Response to Garber's meeting with the Ultras
The following email was sent to MLS Commissioner Don Garber in response to his meeting with the Miami Ultra supporters group, regarding expansion in the South Florida market.
Dear Commissioner Garber,
We are writing in response to your recent meeting with the Miami Ultras supporters group regarding their chances at MLS expansion. We commend your efforts to hear the issues of soccer fans across the country and taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with the Miami group. It is this willingness to listen to supporters that will help grow our sport across the country.
It is unfortunate that circumstances in Miami, and here in Tampa, led to the contractions of our franchises after the 2001 season. We understand that in order for the league to survive, sacrifices had to be made and franchises that hurt the league financially had to be cut. Both franchises were in unfortunate situations, with Miami's owner pulling the funding and Tampa being a league owned team throughout its existence. We do not think, however, that this precludes our cities from being included in the discussion for a future MLS franchise.
The South Florida market has a long way to go before being considered for another MLS franchise. While it's nice that over 60 people in a market area of 5.5 million people showed up this weekend to voice their support for MLS, it clearly is not ready for expansion. One could argue that the market will not ready for a few years, until South Florida supporters, as you pointed out when meeting with them, can unify the soccer hungry fans they claim to exist in the market and support the team that already exists. The attendance numbers for Miami FC, a franchise has existed for a few years now, are abysmal. The awareness of the team in a market, which claims to be soccer hungry, is extremely low as well. Until supporters like the Ultras can improve on the state of soccer in South Florida, we implore you to look at othe rmarkets when considering expansion candidates in the South.
It's obvious who the next team that should be awarded for expansion. Bringing back the New York Cosmos would be a great asset for MLS. The marketing and hype surrounding the potential return of the club has been impressive to say the least, and we are even excited for their return. But beyond the 20th team, we hope that you consider Tampa in the discussion. The Tampa Bay Rowdies of the original NASL showed how strongly our market supports the game, with crowds of 40,000 at times baring the August heat to support our team. Despite the team folding, the market came out to support the Tampa Bay Mutiny as an original MLS team. Being a league owned team, the Mutiny still had success on and off the field as the first ever Supporter's Shield winner and averaging attendance of 11,100 people throughout the franchise's existence (a number that is better than some franchises to this day). Finally we have a professional team back in the area with FC Tampa Bay, or as we still call them "The Rowdies."
Our NASL franchise has only been around for one season, but the initial success cannot be ignored. With an average attendance of 3,800 for our first season, despite little marketing and limited awareness, the Tampa Bay market is on its way to becoming a prime market for supporting soccer. Our supporters group now has over 350 members after one season, with no fewer than 60 at a game, and upwards of 150 at some games. All of this would not be possible with our committed ownership group, who have been a strong foundation as we move forward marketing the Rowdies and making more fans and supporters fall in love with the beautiful game. The team will be moving forward with building a soccer specific stadium that they would own, possibly in downtown Tampa. A stadium in a location central to the Tampa Bay market would be a great asset for building support for the team.
To supplement the support for the Rowdies, national team support has been strong despite the lack of a professional team in previous years, and continues to grow in recent years. Friendlies with the USMNT have been well attended (21,000 people on a cold, pouring rain, Wednesday night in February is no small feat, especially since they were playing a friendly against a mid-tier COCACAF opponent). We will have another great opportunity to show national team support this summer when we host Gold Cup games. The USMNT supporters group American Outlaws has a strong local chapter that has been successful thus far in encouraging support for our national team and soccer in general. Along with national team support, Tampa Bay has one of the strongest youth soccer communities in the nation. We have one of the largest youth populations playing soccer in the nation, despite being only the 20th biggest market. Along with the US Academy in nearby Bradenton, the youth soccer presence makes Tampa Bay a prime market for MLS expansion in the future.
Tampa is a ripe market for future expansion to MLS, and it should be the top contender for southern expansion over other competing markets. However, we realize we have a lot to prove before receiving the honor of MLS expansion. We have a strong ownership group now, the lack thereof being the biggest flaw with the Mutiny franchise. But we need to continue to grow, as a team and a supporters section. We want to earn the franchise, like the groups in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal have earned their promotion. While we are not ready right now, in years' time we will be. With the Cosmos potentially coming to the league in 2013 or 2014, Tampa has plenty of time to prove our worth. So our message to you, Commissioner Garber, is this: pay attention to the Tampa market when looking at southern expansion. We will continue supporting the Rowdies until the time comes calling. And hopefully when the time is right, we can have the honor of playing in MLS, and MLS will have another strong market as the game continues to grow across North America. And imagine what those games between the Rowdies and Cosmos and the memories they would bring back!
