NASL Bid for Sanctioning Division 2 Soccer Includes Atlanta and Minnesota
The North American Soccer League released a press statement this morning stating they have submitted to the USSF their final bid for sanctioning of Division II.
The eight teams included in the league will be the, Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay, Montreal Impact, Miami FC Blues, NSC Minnesota Stars and the Puerto Rico Islanders. No details were given on the inclusion of the Atlanta Silverbacks or NSC Minnesota Stars.
“This is an exciting time for the NASL as it nears the finish line in its two year quest for second division sanctioning from the USSF. We were encouraged by fans to return second division soccer to Atlanta after a two season hiatus and are thrilled that over twenty years of continuous professional play in Minnesota will continue in 2011 and beyond,” said Aaron Davidson CEO of the NASL.
The Silverbacks, owned by Boris Jerkunica, withdrew from USL-1 (Division II) at the end of the 2008 season. They were signed on as one of the original NASL teams but were believed to no longer be interested in fielding a team in 2011.
The NSC Stars had recently made pleas for a new owner or investor citing higher than expected costs to run the team. The National Sports Center is a non-profit organization.
Click read more for the full press release
North American Soccer League Concludes Successful AGM and Finalizes USSF Application
Teams in Minnesota and Atlanta Added for 2011 Season
November 10, 2010 — The North American Soccer League (“NASL”) recently concluded its 2010 Annual General Meeting held in Miami, Florida on November 7th and 8th. The meeting was highlighted by the approval of two additional teams for the 2011 season – the NSC Minnesota Stars and the Atlanta Silverbacks – and their inclusion in the application to the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning as a Division II league. The completed application, which was originally submitted with six teams on September 28, 2010, was submitted to the Federation immediately following the conclusion of the meeting.
The application also includes San Antonio (which will commence play in 2012) and an additional team to be announced (which will commence play in 2013). The NASL is looking forward to favorable consideration of the application by the Board of Directors of the USSF at its meeting on November 21 in Toronto, Canada.
“This is an exciting time for the NASL as it nears the finish line in its two year quest for second division sanctioning from the USSF. We were encouraged by fans to return second division soccer to Atlanta after a two season hiatus and are thrilled that over twenty years of continuous professional play in Minnesota will continue in 2011 and beyond ” said Aaron Davidson CEO of the NASL.
Club owners and general managers will continue working on developing the schedule for the 2011 season over the coming weeks. The NASL plans to release the opening weekend schedule of games later this month.
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was established in November 2009. The NASL member teams include: Atlanta Silverbacks (resuming play in 2011 and 2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City), Carolina RailHawks, FC Baltimore( 2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City) , FC Edmonton, Miami FC (2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City), NSC Minnesota Stars, Montreal Impact (joining MLS in 2012), Puerto Rico Islanders, Rochester Rhinos, San Antonio (beginning play in 2012), AC St. Louis, FC Tampa Bay (2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (joining MLS in 2011). The NASL has applied to the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning as an independent second division league starting in the 2011.
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Wow, just read it on NASL.com and I’m not surprised by Minnesota (congrats to all you Stars’ fans!), but am REALLY surprised by Atlanta. The league removed the Silverbacks logo from their site even awhile back, so whatever is going on behind the scenes in Atlanta must have come out of left field at two minutes to midnight.
Obviously this must come as a disappointment to St. Louis fans though. BQ, at this point can we assume the new investor there just didn’t come through? Maybe if the league can be heading in the right direction after 2011, someone in St. Louis can step up and get back into the game. Without knowing the specifics of the Atlanta situation it’s hard to say 100% for sure, but I’m guessing the league is going to be granted sanctioning. This is great news for soccer in the US!
Just made comment about this on another post, and I’ve already said this a number of times. Just because they have submitted 8 teams doesn’t mean that a 9th or 10th could still be added. Lets not jump to a bunch of conclusions here quite yet. What we all know is these are the 8 teams that will play in the league next year if sanctioned by USSF.
I agree with Strikers Return. Not suprised by NSC’s inclusion. That’s great for MN soccer fans.
Completely shocked by the inclusion of Atlanta. Can’t wait to hear more details as you find them out Brian. I am really curious how the whole thing will play out now!
So, what are all the teams? I know you listed them, but NASL hasn’t. Maybe I’m just clinging to hope as an AC fan, but until I see that full list from the league and not anyone else…
FC Baltimore?
