Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

Cha-Ching. Corked Champagne. Celebrations. On April 18, MLS confirmed what everyone except Don Garber had said out loud — MLS would be expanding to 30 teams, already accelerating beyond their previously set upper limit of 28. While this is good news for the top division, what does it mean for current professional soccer in the lower divisions, particularly the USL?

Well, it’s likely good news.

The news of MLS expansion means that the USL can sell a dream to current and potential owners. That dream is: “Join us and find your feet. Once you do, you’re merely one step away from the big leagues.” It is the dream on which the futures of the ownership groups of Sacramento, Indy XI, Phoenix Rising FC, Saint Louis FC, Las Vegas, etc., hang their annual financial losses.

USL spokesperson Ryan Madden suggests that MLS expansion is a sign of the growth of the sport in the country.

“We believe that more soccer is better,” he said. “Whether it be in the Championship, League One, or elsewhere, expansion ultimately is a good thing. It means more access to more soccer for more fans across the country. Communities who have never before experienced the game in their own backyards are now getting that opportunity. Young soccer fans are being given a local club to grow up with and to look up to. Communities like Albuquerque, Memphis, Statesboro or Madison, to name just a few, are seeing their clubs become local rallying points. There are a tremendous amount of positives stemming from the game’s growth at the moment and we’re happy to be a part of it.”

Though when asked about whether or not expansion influences the USL’s own expansion efforts, Madden opined, “While expansion in other leagues only further emphasizes the appetite for professional soccer across the country, USL’s is conducted independently, and not influenced by other organizations.”

Ecosystem

Not influenced?

Whether the USL is not influenced by the decisions of the league is debatable. The USL is certainly independent in some demonstrable ways, such as its recent laudable decision to introduce temporary substitutes to facilitate the diagnosis of brain injury, something MLS has disturbingly and inexplicably not prioritized. But, in terms of expansion? Can the USL’s expansion and expansion fees exist in a sports-biz vacuum, independent of MLS’ actions?

Not buying it.

There are almost no independent USL teams in cities/areas that have successful or even semi-successful MLS franchises. The USL franchise fee will not — in any foreseeable scenario — exceed that of MLS. Sure, those things likely suggest prudent business practice versus any nefarious conflicts of interest, but they demonstrate that USL expansion is (and should be) influenced by the ecosystem it exists in.

And MLS remains the alpha predator of that ecosystem.

Money and data

In 2018, Soc Takes explored the financial implications of ownership investment in lower-division soccer based on data from 2017 and earlier. Per sources, it seems that losses in 2018 were of a similar magnitude as reported in that story. (Caveat: This is certainly anecdotal data — n = two clubs — and may not represent trends at other clubs. In other words, it is possible that USL clubs suddenly started performing better financially in 2018, though no such evidence exists.)

The league deserves immense credit for stabilizing Division 2 soccer vis-a-vis the metric of dying clubs. However, the financial concerns likely remain.

MLS’ 30-plus-team expansion will likely lead to more influx of expansion fees for the league, particularly as it begins to build out its fledgling, USL League One. The eventual ascendancy of a club like FC Cincinnati or Nashville will also mean the influx of “upward mobility fees,” as previously reported by Soc Takes.

If the USL is Dr. Evil, League One is clearly its Mini-Me. Using largely the same vision for expansion, rising expansion fees, etc., the league will adapt the lessons learned by the USL Championship on a honey-I-shrunk-it-down-to-Division 3 scale. In spite of their alignment with the USL, populating the third division is no easy task. Ask NISA. While League One experienced some growing pains, they seem to be on course to populate the third division. Per sources, the league will have 3-4 announcements regarding 2020 expansion teams in the fall.

So, yes, the league will continue to flourish. But, will MLS’ expansion directly affect the finances of teams? Indirectly, perhaps. Leveraging team-owned stadia allows owners to attempt to empower their own financial futures. Though, at this point, it seems that teams such as Louisville City and Indy XI are attempting to change the equation by taking MLS out of the equation, and convincing their cities that USL Championship soccer itself is worthy of fanciful leviathans of reinforced metal, artificial turf and incentivized taxpayer dollars.

When asked about the USL’s reliance on expansion fees, Madden told Soc Takes, “While we can’t divulge specific financial information, it’s fair to say that commercial growth will absolutely continue to be a priority for us. In fact, we’ll be making some very exciting announcements on that front in the near future.”

