North American Soccer League Podcast Episode #5 with Special Guest, NASL Commissioner David Downs
This week's Special Guest, NASL Commissioner David Downs
Welcome to week #5 of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast. Once again this week I’m joined by Gerry Wittmann and Jay (YankiBoy) Long as co-hosts.
I’m very pleased to bring you a very special guest this week in NASL Commissioner David Downs. Commissioner Downs tells us what the priorities for the league are in his first year and what the league needs to do to become sanctioned permanently. He also explains what he thinks the league might look like in five years from now. He also talks about potential markets for the fledgling league and his job to find new owners for Atlanta, Carolina and Minnesota. The interview with the Commissioner can be found at about the 28 minute mark.
Again we travel around the league getting first-hand game reports from correspondents who took in NASL games.
This week Tim Hayes checks in from St. Petersburg, Florida on Tampa Bay’s home game. Bruce McGuire of duNord Futbol joins the show to report in from Minnesota’s home opener. We also check in with FC Edmonton’s live streaming color commentator and writer/editor of The11.CA, Steven Sandor. Steven talks to us about both FC Edmonton’s Voyageurs Cup game and their first home league game.
Gerry, Jay and I review this week’s news in the NASL and finish up with predictions for this coming week’s slate of games.
Please join us for this fifth episode of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast.
You can find all past episodes of the North American Soccer League Podcast here.
Comments are closed.
Wow. Steve Holler is way more exciting.
Interesting talk with Downs. For next year’s sanctioning to occur:
1. He may still need further waivers
2. He recognizes the need to divest the interests in MN/ATL/CA
The analogy of owning a sports team towards 30 year homeownership, and the resulting appreciative benefits is a farce for second or even third tier soccer. It just will not happen, not matter what the mantra is. The key is consistent break-even or cash flow, so the business can more easily be underwritten by a new owner.
He is correct that the prospective owner needs to be local and wedded to the local base. You just cannot take an out of town owner and allow his out of town actions to create fan loyalty. Like in real estate, this is a location, location, location style of business.
Unlike his boss (the infamous AD), it was refreshing for the interview to solely focus on what NASL needs to do to establish itself, and not start right off on a USL slam. Hopefully this is the new focus for NASL as they attempt to distinguish themselves going forward.
The four cities in the USA WC 2022 bid w/out soccer are:
Baltimore
Indianapolis
San Diego
Phoenix
Good work SR. Just hadn’t had the time to figure it out yet. Baltimore seems the most logical. Indianapolis might be a good choice as well. San Diego and Phoenix down the line as they need to stretch the time zones eventually.
Personally, I think Baltimore is the worst market out of that list. Not because I don’t think a team would work there, but more that DC United could move there at any moment. This would have to scare away a few investors, no?
These were the teams submitted in the bid:
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C. (according to Soccer by Ives: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/01/usa-bid-announces-final-18-cities.html )
By my count that is 5 teams. thesuperrookie forgot Nashville. Does that mean that Mr. Downs is already including Baltimore in franchises already in existence? I honestly don’t know. It could simply be that he misspoke and meant 5 and not 4. Anyway, I’m excited by all prospects.
El Padre said:
thesuperrookie forgot Nashville
Thanks for the correction! I was going off the top of my head and stopped when I reached four. I am one to believe that he misspoke, but then again, maybe he is taking San Diego off of the list because of the long-rumored return of the San Diego Gulls in the USL next year?
Another great podcast. Thanks!
Salary Cap! And I was just starting to like Commissioner Downs. I am sick and tired of listening to people who think salrary caps provide financial stability and promote better play in the league. YUCK!!!!
I did like that he mentioned promotion/relegation. It would be nice if MLS would start talking about it, instead of wasting time talking about the MLS Cup Championship format, or trying to adjust their play-off format to get “the right result.” Come on you Stars!
