Thursday, August 3, 2017

Pastor keeps history of storied Bethlehem Steel alive (si.com)

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rf1ex/pastor_keeps_history_of_storied_bethlehem_steel/

Pastor keeps history of storied Bethlehem Steel alive (si.com)

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https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/08/03/bethlehem-steel-pastor-dan-morrison-us-soccer?utm_campaign=si-soccer&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_si

Pastor Keeps History of Storied U.S. Club Bethlehem Steel Alive

Until a few years ago, one of America’s most successful soccer clubs had been reduced to whispers.

For decades, the story of the Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club had been passed down mostly by word of mouth, the descendants of players vaguely aware that their ancestors had played for a soccer team in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. A handful of American soccer historians knew about the club, which had folded in 1930 just before the original American Soccer League collapsed. But the stories of Bethlehem Steel’s former glory had faded with time.

Go to Bethlehem today, however, and you’ll find another team bearing the former club’s name, Bethlehem Steel FC, a USL affiliate of the Philadelphia Union. You might see someone walking around the repurposed SteelStacks, the old Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s giant blast furnaces, wearing a Mitchell and Ness Bethlehem Steel T-shirt. The resurgence of interest in Eastern Pennsylvania’s soccer heritage over the last several years has been meteoric, fueled in part by the Union’s earnest desire to reconnect with the state’s soccer roots.

But we owe almost everything we know about the original Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club to a Pennsylvania pastor named Daniel Paul Morrison.

Morrison, 56, is the pastor at Huntingdon Valley Presbyterian Church, just outside Philadelphia. Despite having no formal association with soccer, he’s also a sort of unofficial historian of the Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club. And without his research, it’s possible the story of soccer in Bethlehem would have never been fully told.

“I can’t think of anybody with no prior connection to the sport who has gotten involved in studying the history to the extent that Dan has,” says former National Soccer Hall of Fame historian Roger Allaway, whose book Corner Offices & Corner Kicks is based in part on Morrison’s research.

Growing up, Morrison was vaguely aware that two of his great uncles, Bobby and Joe, played for a soccer team in Bethlehem. Around 1998, four years before he entered seminary, he grew curious about his ancestors, but nobody had written anything about the team. The club featured prominently in soccer historian Colin Jose's 1998 seminal history of the original American Soccer League, but the team's full story hadn’t been told. Upon realizing his uncle Bobby was one of the early inductees into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Morrison started digging deeper. The Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club, he realized, was much more than family mythology.

Originally founded as the Bethlehem Football Club, the team changed its name in 1915 when Bethlehem Steel, one of America’s largest steel producers and shipbuilders, formally took over the club’s operations. The team was already comprised of employees. Headquartered in the iron-rich Lehigh Valley, the Bethlehem Steel Corporation employed thousands of people, including numerous European immigrants. The company’s steel helped build the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam. It supplied Allied forces with armor plate and other combat supplies during World War I and World War II. 

With backing from one of the biggest corporations in America, the club had the resources to spend ambitiously. The immigrants who played for the Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club were Anglo-Saxon, recruited from the United Kingdom by the club to play in America, where they could make better money by playing for the club and working for the company. (Morrison’s great uncles came from Scotland.) Many immigrants happened to play club soccer in America, but this was different: These individuals were specifically recruited to be soccer players. When we think of foreign stars coming to the U.S. to play soccer, Pele and David Beckham come to mind. But the importing of foreign talent was a major component of the success of American Soccer League clubs like Bethlehem Steel and the Fall River Marksmen, based in Massachusetts.

Bethlehem Steel obliterated most of its competition—Morrison argues they’re the best American team of the era—and racked up titles, including five U.S. Open Cups (then called the National Challenge Cup), still tied for a record. The club won 10 league championships in 15 seasons between 1912 and 1927, and 11 players from the team are enshrined in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. But the club folded in 1930 because of financial problems, and the original American Soccer League collapsed soon after following the “soccer war,” which pit the U.S. Football Association against the American Soccer League in a self-immolating dispute over control of the sport. The dark ages of American soccer followed. But beyond the pitch, the boom and bust of Bethlehem Steel’s soccer team embodied early 20th century America—particularly the country’s growing industrial might, fueled by immigrants trying to find their way in a new country.

Morrison didn’t set out to become the world’s leading expert on the Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club. But his curiosity about his family gave way to genuine interest, which turned into obsession. He started driving two hours, round trip, on weekends, family in tow, from Doylestown, Pa., where he had recently moved, to Bethlehem’s public library, where he would sift through microfilm of old Bethlehem Globe–Times news clippings.

“For him, it’s a chase,” Morrison’s wife, Eva, says. “It’s an intellectual chase but it’s also physical, because he tends to like to go there.”

He’d sit for hours at a microfilm reader, winding a crank to scroll through reels, hoping to catch a mention of Bethlehem Steel’s team. When he found an article of interest, like a game recap or column, he’d print it out. He would return home with a small stack of news clippings and transcribe them that night onto his website, which he had created so that he could search his own collection and so that people connected to the club could contact him. His website ultimately digitized the team's history. If necessary, he’d drive to other public libraries around the Northeast to hunt down information about a game that the Bethlehem paper didn’t cover. After more than three years and countless hours, he had transcribed and republished around 3,000 articles on Bethlehem Steel.

“They say the newspaper is the first draft of history, and this is a story where nobody had bothered to write a second draft,” Morrison says. “So my job was to write a second draft of this and to begin to put together that story and excavate it.”

Reading about games that happened in the early 20th century might sound boring. But Morrison was enthralled, especially after he started reading chronologically. Never a big sports fan, Morrison finally understood the emotional appeal of a season’s narrative: With no detailed public information about the team available anywhere, he was in suspense, unaware of game outcomes and unsure how a season would end. He would worry for players, and speculate about how the team would fare in an upcoming match. Never mind that the game had been settled nearly a century earlier.

As Morrison read newspaper accounts of the team, he started to feel like he knew the players personally. He became emotionally invested in their lives, a sensation that grew when he started interviewing relatives of players and coaches, including the widow of his Uncle Joe. Conversations with players’ relatives could be clarifying. He once read a vague newspaper reference to a legal disturbance involving a player. During one of his interviews, he learned that the player had run off with the coach’s wife.

“You read 3,000 articles about a club and you feel like you know the guys at some point, at least the main characters. There are some more marginal characters that come and go, but you end up feeling like you know them,” Morrison says. “And you kind of hate to see the season end.”

He also scoured flea markets and trade shows, hoping to find Bethlehem Steel memorabilia, mystifying traders unaccustomed to interest in soccer paraphernalia. His collection includes old medals, photos and other rare artifacts from the period.

Morrison is an unlikely soccer historian. For one, when he started the project, he had never watched a soccer game. Even as he mined through the library’s archives, he didn’t know what a corner kick looked like, until he finally attended a D.C. United game with a friend. He was amazed by soccer’s rhythm and unpredictability, and how a scoring chance could arise from nothing.

