Fire

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http://www.fox19.com/story/35781972/mls-congratulates-fc-cincinnati-on-major-moment-in-cup-win

MLS congratulates FC Cincinnati on major moment in Cup win

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http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2017/06/29/doc-after-fc-cincy-fire-have-we-found-team-good-karma/438747001/

Doc: After FC Cincinnati-Chicago Fire, have we found a team with good karma?

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http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170629/front-row-fc-cincinnati-strengthens-expansion-case-for-mls

The Front Row: FC Cincinnati strengthens expansion case for MLS

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http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sports/things-know-about-cincinnati-stunning-open-cup-upset/asP2D6TTMfBsDGXSOfhFPJ/

5 things to know about FC Cincinnati’s stunning U.S. Open Cup upset

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http://nationalpost.com/sports/football/cfl/attendance-is-down-and-few-millennials-are-watching-so-should-the-cfl-be-worried/wcm/3cf9f342-5ecd-41af-a3d2-52093aef3d99

Attendance is down and few millennials are watching — so should the CFL be worried?

Scott Stinson: The days of assuming fans will leave their lounge chairs and their large TVs for a hard plastic seat are over

TORONTO — The 2017 Canadian Football League season began last week with what was a typically CFL affair. It was a nice early-summer night at McGill University stadium, a wonderful location that played no small role in reviving the league in Montreal and providing a blueprint for how to do it in other markets.

The game between the Alouettes and Roughriders was close fought, if a little sloppy, featuring two veteran quarterbacks who, as is the trend, played the previous season for the team on the other side of the field. It wasn’t decided until the last play of the game. Oh, and there was a baffling call on a fumble-touchdown, upheld on replay review, that no one could particularly understand. All very CFL.

But the game also provided evidence of some of the challenges facing a league that has roots dating to about 20 years after Canada was born. After growing steadily in the post-war years until the late 1980s, and a disastrous and failed expansion into the United States in the early 1990s, the CFL bounced back thanks in large part to a national broadcast deal with TSN.

But Montreal’s season-opener, which was more than 3,000 fans short of a sellout, was emblematic of troubling recent trends. While attendance has been excellent in Hamilton’s new stadium, in back-from-the-dead Ottawa and in always-reliable Saskatchewan, the country’s largest markets — Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver — have all seen sharp declines of one sort or another in recent seasons. Even in Calgary, where the Stampeders were historically good in 2016, attendance lagged behind 2015.

Add in the surprise departure of commissioner Jeffrey Orridge this spring, who was only two years into the job and whose split was only ever explained as being over “philosophical differences” with the league’s board, and it’s fair to ask of the one pro sports league that is unabashedly Canadian: should the CFL be worried? Or are these just headwinds that the venerable league is figuring out how to overcome?

First, a couple of statements of fact before the discussion. One, the situation in Toronto is so different than anywhere else in the CFL that it merits a separate examination. The Argonauts were thought to be on a short path to an Alouettes-like rebirth with their move to BMO Field last season, but instead attendance was alarmingly poor, the team stunk, and the whole football operations staff was eventually blown up. But we will leave that for later.

And two, the CFL is in no kind of crisis. The league still has five seasons, including this one, left on a $40 million-per-year broadcast deal with TSN that almost on its own allows clubs to cover their biggest cost, player salaries. There are dozens of baseball, hockey and basketball teams in the big North American leagues who would love that kind of financial security.

But, consider the scene in a Toronto hotel conference room late last year, as Orridge had a state-of-the-league town hall with diehard fans, the kind wearing vintage CFL jerseys and hardhats with sirens on them and homemade coveralls that said, “Our Balls are Bigger.”

They had questions: what was the league doing about attendance declines? What about attracting younger fans? And, the question no one asked: what happens, as the broadcast industry loses cable subscribers, if TSN eventually wants a cheaper deal? What happens, in other words, if the league’s biggest tentpole is chopped down?

Jim Lawson, the chairman of the CFL’s board and the interim commissioner until a replacement is hired, says “the game is in a very good place today.”

He says the new stadiums in Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Toronto and, this summer, Regina, have “the wind blowing in the right direction.”

But he also acknowledges the challenges. “There’s definitely a sense that we have an aging demographic,” he says. But he suggests that’s not solely because younger Canadians aren’t into the CFL.

“It’s more the way that demographic is now consuming sports. There’s a whole new generation of people that is watching sports on their phones,” he says. “I think it’s a concern, but I think the bigger concern is with sports generally.”

