We all know about the USL drama after the sale to NuRock by Nike. Now it seems 8 teams will be playing in 2010 under the new structure.Jeff Rusnak of the Sun Sentinel writes:
The five USL-1 clubs and three other organizations, including 2010 expansion club Tampa Bay, are aligned with the Team Ownership Association (TOA), which wants the clubs to run the league, rather than a management entity such as NuRock.Here is my take, on the Stadium issue first and you can leave your opinions below:
"We will have an owner-controlled league by next year," Miami FC President Aaron Davidson said. "I'm not sure what it will be named and how it will be structured, but it will start with these eight teams."
Davidson said the club's "two-stadium solution" of playing in Broward and Miami-Dade will not continue in 2010
1.-If they stay at Lockhart they need to re-brand to Strikers but call them Florida so to not alienate the Miami fans. I don't like the old Striker colors though... They need to put signs out front and make the fans park towards the front of the Stadium on Commercial Blvd so people know something is going on.
2.-They might go back to Tropical Park, it's cheap and if Miami FC and Traffic want to start from scratch and build, they can do it there but they need to do it right. I think it's the worst stadium, the field is just too far from the stands.
3.- If they go back to FIU they need to do things for the students. Make double headers with the FIU soccer team or something. Get the student population interested in the team. Put signs outside on 117th, 107th Ave and 8th Street.
Now about the New League:
Someone mentioned the TOA talked to MLS in the past. Maybe they'll do it again and seek to become MLS 2. This is the only option that I see will make them credible.
A brake off league might not be approved by FIFA. As it stands USL is the 2nd division, but with all these teams leaving who knows what will happen. Will they be able to get into Concacaf tournaments and the Open Cup? There are a lot of questions.
This could be good if all these teams bring quality players. No matter what I will support Soccer in South Florida.
Vamos Miami!