The future and the past

It remains to be seen if other clubs can convince their cities that the USL Championship has relevance on the sports stage. It also remains to be seen if USL team-owned stadia generate enough revenue to truly provide a return on investment of a magnitude hypothesized by many.

Approximately 500 years before the birth of Marouane Fellaini, Greek philosopher Heraclitus talked about the “upward-downward path” — that the facets of life interchange and occur simultaneously. His idea stood in direct contrast to that of his compatriot, Parmenidus, who opined on the immutable nature of life.

I have previously suggested that the USL’s purported growth may actually be Parmenidian stagnation. Yet, only results on a long-enough time scale will validate whether the league and its members succeed. Until then, the yet-again-open doorway of MLS expansion provides the space for Heraclitian movement, growth and, potentially, success.

Follow Nipun on Twitter: NipunChopra7.

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Lansing Ignite starters huddle up ahead of their May 15 Open Cup match against the Indy Eleven. Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

On the heels of USL League One’s official announcement that Lansing Ignite FC is discontinuing operations after their inaugural season, we caught up with club vice president Jeremy Sampson to find out more.

Nipun Chopra: Let’s start with how are you doing? 

Jeremy Sampson: The feeling right now is emptiness and disappointment. This decision to cease operations was made by (Lansing Ignite owner) Tom Dickson. The owner is the ultimate decision maker. I’m devastated at the outcome as this team was something I spent six years building. And now it’s gone. 

 NC: Was this decision out of your hands?

JS: Absolutely, I didn’t have a say in the outcome of the organization. He’s the owner, I’m an employee. I handled the soccer side and the president handled the business side.

NC: Before we get into details, when did you know that the club was in trouble?

JS: The first signs were in late June, early July (2019).

NC: What were those signs?

JS: Front office folks were let go and their positions were not filled. I started to wonder what was going on.

NC: Did you bring that up with Tom Dickson?

JS: I would approximate that I haven’t spoken to him in three months. When we did communicate it was by text.

NC: Was your relationship always this way?

JS: Yes, from the very beginning. If there was information, it was routed via the president, Nick Grueser.

NC: How was your relationship with Grueser?

JS: Nick was great. We had a really good working relationship.

NC: Then why was there a lack of communication between yourself and the ownership for three months?

JS: That’s a question for Tom, I’m not sure why he didn’t reach out.

NC: Were expectations from ownership, such as attendance, unrealistic?

JS: Unrealistic is an interesting word. When you’re starting a business for the first time, you have to understand what you’re getting into. We had expectations that our attendance would be a little higher. But, we’re a smaller market and we had the third-highest attendance, so I’m not sure that was the issue.

NC: Why did Dickson not want Lansing to continue?

JS: Not comfortable answering that because I don’t know what his reasons are for not continuing past year one.

NC: Was Lansing Ignite just a way to get more revenue at the baseball stadium?

JS: I am not comfortable speaking to that. I know some changes were made to the stadium lease with the city to include soccer, but I honestly don’t know what his end goal was. 

NC: Let me ask again, why do you think Dickson ceased operations?

JS: I am told, this is second-hand information, that it was a financially motivated decision.

NC: Approximately how much money did Ignite lose in their first year?

JS: I have no idea. I was never privy to that information.

NC: Do you regret your decision to move Lansing United from the NPSL to League Two, which subsequently lead to the decision to go pro with League One?

JS: Six years ago, I had a dream of growing the game of soccer in the Lansing community. It turned into a grassroots club that was a contender in the NPSL. It captured the imagination of the city and my heart. As difficult as it is to watch it come to end, I’m proud that we had the opportunity to play as a professional team. I would rather have tried and failed than not to have tried at all.

NC: Would you do it the same way — making the switch from the NPSL?

JS: I would go the same route. In looking back, one of the biggest mistakes we made was that we rushed to go from League Two to League One. It was my recommendation to start in 2020. I remember Tom calling me and telling me good and bad news. Good: We had a pro franchise. Bad: We start in 2019. Announcing the franchise in late October and going through the process of building a team, franchise and front office staff is a Herculean task.

NC: Why did the team start in 2019 and not 2020 like you recommended?

JS: I was not told that information.

NC: Was it a league decision or ownership decision to begin in 2019 or 2020?

JS: I wasn’t privy to any discussions between league and ownership.

NC: Did you feel supported by the league through the process? Did they offer ideas on how to save the club?

