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Old 12-04-2013, 03:01 PM
 
Location: Cleveland
296 posts, read 658,406 times
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Major League Soccer names Orlando City SC as 21st franchise, set for 2015 debut | MLSsoccer.com

The Tampa Bay Rowdies are currently in the NASL, the 2nd tier of the American soccer pyramid below the MLS and above the USL. The Rowdies not only have the most rabid fan base in the NASL, they also won the North American cup in 2012. On top of that they have defeated top MLS teams in Gold Cup games, and beaten English Premier League teams in friendly matches.

Well Major League Soccer had decided to expand to Florida, and they have chosen to promote lowly Orlando City instead of Tampa Bay Rowdies. Orlando is making the jump over the NASL and straight to MLS, seems unfair to me.

Two main reasons I see the move happening is that Orlando City plays in the Citrus Bowl, a much more "major league" style stadium than Al Lang (current home of the Rowdies). The other reason being that the MLS had already had franchises in Tampa Bay and Miami that have failed, so now why not try Orlando.

Either way I think we were robbed. Wouldn't we all have enjoyed having a soccer team to route for, its a very niche sport in America but the cultural following is enormous and fits the St. Pete lifestyle perfectly.
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Old 12-04-2013, 03:19 PM
 
15 posts, read 76,029 times
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Agree - it would be great to see Rowdies in the MLS. As you say, the main reason is probably the Al Lang stadium, which is not supposed to be hosting soccer games...
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Old 12-04-2013, 03:56 PM
 
6,617 posts, read 5,009,834 times
Reputation: 3689
Quote:
Originally Posted by romes591 View Post
Major League Soccer names Orlando City SC as 21st franchise, set for 2015 debut | MLSsoccer.com

The Tampa Bay Rowdies are currently in the NASL, the 2nd tier of the American soccer pyramid below the MLS and above the USL. The Rowdies not only have the most rabid fan base in the NASL, they also won the North American cup in 2012. On top of that they have defeated top MLS teams in Gold Cup games, and beaten English Premier League teams in friendly matches.

Well Major League Soccer had decided to expand to Florida, and they have chosen to promote lowly Orlando City instead of Tampa Bay Rowdies. Orlando is making the jump over the NASL and straight to MLS, seems unfair to me.

Two main reasons I see the move happening is that Orlando City plays in the Citrus Bowl, a much more "major league" style stadium than Al Lang (current home of the Rowdies). The other reason being that the MLS had already had franchises in Tampa Bay and Miami that have failed, so now why not try Orlando.

Either way I think we were robbed. Wouldn't we all have enjoyed having a soccer team to route for, its a very niche sport in America but the cultural following is enormous and fits the St. Pete lifestyle perfectly.
MLS has been very careful about expanding, why would they go to Tampa, like you stated the Mutiny failed, not to mention the attendance at rays games has been dismal.
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Old 12-05-2013, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Terra
2,826 posts, read 3,991,787 times
Reputation: 3374
Orlando will fail even worse.
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Old 12-05-2013, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Native of Any Beach/FL
35,699 posts, read 21,054,375 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsun556 View Post
Orlando will fail even worse.
dont think so
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Old 12-05-2013, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Terra
2,826 posts, read 3,991,787 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinytrump View Post
dont think so
How so? The traffic is worse and the only reason anyone goes to Orlando is for the tourism aspect. I doubt many tourists are going to be interested in going to the local soccer game.
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Old 12-05-2013, 09:20 AM
 
6,617 posts, read 5,009,834 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsun556 View Post
How so? The traffic is worse and the only reason anyone goes to Orlando is for the tourism aspect. I doubt many tourists are going to be interested in going to the local soccer game.
The Magic consistently ranks in the bottom 30% of attendance and you are talking about a smaller arena, Orlando is so spread out, their hope would be from the suburbs to come in for the games and if we are talking about the Citrus Bowl I doubt people would want to go into the belly of the beast in a traffic sense, not to mention the area around there is rough. they would be better putting the stadium on the suburbs than downtown especially since they don't have a significant mass transit system.
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Old 12-05-2013, 09:30 AM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,305,052 times
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If your Rowdies played at Al Lang stadium wouldnt that be St Petes team rather than Tampas team?
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Old 12-05-2013, 09:36 AM
 
