One thing you can’t take away from other leagues is that they had the advantage of having most of their top clubs started before sports became a profession at the turn of the last century. American professional soccer was economically forced into a different model. Like it or hate it, that’s the reality.

Neither NY2 nor Cosmos stadia will be financed with much private money. NY2 will probably be getting landgrants from the city (for Corona Park) as well as tax breaks, and Cosmos look to necessitate some sort of public funding or tax break system as well. Hardly any stadium is built using private money anymore.

There will be three NY teams (possibly four if USL gets back into that market like they want). And they’ll represent different districts of the metropolitan area, which is more in line with most parts of the world. The Cosmos will have to stand on their own two feet in the NY sports market. If I had to guess, the Cosmos will give more competition to NY2 than either of those will give to NYRB. But no matter how it turns out, upcoming USOC tourneys will be a hell of a thing in NYC.

I think it’s like restaurants. MLS is McDonalds. If you buy a McDonalds franchise, you might make a lot of money and have success, but no one will ever say you have the best restaurant in town. The more entrepreneurial model allows for a LOT of chaos and failure, but it’s also where you get your 5-star restaurants. I know that when MLS started, our soccer market couldn’t endure that volatility, but perhaps we can now. MLS would be wise to just let the Cosmos do what they want and see what happens.

And, if the VSI Tampa stadium project is any indication, the entire project site will include practice facilities, academy facilities, sports medical facilities, and anything else that’d make this plan so appealing to a soccer organization. One thing you have to remember about this kind of stuff is that these renderings depict the ideal scenario of the client. It’s a wish list. They rarely get built in the same capacity, at least at first, and are usually staged over many years. That’s basic design and planning.

And what is this supposed Sounders Stadium you talk of? I’ve heard scuttlebutt about it, but it was pretty much dismissed as a pipe dream.

So if NOT you are going to build a stadium for the fastest growing situation in the world ( US soccer ) and you build a 25k stadium ? Stupid.

For 400k ? Wow.

When they build the best soccer stadium in the world, the Sounders Stadium for $360 ( $430 with Events Center next door ) ? Triple wow.

Wow, I thought these guys might pull this off, but they are not very bright. They must be counting on a LOT of other revenue ? Doesn’t make ANY sense….at all.

If you are going to spend $400 million, build a real stadium.

That being said, maybe a hell of a lot easier to build in Long Island and if they can get this thing built while MLS is dealing with NYC bureaucratic nonsense, it may force the league’s hand.