TCF Bank Stadium may play host to MLS soccer for a season

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http://www.dark-clouds.com/2016/02/dark-clouds-mls-name-statement/

Yesterday, the Dark Clouds were dismayed to see reports emerge that Major League Soccer might ask Minnesota United FC (MNUFC) to drop the ‘United’ moniker from the team’s name. As the largest independent soccer supporters group in Minnesota, we stand opposed to any potential name change.

The Dark Clouds know all too well the upheaval and confusion that can be brought on by the change in our team’s names. We’ve supported our club through four different changes in name, logo or a combination of the two since 2008.

Since MNUFC’s arrival we’ve enjoyed a measure of stability and come to deeply identify with our team’s identity. From the chants we sing to the banners we hold up, the word “United” has become synonymous with top-level professional soccer in this state.

“The progress our club has made under the Minnesota United banner in the past four years has been dramatic and inspiring,” said Dark Clouds President Jim Oliver.

“Forcing a rebrand will do nothing to diminish our support for the club, but we do think it shows profound disrespect for all that progress and the work it took to achieve it.”

“We support our club by any name and in any league, and having supported a soccer club that has changed identities and leagues several times, we think renaming this club is a mistake.”

“Regardless, we’re still going to call ourselves the Dark Clouds because damn the man. The less context the better”, Oliver said.

We hope that Major League Soccer changes its mind, and that our team will retain the “United” moniker as we transition to that league. We encourage MLS, its commissioner, and the MLS Board of Governors to hear those of us who represent independent soccer fans in this state and drop the topic of a name change for MNUFC.

We urge Dark Clouds to contact Major League Soccer and express your dissatisfaction with any potential name change for our team. By doing so we can convey to MLS that fans of pro soccer in Minnesota, stand United in our support for MNUFC’s identity.

Please address letters to:

Major League Soccer

420 Fifth Ave, 7th Floor

New York, NY 10018

MLS can be reached on Twitter using ‘@MLS’. You can also leave feedback on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MLS/.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
I don't really care where we play for a season anymore. My interest in the location has been overridden by my anger at the scummy MLS for making us change our name but letting Atlanta keep theirs.

If we have to change it, please don't ruin it. Just call it Minnesota SC or FC and be done. We shouldn't have to change at all though.
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Agree 100%. I hope they fight tooth and nail to keep the United name but if MLS doesn't allow it just go with Minnesota FC. No corny nickname needed.
 

I've tried to find it a couple times over the years since it was written, but my all time favorite Reusse column was about soccer and the impact it has had on youth sports. He went on about how parents love it because jr can run around and look like he/she is one of the team while doing so, unlike baseball where jr might come up to bat with the bases loaded in the last inning, or be the kid under a high fly ball with the game on the line. It was quite funny. It was written before electronic copies were available and I haven't seen it since its original printing, perhaps in the mid 90's or so. If anyone ever sees it, I would appreciate a heads up.

I have also found soccer locally to be pretty aggressive in two ways: fund raising and fencing itself off from other sports. Depending where you live, it seems to attempt to get kids to drop other sports more consistently, and I will never forget the time I was at a youth baseball game at the little league fields when a couple vans pulled up to drop off soccer teams to pan the little league fans for donations. I found that to be pretty ironic.

I do enjoy soccer a bit during world cup and olympic events. The world cup is a great event and I find the sport fun to watch at that time, at that level, despite being brought up in a atmosphere completely void of soccer.

Random soccer thoughts from me... but just as much on point as a discussion about local soccer club nicknames.
 

I am also a "seasonal" soccer fan. I'll watch the World Cup and Olympics matches, but I don't watch regular-season soccer. Now, that could change when MN comes into the MLS. I am much more likely to watch a game (any sport) if I have a rooting interest. For me, and other casual fans, I think the big challenge is not in the name - it's in getting to learn the players. I went to the Kicks game at Met Stadium - admittedly for the tailgating - but I knew who their players were. The new Soccer team- I honestly couldn't name a single player on the team.