27,215 posts, read 43,923,184 times
Reputation: 32292
Quote:
Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT View Post
The Magic consistently ranks in the bottom 30% of attendance and you are talking about a smaller arena, Orlando is so spread out, their hope would be from the suburbs to come in for the games and if we are talking about the Citrus Bowl I doubt people would want to go into the belly of the beast in a traffic sense, not to mention the area around there is rough. they would be better putting the stadium on the suburbs than downtown especially since they don't have a significant mass transit system.
Spot on, and let's not forget Orlando ranks near the bottom of the pile of major metro areas in terms of Disposable Income Per Capita.
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Old 12-05-2013, 10:09 AM
 
Location: Orlando Metro Area
3,595 posts, read 6,947,113 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT View Post
The Magic consistently ranks in the bottom 30% of attendance and you are talking about a smaller arena,
No. Not even with one of the worst records in team history do the Magic have a serious problem with attendance. I think if I we're you, I'd do some more research before trying to discredit how Orlando supports it's team.


2012-2013 NBA Attendance - National Basketball Association - ESPN

Now if you wanna talk about a city that doesn't show up to support it's teams, then I suggest Tampa look in the mirror. Just Google Bucs and the stories will show up about tv blackouts and possible relo talks, something the Magic have no worries about. But here, stats are always better:


2013 NFL Football Attendance - National Football League - ESPN

What's that, the Rays are really good you say and I should have quoted their numbers because certainly they'll be atop the struggling baseball world. Oh wait, nevermind.


2013 MLB Attendance - Major League Baseball - ESPN

Hey, there's always the Lightning, which are the only team in Tampa that pulls what it should.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT View Post
Orlando is so spread out, their hope would be from the suburbs to come in for the games and if we are talking about the Citrus Bowl I doubt people would want to go into the belly of the beast in a traffic sense, not to mention the area around there is rough. they would be better putting the stadium on the suburbs than downtown especially since they don't have a significant mass transit system.
Now onto your next ridiculous point. So hows that working out for you in Tampa having your Rays across the Bay and your Bucs out off Dale Mabry? But then again, if Orlando's downtown was as lackluster as Tampa's then I'd probably feel the same way about putting the stadium in the suburbs. But thankfully, it's not. We've been improving our downtown and keeping the NBA arena there and building the soccer stadium there were bottom lines for the mayor and many civic leaders. Even when a super rich hotelier tried to lure the Magic to I-drive down by the attractions, the locals and city combined, and fought to keep our team in our city core. ...shows how much (rather little) you know about Orlando.

Quote:
Originally Posted by romes591 View Post
Two main reasons I see the move happening is that Orlando City plays in the Citrus Bowl, a much more "major league" style stadium than Al Lang (current home of the Rowdies). The other reason being that the MLS had already had franchises in Tampa Bay and Miami that have failed, so now why not try Orlando.

Either way I think we were robbed. Wouldn't we all have enjoyed having a soccer team to route for, its a very niche sport in America but the cultural following is enormous and fits the St. Pete lifestyle perfectly.
Well actually building a much much smaller capacity soccer specific stadium was part of the deal that landed Orlando the MLS. Question, how do you feel you we're robbed. You guys already were given a shake by the MLS and it didn't pan out. Orlando did everything right from getting the right sponsors onboard, to getting the word out, to securing everything needed to earn this franchise. So while I do feel sorry that your team didn't make it, your post tries to negate all the hard work this community did to earn it's 2nd true major league sport.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jsun556 View Post
Orlando will fail even worse.
Only time will tell, but I'd have to say that I wouldn't root for anything in Tampa to fail. I'm actually taken back by all the negativity directed to Orlando for doing something great. It speaks jealously to me, which is just silly. I'd love an NHL team but I'm not hoping for the Lightning to fail.

Last edited by OrlFlaUsa; 12-05-2013 at 10:18 AM..
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