Well Thor, you do bring up an interesting point. At the end of the release it says this, and I noticed CP Baltimore is still on the list as if Rochester. I am guess that is for legal reasons. AC St. Louis is missing from the list. I find it interesting they are missing but Baltimore is still in. I am still sticking to my guns that Baltimore will not play and I still hold out hope for AC St. Louis but nothing is certain. I guess we will have to wait until the bid is accepted or rejected to know more.
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The North American Soccer League (NASL) was established in November 2009. The NASL member teams include: Atlanta Silverbacks (resuming play in 2011 and 2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City), Carolina RailHawks, FC Baltimore( 2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City) , FC Edmonton, Miami FC (2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City), NSC Minnesota Stars, Montreal Impact (joining MLS in 2012), Puerto Rico Islanders, Rochester Rhinos, San Antonio (beginning play in 2012), AC St. Louis, FC Tampa Bay (2022 FIFA World Cup ™ Bid City) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (joining MLS in 2011). The NASL has applied to the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning as an independent second division league starting in the 2011.
The inclusion of Rochester is remarkable, as is Baltimore… but it is not listed as CP Baltimore, instead it is something I don’t recognize: “FC Baltimore” Has this name been used by the club before?
What happens to the other teams then? I know we needed eight teams that fit the rquirements for the league to get Division II sanctioning, but once the league is sanctioned could it allow teams to join that might not meet the same criteria yet?
The bit at the end is just the “About us” blurb that you see at the bottom of press releases. It’s just mentioning all the clubs that were part of the TOA/NASL group last off-season. That Vancouver’s listed is also a tip off.
“FC Baltimore” might be a new team, you figure?
Too many FCs. Holy cow. And having Vancouver on your list of member teams is disingenuous. While having Rochester on the list is just dumb, given they announced they’re going to USL PRO.
Also, Atlanta? Okay, fine. Vaporware in my mind, but we’ll see.
And, once again…it’s not necessarily solely about having eight warm bodies.
If these are the teams:
Atlanta Silverbacks (haven’t been able to draw when they were alive)
Carolina RailHawks (still looking for more investors)
FC Baltimore (disaster whether it’s a new team or not)
FC Edmonton (is going to be a disaster, trust me)
Miami FC (has been a disaster from the get-go)
NSC Minnesota Stars (good luck to ‘em)
Montreal Impact (one foot out the door)
Puerto Rico Islanders (good team, needs better infrastructure)
Rochester Rhinos (nope, sorry, not here)
San Antonio (beginning play in 2012 – or so they say)
AC St. Louis (maybe not)
FC Tampa Bay (say they’re okay, maybe they are)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (already gone)
I’m not optimistic.
Then again, that list of teams and their problems isn’t much different from the state of D2 for the past decade. And that’s part of the problem: it’s time for us to stop this carousel of poorly-financed, underachieving teams. We should do better than this.
Hey look the sky did not fall!
OK, hope I don’t have to say this a million times. I’m sure part of this if for legal reasons. I am positive the lawyers combed through this thing and as I have stated previously, Rochester has a contractual obligation to the NASL. So I expect a law suite which again, I’ve stated here before. It’s nothing new. The FC Baltimore is the new piece to me and I am trying to follow up. Also, NSC MN is not returning my calls…yet.
Give NASL credit. They found their way to 8 for 2011. Now, can they make this sustainable long term. I wish both NASL and USL Pro luck. We need BOTH and need to stop taking sides of one against the other.
Atlanta will eventually be an MLS city, so NASL needs to replace that team down the road like Montreal.
I’m concerned about the financial status of most of these teams, but that’s something I was saying when USL was running D2 soccer in the States. And at that time the teams who were losing money had no say in how their league fees would be spent, and most never saw any return on their franchising costs.
I really hope that the NASL can continue to make a go of it, but I continue to worry about D2 soccer, just like I have since I began following D2.
I’ll believe Atlanta’s back when I see them kick a ball.
I don’t know about KT’s disaster thoughts about FC Edmonton. The other Canadian teams have done well, and Edmonton is a very multi-cultural city. Besides that, Last year with a handful of friendlies and nearly no advertising they drew better crowds then most Division II teams were seeing.
