Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
Not that it’s news, but the Union can’t find the goal.
For the children: the Union have announced their first ever Union Youth Pro Day experience where kids will have “the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a Union Match Day from the perspective of a Philadelphia Union First Team player, on and off the field.” Maybe we could sign a few of them.
Absences are killing Philadelphia as the losses begin to pile up.
Past and future foe Columbus’ formation shift is working out well.
Your weekly Union Fact Check.
Deets for the annual U Camp Out at Talen Energy Stadium after the August 26 match versus Atlanta United have been released.
Major League Soccer
The big story from yesterday: MLS rejected a 10-year, $4 billion global media rights deal from MP & Silva if the league instituted promotion and relegation. It should be noted that the Silva in the firm’s name is Miami FC co-owner Riccardo Silva. Truth be told, this is not as scintillating as it sounds: Why the offer was a non-starter.
Fresh off his national team debut, Dom Dwyer appears to be on his way back to Orlando City. This may also be an indication of the sale of Cyle Larin to Europe.
Power rankings from ESPN and Soccer America.
U.S. Soccer
While Mexico’s loss to Jamaica may hurt TV ratings, the U.S. are eager to win their sixth Gold Cup.
We should scrap the off-year Gold Cup and make it an every-four-years tournament.
This whole bid is just a grandstand play by Silva. He knows that it will go nowhere on several levels, pro/rel being the least of them. Economically why take $4Bn now when you don’t know the market in 10 years, why get locked in to a 10 yr contract when you don’t know the technology in 10 yrs, and MLS certainly can’t let Silva pick its domestic distributors. Just a big number to throw out to get headlines. Pro/rel, which will NEVER happen in MLS, is there only to benefit Silva’s team.
Here’s the thing I can’t reconcile…. Silva is willing to spend $4 billion in an attempt to get his team promoted to MLS. (Though in fairness, it could have been all a big bluff he knew had no real shot) In the meantime, how much money would it take to buy the Union? Gotta be A LOT less than $4 billion. I know people will say Sugarman isn’t selling, but there’s no way we wouldn’t sell the team if the right offer came along.
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Union to me seem like pretty low hanging fruit to buy into the league. If someone is really willing to pony up $4 billion for TV rights, why hasn’t the Union been sold? I’m sure there are people out there interested in buying into the league at this point.
Because they are located in Chester, PA, not Miami Florida. Any more questions? ;o
I’m not sure Miami is that great for a sports franchise. They’ve a tradition for not being able to put butts in seats…. And for $4 billion, you could buy the Union and move them to a Center City stadium.
Agreed completely. I know I’m not breaking any new ground here – but I don’t think people realize how legitimate and relevant this team will become if someone buys them and moves them to Center City or the Navy Yard. I understand it won’t happen, but it would completely change the entire look and narrative around the team. Not to mention it would mean we would have an owner who is willing to spend.
You can’t really suggest that Chester is a better place for a franchise than Miami, despite the lack of attendance. Also Silva was going to act as a third party with the TV rights. He’d buy them and then sell them around the world, theoretically making a healthy profit, while trying to get his team promoted. Compare that to just buying a team in Chester. It just doesn’t add up no matter how much you wish the Union had a different owner.
@Pete: The “tradition for not being able to put butts in seats” thing isn’t entirely accurate. The Heat fill up AAA consistently (before and after LeBron), the Panthers sell more tickets than the Devils, and the Dolphins actually have more people in the stands than the Eagles. They just have a comically big stadium. Sort of a RBNY effect.
Granted the Marlins have crap attendance, but I think that’s more on the Marlins than Miami.
I’m not saying I think Beckham will succeed, or that Silva could if Becks wasn’t in the way. I’m just saying it’s not because Miami isn’t an acceptable sports market.
I hear what you all above are saying, but Chester doesn’t seem to me to be that big an obstacle for buying into the club. You have a lot of USL and NASL teams that want to be part of MLS, but that’s a crap shoot at best. You have to negotiate with the league, with your local govt for favorable zoning/taxes on a stadium, etc. You could spend a to of money and still be division 2 in perpetuity. If you buy the Union, you’re in the top tier and your biggest issue becomes moving a stadium to Philly (if that you really believe that’s an obstacle). It’s definitely the path of least resistance to MLS.
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Perhaps the biggest obstacle, though, and one I don’t understand entirely, is the single entity thing. You’re not buying a team but franchise rights. I would think overseas investors would be pouncing on MLS teams if that weren’t the case.
Pete, what I see as the problem is that you keep talking about moving the team to the city. First, who’s going to fund that new stadium? When they get that built, what will they then do with the “complex” now in Chester? Would Silva then just leave it fallow? What does Silva then do with his Miami FC, since he’d also own BSFC?
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For me it’d be a lot easier to pony up 4 bn. on TV rights, then to buy an already established MLS team in the Union. There’s a lot less moving parts, and all he’s really selling is “rights”, not players, stadiums, properties, team ownership, etc. Then take into account how long “his” money would be tied up dealing with those things. He may never sell the stadium in Chester. Whereas the TV rights have a deadline. The MLS season has an actual starting point, which the TV rights need to be sold by. So the ROI is virtually immediate, there’s very little if almost no overhead, and his money isn’t tied up in land, players, and team ownership.
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Look I get people want a stadium in the city. Sure it would have been nice. But that shit ain’t gonna happen any time soon.
All4U, I brought up moving the team to the city because you and others suggested Chester is a dead end. While I’d love to see the team in the city, I don’t think I agree Chester is a non starter.
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My main point is not about bringing the team to the city but that if people are willing to spend $$ on schemes that would help them earn promotion — which let’s be honest is like wishing for world peace — why are there no schemes to simply buy a franchise.
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Building a downtown stadium might be hard but not impossible. Getting promoted to MLS, in my mind, is far more difficult.
Pete, I think Chester is a non-starter when compared to Miami. Dark, dreary, run down, in a NE climate Chester, vs. beautiful warm, sunny, vibrant Miami. It’s a no brainer. And I only keep talking about a city stadium because you brought it up. Basically we are going around in circles.
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In the end I guess it comes down to I don’t believe Chester is appealing in any way besides it has an MLS team. If I was looking to start an MLS franchise, I’d want it in a location with an actual ingrained opportunity to grow and diversify my potential income sources, i.e. an actual thriving community, which Chester is definitely not.
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As far as the “scheme” goes, it didn’t really cost Silva anything to try. It’s potential gains would have been huge for Silva, so why not.
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So I guess it comes down to how much someone really wants an MLS franchise. But anyway, this was fun Pete totally enjoyed this back and forth.
Sam, All4U. Beats talking about the team. 🙂