He’s also not, of course, a full-time historian. Morrison entered seminary in 2002, when he was 40, after working as a journalist, copywriter and teacher, collecting a few degrees along the way. He grew up in a religious family, and he ultimately felt a calling to go into the ordained ministry. Morrison is professorial but incredibly affable, easily amused by colorful tales uncovered in his research. He also has a unique ability to speak with authority about a perplexingly eclectic range of subjects.

“There are a few little domains in which I am the one person in the world who knows the most,” Morrison says. “[Bethlehem Steel] is one of them.”

Morrison’s expertise, in other words, is hardly limited to Lehigh Valley soccer. He is the general secretary of the North American Araucanian Royalist Society, the self-declared preeminent English-language authority on the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia, an 19th century unrecognized state in South America. He has published three volumes of collected works of a British detective novelist named E. Phillips Oppenheim, and he’s working on a volume about another British detective writer, Arthur Morrison (no known relation). He also wrote a memoir of his uncle’s experience in World War II, and he has taken a keen interest in American Regionalism, a mid-20th century Midwestern artistic movement. He collects art from Greenland.

“He is the typical renaissance man. He just wants to know more about everything,” his daughter Rosie, 25, says. “I think with all of his research projects, there was something that caught his interests and then he dove.”

Adds his 23-year-old son Calvin: “He’s always got something kicking.”

Morrison planned to write a social history of Bethlehem Steel, but he pushed it aside when he entered seminary in 2002. Still, he’s the club’s de facto historian, and his monopoly on Bethlehem Steel history was such that Allaway felt compelled to ask him for permission before writing his book about the club.

Morrison has become a go-to soccer expert, particularly in Eastern Pennsylvania. During the 2014 World Cup, Morrison was invited to lecture about Bethlehem Steel at an official viewing party at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. He has also addressed the Sons of Ben, the Philadelphia Union supporters club, about Pennsylvania’s soccer heritage. He helped carry the trophy onto the field at the 2014 U.S. Open Cup final, when the Union lost to the Seattle Sounders. When Lionel Messi scored his 71st goal of the 2011-12 season, surpassing former Bethlehem Steel star Archie Stark’s previous single-season record of 70 goals scored in 1924-25, Morrison fielded calls from European journalists looking for comment.

That a man like Morrison could become the de facto historian of such a storied club might seem puzzling. But it’s indicative of soccer’s unique place in American sports culture. Soccer doesn’t have the institutional backbone in America of other sports, like baseball or football. Major League Soccer is less than 25 years old, and other leagues have come and gone, generating some interest before fizzling out or falling into financial ruin. There’s a small group of American soccer historians, like former National Soccer Hall of Fame historians Allaway and Jose, but there’s a lot of ground to cover.

Soccer’s future in America is a subject of great speculation, but the sport’s past in this country is incredibly overlooked and misunderstood. American soccer didn’t “arrive” with the 1999 Women's World Cup triumph or the 1994 World Cup or when Pele showed up in the 70s. It precedes the USA’s legendary upset of England at the 1950 World Cup. It started long before even the 1930 World Cup team’s third-place finish. Relatively forgotten for so many years, soccer’s early history in America—especially in the 1920’s, before the ASL collapsed—was a sort of golden age for the sport, and the story of Bethlehem Steel was just one piece of that narrative.

It’s not often that a research project ends with the subject coming back to life. But that’s essentially what happened with Bethlehem Steel. Beginning in 2013, the Philadelphia Union started honoring its Pennsylvania ancestor with special kits and jersey patches, paying tribute to Bethlehem in two U.S. Open Cup finals. When the MLS club decided to establish a USL affiliate in the Lehigh Valley, fans overwhelmingly voted to name the new club Bethlehem Steel FC.

“Living in the past in sports is dangerous, but the future is tied to the past. I think it’s a really, really important piece of it. It’s important to the fans, and it’s important to respect the community that wrapped its arms around Bethlehem Steel in the past,” former Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz says. “And the most important thing is there’s no marketing scheme, or no marketing dollars that you could spend to develop that. That’s history. That’s history that was made and created by those people, and that is priceless.”

The modern Bethlehem Steel FC played its first game on March 25, 2016—86 years after the original club shuttered and 18 years after Morrison began his research.

“To me, it was very gratifying to see people become more aware of the history around them,” Morrison says.

Morrison has yet to attend a match–“Sundays are tough for me,” he shrugs–but the soaring appreciation for Bethlehem Steel in the American soccer community remains surreal to him.

Bethlehem Steel’s reincarnation isn’t a direct continuation of the club that dominated the American Soccer League in the early 20th century. But it suggests a growing determination to bridge soccer’s forgotten past with its unknown future, in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, moving the sport into a new chapter by embracing the old. That’s something worth remembering. 

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6rcojr/st_pete_kickers_to_play_milwaukee_bavarians_in/

St. Pete Kickers to play Milwaukee Bavarians in the USASA National Amateur Cup Semifinal Friday 8/4 @ 8pm! (youtube.com)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg_Kickers

The Kickers are the only Floridian team to have ever won the U.S. Open Cup, back in 1989 when it was called the "National Challenge Cup". They've also won this tournament (the National Amateur Cup) 3 times, in 1990, 1997, and in 2008.

St. Petersburg Kickers

The St. Petersburg Kickers were an amateur American soccer team from St. Petersburg, Florida that won the 1989 National Challenge Cup.

Founded by Kurt Herbach in 1957, the Kickers won their first national title, the 1967 Over-30 championship.

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

Kickers FC vs Bavarian SC

US Adult Soccer

Scheduled for Aug 4, 2017

US Adult Soccer National Amateur Cup Semifinal between Kickers FC (FL) of Region III and Bavarian SC (WI) of Region II

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http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/819929

Cincinnati Celebrates 'Something Truly Special'

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https://mlsmultiplex.com/2017/08/03/transfer-rumors-whats-next-freddy-adu/

Transfer Rumors: What’s next for Freddy Adu?

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https://www.angelsonparade.com/2017/8/3/16090852/usl-expand-34-game-season-2018-two-conference-fresno-nashville-las-vegas-expansion-contraction

USL to expand to 34-game regular season in 2018

League to retain two-conference format next year.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6resv3/san_francisco_deltas_joins_miami_fc_in_the_lawsuit/

San Francisco Deltas joins Miami FC in the lawsuit. (twitter.com)

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https://twitter.com/sfdeltas/status/893179912470765568

San Francisco Deltas

‏Verified account

@sfdeltas

San Francisco Deltas Retweeted Brian Andrés Helmick

We've joined the @OpenSoccerUSA movement! It's time to open the sport in the US and compete on a global stage. #opensoccer

San Francisco Deltas added,

Brian Andrés Helmick @brianhelmick

I fully support @opensoccerUSA. Let’s increase the rewards for performance and enhance the fan experience in US Soccer! #opensoccer https://twitter.com/brianhelmick/status/893169579375026176

11:41 AM - 3 Aug 2017

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rdpro/dennis_crowley_on_enabling_change_in_the_us/

[Dennis Crowley] On Enabling Change in the US Soccer Pyramid — Bottom-Up and Top-Down (medium.com)

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https://medium.com/@dens/on-enabling-change-in-the-us-soccer-pyramid-bottom-up-and-top-down-f14059f80f0

On Enabling Change in the US Soccer Pyramid — Bottom-Up and Top-Down

Some notes on the CAS claim filed by Stockade FC and Miami FC

Just a few weeks ago, we wrapped up an incredible second season for Stockade FC. We won our Conference Championship (earning our club its first ever piece of hardware!), we broke our attendance record 3x (from 992 to 1,129 to 1,393 fans), and we’ve continued to tell our story of “open source soccer” in the hopes of inspiring the creation of other clubs like ours across the US. In a few weeks I’ll start working on another end of the season recap with full transparency into our financials and data. Until then, I wanted to talk about something much bigger.

