Area of proposed stadium for "NY2" (WSJ/Empire of Soccer)
Outside of David Beckham's exit from the league, there hasn't really been a bigger story in the post season, at least from a league wide perspective, than the possible location of a 20th MLS franchise in New York City, specifically in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
The league has launched a huge PR campaign in recent days about the proposed site for their new stadium. They launched a twitter handle for the purpose and even hosted a town hall style informational meeting last week in Queens to pitch their idea to the local community. However, not everyone, both inside and outside of Queens, has been impressed, and the rather vocal opposition seems to have taken the league and its advocates a little by surprise.
Local residents opposed to the plan turned up at Don Garber's little party last week, and complained that they, and anyone who suggested they were against the stadium bid, were directed to an off floor overflow area apart from the Commissioner and the rest of the crowd. The league responded by saying that they were just late, as the seating was open, but other reports said that passes given to advocates of the stadium were clearly marked with seating assignments. Geoffery Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates was quoted as saying: "This is not a town hall meeting, it is a pep rally sponsored, bought, and paid for by Major League Soccer." Croft also confirmed that they were asking people's opinions of the stadium site at the door before directing them to a seating area.
So why are some of the local folks in Queens having an issue with this? To hear MLS talk, the area is practically BEGGING them to build on their site and bring their product to NYC proper. The league is also suggesting that MLS is somehow not whole without a "dominant team in the nation's dominant city," to paraphrase Garber himself.
Part of the issue is that the site that MLS wants to build on is public park land. Supposedly according to law in the area, MLS would have to find the same acreage in the area to replace the park land with. There has been little to no evidence that MLS has done this yet, which has caused Garber to walk back his statement that the deal was "near the finish line." However, there are no rules in place stating that the replacement public park land has to be in the borough of Queens. That and the fact that MLS's search for this land has been closed to public input has caused growing concern in Queens.
Worse yet for MLS, some of the local media have issued editorials condemning the site. Both the Queens Chronicle and the Queens Tribune have done this. I urge those who think that locals are fully behind this effort to take a look at these two editorials. There were also demonstrations against the stadium site yesterday which curiously evaded coverage from the official league outlets. It is interesting to note that a lot of this opposition isn't opposed to the idea of soccer in Queens, but that this is the wrong place for it to happen, which leads to my opinion on the subject, namely that MLS is pushing this way too hard, both down the throats of the locals and the non NY based fans of soccer in the USA.
Now I don't live in the NY/NJ area. I've never been there. To read a lot of the social media comments, that means that I don't have a good reason or right to stick my nose and my two cents into this issue. I call BS on that. What I am is a season ticket holder for an MLS franchise and I care greatly about how the league uses the money spent by me and my fellow fans in support of growing the beautiful game in the USA. MLS and soccer have grown in the USA, no doubt about it, and it seems to me that the league is on the verge of really trading in a lot of it's good name value on a land grab for a stadium for a team that doesn't even exist yet. Usually there is an interested ownership group and stadium plan in place when the league awards a franchise. Now there is no definite ownership group, at least as of yet, and the stadium plan is financed and put in place by the league? Sorry if I'm skeptical. Also, if the free market dictates that MLS just HAS TO BE in Queens, why has it not happened in 15 years? If investors are so hot to trot on it, where have they been?
Plus I'm not sure that putting a team in NY proper is any kind of panacea for the league's sagging tv ratings, both country wide and in the NY market area. Look at all the empty seats at Red Bull Arena. Don't give me the line about the drive from Queens to Jersey. We drive an hour plus in traffic to see RSL play. Plus if that's only reason, put the Red Bulls in Queens and be done with it. Stop pretending that a second team is going to blow the market open. One could watch nearly every Red Bulls game on National TV this last year featuring one of the great players of our time, Thierry Henry, and one of the big name players out of Mexico, Rafa Marquez, to attract the Latino viewers. They even pasted his face all over Red Bull cans. Then they brought in a bona fide star of the EPL in Tim Cahill, supposedly to win over more of us Euro snobs. We still didn't watch. However, you drop a team on public park land in Queens and all of the sudden we all start to watch both them and the Red Bulls? I don't think so. Lets face it, the creation of a derby in the LA area didn't help, of course any conversation involving what has or hasn't happened at Chivas USA is opening up a whole other can of worms In the end, I just don't think that dropping a team in Queens is going to make people watch if they don't already watch Henry, Cahill, and company.
Now I'm not saying MLS should never go to NY proper. If there really is the demand, then of course it makes sense for the league to have a presence in the market. I just don't think the time or the site are right. I don't think the league has any business trying to pull public park land out from under a community that obviously has it's concerns. I would also be more in favor of it if the League already had an ownership group and independent stadium financing announced and in place. Again, if MLS is wanted in NY so badly, lets get the investors on record and have them put the money where their mouth is, instead of the league's money.
There are several other things MLS could be doing to help spur league growth in new franchises as well as to bolster the teams already in the league. DC United and the New England Revolution desperately need stadiums of their own. The wonderful fans of DC get lost in the pit that is RFK, and while the throwball/MLS partnership works well in Seattle, it doesn't in New England. It's really hard to watch a Revs match with 2/3 of the seats visible to the TV cameras being tarped off. Certainly the league has been working some with these two teams. but I think this needs to be a much bigger priority than "NY2."
There are several other markets currently almost begging MLS for a team. Some of these are markets that have USL Pro or NASL sides that could be just as successful as Seattle, Portland, or Montreal. These are places like Atlanta, San Antonio, and Orlando. Of course, people always point to the fact that Florida has had two failed franchises in the past. This is true, but having lived in Florida I can tell you that Miami (Fusion) and Tampa Bay (Mutiny) were and still are largely throwball, or if you prefer handegg, towns. Baseball might be second, and in Miami these days you have the NBA to contend with. Orlando is not an NFL town. It never will be. There isn't a Major League Baseball team, and it's no more an NBA town than Salt Lake City is. Trust me, I lived there. Orlando City in USL has drawn extremely well and has received a great deal of positive press football wise. They can definitely support an MLS team in the very near future, and it would give the league a chance to make inroads in a market where they have none at all. I just wish the league, who has already said that they'll be going over FIFA's 20 team limit, would look seriously at some of these other things instead of forcing NY2.
In the end, I think football can and will work in NY proper, but isn't ever going to be the brand the Cosmos had. There's just too much competition for the sporting dollar in New York City, and I don't see Messi or Ronaldo showing up like Pele did for the Cosmos. Agree or disagree, but I think the league needs to put this on the back burner and find a site in NYC that the local public is more comfortable with. Who is going to show up and watch the team if you piss off the locals? While that search continues, MLS should continue to support the teams they already have and focus on growing the game in different parts of the country that are just waiting to receive it with open arms.
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