It’s Official – Carolina RailHawks Will Return
Triangle Offense blog broke the story late last night and the NASL confirmed it this morning. The NASL team in Carolina will continue on with the name Carolina RailHawks.
The NASL released a press statement this morning explaining that as previously announced, Traffic Sports USA have acquired the name to the RailHawks. The statement also confirmed what Aaron Davidson had told Daniel Feuerstein’s “Feuerstein’s Fire” podcast on Monday evening. Davidson revealed in that interview that Traffic had won the eBay auction for the name. Traffic paid $14,999.00 to win the bid.
The statement also confirms that Cary resident Dr. Paul Singh will be a local minority partner of the team.
“On behalf of the NASL, we are thankful and thrilled that Traffic and Singh Holdings have stepped up to continue professional soccer in the Triangle area,” said Enrique Sanz, Vice President of Traffic Sports. “We were always confident that we would find a way to continue professional soccer in Carolina, especially considering their success on the field and the sponsorship support they have received. However, the fact that they were able to acquire the RailHawks name in an auction this past weekend makes it even sweeter. It’s very fitting that we will officially launch the new NASL with the new Carolina RailHawks hosting a rematch of last year’s championship against the Puerto Rico Islanders, one of the top teams in the CONCACAF region.”
The statement also confirmed news the Triangle Offense had broken previously, that the president of the team will be Curt Johnson. Many will be familiar with the name as the former GM of the then KC Wizards who was in charge of the organization when the Wizards won the MLS Cup in 2000. Johnson is familiar with the area. He’s a Raleigh native, former captain of Raleigh-based North Carolina State University, a product of local standout youth club, CASL.
Martin Rennie, who successfully led the RailHawks to the playoffs each of the past two seasons with the team, will continue to lead the new team as Head Coach.
“Traffic Sports is excited about the new Carolina RailHawks,” said Sanz. “We believe that the Triangle area is a great market and that the Carolina RailHawks will be one of the model teams of the NASL. We look forward to continuing the winning tradition of the RailHawks on the field and to taking the commercial operation to that same championship level. And with the hiring of Curt Johnson, returning home to guide this team, and Martin Rennie, considered one of the top young coaches in the United States, we believe we are well on our way to building an all-around championship team.”
A press conference is being scheduled and will be announced in the coming days.
Comments are closed.
Any word on the status of player contracts? Is Nic Platter still with the team?
Excellent news! It’s nice to see some positives for the NASL. Being able to keep the Railhawks name will make the marketing job far easier then having to start over with brand recognition.
This is great news. I am happy the name will continue on. I always liked that name.
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I would like to point out that on a normally slow Friday for IMS, there has already been three quality articles published. I know how difficult it is to keep a site like this up and not get burnt out, but adding Gerry Whitman was a great move! Keep it up.
Good work.
“On behalf of the NASL, we are thankful and thrilled that Traffic and Singh Holdings have stepped up to continue professional soccer in the Triangle area,” said Enrique Sanz, Vice President of Traffic Sports.
I like the fact that Traffic sports thanked itself. I thought the NASL was a league and Traffic was just four teams in the league. Where are the NASL league spokespeople. Oh wait they don’t have one.
@william-
The NASL doesn’t have any spokespeople because all of the cheap ones are speaking on behalf of the USL on soccer blogs.
Great news! I’m happy for Railhawks fans.
@superrookie I don’t think you understand my concern for NASL. I believe we need a D2 league. But the NASL is not ready to meet those D2 standards. More teams might come into the NASL if they would start at D3 and then move up to D2 standards. Right now nobody in their right mind thinking objectively can say that the NASL is meeting those standards. The NASL should take baby steps. They need to open a league office. Focus in on local marketing of their teams. Looking for ownership groups that are willing to grow into a D2 league. It is quite disturbing to soccer fans that Traffic owns 4 teams and claims to say the league is stable at D2. When MLS was mostly owned by AEG, Hunt and Kraft nobody at the time would have asked them to start bringing in World Class soccer stars for each market. These owners went on much smaller budgets and have slowly built the league up. NASL should take a page from MLS on slow and steady growth. One must crawl before you can walk. NASL is trying to run right now.