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http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/08/03/nashville-one-four-cities-energized-major-league-soccer-expansion-commissioner-says/536075001/

Nashville one of four cities energized for MLS expansion, commissioner says

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rfecd/don_garber_discussing_adidasmls_deal_on_cnbc/

Don Garber discussing Adidas-MLS deal on CNBC (cnbc.com)

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https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/08/03/mls-nets-historic-sponsorship-deal-with-adidas.html

MLS Nets Historica Sponsorship Deal With Adidas

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http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/820024

USL Announces Regular Season Expansion

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http://www.npsl.com/news_article/show/820075

Statement from the NPSL

08/03/2017, 3:00pm EDT

By NPSL Staff

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) today released the following statement:

"The NPSL is following with great interest the claim filed by one of its 95 members, Kingston Stockade FC, and The Miami FC of the NASL with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to require the US Soccer Federation to adopt FIFA’s stated mandate to all National Federations to maintain promotion and relegation across all divisions in US Soccer. The NPSL is supportive of the positive change this claim could bring upon the development of the sport in this country."

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rez0c/official_statement_from_npsl_on_proreg/

Official Statement from NPSL on Pro/Reg (npsl.com)

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6requo/mayor_garcetti_confirms_that_lafc_stadium_will/

Mayor Garcetti confirms that LAFC stadium will host soccer competition at 2028 Olympics (self.MLS)

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rc8zi/miami_fc_kingston_stockade_sue_ussf_for_prorel_in/

Miami FC, Kingston Stockade sue USSF for pro/rel in Court of Arbitration for Sport (twitter.com)

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https://twitter.com/Kyle_Schnitzer/status/893099695492534273

Kyle Schnitzer‏

@Kyle_Schnitzer

Miami FC and Kingston Stockade FC are going to court for pro/rel. Notes from press release below:

6:22 AM - 3 Aug 2017

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http://www.upslsoccer.com/news/united-premier-soccer-league-announces-savannah-cl

United Premier Soccer League Announces Savannah Clovers FC as Southeast Conference Expansion Team

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6rcezy/new_hope_for_st_louis_soccer/

New Hope For St. Louis Soccer (cbsloc.al)

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http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2017/08/03/new-hope-for-st-louis-soccer/#.WYMqdquDLho.reddit

New Hope For St. Louis Soccer

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mls/2017/08/03/mls-one-step-closer-awarding-expansion-miami-david-beckham/535127001/

MLS is one step closer to awarding expansion to Miami, David Beckham

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http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2017/08/03/david-beckham-closer-to-having-mls-expansion-team-in-miami/

David Beckham Closer To Having MLS Expansion Team In Miami

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-haugh-real-madrid-mls-stars-spt-0803-20170802-story.html

MLS commissioner thinks All-Star game sign of bigger things for soccer

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http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/08/03/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLS.aspx

Beckham Miami MLS Bid Wins Permission For Formal Talks; Garber Praises A Few Cities

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http://www.whio.com/sports/open-cup-cincinnati-blanks-miami-reach-semifinals/XpuxEI8E5dON5XtbaN8RiI/

U.S. Open Cup: FC Cincinnati blanks Miami FC to reach semifinals

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http://www.wcpo.com/sports/united-soccer-league-board-of-governors-approves-34-game-schedule-31-week-season

United Soccer League Board of Governors approves 34-game schedule, 31-week season

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http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2017/08/03/usl-game-schedule-to-expand-next-season/comment-page-1/

USL game schedule to expand next season

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http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/9-things-major-league-soccer-commisioner-don-garber-said-that-pertain-to-fc-cincinnati

9 things Major League Soccer Commisioner Don Garber said that pertain to FC Cincinnati

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https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2017/08/03/mls-enters-final-negotiations-with-beckham-to.html

MLS enters final negotiations with Beckham to award team

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http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/david-beckham-left-waiting-again-for-mls-approval-for-miami-team-9548288

Why Is Major League Soccer Still Holding Out on Approving Beckham's Miami Team?

“I had some concerns they wouldn’t get past today,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told reporters after the meeting.

Do those second thoughts have anything to do with Bruce Matheson's new lawsuit against Beckham's stadium? The wealthy heir to one of Miami's most storied local families has already sunk the U.S. Open's plans to expand the tennis stadium in Key Biscayne. He's now suing the county, claiming that Beckham's $9 million no-bid purchase of county land in Overtown didn't meet rules for a fair market price.

But Garber insisted the lawsuit is no big deal.

"I don't see the lawsuit as an impediment to the process," Garber told ESPN before the owners' meeting. "More importantly, as you've heard from [Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado], there will be a process where the public can weigh in, and we support that because we want to be good community partners."

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http://wunc.org/post/how-triangle-boosted-its-mls-expansion-bid#stream/0

How The Triangle Boosted Its MLS Expansion Bid

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/03/zinedine-zidane-praises-mls-level-play-real-madrid-cap-us-tour

Zinedine Zidane praises MLS level of play as Real Madrid cap off US tour

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https://sports.yahoo.com/garber-mls-miami-close-league-001026862.html

Garber: MLS in Miami close, league cap is 28 teams

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https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2017/08/03/mls-sign-700m-adidas-extension

MLS sign $700m adidas extension

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https://www.fanragsports.com/soccer/mls-asg-shows-american-soccer-may-different-thats-not-bad-thing/

MLS ASG shows American soccer may be different but that’s not a bad thing

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https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/08/03/why-a-new-list-from-the-mls-commissioner-has.html

Why a new list from the MLS commissioner has Nashville buzzing

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article165284882.html

Miami FC taking promotion-relegation fight to Court of Arbitration for Sport

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article165284882.html

Charlotte’s pro soccer hopes could be dead – unless Marcus Smith invests millions more

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https://pilotonline.com/sports/college/elsewhere/it-s-here-major-league-soccer-implements-video-replay/article_ff5695b0-baf7-5d1d-916f-960f441b9b6d.html

It's here: Major League Soccer implements video replay

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http://www.wbtv.com/story/36058565/charlotte-faced-with-new-options-for-major-league-soccer

Charlotte faced with new options for Major League Soccer

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Kick Off: MLS All-Stars edged by Real Madrid | MLS, adidas extend deal

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http://www.soccerwire.com/notes/major-league-soccer-adidas-extend-partnership-through-2024/

Major League Soccer, adidas extend partnership through 2024

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https://www.angelsonparade.com/2017/8/3/16088042/mls-has-officially-entered-var-era-video-review-commentary-advantages-downside

MLS has officially entered the VAR era

Video Review is officially a part of MLS now. Will it be good or bad?