There is evidence to back up that theory. A study of U.S. television data published by SportsBusiness Journal this month found the median age of viewers had increased for all major leagues over the past decade, from 40 years old for MLS to 64 (!) for the PGA Tour.

The CFL certainly has not managed to avoid that trend. Its overall viewership dropped sharply on TSN from 2014 to 2015, but a new advertising campaign and major investment in digital and social media helped turn the 19-per-cent drop a year earlier into a 3.5-per-cent gain last season. But for TSN’s average weighted audience of 553,000 viewers per game in 2016, about 170,000 of them came in the 18-49 demographic. Put another way, about 70 per cent of the viewing audience was not in the age group with which advertisers are most concerned.

And while the CFL isn’t alone in trying to figure out how to  attract more millennials to its business, some of their competitors are ahead in the race.

According to Rogers Sportsnet, the average 18-49 audience for its Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 2016 was 327,600 viewers, or almost double that of a typical CFL game. That was itself a double-digit (11 per cent) increase from 2015, when 295,000 members of the 18-49 cohort watched an average Jays game on television. The Jays alone are proof that younger viewers don’t have to be written off as unreachable.

Meanwhile, data provided by Major League Soccer says it has the youngest fans of any U.S.-based league, at 34.9 years old, lower than the NBA (38.5) and NHL (42.1). That has translated into success at the gate. Where attendance has declined modestly for three straight years in the CFL, MLS has set attendance records in three straight seasons. And in 2016, the three biggest percentage gains in MLS attendance came at its three Canadian clubs: Montreal was up 16 per cent, Toronto up 13 per cent and Vancouver about nine per cent.

For the Impact and Whitecaps, those meant full seasons at better than 100-per-cent capacity. Toronto FC, which added a major stadium expansion in 2016, played to about 89-per-cent capacity, although the average attendance of about 23,500 per game dwarfed that of the Argonauts, their new roommates.

Lawson, the CFL chairman, says getting to a younger audience has to be part of their focus. “We have to be conscious of what (the fan base) looks like 10 to 15 years down the road,” he says.

For Christina Litz, the league’s vice-president of marketing, that work began more than two years ago. She says the league conducted research that found a third of Canadians identified themselves as CFL fans, but there was a large swath of casual fans who didn’t pay much attention until the playoffs.

“They were a little younger and they skewed a little more female,” Litz says. “So we had to look at what we were doing to make sure we were speaking to that audience on the platforms they spend time with, giving them content they want to see that is also telling them what is happening in the CFL day to day.”

This led to the major investment in digital that saw 100-per-cent growth on CFL.ca last year, and a jump of about eight per cent in the 18-49 audience on TSN in 2016. (The CFL’s large relative digital growth still leaves it with a tiny fraction of the digital audience of competitors like the NHL.)

Litz sees the growth among younger viewers, and an increased percentage of female viewers (up seven per cent in 2016), plus the digital inroads, as proof that the long-held criticisms of the CFL as a bastion of old, white dudes are outdated. “It’s become a myth now,” she says.

Certainly, the league is aware that the days of assuming people will leave their lounge chairs and their large TVs for a hard plastic seat and a simple football game are over.

“I think there’s been a recognition by our teams that the sports fan is changing,” Litz says. She points to the carnival-party atmosphere that is present outside the gates in places like Winnipeg, Ottawa and Hamilton, which can offer everything from beer gardens to bouncy castles. “Teams are getting good at paying attention to that as part of the experience,” Litz says.

It remains, though, that investing in those experiences has been necessary because attendance was falling.

The B.C. Lions were averaging more than 32,000 fans a decade ago and were just about 21,000 last season. The Alouettes were routinely selling out in 2010-11, but with the glory days of the Anthony Calvillo years firmly behind them, they are no longer quite that hot a ticket, playing to about 86-per-cent capacity last season.

Not a crisis, no. But cause for concern. For whoever the next commissioner is, there is work to do.

