Soccer and Supporters

Columbus Crew relocating to Austin-  Columbus Crew owner, Anthony Precourt, has announced the team will relocate to Austin, TX in 2019 if a new stadium is not built in downtown Columbus. The Crew were the first ever team in MLS and play in MAPFRE stadium, the first soccer specific stadium built by an MLS team. Precourt cites financial reasons as why the team should move to Austin. Columbus has the cheapest ticket prices in the league and still on average just over 15,000/game, the two combine for the lowest ticket revenue in MLS. Lack of corporate sponsors is also a problem holding the Crew back financially. The story was first reported by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl and can be found here.  MLS2 teams on the way out of USL-  Rumors have been circulating on Twitter that several MLS2 teams (Whitecaps 2, Orlando City B, Bethlehem Steel, and Sounders 2) would not be in operation next season and the parent clubs would create partnerships with independent USL clubs instead. It seem

American soccer has glaring flaws. Let's try to fix a few, shall we? USSF -Get rid of Sunil Gulati (ideally replaced by Eric Wynalda but i'm not picky) -Implement a merit based promotion/relegation pyramid system -Increase prize money and marketing budget for the US Open Cup -Pay women's and men's national team players the same -Invest more money into youth development infrastructure and good youth coaches -Fire Bruce Arena, replace with someone more competent like a squirrel -Create a women's US Open Cup -Grant division two sanctioning to USL and NASL -End the pay-to-play approach to youth soccer (subsidize?) MLS -Get NYCFC out of Yankee Stadium (and out of Connecticut) -Build a soccer specific stadium for the New England Revolution closer to Boston (Kraft out) -Promote youth development more (more programs like homegrown players) -Encourage more world class training facilities like Atlanta United's -Stop banning (mainly away) supporters for s

I'm not shy about my opinions on American soccer, but I thought i'd make a compilation of my unpopular/controversial opinions on the domestic game. - Portland supporters are better than Seattle supporters - I like the New England Revolution's logo - Detroit City FC has the best supporter's culture in the US/Canada - The NASL has the best group of owners in American soccer (Rocco Comisso, Riccardo Silva, Robert Palmer) - Minnesota United will be a huge success in MLS - NYCFC is an embarrassment to American soccer and MLS - The "fangirls" of USWNT and women's soccer (those weird ones) are holding it back - The average MLS atmosphere is far better than the average Premier League atmosphere - The American Outlaws do a great job - Country > Club - NASL games are far more fun to watch than USL games - USL has too many teams and DEFINITELY needs to stop expanding - Since pro/rel does not exist, the need for division sanctioning does n