Posts
According to this article on Goal the NY Times Goal blog....
“I’ve been a fan of the team since I was six,” Nash said of the Whitecaps. “I haven’t invested money yet, more like human capital. It’s a spectacular city. We’re really optimistic and we’re hoping to have some good news at the M.L.S. All-Star game in Toronto.”
Steve Nash's brother Martin plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Related Items
Related Resources
Please Consider Donating What You Can To Keep The Rumors Coming
Sunday, July 13, 2008
EXPANSION: #17 - All Star Game Announcement: Steve Nash to Bring The Whitecaps to MLS
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
27 comments:
I remember when it was an American league. Oh, well. That frees up some of my entertainment dollars for more important things. Being a US soccer fan: a thankless experience in cultural surrender.
Racist.
It is an American league with what would amount to be about 10% of the teams being Canadian. What's wrong with that? All I want is quality soccer played and teams to love and hate. I say bring on the Canuck teams, because they support their one team better than any US MLS team. This comes from a Galaxy fan from day one.
Don't be a fucking 'tard, anon. If you ever thought MLS was an American league then you are too stupid to be allowed to post unmonitored.
If by American, you meant the location of the teams then yeah, you have a point, a simple one, but still a point. Since its inception, MLS has grown on the backs of foreign players.
If the entirety of the EPL were Americans, do you think it would still be an English league just because all the teams were in England? Probably, based on your, oh so stupid post. So, go ahead, spend your entertainment dollar someplace else. Perhaps you shoudl try spending it on educating yourself. It's people like you that keep MLS from growing and improving.
Damn it, my first post didnt' take. It was too long to type again so let me sum it up. To the first anon, you're a fucking 'tard.
Let's take your retarded logic to the absurd and conject whether the EPL would still be an English league if all the players were American, just because all the teams were located in England.
Try spending some of that "entertainment dollar" of yours on educating your dumb ass.
The first anon, also refuses to support USL 1 (PR and 2 canadian teams) and USL 2 (Bermuda) , as well as the NBA (Toronto), the NHL (6 teams), MLB (Toronto, formerly Montreal) and even the NFL (Toronto) now that they are playing in Canada in the coming year.
The article you linked to was from June 23rd. . . is there something I'm missing? Is there any new news?
Xenophobia does not equal racism.
The next team should be another American team....Portland Timbers should be coming to MLS. Look at their great fan base, soccer history, etc.
Hmm, this is disappointing rumors coverage. This article is three weeks old and more clarity has arrived since this article came out.
1. Article on 7/11 from Canada's National post titled "MLS in no rush to add teams in Canada" where MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis is quoted as saying "nothing is imminent regarding Vancouver MLS rumors"
http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=646034
2. Recent Quotes by Whitecaps FO (Lenarduzzi) saying MLS has decided to pursue further US expansion before entering Canada again.
So don't expect a vancouver MLS announcement at the allstar game.
good i would love to see another team in canadia. hopfully their supporters would be as rowdy as toronto. 2010?
that's the dumbest comment I've ever read
Too bad STL will be next. Good luck though Vancouver.
Frankly, Canada should have its own league. It is as large or larger (population wise) than many European countries that support two and three divisions of football.
A Canadian league would put competitive pressures on the MLS to remove or moderate some of its stupid pro-parity measures. Along the same lines, it would eliminate the absurd possibility that a Canadian team be rewarded (for sucking so hard) with allocation rights to a returning American player (e.g. McBride).
Moreover, a Canadian league would remove (i.e. improve) the mockery that is the Canadian cup - right now there is simply too little competition in Canada to earn a place in the champion's league. A real Canadian league would offer a genuine competition for the berth.
I think the same should apply to the MLB and the NBA. The Toronto teams have largely been a joke (except for a very short period for the Blue Jays in the early 1990s). Both leagues need contraction as it is to maintain competitive balance, neither sport has taken a large enough foothold such that it produces more prospects for either sport, support in Canada has been very hit or miss (See NBA - Vancouver; MLB - Montreal), and many American players don't want to be forced to move to Canada (to be fair, the same goes for several American markets as well).
The NHL is the one league where integration has worked, and it is also far and away the least popular of the mainstream sports. Perhaps the Canadian connection works there because they invented the sport and because fewer American cities actually want a franchise. Such is not the case in the MLS (at least right now - See St. Louis, Portland, Miami, NYC 2).
This isn't purely a matter of xenophobia; if Canada is so diehard about football as TFC supporters now pretend, they should get their own league (or leagues - as above, many medium sized and small countries have full pyramids). Its a win win for Canada, CONCACAF, and those of us who want to MLS to become more like a real football league.
to the anon who posted @ July 14, 2008 12:54 AM -
No one with money to invest in sports franchises gives a shit if the Canada can support a whole league. The entire process is predicated on selling media rights and attracting advertising dollars. The amount of fans at a game is negligible from KC (9K) to LA (27K) once you take TV markets into account.
