OT: Carolina RailHawks to Rebrand, Push for MLS Bid

[garnetpalmetto]

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/report-carolina-railhawks-to-rebrand-announce-bid-for-mls-56054/

So any takers on how this will effect our favorite NHL team, if at all? I'll go to the same number of Carolina FC games that I went to RailHawks games but you soccer fans will probably be interested in this news.

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[DaveG]

This has been a looooooooong time in the making. Frankly it's stupid that MLS has been ignoring markets with strong to very strong grass roots soccer like Raleigh (or to a lesser extent Charlotte), Austin, and St Louis for places like another (inevitable to fail) try at Miami, another NYC team, and what was the epic failure of Chivas USA.

I'll be honest, this is going to seriously compete for my sports dollar if they do in fact get approval for an MLS franchise. I already go to a few games a year right now but I still primarily follow the EPL mostly because their games are at very easy to watch times and they're easily accessible.

Pity that Malik doesn't have the kind of capital for a run at the Hurricanes.

 

[Unsustainable]

Charlotte had been on the short list for MLS, with the success of the Guinness games at BOA (which I went to).

Austin Tx is ripe for a major sports team.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Raleigh makes too much sense as an MLS city.

The Canes need to get their **** together or they're going to end up as the 7+th hottest sports ticket in the Triangle.

 

[HisIceness]

I'm sorry but I absolutely hate the name 'North Carolina FC'. Now that said, I think it would be pretty cool for Raleigh to get into the MLS scene and I personally think it would do better there than here (Charlotte). I know the MLS has had their eye on this state for a long time. I also highly doubt it would have much, if any effect on the 'Canes. I can actually see some marketing between the two teams here.

So the article states that the owner is interested in building a new stadium. Couple of questions here.

1. Would this mean that DT Raleigh would be the likely sport for this potential stadium?

2. What would happen to WakeMed Stadium? It's not that old and underwent renovations 4-5 years ago did it not? Perhaps use it for High Schools? It would be likely that all the NCAA/ACC Tournaments that Cary hosts would move to this new stadium so what is its future?

 

[DaveG]

I'm sorry but I absolutely hate the name 'North Carolina FC'. Now that said, I think it would be pretty cool for Raleigh to get into the MLS scene and I personally think it would do better there than here (Charlotte). I know the MLS has had their eye on this state for a long time. I also highly doubt it would have much, if any effect on the 'Canes. I can actually see some marketing between the two teams here.

So the article states that the owner is interested in building a new stadium. Couple of questions here.

1. Would this mean that DT Raleigh would be the likely sport for this potential stadium?

2. What would happen to WakeMed Stadium? It's not that old and underwent renovations 4-5 years ago did it not? Perhaps use it for High Schools? It would be likely that all the NCAA/ACC Tournaments that Cary hosts would move to this new stadium so what is its future?

From the article is sounds like Malik wants to bring the WPSL here or whatever it's called so most likely that would be used for the womens league team, NCAA, local HS, etc.

I still think WakeMed is expandable to over 20K but it wasn't originally designed for that so it would take a rather large renovation to the entire stadium, fact is it might actually be cheaper to build a new one, especially if a new one can be built to be about 30-35K which WakeMed could never reach.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

pls pls pls

 

[HisIceness]

From the article is sounds like Malik wants to bring the WPSL here or whatever it's called so most likely that would be used for the womens league team, NCAA, local HS, etc.

I still think WakeMed is expandable to over 20K but it wasn't originally designed for that so it would take a rather large renovation to the entire stadium, fact is it might actually be cheaper to build a new one, especially if a new one can be built to be about 30-35K which WakeMed could never reach.

Yeah I haven't been to WakeMed Park since the Carolina Courage folded (2002ish) but the one time I was there it struck me as a place that wasn't really built with MLS in mind. I guess developers were counting on Charlotte to get an MLS bid? Decent stadium I suppose, bit of an odd location but it makes sense too I guess. I have not seen it in person since it expanded.

