Worst sports team cities.

[Madman55]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

Toronto. Leafs suck, Raptors suck, Jays suck, Argos suck.

[Cebby]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

Just because you don't care about American soccer doesn't mean nobody else does.

And just because you care about eighth tier levels of competition doesn't mean anyone else does.

They also drew nearly 67,000 at Qwest Field in a friendly against Barcelona and 65,000 in a friendly against Chelsea.

I'm sure they were there to see the Seattle _______ and not the Premier League teams. Those sell out or come close to selling out everywhere.

[SPTO]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

Toronto. Leafs suck, Raptors suck, Jays suck, Argos suck.

But but the Toronto Nationals won the outdoor Lacrosse championship last summer!

I agree though Toronto hasn't done anything since the early 2000s when the Leafs were at least in the playoffs. Hence my avatar which i'm going to keep more or less until a major Toronto team makes a deep run in the playoffs or wins a championship.

Overall though I'd have to say it's a toss up between Kc and Cleveland for consistent mediocrity.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

I'm sure they were there to see the Seattle _______ and not the Premier League teams. Those sell out or come close to selling out everywhere.

Well if Americans hate soccer so much, why did they sell out Qwest Field twice and have, far and away, the highest average attendance in the league? Like I said, they were the 50th most attended home games of any professional soccer team in the entire world. Clubs don't become that successful with a fan base who could care less about the sport.

During the NASL's peak, Cosmos' attendance figures were:

# 1977 - 34,142
# 1978 - 47,856
# 1979 - 46,690
# 1980 - 42,754
# 1981 - 34,835
# 1982 - 28,479
# 1983 - 27,242

Not to mention they once drew over 72,000 people to a league game. No EPL or La Liga teams. Two American teams. Yet America hates soccer.

[Cebby]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

Well if Americans hate soccer so much, why did they sell out Qwest Field twice and have, far and away, the highest average attendance in the league?

I didn't say Americans hate soccer.

I said that for the most part, nobody cares about the MLS. I'd put it maybe slightly ahead of the WNBA. That's not to say people don't care about basketball, but the NBA and college are where most people focus their attention. In soccer, from what I've seen, it's international and then the Premier League.

If you want to say Seattle has good sports teams because they have a great minor league soccer team, go ahead.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

I didn't say Americans hate soccer.

I said that for the most part, nobody cares about the MLS. I'd put it maybe slightly ahead of the WNBA. That's not to say people don't care about basketball, but the NBA and college are where most people focus their attention. In soccer, from what I've seen, it's international and then the Premier League.

If you want to say Seattle has good sports teams because they have a great minor league soccer team, go ahead.

Not saying that's the sole reason, but the Sounders were a HUGE shot in the arm to a city that was just robbed of their basketball team.

And a lot of people forget that MLS is only 14 years old. I'm sure the big 4 sports weren't hugely popular right away either. I think the league's doing very well considering it's still in its infancy.

[Cebby]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

I'm sure the big 4 sports weren't hugely popular right away either.

The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL didn't have other leagues with 50 times the resources buying any player who did well in their league.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL didn't have other leagues with 50 times the resources buying any player who did well in their league.

That's kinda irrelevant...the way the player transfer system works has nothing to do with popularity.

All the top tier leagues (and basically all the others, for that matter) survive under this system, so if MLS ever approached that level I'm sure they'd be able to hold their own.

[Cebby]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

That's kinda irrelevant...the way the player transfer system works has nothing to do with popularity.

You're right.

The MLS has the top players in the world like the four main US sports do. Every week I can tune in to see the best players in the world compete since the best "footballers" in the world play in MLS.

The "transfer system" may have "nothing to do wtih popularity", but it has everything to do with money which 99% of the time means popularity.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

You're right.

The MLS has the top players in the world like the four main US sports do. Every week I can tune in to see the best players in the world compete since the best "footballers" in the world play in MLS.

The "transfer system" may have "nothing to do wtih popularity", but it has everything to do with money which 99% of the time means popularity.

You can't expect a league that's in it's 14th year of existence to be competitive with the EPL/La Liga/Serie A as far as talent goes. That's ludicrous. Are you done with your pot shots at MLS or do you need more?

[Whitesox]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

I agree with JJ.

The MLS is a perfectly legitimate professional sports organization, and therefore should count towards whether a city is considered to be a good one when it comes to sports.

Also, the MLS is doing quite well IMO, especially (as JJ pointed out) since the league is very young.

[NYJets]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

And a lot of people forget that MLS is only 14 years old. I'm sure the big 4 sports weren't hugely popular right away either. I think the league's doing very well considering it's still in its infancy.

This is what's irrelevant, because whether they are doing well for how old the league is or not, they still don't come close to the popularity of the premier league, international soccer, or any of the major sports in the US, so they don't really belong in this discussion.

[HungryBologna]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

Kansas City or Cleveland.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

This is what's irrelevant, because whether they are doing well for how old the league is or not, they still don't come close to the popularity of the premier league, international soccer, or any of the major sports in the US, so they don't really belong in this discussion.

My point in regards to that is you can't expect MLS to be in that top tier after only 14 years. The jury's still out on whether it'll ever get there (I think it will), but it's popular enough in America to be considered when you talk about sports cities. For example, the Sons of Ben, Philadelphia Union's supporters group, formed a year before MLS even announced a team was going to be placed there.

For a league that young to be A) already having teams that turn a profit and B) drawing over 30,000 for league games and nearly 70,000 for friendlies, they definitely deserve to be put into this discussion. I think people just need to leave their bias against soccer out of it, because they're clearly involved.

[Cebby]

Re: Worst sports team cities.

I think people just need to leave their bias against soccer out of it, because they're clearly involved.

There's a difference between bias against a sport and bias against essentially a minor league.