Soccer in a perfectly good baseball stadium
Here's a familiar scene in Canada's capital. It's part of a proposed resurrection of the North American Soccer League, which failed 25 years ago.
The wiki on the old NASL has some interesting information. It includes this passage:
Over-expansion was a huge factor in the death of the league. Once the league started growing, new franchises were awarded quickly, and it doubled in size in a few years, peaking at 24 teams. Many have suggested that cash-starved existing owners longed for their share of the expansion fee charged of new owners, even though Forbes Magazine reported this amount as being only $100,000. This resulted in the available personnel being spread too thinly, among other problems. Additionally, many of these new owners were not "soccer people", and once the perceived popularity started to decline, they got out as quickly as they got in. They also spent millions on aging stars to try to match the success of the Cosmos, and lost significant amounts of money in doing so.Sound familiar, Portland? Go by streetcar!
Comments (3)
I remember being really bummed out when the Atlanta Chiefs folded when I was a kid.
Now I couldn't care less about soccer and I think this PGE Park re-renovation will end badly.
Posted by none | December 14, 2009 7:55 PM
Somebody civic minded needs to sue young Paulson for the con plus damages on this egregious "MLS won't come unless PGE Park is made soccer-only" business. I don't know which is worse, him for the lie, or the city council for pretending to believe it.
Posted by dyspeptic | December 15, 2009 12:22 AM
We actually have some signed NASL jerseys from the East / West All Star game framed and hanging here in the office from God Knows When™ because the company was a sponsor or something.
I actually got a little chuckle out of it, because the "east" jersey is bright red, and looks like something straight out of communist Russia.
Posted by MachineShedFred | December 15, 2009 7:37 AM