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http://remezcla.com/sports/mls-beckham-miami-united/

David Beckham’s Miami Soccer Club Should Begin Play in 2020, According to MLS Commissioner

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http://www.espnfc.com/miami-fc/story/3171424/miami-fc-taking-promotion-relegation-fight-to-court-of-arbitration-for-sport

Miami FC taking promotion-relegation fight to Court of Arbitration for Sport

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-usa-beckham-idUSKBN1AJ08X

MLS chief expects Beckham to win approval for Miami club

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http://coralspringstalk.com/jp-taravella-student-wins-scholarship-for-design-17344

JP Taravella Student Wins Scholarship for Design Inspired by Proposed Beckham Soccer Stadium

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http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2017/08/02/live-updates-fc-cincy-battles-miami-fc-u-s-open-cup/534813001/

'Magical' FC Cincinnati advances to U.S. Open Cup semis

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http://www.theolympian.com/sports/article165103217.html

Beckham moving closer to his expansion MLS team for Miami

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/news/beckham-poised-have-mls-team-miami-after-successful-vote

Beckham poised to have MLS team in Miami after successful vote

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https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/aug/01/column-relegation-us-sports-leagues-tough-sell/

Column: Relegation in US sports leagues a tough sell

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-for-thursday-aug-3/2332474

The Daystarter: Slowing boaters near Rocky Point; Kriseman could get his pier money; Hillsborough's newest charter school; Foreigner still rocks at 40

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http://prorelforusa.blogspot.com/2016/12/an-open-pyramid-for-us-soccer-is-not.html?m=1

An Open Pyramid for US soccer is not about a competition format

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http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2017/08/03/nasl-npsl-teams-file-claim-over-promotionrelegation/amp/

NASL, NPSL teams file claim over promotion/relegation

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article165360022.html

Miami FC sues U.S. Soccer, FIFA. Wants promotion and relegation rules in U.S.

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http://clicklancashire.com/2017/08/03/mls-owners-to-vote-on-david-beckham-39-s-miami-franchise.html

MLS Owners To Vote On David Beckham's Miami Franchise

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https://soundcloud.com/wlrn/820am-david-beckhams-group-took-one-step-closer-to-finally-getting-that-mls-team-in-miami

8:20am: David Beckham's group took one step closer to finally getting that MLS team in Miami

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http://www.foxsports.com/kansas-city/story/major-league-soccer-to-implement-video-replay-saturday-080317

Major League Soccer to implement video replay Saturday

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https://www.law360.com/florida/articles/951194/us-minor-league-soccer-teams-file-challenge-over-mls

US Minor League Soccer Teams File Challenge Over MLS

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http://www.wralsportsfan.com/north-carolina-fc-s-mls-bid-gets-boost-as-charlotte-pulls-funding-vote/16857205/

Mecklenberg County cuts support for MLS stadium in Charlotte, giving Raleigh an advantage

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http://www.sacbee.com/sports/article165131282.html

Sports Night: City’s MLS hopes look good

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http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article165372867.html

Sacramento a sure bet to get Major League Soccer team? How city broke from the pack.

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https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2017/08/03/summer-showcase-versus-real-madrid-most-watched-mls-all-star-game-league-history

Summer showcase versus Real Madrid is most-watched MLS All-Star Game in league history

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http://kpug1170.com/news/030030-mls-chief-expects-beckham-to-win-approval-for-miami-club/

MLS chief expects Beckham to win approval for Miami club

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http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2017/08/04/usl-expands-season-31-weeks-makes-room-nashville-fresno-las-vegas/

USL expands season to 31 weeks as it makes room for Nashville, Fresno and Las Vegas

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http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2017/08/caleb_porter_portland_timbers_8.html

Caleb Porter, Portland Timbers players 'looking forward' to introduction of video review

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https://www.chicago-fire.com/post/2017/08/03/photo-gallery-2017-mls-all-star-game

Photo Gallery | The 2017 MLS All-Star Game

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http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2441235&CategoryId=13002

Miami Closer to Having Expansion Soccer Team after MLS Vote

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http://www.tbo.com/ap/sports/here-is-the-latest-florida-sports-news-from-the-associated-press-ap_sportsd6805a41a2b548e5761f5ab4fe808227

Here is the latest Florida sports news from The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Major League Soccer says it is closing in on awarding David Beckham his long-awaited Miami expansion franchise, which hopes to play in 2020. It's a huge step forward in Beckham's four-year quest to bring a team to Miami, and there's still a legal challenge to clear before the plan can truly become reality.

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/03/inside-var-camp-behind-scenes-video-review-training-referees

Inside VAR camp: Behind the scenes at Video Review training for referees

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http://www.firstpost.com/sports/mls-commissioner-don-garber-expects-david-beckham-to-win-the-bid-for-miami-franchise-3890255.html

MLS commissioner Don Garber expects David Beckham to win the bid for Miami franchise

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http://www.startribune.com/mls-gaining-respectability-soccer-league-on-a-good-path/438492863/

MLS gaining respectability, soccer league 'on a good path'

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj_ABs3LGkg

The Rowdies visit Tampa Bay Buccaneers Training Camp

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Start at:

Published on Aug 3, 2017

We had a great time yesterday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Training Camp, watching the other type of football! Check out what some of our players had to say after the visit!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGGRfkN8aw

Rowdies Front Row - Pittsburgh Riverhounds - July 29, 2017

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Aug 1, 2017

Relive Saturday's thrilling 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the latest Rowdies Front Row!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkGymb0Gw6g

In a Zombie Apocalypse, which teammate would the Rowdies want with them?

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jul 31, 2017

The Rowdies share which teammate they would want by their side in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Check it out!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFjHr1k73DM

The Many Sides of Martin Paterson

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on Jul 31, 2017

Rowdies forward Martin Paterson may be intense on the field, but he does have a soft side to him, especially when it comes down to one of his children...

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http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/two-lower-division-teams-file-lawsuit-over-lack-of/a754xvfkwr2r1lfwep172sstz

Two teams file lawsuit over lack of promotion/relegation in United States

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Garber Mentions 7 Expansion Bids + Miami at All Star Half Time (self.MLS)

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r99bc/garber_mentions_7_expansion_bids_miami_at_all/

Garber Mentions 7 Expansion Bids + Miami at All Star Half Time (self.MLS)

Just watching the interview with Garber at half time. Said he expects to be in Miami in a few weeks time celebrating the expansion team with Beckham.

Also Taylor Twellman asked him where expansion will be next and he mentioned "seven interesting bids" by name... Sacramento, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Raleigh, Detroit, and Charlotte.

