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Let’s dissect a yesterday’s news confirming Major League Soccer’s interest in New York City being the 18th team. Here is the quote from the Soccer Times article:
SoccerTimes was told off-the-record by an MLS official that the top candidate would be New York City with a soccer-specific stadium built adjacent to Citi Field, the Mets’ new stadium, set to open next to Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, in 2009. The league envisions a bitter rivalry between this club and the New York Red Bulls, who are based in New Jersey. League sources admitted, however, getting this done would be hugely complicated and largely dependent on the development of Citi Field.
To be honest, this quote says a lot that is common sense and should be discussed in individual posts, but let’s cover the basics for now.
A Red Bulls vs. NYC FC derby (or as I like to call it MetroClasico) would be insane. Not just for area soccer lovers, but also for the league. Being a top media center in the East Coast matters. Right now the league’s top draw, Beckham, plays many of his games at 11PM EST. Casual soccer fans are not going to stay up late to watch these games. Do you not think MLS knows this?
Fred Wilpon’s name keeps on being trotted out by Don Garber, MLS commissioner, and other league officials as a potential NYC FC owner. The fact that Wilpon, the Mets, and Shea Stadium are repeatedly mentioned means that this is for real. There would be no reason for Wilpon allow the MLS to continue using his name if he was not committed to bringing soccer to New York. This is not some panhandler on the E train, Wilpon does already own a Major League franchise.
Shea is an obvious location for a soccer-specific or multi-purpose stadium, but I hope that the league keeps its options open. A soccer team in New York City can survive in numerous places in Brooklyn and Queens, like Coney Island. Obviously, Manhattan is out and Staten Island and Long Island are less than desirable.
The real obstacle in bringing an MLS expansion team to NYC is the stadium issue. It is the reason that keeps coming up as to why the MLS will never come here. It is also the reason why we have to organize. We have an interested party (Wilpon) that has already built New York sports stadiums (Citi Field, KeySpan Park) and a mayor that is not adverse to funding their construction (Bloomberg). They just need the public support to show that New Yorkers really want to make soccer in the city a reality. Sounds like a New Year’s resolution to me.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 11:09 am and is filed under Expansion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
A second (1st really) MLS team for NY is a great idea but it’s ridiculous to have yet another stadium that sits empty most of the year, especially one built with ANY public financing.
Wilbon already has an amazingly favorable lease to play in KeySpan Park in Coney Island. Any MLS team should play there in a remodeled Coney Island stadium, not a new boondoggle in Queens.
Pretty much agree with you.
I would prefer a multipurpose stadium in Queens. Somewhere to hold events that are too small for Citi Field. High school championships, college games, concerts, etc.
KeySpan Park would need to be renovated a lot. Currently it holds less than 8K. A soccer stadium (specific or multipurpose) should hold between 20-30K.
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