@WIlliam: You beat me to the point about the hilarious nature of the Traffic thanking itself. You just one a cold beverage on me.
Freaking hilaraaaarrrrious.
Props to you, Playah.
“It’s very fitting that we will officially launch the new NASL with the new Carolina RailHawks hosting a rematch of last year’s championship against the Puerto Rico Islanders…”
Uhm, one of the worst, tired cliches in sport. It’s not a “rematch” if their isn’t a league chamiponship trophy on the line; it’s just a season opener for the league that Traffic gave birth to if they can get the USSF sanctioning.
Having said that, I have that date marked on my calendar. Hope that the new Railhawks can get the money, Fairfield Inn-Carolina Railhawks discount back; That joint was nice and the price was sweeeeeet.
@yankiboy ” On behalf of the cheap ones on soccer blogs I want to thank yankiboy and @william for having the insight to growing minor league soccer in the US” Said William of cheap ones supporting USL on Soccer Blogs
@ William – you hit the nail on the head with your comments. I am not sure how this news is good for NASL. The USSF has concerns that Traffic is funding the league and rightfully so. Which owner (current and future) in their right mind would be happy about a “team owned and controlled league” when Traffic – who in the first place made the biggest investment to start the league, now controls 4 seats in the Board of Governors with 4 teams that they basically own and control. So now no matter what – Traffic runs the entire show.
NASL bit off more than they can chew – and if they cannot get sanctioning in 2011 – at least two teams jump ship. Tampa probably to USL (since Orlando is there), and PR (probably to USL or maybe even to their domestic league in PR). That would leave NASL / Traffic with 4 out of 6 teams and Montreal going to MLS in 2012.
They are not in a good place right now!
@William – I’m not sure why everyone thinks the D2 standards are some elusive mystery that just can’t be reached. USSF told everyone loudly and clearly that they are taking the standards very seriously by removing NASL’s provisional sanctioning. In about a week we will find out IN FACT, not in everyone’s opinions, if NASL has met the USSF standards.
@PHXSoccer71 – I’m really getting tired of hearing people who don’t have their facts straight saying that Traffic owns “4″ teams now. Traffic does not own Minnesota. Go back and read BQ’s reports on HIS team. The NASL owns Minnesota. Traffic owns and controls the (soon to be) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. Traffic has given financial backing to the Silverbacks organization. Traffic does not control the Silverbacks. To find out who does, again, go back and read the stories on this site. Carolina we are only really starting to learn the details about now. But again, the report here is Traffic is putting most of the money behind the Railhawks, but Davidson is not running the team. Once again, check out the story above and pay attention to the remarks about Mr. Johnson.
Now everyone can get all snarky and say, yeah so what, in the back room Davidson is telling Atlanta and Carolina management what to do. But if you’re going to say that, let’s have some proof along with it. Otherwise it’s just conspiracy theory jibba jabba. Traffic obviously has a vested interest in this league and thereby all of its teams, even the ones they have nothing to do with, being successful. Read that sentence again. It’s simple common sense. No conspiracies, no philanthropy, no BS. Traffic wants to develop players and sell their rights. They need a stable team in a stable league, where this can happen. What is the frakkin mystery? Where is the conspiracy in that? Is it possible this model is not going to work? Abso-frakkin-lutely. Actually, it’s more likely then not to be the end result. But damn, let’s see if it happens before we toll the bell……..
I would bet anyone that Traffic does not have 4 of the 8 seats on the BOG. And @William your comment about Traffic trying to run makes no sense. They are trying to bring in big time players or do anything crazy. When AEG, Hunt, and Kraft owned most of the MLS teams no one suggested that they drop down to Division 2 to get everything in order and take baby steps to get back to the 1st division.
@Strikers Return – NASL is owned by Traffic – they funding the majority of the investment to start the league and NASL is basically Traffic. Aaron holds a position at both NASL and Traffic – so you do the math there. No need to prove anything – anyone not drinking the kool-aid being served by NASL/Aaron Davidson can see that pure and simple….