Not sure what to read into there, but he also said the league will not go past 28 teams during his tenure.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r98uz/steven_goff_mls_commissioner_don_garber_we_hope/

[Steven Goff] MLS Commissioner Don Garber: "We hope to be in Miami in several weeks' time to celebrate" a finalized expansion team (twitter.com)

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https://twitter.com/SoccerInsider/status/892930809463746562

Steven Goff

‏Verified account

@SoccerInsider

MLS Commissioner Don Garber: "We hope to be in Miami in several weeks' time to celebrate" a finalized expansion team

10:11 PM - 2 Aug 2017

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r8clw/miami_vote_taken_announcement_to_be_made_late/

Miami vote taken, announcement to be made late summer. Todd Boehly, not Becks to be principal owner. (twitter.com)

(Follow link for full article.)

https://twitter.com/kaufsports/status/892889942136893440

Michelle Kaufman‏

Verified account

@kaufsports

Garber: not announcing Miami MLS today, but confident we'll be able to do that, maybe be end of summer. @HeraldSports @MiamiHerald @mls

7:28 PM - 2 Aug 2017

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r5q5k/nipun_chopra_birmingham_and_memphis_will_be/

[Nipun Chopra] Birmingham and Memphis will be announced as 1st two USL expansion teams for 2019 season. (twitter.com)

(Follow link for full article.)

https://twitter.com/NipunChopra7/status/892795900053127168

Nipun Chopra, PhD‏

@NipunChopra7

Breaking: @SocTakes understands that Birmingham and Memphis will be announced as 1st two @USL expansion teams for 2019 season.

1:15 PM - 2 Aug 2017

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r465a/lalas_mls_is_starting_to_win_the_hearts_and_minds/

Lalas: MLS is starting to win the hearts and minds (socceramerica.com)

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https://www.socceramerica.com/article/74381/lalas-mls-is-starting-to-win-the-hearts-and-minds.html

Lalas: MLS is starting to win the hearts and minds

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r8vo0/joe_bruno_twitter_mecklenburg_county_charlotte/

[Joe Bruno] Twitter- Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) votes to back out of MLS stadium deal (twitter.com)

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https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/892914466664443904

Joe Bruno‏

Verified account

@JoeBrunoWSOC9

BREAKING (again): Puckett's motion PASSES 5-3. Scarborough votes YES. County will deed Memorial Stadium to City. No county MLS $ @wsoctv

9:06 PM - 2 Aug 2017

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r5gzh/lafc_announce_18000_season_tickets_sold/

Deposits LAFC announce 18,000 season tickets sold (twitter.com)

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https://twitter.com/LAFC/status/892787463281795072

LAFC

‏Verified account

@LAFC

18,000 strong.

#LAFC

12:41 PM - 2 Aug 2017

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https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/08/02/miami-mls-expansion-david-beckham-don-garber-sacramento-detroit-nashville

MLS Commissioner Garber Indicates Beckham's Miami Expansion Dream Nears Reality

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6r8snd/jeff_carlisle_some_nuggets_lost_in_the_beckham/

[Jeff Carlisle] Some nuggets lost in the Beckham hubbub. MBU is looking to buy add'l land, & his investment group will be adding "a number of partners." (twitter.com)

(Follow link for full article.)

https://twitter.com/JeffreyCarlisle/status/892911028299862016

Jeff Carlisle

‏Verified account

@JeffreyCarlisle

Some nuggets lost in the Beckham hubbub. MBU is looking to buy add'l land, & his investment group will be adding "a number of partners."

8:52 PM - 2 Aug 2017

(Follow link for full article.)

https://twitter.com/JeffreyCarlisle/status/892913588670791680

Jeff Carlisle‏

Verified account

@JeffreyCarlisle

Nothing I've heard so far would indicate that Riccardo Silva is one of the partners in question.

9:02 PM - 2 Aug 2017

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.mcalesternews.com/sports/national_sports/beckham-miami-bid-at-the-finish-line-mls-commissioner-says/article_f5343718-9e51-54e6-917f-f99ffb20868d.html

Beckham Miami bid ‘at the finish line’, MLS Commissioner says

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2017/08/02/major-league-soccer-adidas-agree-to-700-million-extension/#1a2e3084d891

Major League Soccer, Adidas Agree To $700 Million Extension

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http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/commissioners-to-vote-on-approving-funding-to-bring-mls-to-charlotte/579121015

Commissioners vote against funding for MLS stadium

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Mecklenburg County commissioners did not approve funding to bring Major League Soccer to Charlotte.

Funding has been a big point of contention in talks to build a new stadium to replace Memorial Stadium in Elizabeth.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/3170225/young-stars-show-mls-growth-but-next-step-is-for-league-to-let-these-stars-leave

Young stars show MLS' growth but next step is for league to let them leave

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/var-video-assistant-review-mls-major-league-soccer-pro/

Video review coming to Major League Soccer: What does it mean?

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/3170292/the-all-star-game-gives-mls-a-chance-to-turn-the-uninitiated-into-believers

The All-Star Game gives MLS a chance to turn the uninitiated into believers

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/3168153/mexicos-dismissive-view-of-mls-has-left-the-league-bereft-of-el-tri-talents

Mexico's dismissive view of MLS has left the league bereft of El Tri talents

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/adidas-extends-major-league-soccer-sponsorship-6-years-700-million-152955630.html

Adidas extends Major League Soccer sponsorship for 6 years, $700 million

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.sounderatheart.com/2017/8/2/16084406/mls-adidas-contract-extension-exclusive-youth-social-media

MLS and adidas continue their partnership through 2024 in massive new deal

adidas will continue exclusively supplying MLS and its teams with gear, kits, and equipment in a deal that highlights the growth of the league.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.oregonlive.com/mls/index.ssf/2017/08/major_league_soccer_adidas_ann.html

Major League Soccer, Adidas announce extension of long-term partnership

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https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2017/08/02/adidas-extends-deal-with-major-league-soccer.html

Adidas extends deal with Major League Soccer until 2024

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/David-Beckham-Major-League-Soccer-Miami-MLS-438157453.html

MLS Vote on David Beckham's Miami Team Expected Wednesday

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/var-video-review-mls-tfc-toronto-fc-greg-vanney-drew-moor-major-league-soccer/

TFC’s Moor, Vanney open-minded about video review in MLS

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http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2017/08/02/today-most-important-day-fc-cincinnati-history/532504001/

Is today the most important day in FC Cincinnati history?

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjburns/2017/08/02/why-target-is-placing-its-bets-on-mls-and-soccer/#687a9ccc1208

Why Target Is Placing Its Bets On MLS And Soccer

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.law360.com/sports/articles/950787/mls-deal-extension-makes-adidas-league-supplier-partner

MLS Deal Extension Makes Adidas League Supplier Partner

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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article165059862.html

MLS owners hear pitch from David Beckham. League decision on Miami team could come today.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://thecomeback.com/soccer/mls-adidas-deal-700-million-dollars.html

MLS reportedly signs whopping $700 million deal with Adidas

This dwarfs the previous $200 million deal.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/city-beat/article165106717.html

Sacramento a front-runner for Major League Soccer expansion

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http://www.wcnc.com/sports/soccer/four-county-commissioners-propose-mls-soccer-stadium-compromise/461497328

County Commissioners pass motion to deed MLS stadium to city

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-lions/on-the-pitch/94246572-132.html

MLS launches new instant replay program

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https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/08/02/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Miami-MLS.aspx

Vote On Miami Beckham United Expansion Bid Expected At MLS Owners' Meeting

Published August 2, 2017

MLS owners are meeting today in Chicago as part of All-Star Week, and they "could vote to approve" David Beckham's Miami expansion deal, giving Beckham and his partners the "green light they need to move forward," according to Michelle Kaufman of the MIAMI HERALD. Owners also could "a...

