If you do a quick googling, you’ll see that Traffic Sports is heavily involved in running international soccer matches INSIDE the USA. I don’t know where you got the idea that SUM had a monopoly of international soccer inside the USA; it doesn’t. Why do you think Traffic Sports is headquartered in the USA? No point in being here if they can’t run matches here.

I won’t post any links as this site doesn’t like that, but here’s a sample:

“Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:05pm EDT

The International Friendly Soccer Match Between the National Teams of El Salvador and Guatemala Proved that Central American Soccer is Stronger than Ever

The “Clasico Centroamericano” Last Sunday, July 20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Broke Attendance Records

LOS ANGELES, July 25 /PRNewswire/ — Traffic Sports USA, announced today the positive results regarding the International Friendly soccer match between the Salvadoran and Guatemalan national teams held last Sunday, July 20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.”

“And this idea floated about a smaller stadium that can seat 25,000 for soccer in the same footprint as a new baseball stadium seems a fairy tale. Where exactly are people going to park? And the only transportation links near there are buses only. Wasn’t part of the reason the U of Miami finally gave up on the Orange Bowl due to not only a run down stadium but also its location and amenities like parking?”

Gee, I don’t know, call me crazy, but maybe you could, you know, follow the link in the story you were reading, and learn what is actually going on, before you call something you don’t understand a “fairy tale”:

“As far as the soccer stadium, it would cost $100 million and seat 25,000. The proposal calls for the cost to be divided between the city and MLS (or whomever owns a new Miami team). However, the main reason the city is interested in building the soccer stadium is to provide an additional funding source for a 6,000-car parking garage they will need to build for a baseball stadium as Diaz said they need 25 additional events annually for the garage to break even.”

They want the SSS built so that the parking garage can make money. MLS regular season games, MLS playoffs, international friendlies, US Open Cup, Superliga, CONCACAF Champions League, etc., will easily provide those 25 extra events they need for the parking garage to break even. Don’t you think maybe the City of Miami has learned its lesson after losing U of Miami football at the old Orange Bowl? They are rectifying the situation by adding sufficient additional parking. Problem solved.

But no, you anti-Miami folks keep believing your “fairy tale” accusations. People actually on the ground in Miami making things happen obviously don’t know what they are doing; anonymous internet soccer commentators know all!

Your other comments are equally retarded, too, and it would be tiresome to refute them point by point, however, I’ll refute a few of them.

On the stadium situation, you can’t compare a temporary situation while a SSS is being built (ie Naperville) to a permanent situation (Lockhart) nor can you compare driving 60 miles out into the countryside on an Interstate Highway, to driving 30 miles through congested South Florida urban sprawl!!!!

Also, as anyone can tell using Google maps, Naperville is only about 20 miles outside of Chicago, not 60!!!! You’re full of sh_t and I don’t know why anyone would take anything you say seriously.

In case you didn’t notice, Miami Fusion attendance was trending upwards, anyway, in spite of the stadium situation (unlike what you seem to believe, business people look at long term trends, not the first year performance).

Not that attendance had anything to do with the matter, as there were several other MLS teams with worse attendance than Miami that were not shut down, and are still in MLS today. Miami was shut down because their owner was useless and was not willing to take any more losses due to the MLS Single Entity system; at the same time, Tampa was shut down because it had no owner at all (ie Tampa was run by MLS, who were incompetent) and the rent of Raymond James stadium made it impossible for MLS to ever make money in Tampa.

As for your comments about SUM, you prove that you have simply atrocious reading comprehension. Please note that SUM has nothing to do with running “the vast majority of the premier club and country tournament/friendlies across the Western Hemisphere” - SUM runs SOME of the friendlies and SOME of the tournaments that take place INSIDE the USA - that’s it. Since when does SUM run matches in the Western Hemisphere outside the USA? Or do you think that the USA now includes the entire Western Hemisphere?

Don’t believe me? Google the Wiki for Traffic Sports and Traffic Group:

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“Traffic Sports USA, based in Miami, is the leading soccer event management company in the North American, Central American and Caribbean region. A division of Traffic Group, Traffic Sports USA has been responsible for organizing and/or commercializing most of the international soccer events in the region including the vast majority of CONCACAF’s FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, five of the last six CONCACAF Gold Cups, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Under-17 CONCACAF Regional Championship, the Central American (UNCAF) Nations Cup, the Central American (UNCAF) Club Champions Cup, and hundreds of friendly matches. Formerly known as Inter Forever Sports, Traffic Sports USA was established over 15 years ago.”