Up next: Part 2 — We need to talk about the Argos

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http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/analysis-9-takeaways-from-fc-cincinnatis-biggest-win-yet-over-chicago-fire

ANALYSIS: 9 takeaways from FC Cincinnati's biggest win yet over Chicago Fire

(Follow link for full article.)

http://fox17.com/news/local/major-league-soccer-commissioner-to-visit-nashville-study-citys-bid-for-team

Major League Soccer Commissioner to visit Nashville, study city's bid for team

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.wbtv.com/story/35773572/charlotte-still-hasnt-committed-to-major-league-soccer-plan

Charlotte still hasn't committed to Major League Soccer plan

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/06/28/mls-stadium-requirement-could-weed-out-most.html

MLS stadium requirement could weed out most expansion franchise applicants: SI

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.nashvillepost.com/sports/sports-business/blog/20866194/mls-commissioner-to-visit-nashville

MLS commissioner to visit Nashville

Garber will be on hand for Gold Cup match, meet with leaders of local expansion effort

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/fifa/243/post/3150220/former-fifa-vp-jack-warner-questions-why-us-soccer-was-absolved-in-garcia-report

Jack Warner asks why U.S. absolved in Garcia report, unworried by England

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2017/6/29/15893456/jack-warner-garcia-report-usa-fifa-world-cup

Jack Warner Breaks His Silence on Garcia Report

The former FIFA official claims innocence

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-06-29/warner-why-us-soccer-absolved

Warner: Why is US Soccer absolved?

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/it-took-a-decade-but-groundbreaking-for-st-petersburgs-new-pier-is-finally/2328671

'Today is not a dream;' St. Petersburg ready to start building new pier

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-for-wednesday-june-28/2328687

The Daystarter: Pier groundbreaking today; court rules on governor shifting death penalty cases; Gators win College World Series; deadly sleep for infants

The day that the city of St. Petersburg has long awaited — and opponents of the project have long fought — finally arrives today: the groundbreaking ceremony for the new pier. It takes place at 9 a.m. at the waterfront where Second Avenue NE in downtown ends. Mayor Rick Kriseman and others will speak as construction is slated to start for the $66 million (and rising) Pier District. Follow Waveney Ann Moore at @wmooretimes for updates, and check out our Facebook Live during the event.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tbreporter.com/government/st-petersburgs-dream-starts-shape/

St. Petersburg’s Dream Starts to Take Shape

After controversy and a long wait, officials broke ground today on the new St. Petersburg Pier.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-for-thursday-june-29/2328838

The Daystarter: Cruises to Cuba still a go; Rays employee helps thwart suicide; do the Stingray Shuffle; school social worker arrested for threatening mother-in-law

Even with the rules changing under President Donald Trump, cruises from Tampa to Havana, Cuba are still free to sail. It's Tampa's pitch — that cruise passengers will spend a day in the city educating themselves on its historic link to Cuba — that should protect them under new rules.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://saintpetersblog.com/rick-kriseman-enjoys-big-day-st-pete-pier-construction-gets-underway/

Rick Kriseman enjoys big day as St. Pete Pier construction gets underway

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http://www.tbreporter.com/special-interest/final-beam-set-place-tom-mary-james-gift-st-pete/

Final Beam Set in Place on Tom and Mary James’ ‘Gift’ to St. Pete

TBadmin | June 29, 2017

By SHELLY STECK REALE, Correspondent, TB Reporter

The final steel beam was set in place on the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art.

ST. PETERSBURG – Patronage has always played a role in the arts: Florence, Italy, had its Medici family. St. Petersburg has Tom and Mary James.

The James were joined by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and other elected officials, community leaders, dignitaries, and crew members on Wednesday (June 28) to inscribe their names on to the final structural beam supporting the 219-foot-high, 105-ton-stone sculpture of a mesa that will serve as the landmark showpiece of the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art.

The museum, 100 Central Ave., will be the anchor of about 133,000 square feet of space fronting Central Avenue. Of that, 50,000 square feet will include retail shops, a restaurant, and office space. The remaining space, more than 83,000 square feet, will make up the James Museum, taking its place as one of the largest museums in downtown St. Pete’s growing arts and cultural scene.

The museum will include more than 30,000 square feet of gallery space housing 400-500 premier works of art, a Native American Jewelry collection, 6,000 square feet of event space, a commercial catering kitchen; a museum store, and café, as well as the space required to support and operate a large-scale 21st Century museum.

The cost of the art, as well as the $13.5 million purchase price for the building and $36 million construction budget, has been entirely shouldered by Tom and Mary James.

“I love St. Petersburg,” said Tom James, former chairman of Raymond James Financial. “St. Petersburg has been good to me, not just as a person, but as a business owner; and we’re very glad to give back some of that success to the city.”

Project manager Laura Hine said, “It’s truly meant to be a gift. Certainly it’s all their art collection, but also Tom and Mary have paid every penny to purchase the building, for design, and construction; they’ve paid all the cost. The realization of this project is meant as a gift from Tom and Mary to the St. Petersburg community.”

