April 1 – Miami hope to be about to announce significant potential movement on aspirations in possible new announcement about movement on developments in the near future – soon (opens in new window)

Commissioner Garber: Be a hero and back Sacramento over Beckham

by Kartik Krishnaiyer, Florida Correspondent

Florida is the third most populated state in the union and the launch of Orlando City SC in MLS, following the club’s successful minor league run, reinforces the potential of both the Florida market and bringing teams from the minor leagues up to the majors.

Miami is supposed to be next in line for MLS Expansion thanks to David Beckham. But many fans in Miami who want MLS have steadfastly refused to travel the short distance north (20 miles) to support the second-division Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Many have touted Miami as a major league town which is above supporting lower division clubs or building the type of organic support for local lower-division clubs that Seattle, Portland, Montreal, Vancouver, Orlando and Minnesota who was announced yesterday have proven works.

MLS needs to look elsewhere and let the elitist, arrogant attitude of many in Miami simply wither in the wind. Sacramento has followed the Orlando model with a minor league team that was well supported and the engagement of local elected officials. The California capital city would be a worthy addition to MLS as it would provide a seventh Pacific coast team for the league, creating even more local rivalries.

Should MLS require a second club the Tampa Bay Rowdies a minor league club who shares the name of one of the great professional clubs of a previous era in American soccer could make the jump. It is important to note for those who are proponents of Miami as an MLS market, that the Tampa/St Petersburg TV market is actually larger than the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market.

It is also critical to note that between 1975 and 2014 the Tampa Bay area and Miami/Fort Lauderdale areas have had pro teams in the same soccer leagues for 23 seasons. In that period only three times did the southeast Florida team boast higher attendance than the Tampa Bay-based one.  This includes four seasons in Major League Soccer (1998-2001), where Tampa Bay led Miami in attendance three of the years, and nine seasons in the NASL (1975-1983) when Tampa Bay led Miami or Fort Lauderdale every single season.

While the Tampa Bay market “failed” once before in MLS, that was a different time and the area has consistently shown its support for the sport at all levels. A fear about cannibalization of the audience from Orlando which is nearby could be real, but the rivalry implications (Orlando City and the Tampa Bay Rowdies already have a robust rivalry fostered at the lower-division and US Open Cup level) probably offset those concerns.

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A “war on I-4” rivalry would be far bigger for MLS then an organic club like Orlando City battling a manufactured and largely plastic club like Beckham’s Miami entry promises to be.

But those arguments only matter if the league insists on Florida and pale into insignificance compared to the arguments for Sacramento Republic.

Sacramento is an even surer bet than Tampa Bay or Miami would be. An adolescent metropolitan area trying to escape the shadows of larger and more glamorous in-state locales, Sacramento has a healthy combination of Orlando, Columbus and especially Portland in it. It’s also the State Capital so there’s the small matter that important and wealthy people congregate in the area.

The city’s Mayor and the NBA Sacramento Kings are already behind the club. In short, they already tick every box.

20,231 showed up to games with no star power on the opposition at Hughes field on April 26 2014, over 5000 more than showed up at New England to watch the reigning MLS Champions Sporting Kansas the same day. In fact they recorded better attendance that RSL, DC United, San Jose, New England, Montreal and Columbus that day, although the Earthquakes were of course limited by capacity issues at the Buck Shaw. Few were at Hughes Field to watch the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Their average 2014 attendance was 2.5 times that of Orlando, 11,293 over 4433.

Most logical and objective people would look at these elements that are present in California’s capital city and opt for it in a heartbeat over Miami.  It has a club, players, a Supporters Group, a soccr ready populace, stadium plans and two very juicy natural rivals; LA in a commercial capital versus political capital version, and San Jose which lies fifty miles closer to Sacramento than Portland is to Seattle in a more traditional freeway derby.

My sense is many in MLS would opt for Sacramento as well, but commitment to David Beckham is precluding it from happening.

Minnesota’s emergence as the latest MLS expansion market and the decision to take the existing NASL club rather than work with the Minnesota Vikings as had been reported is a major statement. It is a move to be applauded.

Don Garber and his team understand organic growth and rewarding fans who support the sport at a lower level. It has worked for him. Seattle and Portland above all have proven the value in this south of the border while Vancouver and Montreal merely serve to back up that case. Giving a franchise to a brand did not in Chivas USA’s case and that is the closest parallel to the Beckham model.

If Commissioner Garber were to apply the same logic to Sacramento and pull the plug on the Miami Beckham debacle, he would be a hero to me, I am guessing thousands of others who value love of soccer before celebrity.