I’m glad to head Mr. Downs at least entertain pro/rel within 10 years time, setting him apart from his MLS counterpart. I do, however, disagree that if pro/rel were in place that MLS needs NYRB and LA Galaxy to stay up considering (a) the NFL has done quite nicely without LA for 16 years and counting, and (b) assuming NY Cosmos become MLS team #20, both cities would have two teams (although I do recognize that Chivas is not as well supported as Galaxy) and could hypothetically maintain an MLS presence if NYRB or Galaxy got relegated.
Of the 2022 WC bid cities currently lacking MLS or NASL teams, I think that Baltimore will have NASL in the near future, leaving Indy (which doesn’t strike me as much of a soccer town), Nashville (which got pro sports “yesterday”), Phoenix (not until SB1070 goes away for good, given soccer’s international scale), and San Diego (which is having stadium financing issues for its NFL team) in consideration. I also think St. Louis (sans the ACSTL ownership group), Detroit (which wants MLS) and possibly Ottawa (also wants MLS) could be considered as well.
Anyway, interesting interview with the Commissioner. You should do it again sometime.
Pro/rel, that’s a good one. Oh wait, you were serious? Let me laugh even harder. How do you propose to impliment formalized, institutional pro/rel when three different organizations run the three professional divisions? Div. I operates under a single-entity management structure, Div. II is a brand-new league struggling to survive, and Div. III is all but claiming to be Div. II. What MLS owner is going to vote allow his investment to possibly become devalued by possibly being relegated to Div. II? Where are all the NASL and USL-Pro owners that could afford the added expenses that would come with their team being promoted up to a higher division? A couple of them could do it, maybe, but the majority of them could not.
thesuperrookie, the San Diego Gulls were a hockey team. Perhaps you meant the San Diego Flash? They currently play in the NPSL.
Great stuff as usual guys. I went and praised you last week on your guests BQ, and this week you went straight to the top with the commish himself! Can’t wait to see how you’re going to top him next week! LOL
Well Jay (since yankiboy seems to no longer suit a guy of your soccer blogging importance! LOL) your Islanders snuck right in there in the 90th minute and swiped two points from my Strikers! My NASL Guru pick was 2 – 1 Strikers, I was robbed!!! LOL The Strikers just went into lockdown in the 2nd half, way too early against a team as talented on the attack as the Islanders. I loved how the responded after the tying goal, and the goal that made it 2 – 1 for them might have been the finest pass and finish we’ve seen all year from the Strikers. But then to get caught with your pants done, literally seconds later was just inexcusable. The Strikers have some veteran guys in the back, and too often for my liking this year they’ve had lapses at times.
Well, if you’d have told me before the game the Strikers were going to come away with a point in PR I’d have taken it in a second. But the way the game played out shows they still have a lot of work to do to challenge for the league title, especially in ball possession and just keeping your head in the game until that final whistle blows. Looking forward to our first trip to Minnesota this weekend. I’ll be tuned in again online, hoping for fair weather, and a couple of Strikers goals!
Guys, really enjoyed your interview with Commissioner Downs. I think hiring a commissioner is one of the best moves made by the NASL. I liked the points he made about regional & local television contracts. In all, he seemed very level headed and that is what D2 soccer needs in the US.
The only way to have pro/rel work in the U.S. after stability of D2, etc…is to have a system where no MLS team is relegated just have 2 slots for the winner of NASL Cup and or supporters shield winner or 2nd placed NASL team to enter MLS and after one season the lower seeded team gets relegated back down to NASL. I mean it would definately bring interest to D2 and a huge incentive for teams and fans.
PS: I changed my NASL Guru picks to have the Silverbacks win after listening to the podcast. You guys better be right as I have moved toward the top of the table. Come on you Stars!
Edward- thanks. i used to have a Gulls hockey jersey and that snuck into my mind. Oh, the glory days of the IHL.
Another great podcast. Hope you guys can figure out how to post this on iTunes. I think it would be a great find for most soccer fans.
