Jacksonville an MLS City?

The Florida Times Union, the newspaper for the city of Jacksonville reported today that the mayor of the city, Alvin Brown, has been in talks with MLS about an expansion team.  Currently, there are no MLS teams in the Southeast, with the closest one being 700 miles away in DC.  Jacksonville was once home to a professional soccer team in the 1980’s as the Tea Men played in the NASL.

While MLS has made it clear, the first target of expansion will be another team in the actual City of New York, they have also stated the desire to expand into the Southeast.  The Southeast has been home to two MLS clubs in the past, one in Tampa, the other in Miami, both of which folded because of lack of support.

Atlanta, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando City have been expressing interest in being targeted for future expansion.  The mention of Jacksonville is a bit of a surprise actually.  This came off the recent success of hosting a US International friendly with Scotland where there were 44,438 seats sold at EverBank Field.  That compared to a US Qualifier versus Antigua & Barbuda that drew only 23,971 in Tampa.

It is no secret, the key to being considered for expansion in MLS is to have a private ownership group that would build a soccer specific stadium.  The mayor has said there have not only been “positive conversations” with MLS but that there are business leaders interested – “Absolutely.  That is a fact.”

The thought of an MLS team possibly coming to Jacksonville is especially interesting to me since I just recently moved to the city.  I do believe Jacksonville deserves a shot before Miami or Tampa.  I think putting a team in those cities again would be a mistake.  They have proven that they have not been supportive in the past.  My wish is that MLS will not only expand into Jacksonville, but into possibly Atlanta (most likely) and Orlando.  That would give the Southeast a group of natural rivalries that could only spur interest.

But maybe I’d have a better chance of enjoying MLS soccer by either purchasing MLS Direct Kick or moving.  I’m up for moving to Seattle, Portland or Vancouver – love those atmospheres!

MLS Season Getting Ready to Start

I’ve never been much of a MLS fan, but I think I am going to give it a chance this season.  I just ordered the MLS Direct Kick package and am actually pretty excited.  I haven’t had this much excitement for the beginning of a MLS season since the first two seasons.  Back then, I even bought a DC United season ticket package.

But the excitement wore off after the product on the field was not really very good.  Getting in and out of RFK was difficult, especially when they would charge $30 to park.  I got tired of going up there from Richmond and decided to start watching on tv.  That eventually fell off with the addition of Fox Soccer to my tv package where I got heavily interested in English football.  After watching the Premiership, any MLS game was incredibly boring.  My Premiership time of watching games has seriously taken a hit in the last year as my daughter likes to get up and watch cartoons in the morning.  Also, with West Ham being relegated to the Championship, I just don’t see as many games.

I really don’t know much about MLS other than the LA Galaxy won it last year.  I really have no interest in DC United anymore, though signing Dwayne DeRosario is interesting.  I’m actually excited about the teams in the Northwest – Vancouver, Portland and Seattle.  You may ask, why those teams, they are as far away from Richmond, VA as it can get?  The reason is that I really like what their fans are bringing to the game – the culture around their games.  So I decided to take the plunge and purchase MLS Direct Kick so that I can see those teams in the Northwest.  It will be perfect, most  of their games come on after 9pm, when my daughter is fast asleep and my wife is starting to wind down.  While the soccer may not be nearly as good as the Premiership, I think it is definitely getting better.  I can’t wait!