Mecklenburg County BOC approves new MLS Stadium/CCC Fugs it up/1/30-bid still ON despite CCC

[Nails]

Just now, Pimpdaddy said:

Why thank you.... maybe we can head up a venue for tiddlywinks and chess too....soccer has no place in the panther forum..

Yes it does, for many reasons.  For starters, again, Bruton and Marcus Smith have been mentioned as possible future owners of the Panthers and few in the region have their clout.

[gorillamilitia13]

1 hour ago, Nails said:

The Charlotte City Council had a chance to bury NCFC six feet under today.  But, as of today, NCFC is alive and in the game, literally and figuratively.  We'll see.

So the mls team that Mecklenburg County BOC had in mind is a different team than NCFC? And if that team got approved by the CCC that would likely ruin NCFC's hopes of joining the MLS?

[Nails]

8 minutes ago, gorillamilitia13 said:

So the mls team that Mecklenburg County BOC had in mind is a different team than NCFC? And if that team got approved by the CCC that would likely ruin NCFC's hopes of joining the MLS?

Different.  NCFC and CLT are in competition-Charlotte vs Raleigh.  NCFC has advantages but CLT has more advantages including a far deeper pocketed Smith.  Smith is already contributing well over $200 million in entry fee and stadium costs.  The county and city were going to pay the rest.  The county said yes and city said not now/maybe later.  The deadline for entry in this expansion cycle is Tuesday.  That's where we are now.

[Ricky Spanish]

1 hour ago, Nails said:

Different.  NCFC and CLT are in competition-Charlotte vs Raleigh.  NCFC has advantages but CLT has more advantages including a far deeper pocketed Smith.  Smith is already contributing well over $200 million in entry fee and stadium costs.  The county and city were going to pay the rest.  The county said yes and city said not now/maybe later.  The deadline for entry in this expansion cycle is Tuesday.  That's where we are now.

This article seems to be on the opposite side of the fence that you are, and another from the same website claims the deal is bad on the taxpayers of the Charlotte area.

Quote

The Smiths would pay a little less than 15 percent of their half – $12.5 million – up front.  The other $75 million would be financed by the county.  Essentially, the county would loan them the money, and the team, owned by the Smiths, would agree to pay it back over the next 25 years.

...

That’s a lot of money, and a lot of valuation growth.  Potentially, someone could make a fortune off of a successful MLS team in Charlotte.  But it won’t be the taxpayers.  The team, and their owners the Smiths, will control and operate the stadium.  They’ll control concession and ticket revenue, apart from 20 days a year (six for the city and 14 for the county) when local governments will have use of the stadium.  The team and county will each pay $150,000 each year into a capital projects fund related to the stadium, so there’s ongoing cost to the taxpayers.  And while the team, i.e. the Smiths, will be responsible for day-to-day operating costs, the county will be responsible for major upgrades to the stadium in years 11 and 21.

For all this, the county would retain ownership of the site, which sounds like a good thing.  But consider that, because it’s county owned, it would be exempt from property taxes.  So, not only will taxpayers have to pay upfront to build the thing and get stuck with ongoing maintenance costs, but their local government will not receive annual property tax revenues.  If the county believes that more property tax revenue is needed, they’ll have to raise it by increasing existing property tax rates.

Other cities are building or have proposed to build MLS stadiums without large taxpayer-funded subsides.  A competing proposal in Raleigh would be almost entirely privately funded, with the only taxpayer money likely to be associated with parking and road infrastructure.  San Jose has a privately funded soccer stadium.  Minnesota, which will enter MLS this year, will also play in a stadium built with private funds.

 

What say you?

[CatMan72]

Would be nice to see someone do something with Memorial stadium, it's in an advanced state of decay and has become an eyesore which is sad for such a significant and historical city landmark. 

I'm personally not a big soccer fan, but I think any major league franchise would be good growth for the city so I would welcome an MLS team. I think the issue the city council had was the funds were coming from a source that could be used to improve sidewalks, etc... instead of the tourism tax which can only be used for entertainment purposes. 

[Nails]

23 minutes ago, Cracka McNasty said:

This article seems to be on the opposite side of the fence that you are, and another from the same website claims the deal is bad on the taxpayers of the Charlotte area.

 

What say you?

She's utterly clueless.  The "tax" is payed for via hotel/rental cars.  How many in Mecklenburg County are spending money on hotels and rental cars?  

Again, while many come from outside of Mecklenburg County for the Panthers and Hornets, many prefer college football or college basketball throughout the region to the NFL or the NBA.  And certainly most have access to minor league baseball within an hour's drive in the Carolinas.  While Charlotte alone would support MLS due to size/demographics/no summer entertainment competition, the FACT that soccer has NO competition in the entire region GUARANTEES dollars from outside of Mecklenburg County flowing in 17 times a year, EASILY!!!!! reimbursing the "taxpayers" many times over for their investment.  The "taxpayers" also did what "taxpayers" everywhere do for the NFL and NBA here too-(as well as the street car, NASCAR HOF, minor league baseball, and numerous other boondoggles)

Like I said it's as if the CCC doesn't realize the competition and tight timeframe here.  Do we want to be an MLS City or not?  If not why the international friendlies in recent years?  St Louis City Council just approved their plan today.  CCC must think Carolinians in the 21st century prefer picking boogers and baking in the hot humidity while reading offseason huddle threads during the summer months than having visitors pay a few extra cents on the dollar for their hotels/rental cars and watching a fresh, growing product.

