NYC FC will kick off in 2015 at a site to be determined. Tuesday’s announcement also means the southeast continues to not be represented by a MLS franchise.
NEWS: #MLS announces New York expansion team: New York City FC (@nycfc) --> soc.cr/lfiAY#NYCFCSince the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion folded in 2001 the league has not ventured southward for expansion. Leaving a gap in the soccer landscape in America, as MLS has done in the southeast, is not the best way to grow the game.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 21, 2013
If an Atlanta resident wanted to see a MLS match they could drive nearly 9 hours to watch the Columbus Crew. Perhaps, the same Atlanta resident could catch a non-stop flight to either Houston or Washington D.C, if they were that dedicated.
Orlando City hoped to be the 20th franchise. Ownership was dealt a blow when the Florida Legislature didn’t bother to hear a bill that would all sports entities to compete for public financing dollars that could be used to fund a soccer-specific stadium in Central Florida, as well as other venues in the state, this spring.
Nevertheless, Orlando City ownership is optimistic about being in MLS by 2015.
@greener105th @thesoccerdon keep #believing! We are independent of NY and continue to more forward with @mls here in orlando by 2015The Lions, who currently play in the third-tier of American soccer, average nearly 8,000 people for each home contest in the dilapidated Citrus Bowl. For comparison MLS’ Chivas USA averaged 8,045 per home contest, according to mlsattendance.blogspot.com.
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) May 21, 2013
The Northeast, California, Texas, Canada and Cascadia all have multiple MLS teams. The Midwest region has a pair of league stalwarts in Chicago and Columbus. As Chivas proves, not every one of the 18 cities with a MLS club is drawing like Portland, Seattle and Philadelphia are.
“New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base,” Ferran Soriano, CEO of Manchester City told mlssoccer.com. “We are thrilled to contribute to the energy and growth of New York City Soccer.”
That’s well and good, but, in 2012, the New York Red Bulls averaged 18,281 fans, which was 7 percent less than what the team drew in 2011.
TRENDING: Great to see New York City FC trending worldwide on the first day! #nycfc twitter.com/nycfc/status/3…Adding a second team in that market may help the league’s exposure. It may also expose the league to questions about why a metropolitan area with 19 million people cannot fill a stadium. Then again, the announcement received more than 500 comments on the league’s website, a lead headline on ESPN.com and discussion outside of the typical soccer circles.
— New York City FC (@nycfc) May 21, 2013
We’ll find out in 2015 whether the hype and money invested in NYC FC was worth shutting out the southeast once again.