A Canadian league would be beyond idiotic just given the opportunity costs that would be lost by remaining autonomous. Sports leagues take a lot of money to get off the ground therefore it makes perfect sense for Canada to use MLS to consolidate costs. Plus the MLS can use Canada to capture the TV market for sports that is less competitive than the US (e.g. no baseball), making up for the fewer audience members.
Additionally, if Portland had a robust TV market that could sustain itself there wouldn't be only one franchise in the city, plain and simple. You all want to argue about which potential fan base will generate the most fervor but fail to take into account what the priorities are for the people who run professional sports franchises and therefore see it as a business. They only care that you really care about the sport b/c it means they'll make money pushing sponsors at you while the game is on, being talked about, shown in replays, etc.
Teams in Portland and St Louis simply can not support the needed TV audience given the current market landscape. St Louis can't for the fact simply b/c of it's size, proximity to another team, and most importnatly a fervent TV fan base for baseball and football. If those cities had another 200-500 thousand people then non of this would be a problem. Vancouver is free of the competition for the sports-on-TV market, even though it's about the same size as Portland or St Louis (although much bigger than St Louis when you don't count the entire metro areas). Miami and Montreal are much larger which is why you'll continue to see their names come up even though the fan support is arguably worse (much worse in Miami's case).
All that said I wish Portland, St Louis, Vancouver, Ottawa, Atlanta, Miami and Phoenix all get teams by 2015.
I thought MLS was supposed to strengthen US soccer and develop talent for the national team program. If Canada wants more teams, start their own league. I support further expansion in US cities first.
This isn't a slight at TFC per se. Their fan and corporate support is huge. But from reading on the RPB forums, they seem to be missing that united spirit that the rest of MLS has. There's a five page thread about rooting against the MLS All-Stars. What happened to rooting for our guys, in a showcase match, against some overpaid, overhyped team from overseas? I'm a Revs fan but I'm the biggest fan of the other teams if they're in international play.
All right! USA vs Canada, now we're talking. I am racist. I don't like Canadians. In fact the only thing I dislike more than Canadians is French-Canadians.
So lets bring on Montreal. They already have a stadium with plans for expansion to hold about 20,000 and I would love to passionately root against 20,000 French-Canadians. That is what's fun about sports.
I believe I have become dumber after participating in this discusion. Eh, hoser.
I think he thinks Chivas usa will fold and move to Vancouver.
We had a league in Canada in the early 90's, and it tanked. Reason we want teams in MLS, is because Canadian sports fans care the most about leagues we share with the USA. Country of 30 million v. country of 300 million...which country's sports league would you rather watch?
Anyway, it's a moot point, since the next Canadian MLS team will most likely be Montreal, if at all. Hopefully Portland beats out St. Louis in the next expansion phase. MLS has to give the die-hard soccer fans and their markets the teams...it makes no sense to expand to un-proven markets. (Gotta wonder how Philly got chosen over Portland.)
That little snippet at the end of the article does not mean Vancouver is getting the franchise (believe me I want them to get it a long with Montreal, St. Louis, Portland and NYC 2). I read that article so long ago and all I saw was an anxious soccer-loving Canadian hoping for his brother's team to play top-flight in the upcoming years.
frankly, im getting sick and tired of all this expansion talk. after they add philly & st. louis (two cities without a usl team), the mls should just buy the usl at this point and institute a promotion/relegation system between the leagues. make the mls have 20 teams, and the usl has the rest. at the end of the year, the top three of the usl goes up, bottom three of the mls goes down.
To the guy who is talking shit about Canada can't support NBA & MLB....Toronto Raptors have one of highest Season ticket holders in NBA and a lot of NBA players don't mind playing for the Raptors. In fact, if you come to Toronto during the summer, you can find tons of NBA players hanging out here espeically during Caribana weekend we have in Toronto. Toronto Raptors have made it to the playoffs 2 straight years now. So don't tell me Toronto/Canada can't support NBA and MLB teams. Toronto Blue Jays are doing well and got a good fanbase. Their TV ratings are great! Now we got Bills (NFL team) coming to Toronto to play few games per season and don't be surprise if Bills end up moving to Toronto in the near future.
The portland Tinbers should be the next MLS team. I have no problem with Canada having 2 or 3 more teams. In fact they should. It only helps the sport. I would like to see canada get those teams as well as Portland, Miami, New York #2 team and St Louise.
Go Timbers FC (MLS)
Go Timbers FC.
The Timbers should be the next expansion team. The rest of you can play with my soccer balls.
It's still amazing how ignorant some of you are
Calling someone ignorant is ignorance at its best. You must be an arrogant pompous self righteous yeah-hoo that passes judgment without the facts.
Soccer is the best sport in the world and deserves to be played everywhere. MLS needs to expand to satisfy its fan base. I want to see the whitecaps expand into MLS. However, there are other teams that deserve the same chance. The Portland Timbers are such a team.
pierre elliot trudeau said being neighbours with the states is like "sleeping next to a giant elephant... in that every move you make has an effect on the entire continent.." so tell me, why would we isolate ourselves and leave all the soccer glory to you guys. think before you blurt out the first american nationalism bs thats been fed down your troats.
Post a Comment