Montreal: 2106
Colo-Colo: 5573
Ottawa: 2903
Portsmouth: 8792
Victoria: 2356
Spokane: 1201
Miami: around 1200
@Daniel: first year teams almost always do well, even with nearly no advertising. The question is, how well can the team do in two or three years, especially when having to travel across a continent. As shown by Kerfoot, Saputo and Paulson, if the owner is a billionaire, pretty well. Otherwise, not so well.
@Daniel Blodgett – Don’t worry about Kenn, he’s doom and gloom, and mostly nasty about everything. LOL
@KT – Go back and read BQ’s explanation about legal stuff and the “signature” on their press release. It’s been plainly stated which 8 teams were submitted as part of the bid, and obviously Rochester and Vancouver were not among them. Maybe for once you could put away your poison pen, we all know your “misgivings” about NASL and D2 in general. Jeff above there is right, we can at least give them credit for getting a ground floor in place. What will they build on it? Who knows. Maybe the same garbage USL built, let crumble, built again, etc. for years. But it’s a chance to start fresh, just like the USL Pro is supposedly attempting to do. Let’s wait and see what happens.
KT can fight his own battles but I have to say I think he is equally critical of both sides and usually comes at an argument with more knowledge of the situation that most of us do. He has a lot of inside tracks. He is a sceptic in general. Not always a bad thing when history has proven we should all be cautious in this regard.
Don’t worry, be happy!
(if you can?)
traffic@traffic.com.br
Send them a small thank you note.
BQ,
Believe me, I’m well aware of Kenn’s pedigree. He wastes no opportunity in explaining it ad nauseam to us “fan boys” he looks down his nose at. There are plenty of times that I actually do agree with his ego, I mean opinions LOL. I just think he could be nicer about the way he expresses them. Obviously we’re not discussing rainbows and puppy dogs here, but in some of the places he posts comments around the web, he is over the top with bashing on people and calling them stupid just because they don’t have the same insider perspective he does. That’s all I’m saying.
Also, if he does really love the game and want to see it grow in this country, why all the constant hate? Those of us who want to see D2 and the NASL succeed deserve to be a little optimistic today.
Anyway, way off topic here, I’m interested to hear any details you can dig up regarding the ownership structure of ATL and MN, as well as who the mystery 2013 team will be.
AC St.Louis Press Release: http://floodplainfooty.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/ac-st-louis-press-release-regarding-nasl-bid-for-sanctioning/
It would be a sad thing to see the St. Louis bubble burst. Excited to see life out of Atlanta, very happy for NSC, but I too am cautiously optimistic about this working for any length of time. NASL would have a major point of pride if they can make this go in the southeast with Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Carolina when MLS hasnt been able to.
Equally excited to see Wilmington back after a season off! Im hoping the City Stars are the next team to come back from the dead and join USL pro. Wondering if the momentum of USL Pro will continue to grow and see other teams sign on, jump from PDL, or line up for expansion.
Sorry to piss in Cheerios but NASL submitted their bid with only 8 teams. I believe the minimum number of teams required to have a D-II sanctioned league is 8. If this is correct, there is absolutely ZERO wiggle room for NASL if USSF decides one or more teams don’t fit their new standards.
Many people have suggested, and I myself support, the idea that some teams like Puerto Rico may/should earn a waiver from USSF to stay D-II, but not all of these 8 appear to function as well as the Islanders–despite not meeting the Federation’s requirements.
Nervous moments after MLS Cup waiting on a decision!
Good news about Atlanta. I hope they are for real, cause that’s a semi-reasonable road trip destination for Florida fans. I also hope AC STL can compete the sale and get in on the action. It would be a shame to see such a promising market lose it’s team after just one season(especially after being jerked around with hopes of MLS for so long).
BQ:
As always, grateful in advance for anything you can find out about “FC Baltimore.”
One of the potentially interesting things about CP Baltimore is it seems to have a tangible asset of some value that would be entirely lost unless they field a team in some type of professional league. If Korey Veeder is on a three-year contract with the club, but the club doesn’t exist as a professional enterprise, is he effectively a free agent?
I believe if there was no club it would terminate his contract. Most contracts have something there that states that the team must play in a league at X division or something similar. If nothing else they can appeal to US Soccer who would most likely release them from their contract. Remember the USL releasing players from their contracts last year without going through USSF first? That was an interesting situation. But eventually both the Thunder and Cleveland City Stars actually release their players to look elsewhere. Listen, I have to hand it to the guys who play pro soccer. It’s not easy making a living. They don’t make a lot of money and every year they wonder if they will have a team or a league to play for.
