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We received this enlightening press release from the Borough Boys detailing some behind-the-scenes NYC (or NY2 if you prefer) expansion stuff. We happily pass it on to you and wish them and all New Yorkers the best of luck in getting a team.
For Immediate Release Contact: Nick Laveglia
August 13, 2008 (516) 510-2283
BOROUGH BOYS WILL BRIEF THE PRESS ON
DEVELOPMENTS ON MLS2NYC PROJECT
-- In a few short months, the Borough Boys have rallied City Hall, investors, key local politicians and the league to build a stadium and bring a team to Queens --
Since the inception of the Borough Boys Governing Board in January, we have made great strides to get a Major League Soccer team for New York City. With the help of City Council member Hiram Monserrate, an early supporter of a Queens soccer stadium, the Borough Boys met with Sports Commissioner Ken Podziba and key members of the Mayor’s economic development team to discuss bringing an MLS team to New York. City officials announced that they supported the concept, and agreed to follow up with League Commissioner Don Garber and a number of investors who had shown interest in the project to pursue the plan further.
We followed up this success with a short meeting with Commissioner Garber. He confirmed that he was meeting with City officials, and Ken Podziba specifically, to discuss a New York City MLS franchise.
The Borough Boys then put together a meeting between Fred Wilpon, the owner of the New York Mets, and Council member Monserrate, whose district includes Shea Stadium. We were amazed to find out that Wilpon’s team already has a detailed plan, including the financials, to build a soccer stadium on the grounds around Shea Stadium. Wilpon and his team understood full well the popularity of soccer in the neighborhoods adjacent to the stadium, and speculated on the huge success of not only an MLS team there, but the possibility of international friendlies throughout the year. Council member Monserrate spoke of the popularity of the sport among his constituents and the Queens community, and that it would be greatly appreciated by so many fans of the beautiful game. We all agreed to move forward together to make the project work.
Now the league has announced that it is accepting bids for two new franchises to be the 17th and 18th MLS teams. So, the Borough Boys are initiating Project 17, an effort to make sure that New York gets in at least one bid, and to convince the league that NYC would be the pride of professional American Soccer. Expect announcements from investors and city officials in the coming days.
To find out more about the story of the Borough Boys, visit www.boroughboysnyc.com
###
Im all for an NYC franchise, but realistically WHERE could they build the stadium? I have never heard a site mentioned, and I'm curious as to where exactly this franchise would play its games (and if anyone says the Columbia football stadium or some other crappy college venue, my faith in MLS has gone down the crapper).
The site mentioned is on property Fred Wilpon owns around Shea Stadium which is being torn down for a new park for the Mets and possibly a soccer stadium.
Yes the old Shea is being torn down, but isn't just becoming the new parking lot for the new citibank stadium, which will be placed in the current parking lot location...
Does Wilpon own even more land than the parking lot and Shea land?
i have an idea-
they can support the team they already have, and then, we can save an expansion slot for some city who's citizen are not too lazy to cross a river
Old argument....What city do you propose?
Soccer's home in this country is the east coast. Just look historically. There were multiple teams in New York back in the 1920s.
"1869
Rutgers and Princeton played a college soccer football game, the first ever, November 6. The game used modified London Football Association rules. During the next seven years, rugby gained favor with the major eastern schools over soccer, and modern football began to develop from rugby."
National Association Football League
The NAFBL returned to full strength with an influx of returning soldiers from the war front. Several teams were added, and the season expanded to 16 games. The league continued to be plagued by missed games and weather cancellations, with only Harrison Erie completing their schedule. The veteran teams took most of the top spots in the standings, with Bethlehem Steel again taking the league title, albeit in a nail biter of a race, but they were unable to repeat their previous successes at the national cups. Philadelphia Merchant Ship plummeted to the bottom from their previous 2nd place finish, and Morse Dry Dock was the strongest of the newcomers, just finishing over .500. Several players took part in the St. Louis Soccer Club tour of Scandinavia (see below).
Final League Standings, 1919-1920
Before the season, Brooklyn Morse Dry Dock, Kearny Erie, Kearny Federal Ship,
Philadelphia Disston, and New York IRT were added.
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Bethlehem Steel 15 12 1 2 34 9 25
Harrison Erie S. C. 16 11 2 3 37 21 24
Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock 14 1O 2 2 33 22 22
Paterson F.C. 15 7 1 7 23 29 15
New York F.C. 14 4 4 6 17 24 12
Brooklyn Morse Dry Dock 14 4 3 7 22 2O 11
Philadelphia Disston 12 2 2 8 16 19 6
Kearny Federal Ship 11 2 2 7 19 28 6
Philadelphia Merchant Ship13 O 3 1O 7 36 3
New York IRT 5 0 0 5 4 19 0
League champion: Bethlehem Steel
Come on anonymous dimwit. NYC having a team in the 5 boroughs is a great thing for the league. I know that every footy fan wants a MLS team (MLS Milwaukee! 2011) but whats good for the league is going to be markets and/or places where people will support a club.