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“The Traffic Group is one of the leading sports event management companies in the world. The Group was founded in Brazil over 30 years ago and continues to be headquartered in Sao Paulo. It has regional offices in Miami (Traffic Sports USA) and Amsterdam (Traffic Sports Europe). During the course of the last two decades, the Traffic Group has organized and/or commercialized most of the international matches in the Americas including: the FIFA Club World Championship 2000, Copa America, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, the Under-17 CONMEBOL Regional Championship, the CONMEBOL Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and hundreds of friendly matches.

As the sports leader in Latin America, the Traffic Group also owns rights to other sports properties such as basketball and golf. Other holdings of the Group include 4 Rede Globo affiliates in Brazil and its own television production facility, Tv7.

Miami FC, a football club (soccer) based in Miami is part of the Traffic Group, as well as Desportivo Brasil, a new football club based in Porto Feliz,Brazil.”

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One reason Don Garbage - excuse me, Don Garber - was downplaying the CONCACAF Champions League and emphasizing the Superliga instead (apart from the fact that MLS clubs are getting drubbed out of the CCL, but managed to win the Superliga this year) was because SUM runs the Superliga, thus, the money from Superliga goes to SUM, and thus, indirectly, to MLS, whereas CCL is run (in part or in whole, I’m not sure) by the Traffic Group/Traffic Sports, and thus the money from that does not go to SUM and thus does not go to MLS.

Garber would be wise to get Miami FC/Traffic Sports to team up with FC Barcelona and get them into MLS with an MLS franchise in Miami. That way, Traffic Sports interests will line up with MLS/SUM interests, and the two could find ways to “split up the pie” amongst themselves rather than have Garber/MLS/SUM off sulking in a corner because they don’t have the monopoly on soccer promotion inside the USA, like they want to have.

But I digress. Short story: “Papa Bear” doesn’t know what he is talking about. Don’t listen to him.

“1) Their youth should be there benefit. EVERY MLS team had their best year in Year 1. (that may have changed for some now that the league is gaining traction) but up until a few years ago, EVERY team had their best year in year #1. So only being around for 3 years is no excuse for 950 people per match.”

Ohmyf_ckingGawd that is a retarded comment. You don’t follow anything besides MLS, do you, ie, you don’t follow USL? Sure, MLS had its best year of attendance - in 1996. That’s not a good thing: MLS has had worse attendance every year since (ie it has leveled off, at a level slightly below the 1996 level).

In other words MLS had a boost in its first year, 1996, and lower attendance ever since. That’s a BAD THING. It’s not supposed to work like that: a successful league should show steady increases in attendance, not a first year bump, followed by a twelve year plateau of stagnant attendance levels.

NEWSFLASH: that’s not how it works in USL. New clubs start out with low attendance, and then (if they survive) slowly increase their attendance in the following years. That’s because they don’t have a marketing budget (usually), and have to rely on word of mouth to attract new fans. That’s what has been happening with Miami FC: everyone likes to quote the first year attendance average, and ignore the steady increase in average attendance since then, in spite of ZERO marketing budget and in spite of playing in a bush league stadium.

The 94 World Cup matches that were in Orlando were there because of Disney’s political maneuvering: they should have gone to Tampa, which had the history of supporting pro soccer, and would have been just as big, or bigger, a success.

The Tampa Bay area is a bigger media market than the Orlando area, and has the history of supporting pro soccer. Orlando lacks that history. The Tampa Bay Rowdies will be back, in USL D1, in 2010 with their own stadium which can easily be expanded to an MLS sized SSS. If Miami is back in MLS thanks to FC Barcelona in 2011 and the USL Tampa Bay Rowdies are a success, you’ll see the deep pocketed investors group emerge to move the Rowdies up to MLS.

Orlando isn’t going anywhere in pro soccer, unless Disney steals a place in MLS from Tampa like they did in the 1994 World Cup. MLS doesn’t need their own soccer version of the Mighty Ducks. Sorry Orlando - to the back of the line with you.