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.soccernation.com/opinion-2-teams-arent-going-anywhere/

Opinion: The “2” Teams Aren’t Going Anywhere

USL meetings in Chicago may be hitting the topic of MLS2 teams, but it's not likely that much will change.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://traveltradedaily.com/americas-travel-channels/item/1756-another-professional-soccer-team-for-las-vegas

Another Professional Soccer Team for Las Vegas

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http://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/arrested-atlanta-united-soccer-game/YPQQId02xUF9RtJt3CfBgM/

3 arrested at Atlanta United soccer game

It is not the first time one of the suspects has been accused of raucous behavior at a professional soccer game...

In the latest incident, Ambrose and two other men allegedly destroyed metal bleachers at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Jared Ambrose was arrested at a 2014 Tampa Bay Rowdies game.

Jared A. Ambrose, 27, of Clermont, Fla., and three members of Orlando City Soccer fan clubs were arrested after smoke bombs were set off at a July 2014 Tampa Bay Rowdies game, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The clubs were suspended and Ambrose and the others were banned from Orlando City games pending the outcome of their court cases. Prosecutors ultimately decided not to file charges against the fans.

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Freddy-Adu-set-for-trials-with-Polish-top-division-side-Sandecja-Sacz-565068

Freddy Adu set for trials with Polish top division side Sandecja Sacz

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.kolotv.com/content/sports/Renos-Hoppenot-named-to-USL-Team-of-the-Week-437954083.html

Reno's Hoppenot named to USL Team of the Week

M – Alex Morrell, Tampa Bay Rowdies: Morrell scored his first two league goals for the Rowdies, which proved the difference in a 2-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday night.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/watch-carl-ikemes-get-well-13422674

Watch Carl Ikeme's 'get well soon' message from former Wolves teammate in America

Former Wolves defender Neill Collins joined a list of former teammates in wishing Carl Ikeme a speedy recovery

The Tampa Bay Rowdies led by ex-Wolves centre back Neill Collins, took to social media to show their support for Carl Ikeme.

The popular Wolves stopper Ikeme was diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia back in July after a pre-season blood test and is currently undergoing treatment.

For those of you who don’t know, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are a professional American soccer team based at the Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Florida.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/819553

USL Discipline Report – Week 19

The two remaining accumulation suspensions will occur this Saturday, with the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Tamika Mkandawire suspended for his side’s game against the Harrisburg City Islanders, and Saint Louis FC’s Dragan Stojkov suspended for his team’s contest with the Swope Park Rangers.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/harrison-delbridge-brings-dominating-presence-to-fc-cincinnatis-defense

Harrison Delbridge brings dominating presence to FC Cincinnati's defense

Rainout gives defender second chance vs. Miami FC

Harrison Delbridge celebrates after scoring FC Cincinnati’s only goal during vs. the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Nippert Stadium on Wednesday April 19, 2017. (WCPO file)

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http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/271403679-story

Kriseman: Keeping Rays at the Trop is 'top priority'

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https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/07/31/19/32/20170731-feat-usoc-five-things-to-know-about-miami-fc-v-fc-cincinnati

5 Things to Know About Wednesday’s Miami FC-FC Cincinnati #USOC2017 Quarterfinal Clash

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/will-nasl-stop-playing-san-francisco-deltas-division-ii-sacntioning

Extinction level event? Deltas' peril pushing NASL to the brink ... again

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http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sounders/theres-4-billion-reasons-major-league-soccer-should-consider-adding-relegation/

There’s $4 billion reasons Major League Soccer should consider adding relegation

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http://www.fccincinnati.com/news_article/show/819342

Cup Preview: 8/2 vs Miami FC

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/fourfourtwos-100-greatest-footballers-ever-no-3-pele

FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No. 3, Pele

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http://www.espnfc.com/south-african-premiership/story/3167383/picking-an-all-time-kaizer-chiefs-orlando-pirates-xi

Picking an all-time Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates XI

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http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12870-selgascanos-surreal-auditorium-in-western-spain

SelgasCano's Surreal Auditorium in Western Spain

Plasencia, Spain

It sounds like a question for “Dear Abby”: how can the Spanish architects José Selgas and Lucia Cano reconcile their passion for nature with these crazy retro-’60s sci-fi plastic spaceships they love to build? In their auditorium and congress center for the ancient city of Plasencia in western Spain, their design took off from the premise of refusing to fill or urbanize the site—a steep hillside—opting instead to preserve its arid, rocky landscape dotted with wild mountain shrubs. Their building occupies the parcel as lightly as possible, with the sloping volume that holds the auditorium seating cantilevered off the ground. Originating with a 2005 competition, but completed only this year due to financing problems, the congress center is perched just beyond the city’s edge, standing out in its harsh habitat as an exotic, multifaceted boulder sheathed in pale, translucent panels of ETFE. Like a moated castle, it has a gangway entry, which is announced by its brilliant orange hue, and leads to a monumental, color-saturated entry porch. This space passes right through the building to a lookout on the other side that offers views toward the Sierra de Gata mountains.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.archdaily.com/876888/aperture-style-retractable-roof-at-atlantas-mercedes-benz-stadium-closes-for-the-first-time

Aperture-Style Retractable Roof at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium Closes for the First Time

Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium has released a new video showing the structure’s unique aperture-style retractable roof closing for the very first time. Designed by 360 Architecture (now a part of HOK), the eight ETFE-clad roof “petals” slide along tracks on the stadium roof to come together at a central point, much like how a camera operates. When fully operational, the roof will be able to open and close in less than eight minutes.

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/3171047/don-garber-confident-david-beckhams-miami-group-will-join-mls-by-fall

Don Garber confident Beckham's Miami group will join MLS by fall

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http://www.sltrib.com/sports/2017/08/03/david-beckham-moving-closer-to-his-expansion-mls-team-for-miami/

David Beckham moving closer to his expansion MLS team for Miami

(Follow link for full article.)

http://wvxu.org/post/fc-cincinnati-continues-open-cup-winning-streak#stream/0

FC Cincinnati Continues Open Cup Winning Streak

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http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/08/03/02/49/20170802-recap-usoc-miami-fc-v-fc-cincinnati-quarterfinal

Djiby Strikes Again to Send FC Cincinnati Past Miami, into Historic Open Cup Semifinal

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/other/2017/08/02/mls-commish-acknowledges-detroit-momentum/104245110/

MLS commish acknowledges Detroit momentum

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mls/2017/08/03/mls-one-step-closer-awarding-expansion-miami-david-beckham/535127001/

MLS is one step closer to awarding expansion to Miami, David Beckham

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-lions/on-the-pitch/os-sp-mls-miami-david-bechkam-0803-story.html

MLS votes to move forward in finalizing David Beckham's expansion team in Miami

(Follow link for full article.)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/beckham-team-at-the-finish-line-says-mls-boss/articleshow/59875677.cms

Beckham team 'at the finish line', says MLS boss

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-usa-beckham-idUSKBN1AJ08X

MLS chief expects Beckham to win approval for Miami club

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/99833/county-just-threw-huge-curveball-major-league-soccer-deal/

The county just threw a huge wrench in the Major League Soccer deal

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-haugh-real-madrid-mls-stars-spt-0803-20170802-story.html

MLS commissioner thinks All-Star game sign of bigger things for soccer

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/08/02/Facilities/Trop-Site.aspx

St. Pete Mayor Says MLS Interested In Using Future Tropicana Field Site For Stadium

Published August 2, 2017

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman yesterday said that MLS is "interested in using the Tropicana Field site for a bigger soccer-orientated stadium that could host the Tampa Bay Rowdies and big soccer-related events, such as a world tournament," according to a front-page piece by Johnston &...

