No, there isn’t thing officially saying that MLS is coming to Detroit, and I’m not insinuating that it is.
Today the Pontiac Silverdome was sold for peanuts, really. $583,000 for an 80,000-seat stadium. The Silverdome certainly has aged, and it hasn’t aged well, but it could always be upgraded and when it’s all said and done this firm, which at the moment is still anonymous, got it for a steal.
The Detroit News reports that the company would like to bring a soccer league to the area, which is interesting when you consider that the United Soccer Leagues just announced plans to put a USL First Division team — most likely promoting the existing Michigan Bucks, who also call Pontiac home, from the PDL. I don’t think the two groups are related, which leaves open the possibly that the group is talking about MLS. MLS is now using a guideline that expansion teams have a stadium, or at least play in a stadium that the owner has control of — like Seattle does — and the purchase of the Silverdome gives this group a stadium.
The stadium has seen soccer before, it famously became the first indoor stadium to host World Cup matches in 1994, during these matches it was specially fitted with a raised pitch to allow for more width and the use of grass, at the time the stadium used an Astroturf surface for Lions games. It was also home the the Detroit Express of the NASL briefly in the late 70’s.
Today Don Garber announced Montreal as the possible 19th MLS team, and said he wasn’t sure what the 20th would be. There are several other options, but we now know that there is a group in Detroit looking at soccer a serious possiblity.
Is this a non-story? Possibly. But it is interesting. Personally I’d turn the Silverdome into some sort of post-apocalyptic castle and live in it, but that’s probably just me.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
when did the Don make the Montreal anouncement? It’s not on the league website.
Goff is tweeting from a press conference. http://twitter.com/SoccerInsider/status/5775412040
Fixed my post as well.
Detroit is a sink-hole for money, business, and most other things. MLS should avoid this like the plague. It has other pressing issues – getting Portland up and running, pressing for attendance fixes in Columbus and Dallas, getting Stan Kroenke to build some momentum for his home club, and getting stadiums up in DC, Houston, DC, KC and San Jose.
Oh – and a little something called the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Yea, Garber mentioned how important it is for an MLS team to win the Champions League. That CBA better give squads some more depth if that’s gonna happen.
“Detroit is a sink-hole for money, business, and most other things.”
You are correct — if we’re talking about the City of Detroit. But we’re not. We’re talking about the Detroit metro area. For instance, I’m posting right now from Oakland County, which is the home of the Silverdome. It’s the fourth-richest county in the United States.
I know it is confusing for outsiders, but “Detroit” and “Detroit” can mean two different things. (Two very different things.)
Wow, that is dirt cheap. But it costs $1.5 million per year to upkeep. I doubt an ownership group would take that on without some agreement with MLS.
I would guess that MLS plans on coming to Detroit soon.
could be interesting to see what develops
Being from Detroit I would love this but I not sure if the Metro-Detroit area is ready to support a MLS side. But it would be great if the M Bucks moved to the ‘dome
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“I don’t think the two groups are related, which leaves open the possibly that the group is talking about MLS.”
The Detroit Free Press specifically reported MLS.
I’d keep an eye on the Free Press for this story in general. They tend to be better overall with scoops and info on just about everything.
>>>when did the Don make the Montreal anouncement? It’s not on the league website. <<<
http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jspymd=20091116&content_id=7674580&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
I wanted to read about a stadium selling for that little amount of money and ran into this which references the Free Press:
“The winning bidder, one of four and whose identity has not yet been released, plans to use the facility for a men’s Major League Soccer team and women’s professional soccer teams, Fred Leeb, Pontiac’s emergency financial manager, told the Free Press in an exclusive interview.”
http://freep.com/article/20091116/NEWS03/91116065/1318/Canadian-firm-submits-winning-bid-of-583000-for-Silverdome
Detroit FC (DFC). Sporting Detroit. Detroit Athletic. Detroit United.
- Detroit Motor City FC (DMC FC)
- Detroit International (Detroit Inter), or International Detroit (Inter Detroit)
A twist in the plans…..
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2009/11/18/pontiac-silverdome-sale-halted/?mod=rss_WSJBlog
IF it works out…..
with Tigers, Lions already in place in Detroit, they should leverage off of those names rather than the huge connection to Euro soccer teams that Detroit has. Tough call, as Detroit has a big InterMilan fan base.
Michigan has an incredible amount of soccer players at the grassroots level, not to mention competitive high school and college teams. I think a club here would be well supported.
what ever happened to the Detroit Arsenal, are they still around? The MLS team could steal that name, and perhaps some of the glory from our North London counterparts
Livin’ in a Bergkamp wonderland…
It would be a great sport to add to Detroit, the sport is growing very fast and we need to get a team so we can win unlike the lions.
Michigan has an incredible amount of soccer players at the grassroots level, not to mention competitive high school and college teams. I think a club here would be well supported.