Fuck that shitty ass plastic money grabbing league. What kind of soccer league uses a goddamn franchise model, territory rights, and billion dollar expansion fees. They are monopolizing and have done more harm for the game than good, boycot that shit.
Lower league American soccer is its own fun-ass mess though. The drama between leagues, the constant hope for promotion and relegation, and the high chance that there’s a team in your area makes it metal as hell. The USL Championship (2nd division of American soccer, although there is no pro/rel in this country) final was last Saturday and it was sick as hell. I’m bummed the fuck out that Charleston didn’t make it into the final but Colorado Springs played a great game vs Rhode Island. If you go further down the pyramid you’ll find even more authenticity and good times. USL2, The League for Clubs (coming soon), and UPSL are all fun places to start down the rabbit hole. I love this shit.
spoiler
90% sure none of this made sense but it was a fun rant, watch and support lower league soccer nerd
I hate soccer jerseys how they're just plastered with corporate logos. I always call the team whatever the most prominent ad on the jersey is and it makes people mad
What kind of soccer league uses a goddamn franchise model, territory rights, and billion dollar expansion fees
Can I interest you in a European Superleague?I wish we had open leagues for all sports. It would do away with the insanity of moving teams, every city would have a team, and we wouldn't have to watch the same teams go like 5-52 for ten years in a row. Everything about it would be better except for
Also the German model of fan club ownership should be mandatory
A fully open and well built out pyramid with mandatory fan ownership, profit sharing for poorer teams, and systems in place to help build more small stadiums is the dream.
For the league’s faults, I do appreciate that fans/supporter groups have shown the power of collective bargaining even if that only amounts to a consumer boycott. LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew are examples that come to mind where supporter groups confronted franchise owners and won their demands (removal of incompetent management and a halt to team relocation respectively).
Columbus was supposed to move to Austin to form Austin FC, right?
That shit makes no sense to me, like, you built a stadium without knowing 11 guys who play football?????
What did Columbus supporters do to oppose the move?
I found this article that covers the saga. It amounts to the club supporters pledging future ticket purchases, getting local businesses to sponsor the team, and finding a new billionaire owner (co-owner of the Cleveland Browns).
So technically, the Crew were saved by the Columbus Partnership and the Ohio AG’s office; a fan organization was never going to have the money or legal power to keep a team from moving. But Save The Crew matters in all this. Their effort demonstrated that the Crew were worth an owner’s time and money.
I talked out my ass earlier but no, it wasn’t a consumer boycott that saved the Crew. And the previous owner sold the Crew to start Austin FC, like you said.
Capitalism is again the impetus for all American professional sports, yet is also responsible for its rot. Personally I tip my hat to the community that organized the movement; they managed to retain some aspect of their local sports culture.
Thanks for the write up, that's fascinating! Footy in USA is not soulless after all, that group genuinely deserves their club.
Sure that's fair. It's also worth looking into Orange County FC (USLC)'s struggle against Los Angeles FC (MLS) over stadium rights.
Not sure if you’re confusing LA Galaxy for LAFC (
) but the Galaxy org did have a dispute with OCSC. Further proof that professional sports clubs should be collectively owned to prevent this kind of fuckshit from happening.
