financial deals. As a league it has thrived in what is over decade of service now and as a brand of entertainment. I urge anyone to catch a game in person, via any media outlet or talk to anyone associated with the league whether it be fan, executive or player and they will tell you how sensually stimulating it has become up and down the country. To run what is a worldly sport in an American style and fashion isn’t easy. Teams are in my opinion, at least more franchises than anything else. They can be rooted up and relocated if the league chooses to do use if something runs foul. A concept in soccer to the rest of the planet seems very foreign. What isn’t a foreign are teams that go defunct or dissolve. The Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion and Chivas USA are casualties of this North American soccer system. As much good the MLS has done, by allowing these clubs to fall by the wayside and not figuring out how to save them, they ultimately failed in that respect. In Europe bad clubs do get dissolved but that’s because teams are ran privately by businessmen with the leagues only operating as shepherds. Bad business decisions by private owners lead to horror stories like the one we see in Italy with Parma and over in England with Portsmouth. Major League does allow private ownership of teams but in the end they are really good protectors of their brand and does allow for parity among the teams making sure the league is balanced. Which is a healthy trend in all major league sports in the United States which makes for good for viewing. Everybody gets a Lebron, everybody gets Cam Newton, everyone gets a David Villa despite the market they play in.
Markets in pro sports in America count for a lot. Texas, New York and California gets oodles of attention. Naturally because they hold the most Metropolitan cities and thus hold the most TV wise rights and shares and all types of mumbo jumbo that they taught me in college in my media classes at university. Essentially that’s why we are here to talk about one of those big markets and a big team that is coming to Major League Soccer. In October of 2014 MLS announced that Los Angeles Football Club will become part of the league set up come 2018.
As mentioned above LAFC will be entertaining us in 2018, a full two years from now and will have to watch Atlanta United Football Club take the leap first into MLS. The Georgian side are set to enter the fray in the not to far off 2017. Anything I could stir up would be pretty superficial simply because there isn’t much content to go on at the moment on the club! Which will make this post short and sweet. Word is the California outfit are looking to build a $250 million stadium in in the Los Angeles area which no doubt will be caldron of color when it is completed . Tom Penn, Henry Nguyen and Peter Gruben according to various sources head up the ownership group. Vincent Tan the same guy who owns Welsh side Cardiff City and Belgian side KV Kortrijk also is a co-owner in the LA venture. Tan is best known for trying to undo almost 117 years of footballing tradition by trying to change the home colors of Cardiff from blue to red. An effort that didn’t sit very well with the Welsh locals. So it’s a good thing this newly founded club doesn’t have domestic misnomers to fret about for Mr. Tan. Aesthetics aside LAFC has some very eye catching affiliates they can can hang their hat on. Basketball legend Magic Johnson, actor/comedian Will Ferrell and soccer icon Mia Hamm all investors.
Los Angeles Football Club seems like a cool thing to do and it kinda reminds me of the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA. A trendy looking, clean and edgy looking team that is in an enclave in a big market (New York) trying to give it’s more establish neighbor (New York Knicks) a bloody nose. There is no doubt that LAFC is trying to cut into the LA Galaxy’s shares and they are using there new vibe and energy to wow a city that expects to be dazzled. As for the colors and crest I’m personally a sucker for black and gold but I feel for an artistic city like Los Angeles a wing emerging out of an “A” is a little lazy. I expected a little more flair especially from a west coast club. All around I hope LAFC’s birth can bring a real hate to the LA area something to rival Portland and Seattle’s beef. I look forward to when the Galaxy and the “Black Gold,” meet.
LAFC
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