For love of the game, in the Tampa Bay area and across North America,
Ralph's Mob
Tampa Bay Rowdies Supporters Group
Dear Commissioner Garber,
We are writing in response to your recent meeting with the Miami Ultras supporters group regarding their chances at MLS expansion. We commend your efforts to hear the issues of soccer fans across the country and taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with the Miami group. It is this willingness to listen to supporters that will help grow our sport across the country.
It is unfortunate that circumstances in Miami, and here in Tampa, led to the contractions of our franchises after the 2001 season. We understand that in order for the league to survive, sacrifices had to be made and franchises that hurt the league financially had to be cut. Both franchises were in unfortunate situations, with Miami's owner pulling the funding and Tampa being a league owned team throughout its existence. We do not think, however, that this precludes our cities from being included in the discussion for a future MLS franchise.
The South Florida market has a long way to go before being considered for another MLS franchise. While it's nice that over 60 people in a market area of 5.5 million people showed up this weekend to voice their support for MLS, it clearly is not ready for expansion. One could argue that the market will not ready for a few years, until South Florida supporters, as you pointed out when meeting with them, can unify the soccer hungry fans they claim to exist in the market and support the team that already exists. The attendance numbers for Miami FC, a franchise has existed for a few years now, are abysmal. The awareness of the team in a market, which claims to be soccer hungry, is extremely low as well. Until supporters like the Ultras can improve on the state of soccer in South Florida, we implore you to look at othe rmarkets when considering expansion candidates in the South.
It's obvious who the next team that should be awarded for expansion. Bringing back the New York Cosmos would be a great asset for MLS. The marketing and hype surrounding the potential return of the club has been impressive to say the least, and we are even excited for their return. But beyond the 20th team, we hope that you consider Tampa in the discussion. The Tampa Bay Rowdies of the original NASL showed how strongly our market supports the game, with crowds of 40,000 at times baring the August heat to support our team. Despite the team folding, the market came out to support the Tampa Bay Mutiny as an original MLS team. Being a league owned team, the Mutiny still had success on and off the field as the first ever Supporter's Shield winner and averaging attendance of 11,100 people throughout the franchise's existence (a number that is better than some franchises to this day). Finally we have a professional team back in the area with FC Tampa Bay, or as we still call them "The Rowdies."
Our NASL franchise has only been around for one season, but the initial success cannot be ignored. With an average attendance of 3,800 for our first season, despite little marketing and limited awareness, the Tampa Bay market is on its way to becoming a prime market for supporting soccer. Our supporters group now has over 350 members after one season, with no fewer than 60 at a game, and upwards of 150 at some games. All of this would not be possible with our committed ownership group, who have been a strong foundation as we move forward marketing the Rowdies and making more fans and supporters fall in love with the beautiful game. The team will be moving forward with building a soccer specific stadium that they would own, possibly in downtown Tampa. A stadium in a location central to the Tampa Bay market would be a great asset for building support for the team.
To supplement the support for the Rowdies, national team support has been strong despite the lack of a professional team in previous years, and continues to grow in recent years. Friendlies with the USMNT have been well attended (21,000 people on a cold, pouring rain, Wednesday night in February is no small feat, especially since they were playing a friendly against a mid-tier COCACAF opponent). We will have another great opportunity to show national team support this summer when we host Gold Cup games. The USMNT supporters group American Outlaws has a strong local chapter that has been successful thus far in encouraging support for our national team and soccer in general. Along with national team support, Tampa Bay has one of the strongest youth soccer communities in the nation. We have one of the largest youth populations playing soccer in the nation, despite being only the 20th biggest market. Along with the US Academy in nearby Bradenton, the youth soccer presence makes Tampa Bay a prime market for MLS expansion in the future.
Tampa is a ripe market for future expansion to MLS, and it should be the top contender for southern expansion over other competing markets. However, we realize we have a lot to prove before receiving the honor of MLS expansion. We have a strong ownership group now, the lack thereof being the biggest flaw with the Mutiny franchise. But we need to continue to grow, as a team and a supporters section. We want to earn the franchise, like the groups in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal have earned their promotion. While we are not ready right now, in years' time we will be. With the Cosmos potentially coming to the league in 2013 or 2014, Tampa has plenty of time to prove our worth. So our message to you, Commissioner Garber, is this: pay attention to the Tampa market when looking at southern expansion. We will continue supporting the Rowdies until the time comes calling. And hopefully when the time is right, we can have the honor of playing in MLS, and MLS will have another strong market as the game continues to grow across North America. And imagine what those games between the Rowdies and Cosmos and the memories they would bring back!
For love of the game, in the Tampa Bay area and across North America,
Ralph's Mob
Tampa Bay Rowdies Supporters Group
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