1) Since Traffic is the majority owner of NASL, Traffic is the majority owner of Minnesota. You can spin it however you want, but the person who is sitting in the Minnesota chair at the BoGs will vote in line with what Traffic wants pure and simple
2) Miami / Ft Lauderdale, since Aaron is also leading this team, its obvious that he isn’t going to vote other than in line with Traffic.
3) Carolina – Traffic will be funding this team – and even though Aaron will not be “running” the team, Traffic will be. Therefore again the person sitting in the chair at the BoG will be voting in line with Traffic’s wishes.
4) Atlanta – From the Silverback’s Press Announcement in Dec…”The Atlanta Silverbacks, in a press conference at Atlanta Silverbacks Park formally announced today a long term joint venture with Traffic Sports that will see the Atlanta Silverbacks Men’s professional team join the North American Soccer League” I have personally talked with Boris in the past regarding his plans to restart the team and from my discussions with him – joint venture translates to funding! Again – if Traffic is helping in anyway shape or form monetarily – the vote from Atlanta’s seat will lean Traffic’s way.
My point was that if an owner coming into a league that is touting them as ‘team controlled’ now needs to be weary when 4 teams will be walking lock stock and barrel with Traffic….
No conspiracy is needed….but these teams left USL because they weren’t being heard and their ideas for the league weren’t being taken into consideration, but now all of a sudden, the NASL is a league that if the ideas aren’t ones that Traffic likes, it is most likely never going to happen.
You might not agree with me – but if NASL doesn’t get sanctioned this year, they are in BIG trouble! With potential defections, Montreal leaving (even though they want to have a D2 team – probably wont happen in 2012 with all the work they have to do to make the MLS transition), and now especially with the latest news out of SA that Hartman will not get any city or county funding for his stadium……now there is a possibility that SA won’t even be able to field a team in 2012 if he cannot find a stadium! There aren’t many options in SA for him to find as a backup…unless he is ready to write a $8M check!
@Strikers Return – just to add to my post – I am also not a big fan of USL Pro either – so I really am not in either camp…..I want a strong D2 option – that will be stable and help with player development. Right now – neither in my opinion are viable. Just wanted to be clear!
@donald the difference is that NASL only had provisional status. USSF never sanctioned NASL as a D2 league. MLS was a D1 league and met the standards that were there at the time.
“The NASL doesn’t have any spokespeople because all of the cheap ones are speaking on behalf of the USL on soccer blogs.”
Look at the big brain on you! That’s actually funny.
Luckily, the NASL has plenty of mouthpieces/mouthbreathers extolling its virtues, so there IS balance in nature!
Good for them. They definitely didn’t need to be starting from scratch.
@ William
Agreed that NASL needs to take ‘baby steps’, but the majority here would rather cut off the baby’s legs before it is born. ‘Baby steps’ implies that you go slowly until you can handle going faster, not sitting still until you can run. The point is that the baby has’ to go’ at this point, regardless of speed! (‘speed’ being ‘division designation’)
I wonder if this decision on Carolina playing wont be enough to get them the sanctioning back?
Man…that NASL kool-aid tastes great, BTW! Its kinda berry flavored and is VERY refreshing to have on a hot summer day in Tampa Bay when there arent any other options in front of you. Soccer fans in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, Carolina, Puerto Rico, Edmonton, Minnesota, and San Antonio…drink up! The future of the game in your city depends on it!
@ GrantStephens – yeah – I bet those soccer fans in the cities mentioned are going to love their potentially unsanctioned adult league soccer teams that they will have if NASL doesn’t get re-sanctioned and they decide to keep their position of no D3 whatsoever. I bet that will go over real well!! Don’t think that another Traffic run team will add much more confidence in the mind of the USSF.
I guess at that point they would be drinking their Generic Berry Flavored Drink Mix, which I’m sure would still leave them somewhat unsatisfied!
@William
What sort of standards were there at the time when MLS was born?
It just seems unfair to compare the beginning years of both MLS and NASL and what they had to do gain sanctioning.