As to FC Baltimore, I’m hearing same ownership, reorganization. Perhaps 2012? I have no idea after this past year why NASL would be interested however. Perhaps that’s a question we can ask Aaron Davidson and company in the near future if the league gets sanctioned.
Agreed on the difficulties facing professional soccer players in the U.S. The constant turnover in clubs makes multi-year contracts below the MLS seem ridiculous.
Which is why the Korey Veeder contract with CP Baltimore interests me. From the beginning, the club’s intention was not to have Veeder play for CP Baltimore but to get Korey into a “continental” European side. Veeder’s career development was imagined, I would guess, to track that of Miami FC’s Gale Agbossoumonde.
But Agbossoumonde’s contract had Traffic Sports behind it and they can park Gale at Esotril while exploring other options. I don’t think CP Baltimore or Crystal Palace FC can offer that would be the equivalent for Korey.
Still, CP Baltimore has the contractual rights to a promising youth player and it would be surprising to see that asset disappear without being capitalized on in some way.
Stop drinking the Koolaid people…
Atlanta, Miami and CFC probably are going to be saved last minute by a mistery donor (same donor who may or may not own another team already).. if they dont .. well there you go back down to 5 teams ACSTL needs to get a grip and get the deal done CPB is done done D U N done… and frankly this will drag on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on .. and whoever think ATL is getting an MLS franchise is truly delusional .. oh and by the by USHell pro is no better … i’m actually quitre surprised that Rawlins would get into bed with the likes of Donner and CE but hey .. we’ll see what happens with that one … also a reminder that the only reason we had a season in 2010 was because the federation really wants a WC and could not afford not to have affairs in order during a WC year
With all of the talk of DC United moving to Baltimore, I have to think that this would scare away any potential investors. This is why I’m surprising to hear NASL speak of what sounded like a new team in that area.
After all, if DCU moves in, doesn’t the NASL investor lose almost everything they would have invested?
Folks, there is no way that Boris is back fielding a team unless Saputo or Traffic is funding any and all operating deficits he has with the Silverbacks.
Further, I would bet a crisp one Canadian dollar bill that any funding coming to Minnesota from an “outside” investor will be coming directly from Saputo or Traffic’s pocket.
All in all, this is a shell game with funding from Traffic and Saputo. This is not a legitimate submission of eight individual teams.
Further, while I hope that D2 does survive, it needs to do so legitimately, as this is not a sustainable method to grow teams. There needs to be a plan that includes longevity, not smoke and mirrors.
We need to slow down and stop smoking the wacky weed.
Bart – did you complain this loudly when Anschutz owned 6 MLS teams?
Wow Bart that means MLS must be a fail because there was a time that the Hunts, Krafts, and Anschutz owned 10 teams and that was the only thing keeping it up. The there is the Old AFL where Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson saved the Oakland Raiders from going under in the early days of the league before the merger with the NFL.
Maybe they know something you don’t know and that is starting a new league isn’t easy and that if the new league is going to make it then the NASL owners are going to have to stick together. the Vancouver Ownership group and Saputo will still be involved with the league after each team joins MLS.
I get the idea from some of the comments here that Traffic, Saputo or anyone else funding other teams is wrong. They seem to forget that MLS exists because of Lamar Hunt and Anschutz owning a couple of teams when the league started.
I hope things get done, and we have a viable D2 season. I also hope well for D3 and the self relegating owners.
At the end of the day maybe it’s a win-win for all…
Doom and gloom. I face this on the Canadian Soccer Voyaguers forums as well. All of this doom and gloom from long time soccer fans in North America. I am reletively new to being a fan of soccer. I started watching Toronto FC on CBC, and was a little excited that Canada had a team in the MLS ( I didn’t know much about the other division or tiers of North American soccer even though I knew that the Whitecaps and Impact existed). When FC Edmonton was announced I went all out spending hours upon hours finding out everything I could about soccer in North America.