[FuFuLamePoo]

I'm a huge American soccer junkie/hipster so obviously I'm heavily rooting for a team to come to my home city.  I get that Bruton Smith may not be the ideal owner, but he's the only guy willing to go all in on this right now.  I really wish he would have partnered with Jim McPhilliamy (owner of Charlotte Independence) to put the bid together.  JM has a ton of passion for the sport, but he's kinda been left in the cold which sucks but it's business I suppose.  I think the team would find success in the city, if you can consistently get crowds of 18K that's all the MLS is looking for. I think in the summmer CLT could do that, especially in a location like Memorial.  The other day was such a buzz kill though, I was kind of surprised when the original motion passed but man things took a turn for the worse quickly when the city said they wouldn't hear the proposal.  Sounds like only chance now is for Smith to add in all the additional cash which I don't see happening.  But what really sucks is that if this doesn't happen, it sounds like the Charlotte Independence may not be around come 2018.  So us CLT soccer junkies could be out of a team to support by 2018.

As much as I want this to happen, I just hate the set up of the MLS.  32 teams is ridiculous, I wish we had a pro/rel system

[Nails]

13 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

I'm a huge American soccer junkie/hipster so obviously I'm heavily rooting for a team to come to my home city.  I get that Bruton Smith may not be the ideal owner, but he's the only guy willing to go all in on this right now.  I really wish he would have partnered with Jim McPhilliamy (owner of Charlotte Independence) to put the bid together.  JM has a ton of passion for the sport, but he's kinda been left in the cold which sucks but it's business I suppose.  I think the team would find success in the city, if you can consistently get crowds of 18K that's all the MLS is looking for. I think in the summmer CLT could do that, especially in a location like Memorial.  The other day was such a buzz kill though, I was kind of surprised when the original motion passed but man things took a turn for the worse quickly when the city said they wouldn't hear the proposal.  Sounds like only chance now is for Smith to add in all the additional cash which I don't see happening.  But what really sucks is that if this doesn't happen, it sounds like the Charlotte Independence may not be around come 2018.  So us CLT soccer junkies could be out of a team to support by 2018.

As much as I want this to happen, I just hate the set up of the MLS.  32 teams is ridiculous, I wish we had a pro/rel system

Despite the hypocritical, spineless, clueless CCC, Marcus Smith says hold on to your britches.

[FuFuLamePoo]

On 1/26/2017 at 6:58 PM, blackcat said:

Btw, Trump is going to send 75% of the soccer fans packing.....

Dude get tf out with this ignorant bs nonsense.  And just so you know, most Mexicans laugh at the MLS as inferior to their home league.  Which.... it kinda is.  But it's [MLS] still a league on the rise and becoming more popular every year, especially with millenials.  Soccer is absolutely growing in America with every world cup cycle, city has a golden chance to get a team of their own.  They don't want to miss it.

 

This would be a huge asset for Charlotte.  No questions.

[Nails]

1 minute ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

Dude get tf out with this ignorant bs nonsense.  And just so you know, most Mexicans laugh at the MLS as inferior to their home league.  Which.... it kinda is.  But it's still a league on the rise and becoming more popular every year, especially with millenials.  Soccer is absolutely growing in America with every world cup cycle, city has a golden chance to get a team of their own.  They don't want to miss it.

 

This would be a huge asset for Charlotte.  No questions.

Chicharto is likely coming to MLS.  That can't hurt ratings with Mexicans.

[FuFuLamePoo]

5 minutes ago, Nails said:

Chicharto is likely coming to MLS.  That can't hurt ratings with Mexicans.

I haven't heard these rumors.  I was surprised enough when dos Santos came, but why would Chicharito entertain the idea at this age when he's been so good in the Bundesliga?  Yeah he's been on a run of poor form but he'd be foolish to leave at this point.

Now..... in 3 years when he might be ready to come back to North America.... around 2020 I could see it.  Man, what kind of initial signing would THAT be for a CLT MLS team?  I'm already dreaming over here lol! 

[Nails]

20 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

I haven't heard these rumors.  I was surprised enough when dos Santos came, but why would Chicharito entertain the idea at this age when he's been so good in the Bundesliga?  Yeah he's been on a run of poor form but he'd be foolish to leave at this point.

Now..... in 3 years when he might be ready to come back to North America.... around 2020 I could see it.  Man, what kind of initial signing would THAT be for a CLT MLS team?  I'm already dreaming over here lol! 

Yeah we'll see https://www.google.com/amp/www.goal.com/en/amp/news/14202/mls/2017/01/25/31929902/is-an-mls-bidding-war-in-la-for-chicharito-looming?client=safari

[FuFuLamePoo]

6 minutes ago, Nails said:

Yeah we'll see https://www.google.com/amp/www.goal.com/en/amp/news/14202/mls/2017/01/25/31929902/is-an-mls-bidding-war-in-la-for-chicharito-looming?client=safari

Can you imagine how the MLS would take off if the salary cap was ever listed?

Look what's happening in China right now!!

[Nails]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarcusSMI/status/826147035636195328

Marcus Smith says game still on.