Expansion is great for the fans but giving every city with the $ for a franchise a team immediately could actually slow growth. Let's hope that one day every major metro area gets there's.
I just want the league to keep growing and us soccer improving. stop be a laughing stock to footy haters and euro snobs.
MLSR,
There was lots more of everything in New York in 1920. The population of the whole state of California in 1920 was 3,426,861 the population of New York City alone in 1920 was 5,620,048.
If the East coast hadn't f****d it up after 1869 soccer would be the most popular sport in this country right now. Immigrants came over from Europe and they decided to start playing American Football after they lived on the East coast for a while. Thanks...
Since the East Coast had their chance in the 1920's (and blew it) I would say expansion should really only be south of the Mason-Dixon, in Canada and West of the Mississippi River and Detroit of course. :)
Y'all seem to be forgetting St. Louis.
A second MLS franchise in the New York area is a worthy idea. It might keep the first one from sucking so much. :op Good luck to Nick, Paul and the Boys.
i get that people want a team in new york, but i don't get that they say the red bulls aren't a new york team.
that's like saying the giants aren't a new york football team b/c they play in the meadowlands. heck, eli even lives in hoboken, new jersey. the fanboys in new york sure celebrated when their "hometown" team won in february.
Why can't the Red Bulls just move into that new stadium and actually be New York? They could go across the river. I'm not to into them, but are they getting a new stadium? Last time I checked Giants Stadium is too big for them. Just a suggestion, but there's probably something wrong with it to you guys that I don't know about, because it's such an obvious answer to me.
Dear person that wrote: "i have an idea-
they can support the team they already have, and then, we can save an expansion slot for some city who's citizen are not too lazy to cross a river",
Im sick of having to explain ligitimate reasons on why the league and US soccer in general needs to put a team in NY from people that have never lived in NYC. And sick of listing reasons why we dont support the Red Bulls etc. The list goes on and on. So I'm going to try a different tactic and explain it on shear economic terms....NYC HAS THE PURCHASING POWER OF 8 F*CKING MILLION PEOPLE. I mean does any other business say, "you know what, lets build our business outside of NYC and hope that people come to us"?..NO!! You want a succesful restaurant do you built it the town where your customers are, or do you build it 4 towns over?
NYCFC in MLS by 2011.
Go Wilpon and thanks Borough Boys !!!
well, jon from queens, i'm tired of you listing all the reasons why nyc needs a second team when you don't support the team that's here already. why would mls want to put a second club in a city that's demonstrated that only 9,000 people come out to soccer games?
and the whole, it's hard to get to is understandable, except for the fact that 70,000 football fans make the trek every weekend for 16 weeks.
i'm sick of people whining that they don't have a soccer team when there's one here already who needs fan support.
Grant,
Who said anything about a 2nd team in NYC, although i'd love it? I just want a 1st team in NYC.
And your NFL point is one that i am sick and tired of argueing also but here it goes again *deep breath*....First off, The NFL is a league that has had many decades to grow fan support and is a different animal than the MLS. Secondly, probably a better point would be to bring up the fact that if you looked at the history (quite recent history too, as my father remembers this) of the Giants and Jets, BOTH teams started out playing in NY City Proper. Yes, thats right Grant. They started in NYC to gather fan support which took decades to grow. Giants started out at the Polo Grounds then Yankee Stadium, and the Jets used to play at Shea Stadium in Queens.
Anyone else that doesnt live in NYC and wants to refer questions, please feel free?
Jon from Queens,
You have a really bad attitude. Don't get all down on the NFL comparison. The main point here is that you don't want to travel across the Hudson River. If that's your decision, then fine. You can still enjoy quality soccer on the tube, as for right now, the Red Bulls are the team that represents NY.
And while the NFL teams might have started in NYC, the fans apparently have no problem with them being outside the city now. Much less the fact that most people don't even remember that they played in NYC once.
How many other cities have stadiums downtown in their cities? I can think of several, but not a majority by any means. Many sports franchises actually have homes "outside" of the city.
But this is all a moot point. You don't want to root for the Red Bulls and I'm not going to convince you otherwise. But while you're waiting for your franchise, perhaps you could support the one that's already here a little bit to make the case for adding another?
