Soccer and Supporters

NISA finally released their initial 8 applicant markets for the 2018 season. These markets are: -Chattanooga (Chattanooga FC, currently NPSL) -Miami (Miami United, currently NPSL) -Phoenix -Charlotte -St. Louis -Omaha -Milwaukee -Connecticut Note: These markets are not guaranteed to have an NISA club. These are simply the markets where the investor groups are in the most advanced stages of discussion with NISA. They still need to be vetted by NISA and USSF. Letters of intent by 7 additional markets have been signed to join the league in 2019 and the league is in discussion with 45 other markets.  Initial reactions: Two things stand out from this list.  1. Half of the markets already have a successful division 2 team the NISA club will have to compete with. 2. The cities are more spread out than I was expecting. There's a substantial travel distance especially for a D3 league. Peter Wilt, the mastermind behind NISA, expected it to be like this as at t

The hottest debate in American soccer right now: Promotion/Relegation. The supporters of Pro/Rel For USA have always been there but it wasn't until recently that the movement had real belief that the United States could actually have a merit based pro/rel system. Riccardo Silva, president and co-owner of the NASL side Miami FC, made big headlines weeks ago when he offered MLS a $4 billion deal that would quadruple their media coverage. The catch? They must implement pro/rel. MLS turned down the deal. Silva wasn't done yet. Miami FC made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup, where they hosted FC Cincinnati. Before the game kicked off, Miami FC supporters unveiled the following two pole: This two pole was an introduction to the largest push for pro/rel in American soccer history. Silva teamed up with Kingston Stockade (NPSL) chairman and founder, Dennis Crowley. Crowley, an established entrepreneur, co-founded Foursquare and Dodgeball. His most recent succe

Everyone loves to be shy with the"R" word when it comes to soccer in North America. Some are too liberal with the word "rivalry" and some are too conservative. So i've decided to lay out some matchups that I think are and are not rivalries. (Disclaimer: I am not going to mention every rivalry. There are tons of contests in American soccer so I'm just naming the noteworthy ones) Rivalries Timbers vs Sounders -The two best supporters in MLS, the two defending MLS cup champions, very close geographically, lots of history between the two cities both on and off the pitch. This is the poster child for rivalries and the most obvious example. Toronto FC-Montreal Impact -This rivalry has existed for as long as the clubs have but it really solidified itself with the Eastern Conference finals last season. Two great teams with excellent fan bases. Alexi Lalas said the best atmosphere he ever experienced in MLS was Montreal@Toronto in the Eastern conference finals.