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...

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....

MLS The Faction (Atlanta United) Resurgence (Atlanta United) Midnight Riders (New England Revolution) Treasure Coast Collective (Affiliate of Ruckus, Orlando City) El Matador (FC Dallas) WolfsHeadSG (Minnesota United) True North Elite (Minnesota United) District 9 Ultras (LAFC) Black Army 1850 (LAFC) Cuervos (LAFC) Luckys (LAFC) Los Angelinos Orginales (LAFC) Lxs Tigres del NorthEnd (LAFC) RSL RioT Brigade (Real Salt Lake) Empire SC (New York Red Bulls) Southern Legion (Miami MLS) Gorilla FC (Seattle Sounders) District Ultras (DC United) The Ruckus (Orlando City) The Siege (Inter Miami) District Ultras (DC United) La Banda del Distro (DC United) La Banda Roja (Chicago Fire) Section 8 (Chicago Fire) Auxilia One (FC Cincinnati) Curva Collective (Vancouver Whitecaps) Vancouver Southsiders (Vancouver Whitecaps) El Batallon (Houston Dynamo) NWSL The Crown (Orlando Pride) Black Swans Drinking Club (Orlando Pride) Chicago Local 134 (Chicago Red Stars)...

Everyone loves to hate newly created clubs with an immense amount of money that are placed straight into MLS, and they have an argument. However, I think Atlanta United and LAFC are very similar clubs and are very good for soccer in the US. Here's why. 1. Emphasis on youth development These clubs are the only two in MLS history that have put out an academy team over a year before the first team will play a game. They have shown developing young players is incredibly important, a value that is lost on many MLS clubs. Establishing a good academy will prove to have many benefits for both of these clubs. Atlanta winning the U15/U16 national championship and their first year is a massive accomplishment. 2. World class facilities Both clubs are moving into incredibly nice and brand new stadiums soon (LAFC's soccer specific stadium to cost $250 million, Atlanta United's stadium that's shared with the Falcons cost $1.2 billion). They have also built (or are build...

12 Cities are battling it out to be awarded the next 4 MLS expansion spots. These next 4 teams will bring the league to 28 teams, its stopping point (LAFC is 23 and Miami is still assumed to be 24). I will be ranking the 12 candidates from best expansion cities to worst, as well as giving a detailed overview to the pros and cons of expanding to that city. 1. Cincinnati Cincinnati makes to most sense. If you've talked with me on Instagram about MLS expansion, you know i'm a big supporter of MLS to Cincinnati. FC Cincinnati is averaging 19,887 per league game this season which leads all of division two American soccer by 8,318 (not counting a few USOC games with 30k+). This is also a better average than 10 current MLS clubs this season (including in-state rival Columbus Crew who have the worst attendance in MLS with just 14,139/game). Not only is the attendance top notch, but the ownership group is more than capable of supporting the club to MLS. Just the other day, FCC announ...

Arguably the best story in American soccer this season has been AFC Mobile. The Gulf Coast Premier League (GCPL) club has played through their inaugural home schedule, breaking the league attendance record almost every week. The very first game AFC Mobile was played in front of a crowd of over 800. All other GCPL clubs are lucky to get 200 to a game. That wasn't a fluke. As the season went on, attendance got better. AFC Mobile's second game drew a crowd of 924. The club finished the inaugural year with an average attendance of 907. Their last home game of the season drew a crowd of 1,040. Four digits was unheard of for this level of soccer. This begs the question: What is AFC Mobile doing right? AFC Mobile sits at the bottom of the table with only three points in nine games (the team has yet to win a game in its history), so a good team can't be what's selling tickets. I obviously have no affiliation with the club, but i've noticed several things about how...