“The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art is the cornerstone of the progress we are seeing here in St. Petersburg,” Kriseman said. “This museum will be a hub of activity, of learning, and of exploration.”

Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, with a grand opening planned for early 2018.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://saintpetersblog.com/rowdies-defender-damion-lowe-named-jamaican-gold-cup-squad/

Rowdies defender Damion Lowe named to Jamaican Gold Cup squad

(Follow link for full article.)

https://springhillhomepage.com/major-league-soccer-commissioner-to-visit-for-gold-cup/

Major League Soccer commissioner to visit for Gold Cup

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.myajc.com/sports/soccer/tech-executive-brings-his-savvy-soccer/qWStSKJKWs46gEVTPL9ZuO/

A tech executive brings his savvy to soccer

KINGSTON, N.Y. —

It was the most important game in the brief history of Kingston Stockade FC. First place was on the line. So was the first real chance to draw 1,000 fans.

Two hours before kickoff on a hot Saturday afternoon in early June, Dennis Crowley, the team’s founder, arrived at Dietz Stadium, a high school football field covered with artificial turf.

Crowley, 41, is a co-founder of Foursquare, a location-sharing mobile app, and a predecessor, Dodgeball, which was sold to Google in 2005. In 2015, he turned to another passion and built from scratch a soccer team, paying $12,500 for a franchise fee to enter Stockade FC in the National Premier Soccer League. Running a semipro club two hours north of New York City was not his ultimate goal, though.

Driven by the kind of disruptive innovation he knows from the tech world, Crowley is making a bold attempt to reimagine professional soccer in the United States. It is a grand vision of hundreds of clubs and multiple divisions, of promotion and relegation that will reward investment and success and punish bad decisions and failure. That is the big picture.

On a recent Saturday, however, Crowley’s focus was on only one game.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/columnists/logan-jenkins/sd-me-jenkins20170628-story.html

Column Pro soccer coming to North County? A great goal or good grief?

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/promotion-relegation-already-united-states-future-upsl-nasl-usl-mls

Pro-rel is already in the United States, but is it the future?

(Follow link for full article.)

https://medium.com/@bakiBalboa/we-demand-to-be-taken-seriously-turning-minor-league-into-major-interest-ca5515a76680

We Demand to Be Taken Seriously: Turning “Minor League” Into Major Interest

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article158523364.html

NOAA considers moving Miami headquarters amid budget cuts

The federal agency that oversees hurricane research and manages fisheries along the nation’s southeast coast faces an overhaul and potential downsizing that could cripple partnerships that have made Miami a leader in the world of marine and atmospheric science.

While unrelated, the timing of the two moves — possibly relocating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries headquarters from Virginia Key to St. Petersburg and pending budget cuts to the climate science program there — amount to a double whammy for the research hub and a brain drain for the region.

“It’s a big hit,” said Ben Kirtman, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and director of NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies or CIMAS. Kirtman fears a “tyranny of distance” would all but end collaborations that began when the Fisheries headquarters opened across the street from the university in 1965.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NxDD1sqdow

Must-Eat Restaurants in Downtown St. Petersburg

Visit St. Pete Clearwater

Published on Jan 29, 2014

Roy DeJesus highlights his favorites spots to grab a bite to eat in downtown St. Pete, Florida. Included are Cassis American Brasserie, Central Avenue Oyster Bar, The King & I, La V, Z-Grille, Red Mesa Cantina, Bella Brava, Parkshore Grill and 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R62UBnx83F0

St Pete in Progress: The New St Pete Pier

St. Petersburg, FL

Published on Mar 22, 2017

'St. Pete In Progress', featuring Mayor Rick Kriseman and author and city expert Peter Kageyama, is a monthly look at exciting projects and plans that are in-progress.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/06/27/2-mn-sent-to-child-of-fifa-member-before-2022-world-cup-award-report/

$2 mn sent to child of FIFA member before 2022 World Cup award: report

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUom9CI9NXo

HIGHLIGHTS: Rowdies at Charleston Battery - July 1, 2017

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jul 1, 2017

HIGHLIGHTS: Check out the recap of Saturday night's 2-0 loss to the Charleston Battery, presented by Tijuana Flats.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmhnFDVzRt0

FREE Kool & the Gang Concert - July 6th After Rowdies vs. FC Cincinnati

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jun 28, 2017

*FREE CONCERT ALERT*

Join us at our next home game on Thursday, July 6 against FC Cincinnati and enjoy a FREE concert by Kool & the Gang!

For tickets call, 727-222-2000 or visit tinyurl.com/y7xrztc2!