NASL has to earn their sanctioning. MLS was born into theirs.
I feel the arguments here are futile and completely unproductive. NASL is doing everything they can to get the D2 league running for the 2011 season. As Grant Stephens said, every soccer fan in the cities where NASL will be playing, will benefit from having their local team. Frankly, I would guess 90% of typical fans, don’t really care if the league their team plays in is USSF sanctioned at a certain level. I’m afraid most fans don’t even know what USSF stands for.
I don’t want to stir a soccer politics pot, but back when MLS was just starting out the USSF really didn’t have anything real to work with. While at this point in USA soccer history, the USSF is working really only with MLS. Every other league (irrespective of the division level) will have a very hard time getting established. But it’s coming because the MLS will likely only expand to 24 teams. Beyond that number of D1 teams, there’s no other expansion except for D2 & D3.
@PHXSoccer71
I thought the funding for Minnesota is coming from guys who want to eventually get a team in Ottawa.
At least some of the old office staff are staying on under Traffic’s newly-installed president. Their BOG vote may (or may not) be totally controlled by Traffic, but the team will be doing its own thing.
This is good – I did *not* want to see Traffic’s attempts at marketing as demonstrated by Miami’s sales figures take over here in North Carolina.
@Dan – from the press release from the league in early Jan – it states that the team is owned by NASL for the short to mid term……..
@phxsoccer71- where did you get the information that Tampa Bay would go to the USL?
You sound like you are in the know.
@thesuperrookie – there is no news that Tampa Bay IS going to the USL. However, I do believe (and it is based on more than a hunch) that if NASL does not get sanctioned and decides to stay unsanctioned rather than go D3 (as Aaron Davidson has repeatedly stated in interviews) that since Tampa Bay originally started their process as a USL franchise it would not surprise me that they would jump NASL and go to USL.
This system is the best equivelant to qualify a team. local markets is the way to make the sport one of the best sports in minor league.
Very surprised that many of you who comment call yourself soccer fans. A real soccer fan would be rooting hard for Traffic and the other NASL owners instead of taking shots and especially without the real facts. Davidson and the other Traffic personnel deserve better. Real leaders push hard and take risks on ideas backed up by passion, and there is nothing wrong if these leaders have business and profit objectives. These are the real facts regarding Traffic.
And before you “real soccer fans” start criticizing my comments I do not work for Traffic and I am not part of any NASL team…….just a lowly real soccer fan who wants pro soccer to grow.
Jane: Nice to see you here, again.
I admire your enthusiasm for the sport, the NASL and Traffic. Sincerely I do (no sarcasm intended, whatsoever).
I would like to suggest to you that you are being elitist by suggesting that some of us can’t some questions about Traffic and the NASL. It comes of more than just a bit condescending.
I don’t try to measure up to other people’s litmus tests, especially when it comes to being a “fan” of anything (I just realized from an early age that it is a waste of resources, time and energy being the main ones).
Aaron Davidson is a very likeable and impressive guy. But he’s not a deity (and I in moment’s of human frailty some of the have been known to question them or even the existence of deities ). I am rooting for the Traffic, the and the NASL. I have enormous respect for the owners.
But that doesn’t mean that I forfeit my right to question them. They might be “great leaders”. but I think that things can get a little scarey when people stop questioning “leaders”. I don’t think that Mr. Davidson (whom I have only spoken with under the most brief of circumstances) is looking for blind, unquestioning loyalty.
I’m just a guy who likes the sport who wants to see it grow, just like you. Based on your definition of a “real soccer fan” offering comments that can be considered negative by other participants in a discussion–unless they are an some sort of “insider” who have all of the “real facts”– I totally disagree with you.
If sports fans stopped discussing teams and leagues then the leagues would sink into utter irrelavance. I completely disagree with some of the posts here and elsewhere but I am very thankful that people actually care enough about the NASL & the second division to actually write something in forums like these. I wish more people cared.
I’ll take most of those negative non”real soccer fans” anyday of the week. I don’t value them any less than the “real fans” who don’t question or care to question the directions of a league.
