• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Charlotte FC / MLS Thread



Love that the news doesn’t realize there are a couple of pro teams in NC.
 
Twellman is now part of the apple MLS broadcast. I know he’s a lightning rod, but I think he’s a good commentator.

Apple making this 12.99 a month on top of your apple subscription is bad business though. I think they have misjudged the market, but we shall see.
 
Last edited:
Fayettenam said:
Twellman is not part of the apple MLS broadcast. I know he’s a lightning rod, but I think he’s a good commentator.

Apple making this 12.99 a month on top of your apple subscription is bad business though. I think they have misjudged the market, but we shall see.
Click to expand...
Twellman announced a couple days ago he was part of it. $99/season or non Apple+ people isn't terrible but its not a great plan for growth.
 
apparently 40% or so of games will be free to non-subscribers, as I understand it

but I think you still have to download the app
 
HuskyDeac said:
I was excited for the new MLS/Liga MX tournament but a 3 team group that includes RBNY for my Revs is a pretty boring start. As if playing them 3 times each season wasn't enough.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...ennie-in-usmnt-squad-for-september-friendlies
Click to expand...
The Loons get the Fire. I'm OK with that one given they're in the East and don't play Minnie much. I want to petition for the Loons to be moved to the East. As the crow flies they are a good two miles East of the Mississippi River. They deserve geographic justice now that St. Louis has joined the league and are the same distance West of the river.
 
Fayettenam said:
Twellman is now part of the apple MLS broadcast. I know he’s a lightning rod, but I think he’s a good commentator.

Apple making this 12.99 a month on top of your apple subscription is bad business though. I think they have misjudged the market, but we shall see.
Click to expand...
If you have a subscription already then the total cost is I think $70 for the whole season. If you do not have Apple+ it is $100 for the whole season. And there are a solid number of freebies on Apply as well as local broadcasts (just taking the feed from Apple I presume) and weekly games on Fox. We own seasons and we have yet to receive any info. from MNUFC about the package - which I think is a massive miss from a marketing perspective.

The lynchpin IMO is the local broadcasts being maintained. MLS is much more like MLB or the NHL in terms of drawing local support. I.e. - the NFL and NBA can put marque games on the tube and draw solid ratings outside local markets. The other leagues much less so. Only nutters like us are prone to turn on the Traffico if we aren't from LA. So cut your damn local TV deal and keep it available for bars, etc.

Also, I think when we hear the deal is almost 3x as much as the prior deal it is misguided. As but one example, MLS is responsible for the production costs of all the games. I bet it costs 50K or more to produce a single game. Stuff like that eats into their take and will add up. Also, the deal could be more valuable to MLS if the subscriber base grows (which over the course of a decade it better). The deal as announced is a floor on the gross take they get. Also, can they produce enough related content that draws in more fans - the whole human interest, behind the scenes, etc. type productions that has the capacity to draw in fans and create more revenue.

Another issue for the growth of the league is how MLS not only has to compete for new soccer fans - which at least locally I know they are succeeding at slowly via getting people into Allianz (one game is all it takes for people to pay attention bc the experience is so damn good) - but also by how we're all spoiled for choice by all the soccer available on TV. The whole MLS is below me crowd. I've never understood it. Are there a bunch of NFL fans who proclaim college football is beneath them?
 
DeacMan said:
If you have a subscription already then the total cost is I think $70 for the whole season. If you do not have Apple+ it is $100 for the whole season. And there are a solid number of freebies on Apply as well as local broadcasts (just taking the feed from Apple I presume) and weekly games on Fox. We own seasons and we have yet to receive any info. from MNUFC about the package - which I think is a massive miss from a marketing perspective.

The lynchpin IMO is the local broadcasts being maintained. MLS is much more like MLB or the NHL in terms of drawing local support. I.e. - the NFL and NBA can put marque games on the tube and draw solid ratings outside local markets. The other leagues much less so. Only nutters like us are prone to turn on the Traffico if we aren't from LA. So cut your damn local TV deal and keep it available for bars, etc.

Also, I think when we hear the deal is almost 3x as much as the prior deal it is misguided. As but one example, MLS is responsible for the production costs of all the games. I bet it costs 50K or more to produce a single game. Stuff like that eats into their take and will add up. Also, the deal could be more valuable to MLS if the subscriber base grows (which over the course of a decade it better). The deal as announced is a floor on the gross take they get. Also, can they produce enough related content that draws in more fans - the whole human interest, behind the scenes, etc. type productions that has the capacity to draw in fans and create more revenue.