JS: The league provided a lot of support. I had a lot of dealings with League One and League Two. There are people at the league office dedicated to help you increase ticket revenue. We implemented some of those strategies.

NC: What were some of those strategies to increase ticket sales.

JS: Here’s one I can think of. Another team in the (USL) Championship had a process they were using — take a single ticket buyer and turn them into a multiple-game ticket buyer and/or season ticket sales for the following year.

NC: Other than not rushing through the building process, what advice would you offer to other clubs?

JS: Each individual organization in each market will have to learn different lessons. What worked in Albuquerque doesn’t necessarily work in Lansing. We needed more time and more marketing to make this work. The staff you hire on the sales side is tremendously important; we were hit and miss on that staff. We had a staff member who was first or second in ticket sales in the league. We needed a few more like him.

NC: What have you learned personally?

JS: In our meetings with the players last Monday, my message to them — in your life, you’re going to have something that doesn’t go your way. You’re going to have struggles, obstacles. Through that adversity, you build character. This is an adverse situation in my professional career but it’s taught me so much in who I want to be as a person/employee/leader. A lot of people could look at it full of regret, I’m glad we took a shot. You have to have a belief in yourself in the way you do things and handle people and situations. You learn through mistakes than you do successes.

NC: What’s next for you and soccer in Lansing?

JS: I’m looking for a job and I’m not sure what my next endeavor will be. I’m going to keep the Lansing United women’s team going. The big question is regarding the Lansing United men’s team and to be honest, I don’t know the answer to that yet. I haven’t had any discussions with any league about a men’s team at this point.

NC: In your opinion, is what happened a Lansing-specific phenomenon or a larger issue with the league?

JS: Lansing-specific. If it was a wider phenomena, I think we would see more teams folding. Individual teams are different and there are owners putting in millions of dollars into their clubs such as Chattanooga, Greenville and South Tormenta. There are a lot of good things happening in League One.

Follow Nipun on Twitter: @NipunChopra7.

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John Lenard, R.P. Kirtland and Ian Foster discuss what the success of the #SavedTheCrew movement means for MLS, U.S. Soccer, sports in America, sports everywhere else, life, the universe and everything in the latest edition of Front Porch Discourse.

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Cincinnati Soccer Talk’s Nick Seuberling joins co-hosts Kevin Johnston and John Lenard to analyze FC Cincinnati’s roster construction ahead of the club’s first season in MLS. Seuberling also discusses his background in soccer and digital media.

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From Sweden to Singapore, video game challenge making fans go #FullMingo

Photo credit: Forward Madison FC

If you’ve paid any attention to lower-division soccer the past year in the U.S., you’ll have noticed the meteoric rise of Wisconsin-based Forward Madison FC into the hearts of fans. The third-division USL League One club hit the ground running with a fun, quirky personality that encapsulated Madison perfectly and has become a darling in the eyes of many.

Given their astounding social media and communications presence, it should come as no surprise that when yours truly created a four-tier, pro/rel-enabled, regionalized American pyramid in FM 2020 — which you can download here — the team at Forward Madison leapt into action to create a fun, unique challenge for fans of the game series around the world.

Detailed here and on Forward Madison’s Twitter and Reddit pages, the Forward Madison Football Manager 2020 challenge encouraged fans to go #FullMingo and guide the team to promotion into the top flight and win the highest level of silverware on offer. Winners would receive a personalized letter signed by real-life Forward Madison manager Daryl Shore.

The challenge exploded in popularity and — over the past month — the club has seen fans take up the task all over the world, with some amazing stories to share as a result and a few more Mingos rooting for the team around the globe.

Joining Soc Takes to discuss the tremendous success of the challenge and share some of those stories is Jason Klein, Digital Media Manager at Forward Madison FC.

Colton Coreschi: After seeing the database, who proposed the idea of the Forward Madison challenge?

Jason Klein: To preface, my name is Jason Klein and I’m the digital media manager at Forward Madison FC. In practice, that means running most of our online presence, including social media, news articles and website features. Of course, due to the nature of being a small club, everyone has their hands in lots of different tasks. For instance, I also help run the press box on game days and occasionally assist with corporate partnership proposals.

I came up with the idea of the Forward Madison challenge last year, simply because I’ve played Football Manager for a long time and I know what kind of connection it can foster between a supporter and a club. I grew up in the Indianapolis area, so playing with the Indy Eleven in a similar database on FM16 really developed my fandom. Now, as someone who works for a team, I just try to do the things I would have wanted to see as a fan.