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3etXlx9VQRY

Which Hogwarts House Would the Rowdies Choose?

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jun 26, 2017

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book, we asked the players which Hogwarts House they would choose! #HarryPotter20

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U_ylRMheQg

HIGHLIGHTS: Rowdies at Pittsburgh Riverhounds - June 22, 2017

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jun 22, 2017

HIGHLIGHTS: Recap of Thursday's 2-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, presented by Tijuana Flats. #PGHvTBR

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZylMgEqv3UY

Digging Into Best Breakfast Spots

Visit St. Pete Clearwater

Published on May 5, 2014

Who doesn't love a great breakfast? Here's a look at some of the area's best, including Kelly's For Just About Anything, Island Way Grill, Clear Sky Cafe, Sweet Sage Cafe and Beverly's La Croisette.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8w8bXJim0E

Indulge at Mazzaros Market in St. Pete

Visit St. Pete Clearwater

Published on Jun 11, 2015

Discover this local legend that offers everything Italian. Mazzaros Italian Market, located at 2909 22nd Ave. N in St. Pete, offers fresh roasted coffee, gourmet baked goods, homemade pastas and specialty wines and cheeses.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jE7z73bAIE

Taste the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market

Visit St. Pete Clearwater

Published on Apr 22, 2014

Get an authentic taste of St. Pete with its weekly Saturday Morning Market. The market, which runs from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., is the largest once a week fresh market in the Southeast U.S. with more than 10,000 customers a week.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHmzZnRgbm8

Grand Central District - Review - St. Petersburg, FL

TidyislandCPA

Published on Jul 29, 2016

Grand Central District is located in St. Petersburg, Fl, adjacent to the downtown core and the waterfront. Dozens of hip restaurants, bistros, and bars are located in the Grand Central District. There are also eclectic shops, galleries, and boutiques, too. There are few big box stores in Grand Central, instead there are unique and fun shops. Popular restaurants include Engine Nine, Bodegas, and The Cider Press Cafe. Visit https://www.grandcentraldistrict.org. Antique stores, art galleries and collectibles are plentiful along Central Avenue. Grand Central District is home to many street fairs and festivals Haslam's Book Store is a must see, an homage to buying books before Amazon.com came on to the scene. Grand Central has risen from decay to become a prized Florida Main Street Community. Take the St. Petersburg Trolley to see Grand Central in detail. There are many new breweries,, nightclubs have opened. Located in the 300 to 700 Blocks of Central Avenue and Central's side-streets is a hidden gem of Downtown St. Petersburg. Grand Central District is pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AFngYdLU1k

The Art, Food, and Magic of St. Petersburg, Florida

VISIT FLORIDA

Published on Jun 19, 2014

Discovery is the best part of travel, and when every corner yields a new hidden oasis, you know you've hit the jackpot. Join Bob Devin Jones as he shows us why St. Petersburg, Florida is a haven for artists, foodies, and explorers alike.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ka97HGINOc

Florida Travel: St. Petersburg's Sunken Gardens: A Florida Classic

VISIT FLORIDA

Published on Apr 30, 2015

Sunken Gardens is a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city. As St. Petersburg's oldest living museum, this 100 year old garden is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.

Unwind as you stroll through meandering paths, lush with exotic plants from around the world. Explore cascading waterfalls, beautiful demonstration gardens, more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers.

Sunken Gardens provides garden tours, horticultural programs, special events, field trips, weddings, private and corporate rentals. Call 727-551-3102. Gardens may be closed due to inclement weather.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2017/07/haig-club-bar-opens-in-uk/

Haig Club Bar opens in UK

3rd July, 2017 by Melita Kiely

Diageo-owned grain whisky Haig Club has opened its first permanent bar in Birmingham in the UK.

Haig Club Bar is located on Level 25 of The Cube, which sits next to the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill, and has room to seat up to 36 guests.

Bartender Jack Spencer has created a menu featuring more than 20 whisky cocktails made with both Haig Club and Haig Club Clubman – both David Beckham-backed whiskies. Food options include scotch eggs, aromatic prawns, calamari, macaroni cheese, and halloumi and courgette flowers.

Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm until 1am, guests can also purchase their own bottle of Haig Club for £200 to keep at the bar, which will be personalised with an embossed name tag.

Nick Temperley, UK head of Reserve Brands at Diageo, said: “We are really excited to be working with The Cube Birmingham, creating this unique Haig Clubman experience in a city where cocktail culture continues to grow and excite.”