Another issue for the growth of the league is how MLS not only has to compete for new soccer fans - which at least locally I know they are succeeding at slowly via getting people into Allianz (one game is all it takes for people to pay attention bc the experience is so damn good) - but also by how we're all spoiled for choice by all the soccer available on TV. The whole MLS is below me crowd. I've never understood it. Are there a bunch of NFL fans who proclaim college football is beneath them?
Click to expand...
In general terms, most of the world sees sports as a function of community. Really, it's an "in person" thing. In the US, professional sports (and increasingly college sports, thanks B10 and SEC) are seen as a TV show. The idea of "support your local" isn't really a thing in the US. You get guys from Winston-Salem saying they are die-hard Chelsea supporters.

Some of this is difficult because MLS clubs are so inorganic and didn't naturally develop out of communities the way clubs in Europe did, but there are still things that can be done. For example: play in young neighborhoods surrounded by bars and restaurants in 15-20k stadiums, not giant football stadiums surrounded by parking lots that fans might visit once a year. Build informal connections between youth soccer in your city and the MLS club outside of the DA structure that exists for elite youth soccer.

A great case study is NY Red Bulls. They play in a great stadium that was smartly built adjacent to a soccer rich community of mostly Portuguese-Americans in Newark, known as Iron Bound. There is a big and historic youth club there called Iron Bound that has a lot of support in the community. There are an infinite number of club names and identities that would be more fitting than an energy drink, and certainly than claiming to be an NY team. NJ Iberians, Newark FC, Iron Bound FC, Garden State FC, literally anything would be a bigger hit in the community than NY Red Bulls, and MLS needs to focus on making clubs a part of a community, because as long as American soccer is a TV show, fans will watch the EPL, which to us is a superior TV show.
 
HuskyDeac said:
I was excited for the new MLS/Liga MX tournament but a 3 team group that includes RBNY for my Revs is a pretty boring start. As if playing them 3 times each season wasn't enough.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...ennie-in-usmnt-squad-for-september-friendlies
Click to expand...
good link ;)

www.espn.com

Groups revealed for MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup

Fifteen groups have been revealed for the expanded Leagues Cup tournament that will feature every MLS and Liga MX club in the summer competition.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

I haven't thought too hard about it, but it does seem kinda tough to come up with a format for two leagues where every team participates and there are pretty uneven number of teams per league and 47 total teams

would have been more fun to be in a group with two mexican teams but alas
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
good link ;)

www.espn.com

Groups revealed for MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup

Fifteen groups have been revealed for the expanded Leagues Cup tournament that will feature every MLS and Liga MX club in the summer competition.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

I haven't thought too hard about it, but it does seem kinda tough to come up with a format for two leagues where every team participates and there are pretty uneven number of teams per league and 47 total teams

would have been more fun to be in a group with two mexican teams but alas
Click to expand...
I think one eastern, one western, one Mexican team would have worked, but more travel i guess.
 
NJDeac’22 said:
In general terms, most of the world sees sports as a function of community. Really, it's an "in person" thing. In the US, professional sports (and increasingly college sports, thanks B10 and SEC) are seen as a TV show. The idea of "support your local" isn't really a thing in the US. You get guys from Winston-Salem saying they are die-hard Chelsea supporters.

Some of this is difficult because MLS clubs are so inorganic and didn't naturally develop out of communities the way clubs in Europe did, but there are still things that can be done. For example: play in young neighborhoods surrounded by bars and restaurants in 15-20k stadiums, not giant football stadiums surrounded by parking lots that fans might visit once a year. Build informal connections between youth soccer in your city and the MLS club outside of the DA structure that exists for elite youth soccer.

A great case study is NY Red Bulls. They play in a great stadium that was smartly built adjacent to a soccer rich community of mostly Portuguese-Americans in Newark, known as Iron Bound. There is a big and historic youth club there called Iron Bound that has a lot of support in the community. There are an infinite number of club names and identities that would be more fitting than an energy drink, and certainly than claiming to be an NY team. NJ Iberians, Newark FC, Iron Bound FC, Garden State FC, literally anything would be a bigger hit in the community than NY Red Bulls, and MLS needs to focus on making clubs a part of a community, because as long as American soccer is a TV show.
Click to expand...
I honestly do not know where even to start with this take which is just incredibly off across many an MLS market.
Let me put it this way, the Minnesota Vikings and I know for a fact several other NFL teams engage with MLS franchises on how to make the NFL product more "organic". I know this because the head of corporate ticket sales for the Vikings coached my kids in hockey and has told me the Vikings have been trying to drive a greater sense of community among their fanbase and during game days. And there is no where in this state that remotely comes close to doing this the way Minnesota United does it. So for years they have been consulting with MNUFC about how to bring that sense of community and connection to the Vikes. Minnesota has MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, BigTen football, BigTen basketball and is the epi-center of college and high school ice hockey in the United States. It's a crowded market for the 14th biggest metro in the country. And there is no sports brand in the state remotely as "organic" as Minnesota United. It isn't even close.