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.givemesport.com/1114445-freddy-adu-posts-10-tweets-after-his-latest-move-falls-through

Freddy Adu posts 10 tweets after his latest move falls through

(Follow link for full article.)

https://lasvegasweekly.com/intersection/2017/aug/03/who-will-support-las-vegas-new-pro-soccer-team/

Who will support Las Vegas’ new pro soccer team?

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/money-for-pier-enhancements-on-st-pete-city-council-agenda-today/2332456

Money for pier enhancements on St. Pete City Council agenda today

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.socceramerica.com/article/74395/open-cup-cincy-set-for-another-possible-date-with.html

Open Cup: Cincy set for another possible date with history 

 (Follow link for full article.)

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/08/03/adidas-hedges-its-bets-continued-growth-us-soccer-with-lucrative-mls-deal

Adidas hedges its bets on continued growth of US soccer with lucrative MLS deal

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/why-a-soccer-stadium-is-the-last-thing-the-tropicana-field-site-needs/2332435

Why a soccer stadium is the last thing the Tropicana Field site needs

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Kriseman vs. Baker: What it means for Rays, Rowdies

(Follow link for full article.)

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/kriseman-vs-baker-what-it-means-for-rays-rowdies/460228803

Kriseman vs. Baker: What it means for Rays, Rowdies

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6qwd0z/kriseman_vs_baker_what_it_means_for_rays_rowdies/

Kriseman vs. Baker: What it means for Rays, Rowdies (wtsp.com)

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http://www.tbo.com/blogs/rays/kriseman-trop-potential-soccer-site-if-rays-leave/2332202

Kriseman: Trop potential soccer site if Rays leave

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/top-5-at-noon-kriseman-mls-intrigued-by-tropicana-field-as-soccer-site/2332218

Top 5 at noon: Kriseman: MLS 'intrigued' by Tropicana Field as soccer site; fast-moving Emily exits Florida; Miami-Dade preservationist tries to save one of St. Pete's historic homes; and more

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/kriseman-mls-intrigued-by-tropicana-field-as-soccer-site/2332210

Rick Kriseman: MLS 'intrigued' by Tropicana Field site for soccer

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6qz1sh/full_article_rick_kriseman_mls_intrigued_by/

[Full Article] Rick Kriseman: MLS 'intrigued' by Tropicana Field for soccer (tampabay.com)

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https://twitter.com/620wdae/status/892378520793620481

WDAE‏

Verified account

@620wdae

Kriseman: if the Rays leave, and the Rowdies get an MLS Team... the Trop site could be a soccer stadium

9:36 AM - 1 Aug 2017

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https://twitter.com/dareksharp/status/892378950168698881

Darek Sharp‏

@DarekSharp

Kriseman: MLS Commissioner Don Garber "intrigued" by Trop as POSSIBLE stadium site. Very preliminary, but interesting. Prefers to keep Rays

9:38 AM - 1 Aug 2017

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6qwmyh/darek_sharp_on_twitter_kriseman_mls_commissioner/

Darek Sharp on Twitter: "Kriseman: MLS Commissioner Don Garber "intrigued" by Trop as POSSIBLE stadium site. Very preliminary, but interesting. Prefers to keep Rays" (twitter.com)

Both Edwards and MLS released statements saying NOPE to the Trop idea.

Yup. Since that initial tweet quoting the Mayor, both Bill Edwards and MLS made statements:

From Bill Edwards:
I have a beautiful, privately-financed stadium plan at the Al Lang site that has already been submitted to MLS and voted on by the citizens of St. Petersburg. At this moment I am in Chicago for the MLS All Star Game and expect to meet with Commissioner Garber, Deputy Commissioner Abbott and other MLS executives who have seen the plan and liked it.
I never considered the Tropicana Field site - as I support the Rays redeveloping and remaining at that location.
From MLS: 
Major League Soccer remains interested in the Al Lang Stadium waterfront stadium site and we are open to evaluating other locations in the area that could be home to a soccer-specific stadium. To be clear, we are not interesting in Tropicana Field as the primary home for the Rowdies if Tampa-St. Petersburg is granted an MLS expansion team in the future.
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https://twitter.com/TorelloSports/status/892422665214070784

Chris Torello‏

@TorelloSports

STATEMENT FROM @TampaBayRowdies Owner BILL EDWARDS #COYR @BN9

12:31 PM - 1 Aug 2017

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https://twitter.com/TorelloSports/status/892435905419587589

Chris Torello‏

@TorelloSports

Here is the @MLS statement in response to Mayor Kriseman on @620wdae on @TampaBayRowdies and the Trop (per @sbelsole) @BN9

1:24 PM - 1 Aug 2017

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/6r0co9/whats_the_story_on_the_hoops/

What's the story on the hoops? (self.TampaBayRowdies)

So it's come to my attention that the Rowdies shop is selling the last of its supply of our cherished hooped home jerseys. Apparently this is due to the fact that Nike is discontinuing the style and we will see something new next year.

I'm hoping it's just going to be a minor alteration along the lines of the new USMNT new jerseys. Unfortunately that would also mean the complete loss of our iconic hooped sleeves. That would be tragic! SAVE THE HOOPS!

Get yours now! I believe they are already out of Men's Md and Lg.

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https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/7480173-beckham-closes-in-on-mls-franchise-but-will-miami-care-/

Beckham closes in on MLS franchise. But will Miami care?

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http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/08/01/beckhams-miami-mls-future-could-be-decided-wednesday/

Beckham’s Miami MLS Future Could Be Decided Wednesday

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article164747027.html

Beckham Miami bid ‘at the finish line’, MLS Commissioner says

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/soccer/fl-sp-beckham-mls-approval-20170801-story.html

Miami Beckham United could receive MLS approval in coming days

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4148867/david-beckhams-mls-franchise-in-miami-set-to-be-given-green-light-to-build-stadium/

MLS Nod to Becks David Beckham’s MLS franchise in Miami set to be given green light to build stadium

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https://www.socceramerica.com/article/74376/beckham-miami-deal-were-not-there-yet.html

Beckham-Miami deal: 'We're not there yet'

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https://sports.yahoo.com/beckham-team-finish-line-says-mls-boss-report-225554915--sow.html

Beckham team 'at the finish line' says MLS boss: report

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http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/08/01/beckham-team-at-the-finish-line-says-mls-boss-report/

Beckham team ‘at the finish line’ says MLS boss: report

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http://www.constructiondive.com/news/sacramento-ca-preps-site-for-245m-professional-soccer-stadium/448320/

Sacramento, CA preps site for $245M professional soccer stadium

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http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/john-gallagher/2017/08/01/soccer-mls-detroit-stadium/528642001/

Can hardcore Detroit soccer fans love a new team?