It is quite interesting though to see that Cary is becoming sort of a mecca for NCAA soccer, kind of like Omaha with the College World Series. I know a couple of talking heads on ESPN have mentioned that before. This would lead me to believe that DT Raleigh would want to get in on this. So if thats the case, where in DT Raleigh can one build a 30k stadium?

 

[Brock Anton]

I really don't see them in MLS anytime soon. At this point, MLS is willing to expand to 28 and NC is behind Miami, Sacramento, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, San Antonio, San Diego and probably even Las Vegas.

If/when MLS decides to expand to 32, I think NC is in play, but who knows when that will be.

 

[CandyCanes]

Pretty sure the people of Raleigh created a 10 year plan for downtown. It was said that there goal was to have an MLB or MLS team in downtown by the end of 10 years. This would make sense if we get an MLS team. (Makes me jealous as I wish we could have a hockey stadium downtown)

 

[the halleJOKEL]

isn't a hockey arena also part of that plan? near the train station/convention center/amphitheatre

 

[Navin R Slavin]

isn't a hockey arena also part of that plan? near the train station/convention center/amphitheatre

Need to get a hockey team first.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

Need to get a hockey team first.

nc state has a club team

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

nc state has a club team

so does ecu

we could always renovate "bladez on ice" if needed

 

[Unsustainable]

That was the plan for Raleigh. Canes are locked in till 2024 for PNC. So where would they put them?

It would be nice for those like me who drive 3.5 hours to a game to be able to stay walking distance from the arena, and have something of a night life after the game with in walking distance.

 

[DaveG]

Wonder if there's room in there for the production brewery for Gizmo to go (but only kinda)

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Know what would be cool? If they could build a mall downtown and put the new hockey arena there.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Know what would be cool? If they could build a mall downtown and put the new hockey arena there.

is there 35 acres of free space?

raleigh might not be as derelict, run down, and dystopian as some other cities

 

[Gumbo]

I would love a downtown sports venue for Raleigh, but pretty much all economists agree it isn't worth spending significant public tax dollars on. Still it would be cool.

Although I'd rather get a stable long-term ownership deal in place for the Canes than go chasing the next pro sports team here.

 

[CalUK]

If its Raleigh, then it should be able to work as NHL is Winter and the US Football season is summer right? What kind of size stadium is being looked at? In my local area the SPL is the top league of the Scottish football tiers and its only got two teams (Rangers and Celtic) with 50,000+ stadiums. I think it'd be very good for the city and state (four major leagues in the state must be a good thing!). I'm guessing around 20k to 40k in size?

Personally I don't have much time for football anymore, I usually just keep up with the scores on a regular basis of my Scottish league team, and EPL team. I used to attend games years ago, but I always preferred hockey, and with things like Gamecenter (making it so much easier to view NHL games than before), and my local area getting an Elite League hockey team, my attention is firmly on Ice Hockey these days. The good thing about US sports is the diversity, there are many sports that are considered "Major", whereas here football is defo King with Rugby and Ice Hockey trialing by some distance. NC with the MLS would be a great place for sports fans for sure.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I'm a big proponent of strong downtowns, but IMO Raleigh is just a weird place to try and shoehorn an arena. It's not at a scale for that sort of massive presence to make sense.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

A soccer stadium would look great across the street from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

 

[CalUK]

I don't know much about Raleigh to be honest, but would a downtown arena when PNC deal runs not better for the Canes attendance? Getting a new owner with a vision to for something like this would go a long way to making sure the team stays in NC.

Would it not be better for a football team to be in the middle of the city too?

What the transport links like for PNC Arena anyway? Is it easy? I know in bigger cities having an arena/stadium further from the city centre is ok as long as you've got good transport links similar to how Arsenal in London have an underground station next to the stadium. Like its been said already, I think its good to have the arena somewhere close to shops and nightlife so that people can make a day of it. If I ever manage to get over fear of flying I'd love to come to Raleigh to see the Canes (I'd have been there already if it wasn't for flying), and would like to see what the city is like before and after the game.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

public transit is an absolute joke in raleigh, fyi

98% of people going to games in a downtown arena would be driving

 

[CalUK]

Does the city have no plan to improve this? Surely a city of its size could support a tram system for example.