The Red Bulls are the Red Bulls. Don't conflate their issues with those of franchises like Austin, LAFC, Portland, Sporting KC, MNUFC, Seattle, etc.
 
DeacMan said:
I honestly do not know where even to start with this take which is just incredibly off across many an MLS market.
Let me put it this way, the Minnesota Vikings and I know for a fact several other NFL teams engage with MLS franchises on how to make the NFL product more "organic". I know this because the head of corporate ticket sales for the Vikings coached my kids in hockey and has told me the Vikings have been trying to drive a greater sense of community among their fanbase and during game days. And there is no where in this state that remotely comes close to doing this the way Minnesota United does it. So for years they have been consulting with MNUFC about how to bring that sense of community and connection to the Vikes. Minnesota has MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, BigTen football, BigTen basketball and is the epi-center of college and high school ice hockey in the United States. It's a crowded market for the 14th biggest metro in the country. And there is no sports brand in the state remotely as "organic" as Minnesota United. It isn't even close.

The Red Bulls are the Red Bulls. Don't conflate their issues with those of franchises like Austin, LAFC, Portland, Sporting KC, MNUFC, Seattle, etc.
Click to expand...
With one word, you proved my point. "Franchise". In Europe you would never in a million years hear a club referred to as a franchise, unless by an American who would be ridiculed for such a statement.

My family are Glasgow Celtic supporters. That club was founded in 1888 as a charity to feed Irish immigrants in Glasgow that had fled the famine and it remains a critical cultural institution for the Irish in that city. Manchester United began as a recreational club for rail workers in that city and through the years has been a symbol for the working class. That is organic, or a club developing naturally out of a community. MLS deciding to create an expansion "franchise" in Minneapolis is not organic and is actually a pretty textbook example of inorganic growth in business terms. College athletics are the closest thing we have in this country to sports being a function of community, and it's why they are loved so much by so many despite the level of play being inherently lower.

The reason the level of play being lower limits MLS but not college basketball or football is college sports represent a community, MLS right now is like other American professional sports minus the superior level of play.
 
I would also add that there's a reason Scottish soccer fans support their league and not Premier League clubs and Dutch fans support their league and not French or German clubs despite being so close to superior leagues, whereas American fans support a league across the ocean. In those countries, they have clubs and not franchises. Soccer is a unique sport and while I am all for doing it the "American way", I think there are lessons to be learned for us in how we develop MLS. More community connection, less focus on TV and the corporate side. Sounds like Minnesota is thinking the same way.
 
Haven’t read through this thread, but High Point is getting an MLSNext pro team that will start play in 2024.


www.carolinacorefc.com

Carolina Core FC

Carolina Core FC is a MLS NextPro soccer team that represents the Core of North Carolina for what it is; a stronger-together community that loves soccer!
www.carolinacorefc.com
 
NJDeac’22 said:
With one word, you proved my point. "Franchise". In Europe you would never in a million years hear a club referred to as a franchise, unless by an American who would be ridiculed for such a statement.

My family are Glasgow Celtic supporters. That club was founded in 1888 as a charity to feed Irish immigrants in Glasgow that had fled the famine and it remains a critical cultural institution for the Irish in that city. Manchester United began as a recreational club for rail workers in that city and through the years has been a symbol for the working class. That is organic, or a club developing naturally out of a community. MLS deciding to create an expansion "franchise" in Minneapolis is not organic and is actually a pretty textbook example of inorganic growth in business terms. College athletics are the closest thing we have in this country to sports being a function of community, and it's why they are loved so much by so many despite the level of play being inherently lower.

The reason the level of play being lower limits MLS but not college basketball or football is college sports represent a community, MLS right now is like other American professional sports minus the superior level of play.
Click to expand...
LOL. Dude. STFU. I've been to games all over the fucking world - Italy, Spain, Germany, England, Scotland, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Denmark, Sweden. Spare me this bullshit about "franchises". Get out and live a bit. And MLS is fucking better than Scotland in terms of level of play. Fucking Celtic's idea of a big signing is a former Wake Forest player on the Canadian national team. Dumb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top