Surely, there is enough room in the tent for the dissenters who share something in commen with many of those who choose not to question and even the leaders themselves–there seems to be the common denominator of some of the same passion that you referred to.
You inferrence that one who questions Traffic and the NASL is not a “real soccer fan” and possibly not interested in seeing the sport grow comes off as very elitist.
If being a “real soccer fan” means that I have to view myself as superior to anyone else or that I have to stop questioning those who are leading then I don’t think that I want to be a “real soccer fan”. I’d much rather prefer to be whatever the alternative is; if that makes me “fake” then I can live with that.
I’m just respectfully suggesting that maybe you might want to consider that there is probably more that you have in common with many of the people posting here or anywhere else who posted what some would consider to be negative (or in some cases, clearly negative comments) than you might think at first glance.
Sometimes, people just have a different “take”. Some people are hoping that the NASL will fail. Some of us want to see it do well but will continue to question the league and Traffic because we take a different approach to being “fans” than you do.
I guess that it comes down to “Different strokes for different folks” but I am glad that people care enough to criticize Traffic and the NASL. If they were totally ignored–that is when Mr. Davidson and the NASL would really need to worry.
Number 1: I think Dr. Paul Singh because he is Indian should bring in Sunil Chhetri of the Sporting Kansas City and Two another reason the league should not get sanctioned is because the rules says that all teams must play in a stadium that supports at least 5000 seats but FC Edmonton plays at a 3500 seater.
@yankiboy
I accept your comments and do agree that criticism is important on any public forum. My only point is that some of these blog comments cross the line and very clearly are mean spirited in hoping that the NASL fails. I am guessing these type of comments are coming from USL staff and management. My definition of a real soccer fan is one that wants NASL and the USL to succeed.
@Robin
It will be 5,500 by the time the season kicks off. *coughs* you never heard that from me alright.
@Jane: I find it amusing that some people are cheering for either the NASL & the USL to fail. Sometimes some of the comments do go over the top. Maybe some of mine do, as well.
I agree that I think that the soccer landscape would be better if both leagues were able succeed.
@yankiboy & jane – I think anyone with a feeling for the game’s status in North America and the Caribbean would HAVE to be hoping that pretty much every team is successful. In the end, a proper pyramid with stable teams should be a goal right? I mean, all the other soccer powers of the world have this in place, so if we’re going to try and move up into that group, shouldn’t we be following a similar model to develop our players? For me the answer is yes, but not everyone would agree I’m sure.
I think a lot of the more “over the top” rhetoric and debate we see posted has more to do with the organizations themselves, and perhaps even individuals within those organizations, then it does with the teams. I think most around here by now know I’m certainly no fan of Marcos, Holt, and the management of USL, because I feel like they’ve done some things, especially in more recent years, that have been damaging to the overall goals I talked about just above in my first paragraph. They’ve been very obviously self-serving, and I know the world of soccer is certainly about business as well, but to me they have been pretty blatantly flippant about ignoring the greater good in multiple cases.
At the same time though, I will scurtinize what Davidson and Traffic do more than a lot of pro-USL backers, because I am a fan of Traffic’s team. I want to see the Strikers rebrand this year be successful beyond anyone’s hopes. I want to be in the stands at Lockhart with my family enjoying a tremendous atmosphere and onfiled play that harkens me back to my youth at the very same place. So if Traffic isn’t doing everything in their power to market this team to the local area, I’ll be more PO’s then anyone. I have money, time, and emotion invested in this team, so I want to see it handled the right way, like it hasn’t been in the past.
There will always be people who post trolling and flaming things, it’s unavoidable if you’re going to have a public forum. But I think most people can keep it reasonable, and stick to facts and opinions that aren’t malicious or personally attacking. You can say the Strikers suck, actually I expect Rowdies at the least to do so. LOL You hope that people can act with a bit of maturity and integrity, but it won’t always be the case. BQ runs a nice site here, and he polices it pretty well too, so as long as people do their part, it will continue to be a great place for us all to talk about our passion, which is the game of soccer/futbol.