Rowdies getting closer to stadium goal in St. Pete ST. PETERSBURG — Over the next few weeks, the turf at Al Lang Stadium will be ripped up and replaced, a $250,000 investment by the city to placate Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards. The city may have to dig far deeper into its coffers, however, if it’s going to keep pace with Edwards’ ambitions for his soccer franchise. Rowdies play in the North American Soccer League where average attendances are under 4,000. Edwards’ talk of a 18,000-seat stadium has fueled speculation that his long-term goal is to take the team into Major League Soccer, the premier soccer league in the United States. “Certainly that would be a step up for us and I would keep it in consideration,” Edwards said. http://www.reddit.com/tb/27r4lc
Report: NBA owners eye investment opportunity in Sacramento soccer The owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings are interested in dipping their toes into North American soccer, with an eye on turning a wildly popular minor league club into Major League Soccer’s next expansion franchise. The Sacramento Bee reported on Sunday that the Kings’ owners are in discussions to invest in local USL PRO side Sacramento Republic FC, the franchise launched earlier this year that has smashed league attendance records in its debut season. According to the report, Kings president Chris Granger is expected to travel to Portland with current Republic owner Warren Smith this week to meet with MLS officials and discuss their interest in someday taking the Sacramento club up to MLS. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is also expected to attend the meeting on Wednesday, according to the report. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...s-eye-investment-opporunity-sacramento-soccer
Christmas will come early for Orlando City and New York City FC fans. MLS has reportedly chosen a date for the upcoming expansion draft that will furnish the rosters of the league’s 20th and 21st franchises. The draft will take place at 2 p.m. on Dec. 10. The existing teams must turn in their lists of 11 protected players by the same time on Dec. 8, giving two days to assess the options. The coin flip to decide which team selects first will take place on Sept. 24. Each team can only lose a maximum of two players to NYCFC and the Lions. Once a player is picked the team he was picked from may add an additional player to its protected list. The expansion draft is only 10 rounds, so not every team will lose two players. http://www.soccerbyives.net/2014/09/december-upcoming-expansion.html
2015 conference expansion and alignment With the addition of Orlando City SC and New York City FC in 2015, MLS will have 20 clubs for the league’s 20th season and will feature a new conference alignment. Most notably, the Houston Dynamo and 2013 MLS Cup Champions Sporting Kansas City will move to the Western Conference, creating two 10-team conferences. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/10/27/mls-announces-new-strategy-los-angeles-market
Renderings of Vikings new stadium outfitted for Major League Soccer The Vikings on Tuesday evening showed off renderings of their new stadium outfitted for a Major League Soccer franchise. In advance of that release at an event at their stadium preview center, we got a sneak peek at those renderings. The Vikings are one of two local groups vying for an expansion franchise, along with a group led by Minnesota United owner Bill McGuire. Both of them presented pitches to MLS officials at a recent meeting in New York, as did groups from Sacramento and Las Vegas. United is seeking to build a new stadium in downtown Minneapolis if it is awarded the franchise, while the Vikings’ group would house the team in its under-construction stadium. Here are a couple of the pertinent renderings, along with comments from Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley: The Vikings would use curtains to block off most of the seats, bringing capacity down to 20,000. http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/284544091.html