With that in mind - if anyone knows - will the current roster shift en masse to MLS, or is there an expansion draft, or some other means of providing players for the MN Franchise?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I am also a "seasonal" soccer fan. I'll watch the World Cup and Olympics matches, but I don't watch regular-season soccer. Now, that could change when MN comes into the MLS. I am much more likely to watch a game (any sport) if I have a rooting interest. For me, and other casual fans, I think the big challenge is not in the name - it's in getting to learn the players. I went to the Kicks game at Met Stadium - admittedly for the tailgating - but I knew who their players were. The new Soccer team- I honestly couldn't name a single player on the team.

With that in mind - if anyone knows - will the current roster shift en masse to MLS, or is there an expansion draft, or some other means of providing players for the MN Franchise?
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There will be an expansion draft. At least we think there will be, but there are rumors that the MLS is doing away with it. If there is no expansion draft, the team will just sign a bunch of players and probably take a few players on 1 year loans.

Regardless, several core players will make the jump to MLS with the team. I would expect up to 5 players will make the jump and be regular contributors.
 


Possible site design:

CbiAzRXUUAAzGjs.jpg
 

Gosh I didn't realize it was proposed to be that ENTIRE block. I thought it was just the area of the bus barn. That is a lot of businesses to buyout or relocate.
 

They are working with the property owner for a joint development.
 

Maybe a dumb question - it appears as if the stadium is oriented North/South. Is that typical of how MLS (or soccer organizations in general) want them built? (I believe there is also a gold standard of how baseball and football stadiums are built). Can someone expound on this?
 




bottlebass said:
Where are the parking/tailgating lots?
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The vision is a transit oriented development for the stadium, not an auto-oriented. I don't think that will survive until the final design, but that's the thought. Land is likely seen as potentially too valuable to be used for surface lots.
 

I was wondering how the heck the MLS schedule will work in MN? Could be getting snowed on in March and also Nov-Dec (if they make the playoffs). Maybe that would be fun!

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Looking forward to MLS coming to Minnesota.
 

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GopherJack said:
I was wondering how the heck the MLS schedule will work in MN? Could be getting snowed on in March and also Nov-Dec (if they make the playoffs). Maybe that would be fun!

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The premier league season is during the winter (September-May?). I know it doesn't snow during their games too often but it's not unheard of so soccer in the cold and some snow should be just fine.
 

bottlebass said:
The premier league season is during the winter (September-May?). I know it doesn't snow during their games too often but it's not unheard of so soccer in the cold and some snow should be just fine.
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This is the primary reason I'm glad Zygi didn't get the team (aside from the fact that it's Zygi). Soccer is just more fun outdoors, and the stadium will have coverings over the stands to protect spectators from rain.

The season doesn't go much longer than the Gophers do at TCF. The MLS Cup is the first week of December. I bet there are more snow games in March to be honest.
 

bottlebass said:
The premier league season is during the winter (September-May?). I know it doesn't snow during their games too often but it's not unheard of so soccer in the cold and some snow should be just fine.
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One of the fun things about the Bundesliga on FS1 are the snow games!!!!
 

mnsportsgeek said:
This is the primary reason I'm glad Zygi didn't get the team (aside from the fact that it's Zygi). Soccer is just more fun outdoors, and the stadium will have coverings over the stands to protect spectators from rain.

The season doesn't go much longer than the Gophers do at TCF. The MLS Cup is the first week of December. I bet there are more snow games in March to be honest.
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It also answers the "whether the heating coils will be taken out" crowd.
 


Not at all a fan of these MLS teams with the entirely unoriginal, lifted straight from England team names. That's just so poser-ish, and displays a lack of confidence to be original and...like, American. DC United, Atlanta United, and Minnesota United? Seriously? This is where we're at? Clubs in the UK began to to take on the moniker United as a result of combining together back in the Victorian era, therefore that name makes sense and has tradition in England, but here? We're just straight-up copying them because we're too new to have traditions of our own and too lacking in confidence to develop our own. And the same thing with the FC. Really? Again, lifted straight from England, where soccer actually is called *football*, but so far as I know, American teams play in Major League Soccer, not Major League Football. These are not football clubs, they're soccer clubs.