It’s all very well for you to lecture Miami soccer fans to support the USL Miami FC, but USL average attendance has ZERO relationship to MLS average attendance. Go compare Toronto Lynx’s attendance to Toronto FC’s.

MLS in Miami could potentially be HUGE - with the right owners and the right stadium situation. Right now it looks like FC Barcelona is exploring putting in a bid for an MLS franchise, using FIU stadium as a temporary home (rent free) until a SSS can be built on the old Orange Bowl site, as the City of Miami has been pushing for.

This FC Barcelona bid would, if it happened and if it were marketed with any kind of savy, easily turn into another Toronto FC situation, with a large fan base turning out, fans that people like you like to claim “do not exist” just because a crappy USL team, with ZERO marketing budget, playing at a run down, bush league stadium, doesn’t draw large numbers of fans (ask Toronto FC fans if they had ever heard of the USL Toronto Lynx and if they did hear of them, why they never went to Lynx games).

The MLS Miami Fusion situation also has no bearing on what is happening with soccer, today, in MIami, either.

And you people talking about the weather, or attendance in Miami in other sports, as being reasons why Miami should not have an MLS team, are beyond clueless.

Ajax America, based in Tampa, Florida, has acknowledged it is actively participating in discussions to pursue an equity stake in a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. Ajax America, the exclusive American affiliate of AFC Ajax (Amsterdam), is pursuing an equity stake with investment groups in Kansas City, MO and San Jose, CA. The company currently operates a youth academy, conducts national tournaments and national training schools and manages a Premier Development League (PDL) team. Associating with a MLS franchise bridges the gap between Ajax and the highest level of American soccer. “Investing in a professional soccer team is the next logical step in our company’s growth plan,” stated Ajax America president and CEO Mark Dillon. “We will aggressively pursue the opportunity that meets our expansion objectives.” Rich Bradley, Ajax America executive vice president and COO, implied that establishing an Orlando-based team is a logical and ideal expansion option because Central Florida serves as Ajax America’s national headquarters and has a strong, supportive soccer community. However, Bradley added that he did not expect either the Earthquakes or the Wizards to relocate to Orlando. “Ajax explored Orlando as a location for expansion largely due to the area’s successful soccer history, including the 1994 World Cup,” stated Rich Bradley. “We still believe that the potential exists to bring a professional team to Orlando, however, at this time we have an opportunity to immediately attain our goal of an association with a Major League Soccer team in another market.” No time frame has been established to complete a deal with either investment group, Bradley added.

Miami is Ghetto, if paying $25 nightclubs, $8 dollar domestic beers and talking “oyw papi, que pasa bro-de” is COOL, then I’ll have no part in it. Central Florida has HUGE soccer players population. Drive around one of our MANY soccer fields and parks on a weekend and you’ll see lots of action as well as ESTABLISHED fans. Site of the WC 94 and SOLD OUT each game, no threat of blackout unlike some cities I know; and thank God I am not a miamian, only thing ranked number one is being MOST stressful city and worst traffic in America.

If you were educated, you’d live up here, and you’d see that we have EXCELLENT fan base in NBA and NCAA UCF Knights. 44,550 average, compare to FI WHO? 3,500 fans a game? UM fans, where they at? The Magic had no trouble having fan support and getting a state of the art arena, as well as new Citrus Bowl, performing arts, etc. I lluv ju Miami? They start to lose, opps, what Hurricane team? Why is it that the Heat, which I like, they had to suffer piss poor attendance? Why would ANYONE wanna hang out in the old OB area? How is parking going to work, and nothing changes the fact that MIA 305 blew it with the Fusion.

Don’t be surprised by the end of this year, O-town gets some serious momentum. If you knew the area more (Central Florida) you’d know that we have a huge Mexican population in the outskits of Orlando as well as European in I-drive/ Williamsburg area. So MLS would be foolish to send another team to another half empty stadium in Sunny SOBE Miami, because you have better things to do like cruise Coconut Grove and be hoodlums.

LOL

Orlando was the site for the U.S. World Cup 94 for a reason and it was a great success, as well as many youth soccer leagues, CFSL, AYSO and even adult soccer leagues!! If fans like FlaMLSClub and I can establish more momentum; than in the future it can happen. So Orlando, with former Tampa Bay Mutiny fans not too far away, would make more sense.

Miami had a chance and blew it. RIP Fusion. Sorry.