Step back all of you and look and soccer thirty years ago, then twenty years ago, then ten years ago, and then today. Think hard about it. Leagues and teams come and go, but each death and rebirth the game grows stronger here. In fact the MLS might become one of the most profitable leagues in the world as more teams like Portland, Vancouver, and Montreal enter the league with massive fan bases turning their wallets upside down on teams that have a salery cap and a limit of designated players.
The USSF’s new standards for Division II are tough but needed. If the teams have a field that can hold at least five thousand fans and an ownership group that has at least twenty million then the ownership group hopefully treats this as a serious business objective. And does everything necessary to bring in fans and sell the team to their community as a viable pro sports team to come cheer, drink, and sing to.
I am not crazy because I am new to this, but I know that the U.S. Men’s National team did well at the last World Cup, and the Canadian Women’s National team just won the CONCACAF title. Would that have happened thirty years ago? You don’t have to answer.
Folks, NASL is D2, MLS is D1,and how MLS evolved is a complete apples and oranges analysis to what is going on here.
This is a back door attempt by NASL to overt the D2 requirements. I wish this was not the case, but this is becoming clear as day.
The Atlanta-Boris Jerkunica deal was visiionary, it meets the net worth requirements, and is BS at the same time. I absolutely love it.
Minnesota is Saputo, loud and clear.
I realize some of you want D2 at any expense, but this does not solve the problem.
So, Bart, why doesn’t USL Pro need to do it right if it’s so important that NASL do? They’re deliberately circumventing USSF guidelines too, and they’re doing so to the detriment (read: destruction) of D2 soccer.
You state that comparing NASL to early AFL or MLS days is like comparing apples to oranges, but you haven’t given your reasoning for that claim. USL operated D2 “the wrong way” for 20 some odd years; why shouldn’t NASL get a try?
USL Pro is doing it (mostly) right – but they’re doing it right for D3, which has far looser standards.
That said, I see no reason why NASL has to do it right from day one, provided they’ve got a clear plan that the fed can believe in for how they’re going to get there from where they start.
Can someone help me understand this? I thought I remember reading that the new sanctioning requirements would include a mandate for 75% of the teams to be domestically based. Based on this press release, I see a lower number:
domestic: Atlanta, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, Tampa Bay
non-domestic (according to FIFA): Edmonton, Montreal, Puerto Rico
That’s 67.5%. Are they asking for a waiver? Did I read the sanctioning requirements wrong?
Ooops! Forgive my typo – 62.5%.
Has it been determined that Puerto Rico would count as a non-domestic team? I think with the NASL already proving to have future growth with San Antonio and the “team-tba” I would think US Soccer would have to take those in to serious consideration. I would have to think that to some investors an NASL team may be a more attractive purchase than MLS and if the NASL does achieve sanctioning I think you could hear a lot more about potential cities wanting NASL teams over the next few years.
Things may not always be pretty (read the early years of the NBA and NFL), but if Traffic/Saputo/ and what other money could be found are funding the first stage of D2 soccer, whats so horrible about that?
I hope Atlanta is for real. We have missed pro soccer in Atlanta.
I have no information, just speculation, that maybe the Atlanta “soccer cabinet” might be involved. The soccer cabinet is a group of high profile and high powered execs in Atlanta who feel soccer is good for Atlanta’s growth and international profile, with an eye to being a World Cup host city.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/business-group-looks-at-572467.html
Although the other goal is a MLS team, not having any pro team is a huge gap, so the NASL fills the gap and sets the stage for a possible MLS expansion team. The “soccer cabinet” would not have a problem finding some money to back up the current Silverbacks owner to get them restarted and meet the USSF Division 2 requirements.
Trevor,
PULeeeeze…. USL walked away from D2. They have a D3 sanctioned league with what appears to be 18 teams next year. I would say they learned their lesson well.
You want to talk about 20 years of errors? Give me a break.
Why not give NASL a chance? For what? To continue with the smoke and mirrors that these propoganda monsters protray, and you think this is good for D2?
LOL Bart…
There is obviously a personal agenda in regards to this entire situation that makes me (and most likley most others) chuckle.
As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet….”me thinks the lady doth protest too much”….
Hey Bart -
I am loathe to jump into this nonsense, but you seem to be misunderstanding the definition of “shell game” and “overt”. NASL has submitted a bid. It will be accepted or rejected based on merit, regardless of your vague grasp of English.
Hey Nathasn, I have no idea of what your are talking about, Tom, you are no better.