Grant,
My apologies if I am being so blunt. I am not trying to convey an attitude, just merely trying to point out facts. If you and the MLS want to succeed there is a huge void that would be filled by putting a team in NYC.
The Nets originally thought they could succeed by putting a team in NJ too. But now everyone in Brooklyn is going to benefit from that expirement.
As for your comparison of other cities having stadiums outside the cities, this is something people need to stop doing (note: i never said put a stadium downtown manhattan, that would be impossible). Stop comparing other cities to NYC. The size dwarfs every other city you are talking about, and no other cities' people rely on public transportation the way NYC does.
Why is it that everyone that wants a team in NYC seems to get blamed for NJ not being able to attract fans to their team? I dont mind if they have a team, heck, i watch them on TV all the time, but why cant NY have a team? Its just idiotic. According to you, maybe Philly shouldnt have gotten a team, since they are right on the border with NJ and only ~1.5hr commute to Harrison. Which is shorter than the commute using public transport to harrison from the outter boroughs.
Not to pick on St. Louis, but how would they feel if, multiply your city by 25 and guess what, you still dont get a team. And guess what?, we are putting a team in Springfield, IL, that's your team! Hooray!!! No, they'd be pissed, the team wouldn't do as well as in St. Louis, and not many Missourinites (made that up, sorry) would go to the games.
is every hater here from st louis or portland?
as a dallas resident, having a club in NYC is a ton more valuable to the league than have either or both those clubs.
FFS!
big picture, dumbasses. big picture!
Nice purse
:D
I love the NYC argument. Really most MLS teams have stadiums in the suburbs, and that is a problem everywhere. I think MLS needs the east coast, and a second NYC team at Shea jumps to the top of expansion candidates. I also hate two teams in the same stadium at LA.
However NYC has no plan. I see six dudes drunk at the bar, The Burough Boys. I realize one of these drunk guys has a wrist band, and that will get you places.
One question for Jon from Queens, why do they need a parking lot at Shea when New Yorkers don't drive?
Grant - You FAIL at life.
"why do they need a parking lot at Shea when New Yorkers don't drive?"
A lot of people in Queens drive. All of Long Island drives. Some areas of Brooklyn do.
Dear Iowa Farm Boy,
Here's the stats for driving vs. public transportation in NYC from Wikipedia:
About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York City or its suburbs.[5] New York is the only city in the United States where over half of all households do not own a car (Manhattan's non-ownership is even higher - around 75%; nationally, the rate is 8%).[6] 75% vs. 8%!!!!
Im not friggin lieing to you all. The vast majority of us dont own cars! I know that may sound hard to grasp, but its the truth. Yes, Shea Stadium has limited parking which, and dont quote me, but i would say is used 90% by those fans east of Shea in Long Island. But for anyone that rides the 7 on game days can tell you, its not fun because there is tons of people using it to go to Shea.
So here is where we stand, we are starting a new franchise in a new league and we are going to put a stadium outside of a city where 6 million people dont own cars. It doesnt take Warren Buffett to tell you that this isnt gonna work. If you want New Yorkers to go, put a stadium in the City.
Good luck NYC. I hope you guys get your team. I don't blame you guys for not supporting the Redbulls. New Jeresy is such an awful place to visit and to support.
Thank god TFC don't play outside of Toronto/GTA.
NYC can go fuck itself. Mostly for thinking the rest of the country doesnt understand that you dont drive cars. I bet 90% of US has visited NYC you fucking dolts. We get it. You hate taking public transportation to Shea but thats where you want to build the stadium? You will take public trans for the Giants by RBNY? Yeah ok fuck heads. Go choke yourself. Queens and Brooklyn can suck my ass.
This is so stupid. The problem with a stadium in NYC is that it will take an act of God to get it done. The Nets waited about eight years until they could finially move to Brooklyn. MLS needs to be in the largest US market, but building a stadium in NYC will have big price tag on it.
I don't think any stadium plan will come out of NYC in time for expansion, but when it does NYC won't have to wait. Any MLS team that dosen't own a stadium would move to NYC as soon as MLS would allow it, and MLS would allow it.
So all the Burough Boys need to do is build a stadium.
Quick question, how long of a drive is it, or bus/train ride from New York to where the Red Bulls play? I know NYC is huge so I'm just looking for a general idea on time it takes to get there.
I'm from Seattle and our current USL team plays south of Seattle, and it takes me about 30 minutes to get there by car. Next years MLS team plays right in downtown, where the Seahawks play. I know that having the team play in downtown will attract a ton more fans, as opposed to a stadium in a suburb. I'm down for a NY team in the city.