* Nearly all of the dozen teams who applied for MLS expansion have serious holes in their stadium plans.
I was told by someone at FCC that if they are denied in this round of expansion, it will be due to market size more than the stadium they play in.
*IF* MLS agrees to let them stay in Nippert... FCC would like to work out some sort of agreement with UC on stadium accessibility/control. FCC would use a large chunk of the $100M they were going to contribute to a new stadium toward modernizing Nippert even more. (Seatbacks, etc.)
*IF NOT* Newport is the least complicated, most realistic location to get funding for a new stadium by the rapidly approaching deadline. If they still don't get in this year, they would take more time to try to get a location closer to where they play now. They are worried that a large chunk of their base comes from in/near Clifton and they would lose some of that by playing in Newport.
* I was happy with the USMNT yesterday. The missed penalties were maddening, but I liked the tempo the young guys played at.
* Am I the only one who does not want to see Zusi out there? He occasionally does some good things, but always seems to make a bad pass or gambles and misses resulting in an opportunity for the other team. Drives me crazy.
If cincy doesn't get a stadium deal done, they aren't getting a team. Finances in mls are a grind to begin with. Not controlling the most profitable item, the stadium and the money that comes from it makes it even tougher.
Nippert has already undergone a lot of renovations and modernization. The suites and club are already there. Uc gains very little by what the soccer team would do.
Nashville is probably the closest getting a stadium done at this point. They have the site, they have the easiest framework to finance it (local option sales tax etc...) and they have the track record of success with public stadium/facility projects that are popular politically.
The stadium messes in each of the cities being considered make it easy for any market to get a team IF they can get the stadium worked out. If cincy figures out a way to get s stadium done, they'll get one. Same for Nashville. But each market only has a shot because more attractive markets screwed up their stadium deals.
I agree 100% on zusi. Give lijach the shot. He looked good against Martinique in my opinion.
With the big mls guys in think we have a good shot at winning it.