CC: How quick was the rest of the team to jump on-board with the idea?

JK: I really only discussed the idea initially with Kuba Krzyzostaniak; he’s my direct supervisor and together, we make up the media team. He had played FM in the past, too, so I think he “got” it pretty quickly.

CC: Your posts on Reddit and Twitter got a ton of traction. What kind of response have you seen overall?

JK: The response has just been incredible. The Reddit post in particular became way more popular than I expected, and it’s felt really heartening to see the kind of reactions it’s inspired. People have put us on their Football Manager blogs, their Football Manager YouTube channels, and of course they’ve been sending us all kinds of stories about their experiences with the team.

CC: How many people have completed the challenge and received the personalized letter from HC Daryl Shore?

JK: I want to say there have been around 20 so far that we have mailed letters to, although I know there are still a few stories in my inbox that I have to catch up on. There were a handful of people who completed it in the first weekend, which is quite the feat. I’m usually a much slower player, so it can take me weeks to just do one season.

I have to thank Daryl as well, who’s always game for these sorts of things. He’s really personable with fans and willing to participate in some of our crazier ideas.

CC: Do you have many Football Manager players in the office? Has anyone tried to complete the challenge themselves?

JK: Kuba and I are probably the only ones, to be honest! We had to explain what Football Manager is to several of our co-workers, so at least they all understand now. I’m planning on doing the challenge at some point, but I’ve been pretty busy with getting real-life player announcements done!

It’s funny, because when I initially stumbled into this job, I liked to compare it to the experience of playing Football Manager, but on steroids. There are constantly these deals that come and go and break down and suddenly happen, but on a far more intense scale than in the game. Plus there are so many added variables… If (game developer) Sports Interactive ever wants to make a Football Manager: USL Edition, I’m happy to help!

CC: What’s the best story you’ve heard from players trying to complete the challenge so far?

JK: Some of the best stories have come from people from the other side of the world, with literally no other connection to Forward Madison, who have become a fan of our team. We have new fans in Portugal, Singapore, Sweden and beyond now. I’ve actually connected a bunch of those people to our merchandise manager, Chase, to arrange international shipping for jerseys.

I think my favorite story, though, comes from John from Northern Ireland. He sent me a long letter about how a sudden onset of ill health had forced him to stop working, and that it had been difficult to enjoy much of his time since. Doing the Forward Madison challenge gave him something to progress towards and achieve, and we interacted quite a bit on Twitter to get updates on his save. Since completing the challenge and receiving his letter, John has continued to follow us online, so I hope he can watch some of our games this season!

CC: You mentioned a lot of interest from around the world, where are some of the craziest places you’ve seen fans taking on or completing the challenge?

JK: It’s been insane! I know we’ve had participants from four continents so far, although I’ve only sent letters to three. We’ve had winners from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and, of course, the USA. I hope I haven’t missed any in there!

CC: Do you have any messages from fans that you’d like to share?

JK: Yeah, there are some really memorable ones! Of course, there was John in Northern Ireland. There’s also been Victor from Malmo, who told us that, “For the first time I really have a team outside of Sweden that I am rooting for.” Then there was Shaun from Singapore, who told me he’d really like to come to a game someday. But more than anything, I’m still waiting for a winner from Madison! I know several of our fans are working on it.

Forward Madison FC kicks off their second season in USL League One on March 28 at 5:30 p.m. CT on the road against the Richmond Kickers.

Follow Colton on Twitter: @cjcoreschi.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Meeting for the first time ever Saturday, the Indy Eleven blanked the Real Monarchs 2-0 at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. A first-half brace from forward Manuel Arteaga delivered the hosts a needed three points to keep pace in the USL Championship Central Division.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbieMeh.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indy Eleven grabbed an elusive home win, just their second at Carroll Stadium this season, in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over OKC Energy FC. Indy forward Manuel Arteaga broke a 1-1 tie in the 53rd minute with a jolting header after first-half goals by Indy’s Nicky Law and OKC’s Lamar Batista.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbieMeh.

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CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati and Orlando City SC dueled to a 1-1 stalemate Saturday at TQL Stadium, allowing OCSC to stay in second place in the Eastern Conference while FCC remains mired near the bottom in 13th. Goals from Brenner and Nani on each side of halftime ended up canceling one another out.

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Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JamieSmed.

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