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https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/07/31/19/32/20170731-feat-usoc-five-things-to-know-about-miami-fc-v-fc-cincinnati

5 Things to Know About Wednesday’s Miami FC-FC Cincinnati #USOC2017 Quarterfinal Clash

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http://www.goal.com/en/news/14202/mls/2017/08/01/37475812/bastian-schweinsteiger-delights-in-all-star-captain-role-mls

Bastian Schweinsteiger delights in All-Star captain role, MLS experience

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https://abc7chicago.com/sports/schweinsteiger-believes-mls-could-be-equal-to-european-leagues-in-10-years/2264822/

Schweinsteiger believes MLS could be equal to European leagues 'in 10 years'

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http://www.espnfc.com/story/3169964/freddy-adu-in-line-for-sandecja-nowy-sacz-move-against-managers-wishes

Freddy Adu rules out Polish club move after manager labels transfer 'a joke'

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https://ghanasoccernet.com/freddy-adu-set-for-a-chance-at-polish-top-division-side-sandecja-sacz

Freddy Adu set for a chance at Polish top division side Sandecja Sacz

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/01/its-a-joke-polish-soccer-coach-not-happy-that-freddy-adu-has-joined-his-team/

Freddy Adu won’t be joining Polish soccer club after coach calls signing ‘a joke’

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http://the18.com/soccer-news/freddy-adu-poland-trial

Freddy Adu Is Now A Polish Publicity Stunt

A Polish team brought Freddy Adu in for a trial without the coach’s consent.

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https://www.dirtysouthsoccer.com/2017/8/1/16069984/mls-video-review-pros-cons

The case for and against VAR

Our writers Sam Jones and Joe Patrick share an opinion on how VAR will help and hurt the game.

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https://www.sounderatheart.com/2017/8/1/16023240/var-mls-faq

VAR goes live this week: Here’s what you need to know

We spent an hour watching MLS’s VAR seminar so you didn’t have to.

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/david-whitley/os-ucf-bobby-bowden-david-whitley-0802-story.html

Commentary: ACC's rise, NASCAR's fall give hope to downtrodden

If you like UCF or women’s sports or cricket or any endeavor struggling for respect, you can stop praying to Jude.

The patron saint of lost causes has been replaced by something far more earthly. Namely, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Major League Soccer.

MLS is starting to elbow NASCAR out of a seat at the head table of America’s sports. And if soccer kicking racing’s butt wasn’t startling enough, look who now rules the South’s national pastime.

The ACC.

[ . . . ]

As laughable as the term “ACC football rules!” used to be, arguing that soccer would supplant NASCAR was proof of insanity. But racing’s TV ratings and attendance are on a 10-year slide, and consider the latest news from the Fortune 500 front.

After 16 years, Target just announced it is ending its sponsorship deal with Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR team. That means Target no longer thinks it pays to plaster its name on the sport’s budding superstar, Kyle Larson.

It is putting its money on the MLS, which couldn’t give away franchises 10 years ago. Now cities are lining up to pay $150 million in expansion fees.

Orlando City is selling out despite the fact Kaka has had two flat tires most of the season. That must inspire the investors hoping to make Orlando part of a new cricket league.

I keep bringing up cricket because about 2.5 billion people love it, and approximately 14 of them live in the U.S.

If you think baseball is slow, cricket matches literally can last days. So the thought of it making it in the U.S. seems far more preposterous than the ACC making fun of the SEC.

But think back 100 years. America’s most popular sports were baseball, boxing and horse racing.

The NFL might as well have been soccer. Basketball might as well have been cricket. Women’s cricket.

Now 100 out of 100 Americans can identify LeBron James, and two out 100 can name the heavyweight champ.

SEC fans will argue that we’ve reached peak ACC and order will be restored. NASCAR fans will say Target is wasting its money.

But evolutions are measured in decades, not seasons. So if you are part of the poor, the tired, the huddled masses of American sports, take heart.

Nothing lasts forever, except maybe a cricket match.

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https://www.socceramerica.com/article/74375/garber-on-expansion-spending-and-what-keeps-him-u.html

Garber on expansion, spending and what keeps him up

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http://www.news18.com/news/football/david-beckham-close-to-owning-major-league-soccer-team-1480029.html

David Beckham Close to Owning Major League Soccer Team

David Beckham is "at the finish line" in his quest to obtain approval for a Major League Soccer expansion club in Miami, MLS commissioner Don Garber told the Miami Herald.

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https://twitter.com/ArthurGuisa/status/892185146601996288

Arthur Guisasola‏

@ArthurGuisa

@NipunChopra7 hearing Silva changed his mind about pumping $$$ to NASL teams and will now team up with Beckham. Announcement on Thursday.

8:48 PM - 31 Jul 2017 from North Bay Village, FL

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6qyhat/nipunchopra7_hearing_silva_changed_his_mind_about/

@NipunChopra7 hearing Silva changed his mind about pumping $$$ to NASL teams and will now team up with Beckham. Announcement on Thursday (twitter.com)

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http://www.usld3.com/news_article/show/819340

Zimmerman: Greenville ‘A Hidden Gem’ and ‘Great Market’

FC Dallas defender discusses potential Upstate team

Intrigue and excitement about professional soccer potentially coming to Greenville, South Carolina, continues to rise with each passing week, and current FC Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman is among the many eager to see the outcome.

In April, the United Soccer League announced plans to create a new third-division league to begin play in 2019. Since then, USL DIII Vice President Steven Short has visited multiple potential markets, including Greenville.

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/01/howard-webb-meet-soccer-referee-icon-launching-video-review-mls

Howard Webb: Meet the soccer referee icon launching Video Review in MLS

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http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/2105070/david-beckhams-miami-team-finish-line-says-mls-boss

David Beckham’s Miami team at the finish line, says MLS boss

Meeting on Wednesday in Chicago latest in ongoing saga over expansion side, although vote could go either way

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http://www.themalaymailonline.com/sports/article/beckham-team-at-the-finish-line-says-mls-boss

Beckham team ‘at the finish line’, says MLS boss

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http://www.firstpost.com/sports/david-beckhams-miami-expansion-bid-at-the-finish-line-says-mls-commissioner-don-garber-3884697.html

David Beckham's Miami expansion bid 'at the finish line', says MLS commissioner Don Garber

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https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/aug/01/column-relegation-us-sports-leagues-tough-sell/

Column: Relegation in US sports leagues a tough sell

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/soccer/fl-sp-beckham-mls-approval-20170801-story.html

Miami Beckham United could receive MLS approval in coming days

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http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/271403679-story

Kriseman: Keeping Rays at the Trop is 'top priority'