Enjoyed your intereveiw with the NASL commish. I think he was a great hire for the league and should help to right their ship. Although I question his thoughts on pro/rel. But think in additionl to being a good business person, he’s a soccer fan at heart. Again, keep up the great work.
Rob
Thanks everyone. If anyone knows someone who can help me set up an RSS feed for the podcast let me know. I’d love to get it up on iTunes.
I took a class this spring in podcasting. My notes do have info on RSS feeds and iTunes. If you’d like, I can have my notes scanned to a PDF and send them to you.
“I did like that he mentioned promotion/relegation. It would be nice if MLS would start talking about it, instead of wasting time talking about the MLS Cup Championship format, or trying to adjust their play-off format to get “the right result.”
MLS did talk about promotion/relegation. Did you miss it? They said it’s not happening. Any other questions?
“I’m glad to head Mr. Downs at least entertain pro/rel within 10 years time, setting him apart from his MLS counterpart. ”
Mr. Downs can entertain anything he wants. His MLS counterpart is the only one whose opinion matters. Mr. Downs and the NASL are irrelevant in this matter.
Promotion/relegation is a dead issue in our lifetime. Next.
“Salary Cap! And I was just starting to like Commissioner Downs. I am sick and tired of listening to people who think salrary caps provide financial stability and promote better play in the league. YUCK!!!!”
Salary caps do work. No league should be like La Liga were only two teams can compete. Or the EPL whee only four win. But a salary cap isn’t needed. It’s not like any NASL team is spending money on players.
If I heard correctly, Downs was not suggesting that NASL needed a salary cap Soccer Boy.
I think he was only discussing that the salary cap was a difference between NASL & MLS that would need to be resolved if pro/rel were ever implemented between D1 & D2. He repeated his line that NASL is only governed by common sense.
Salary caps are only needed when you want to keep one, or a group of teams, from outspending the others. There is certainly not incentive for any D2 team to do this. It would be suicide. The quickest way to lose even more money in D2 is to overpay for a roster. So a cap is not needed when you are barely paying the players to begin with. Keep the costs down.
It’s actually a little scary to hear Downs talk about pro/rel since no serious soccer person takes it seriously and MLS has said it is not happening. Yes, he calls it a pipe dream, but the fact he even brings it up makes me wonder if he really has a solid blueprint for the NASL. It almost seems like he needs MLS to bail NASL out for D2 to work. Otherwise D2 has no chance to attract owners, new markets, or survive in a closed system. That scares me since MLS has no interest in D2. Downs really needs to sit down with Garber and get on the same page. The NASL can’t afford any screwups being on such thin ice and seeking sanctioning next year. No one wants to see another Francisco Marcos situation.
Jim & Dave,
I totally agree with both of you, well Dave, I agree with you on the first paragraph, concerning there not being a need for a salary cap. I’m not sure if people in general are aware that some of the higher salary’s teams were paying to some players have pretty much dried up because the truth was the market wouldn’t bare it.
Dave: I’m willing to bet that Downs has sat down with Garber many a time and talked about this. The Bid Committee’s office or more specifically, Downs office was in the MLS office in NY where they developed a very good relationship.
“MLS has said it is not happening.”
I don’t believe that is true. Don Garber brought it up himself at the Supporters Summit when MLS Cup was held in Seattle. I believe he said (paraphrased) he didn’t seen it happening for a long time but would also like to see it someday.
Please remember, Downs comes from a very European type background of soccer. He was born in Holland and moved to the US when he was young. In fact he moved around numerous places growing up and played his soccer here. His grandfather played for a first division Dutch club and he has been heavily influenced by the European game.
Dave, it pro/rel not at pipe dream of yours? It is mine. I don’t believe it will happen for a long, long time. But I do hope we get to the point of having the history and infrastructure to make this happen. Pro/Rel makes lower level soccer much more relevant and therefore interesting.
“MLS has no interest in D2″
For now they don’t. With that said I don’t believe Traffic undertook this jump to have MLS bail them out immediately. Do you?