Soccer questions

[CadaverDawg]

I admittedly am not a huge soccer fan, but I do enjoy watching it. I also see that Mississippi seems to have a really large high school (and younger) following.

There are always people wishing Mississippi had a pro team of some sort...baseball, basketball, football. But in my opinion, we can't sustain a pro team in the big 3 sports. Seems like we Could maintain a MLS soccer team though. Wouldn't it work to build a Seattle Sounders type stadium in Madison or Flowood? I just really think it would do well in Central Mississippi due to the popularity of soccer here. We also seem to turn out a decent amount of soccer talent in Clinton, Madison, NW Rankin, etc...

I am probably missing on some key factors, but I just thought I'd get some opinions from more knowledgeable soccer fans. I've seen a few Seattle games on TV, and that seems like a great atmosphere for a small stadium. I think it would be cool, and I would attend even though I'm not even a big fan.

Thoughts?

 

[Gen. Grant]

Indoor soccer would do well. It can be played in bb gyms. Low cost too.

 

[Sutterkane]

That's exactly what MLS wants is small, intimite stadiums. They don't want to play in 70k seat NFL stadiums, at least not right now. They want smaller stadiums that can be filled to capacity and give a good up close and intense soccer feel. It would certainly work in smaller markets like places in the deep south, but they are looking to put clubs in media markets more than they are looking to put in more rural, less exposure areas. If soccer can ever get to a popularity level to that of say, the NHL, you may see more clubs in smaller, trial-type markets, and have the MLS setup a tiered league system as they have in England.

Ultimately though, and let's be honest, Memphis, Nashville, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Huntsville, Birmingham, and Nashville are all better picks for a media and population base than anywhere in Mississippi.

 

[ItNeedsMoreCowbell]

I just don't think MLS would go for a professional soccer team in the south outside of a major metropolitan area like Atlanta.

I have seen how they deal firsthand. My hometown of St. Louis was a finalist to get a team but we lost out, I believe to Philadelphia, possibly Portland, but honestly not sure.

Anyway, MLS can't afford to put a team in a market that hasn't had a professional franchise. They simply can't afford the risk of a team performing badly in a financial sense when the league is attempting to expand.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Seattle may

not be the best team to use as an example. They average somewhere around 45k fans a game.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

We have a minor league team that's on the equivalent of the Single-A level. Is it well-supported?

If MLS ever adopted promotion and relegation like practically every other soccer league in the world, our team could advance to the MLS level.