There are some terrific names in the MLS, unique, and uniquely American. The New England Revolution- excellent. The Chicago Fire- a fantastic nod to a pivotal event in that city's history. The LA Galaxy- perfect, because of all the stars. The San Jose Earthquakes- well, unique, as how many teams are named after natural disasters? But the United's and the FC's and Real Salt Lake (haha) and Sporting Kansas City, wow. C'mon, man.

Far as I'm concerned, the sooner MLS gains the confidence to drop all these British affectations which make absolutely no sense here, the better off it will be. We are America, not England, and the MLS, not the EPL. We lack their tradition and history, so what, make our own, because you cannot gain tradition by simply copying it from anyone else.

/rant
 

The Minnesota Skeeters seems to be a name you would like....

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

Seany said:
Not at all a fan of these MLS teams with the entirely unoriginal, lifted straight from England team names. That's just so poser-ish, and displays a lack of confidence to be original and...like, American. DC United, Atlanta United, and Minnesota United? Seriously? This is where we're at? Clubs in the UK began to to take on the moniker United as a result of combining together back in the Victorian era, therefore that name makes sense and has tradition in England, but here? We're just straight-up copying them because we're too new to have traditions of our own and too lacking in confidence to develop our own. And the same thing with the FC. Really? Again, lifted straight from England, where soccer actually is called *football*, but so far as I know, American teams play in Major League Soccer, not Major League Football. These are not football clubs, they're soccer clubs.

There are some terrific names in the MLS, unique, and uniquely American. The New England Revolution- excellent. The Chicago Fire- a fantastic nod to a pivotal event in that city's history. The LA Galaxy- perfect, because of all the stars. The San Jose Earthquakes- well, unique, as how many teams are named after natural disasters? But the United's and the FC's and Real Salt Lake (haha) and Sporting Kansas City, wow. C'mon, man.

Far as I'm concerned, the sooner MLS gains the confidence to drop all these British affectations which make absolutely no sense here, the better off it will be. We are America, not England, and the MLS, not the EPL. We lack their tradition and history, so what, make our own, because you cannot gain tradition by simply copying it from anyone else.

/rant
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Well said sir. +1000, and have a recommend.
 

Seany said:
Not at all a fan of these MLS teams with the entirely unoriginal, lifted straight from England team names. That's just so poser-ish, and displays a lack of confidence to be original and...like, American. DC United, Atlanta United, and Minnesota United? Seriously? This is where we're at? Clubs in the UK began to to take on the moniker United as a result of combining together back in the Victorian era, therefore that name makes sense and has tradition in England, but here? We're just straight-up copying them because we're too new to have traditions of our own and too lacking in confidence to develop our own. And the same thing with the FC. Really? Again, lifted straight from England, where soccer actually is called *football*, but so far as I know, American teams play in Major League Soccer, not Major League Football. These are not football clubs, they're soccer clubs.

There are some terrific names in the MLS, unique, and uniquely American. The New England Revolution- excellent. The Chicago Fire- a fantastic nod to a pivotal event in that city's history. The LA Galaxy- perfect, because of all the stars. The San Jose Earthquakes- well, unique, as how many teams are named after natural disasters? But the United's and the FC's and Real Salt Lake (haha) and Sporting Kansas City, wow. C'mon, man.

Far as I'm concerned, the sooner MLS gains the confidence to drop all these British affectations which make absolutely no sense here, the better off it will be. We are America, not England, and the MLS, not the EPL. We lack their tradition and history, so what, make our own, because you cannot gain tradition by simply copying it from anyone else.

/rant
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Couldn't agree more. Let's make this league unique to the U.S. Also love the name Portland Timbers. Who gives a rat's ass about United, FC, SC mumbo jumbo?
 

Didn't see this posted; the first stadium renderings are coming later today:

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Agree on the note about team names. Trying to be England is lame. MAYBE Minnesota has a better claim to "United" than some other areas (MUFC is "uniting" the old Kicks and Stars under one banner, United Healthcare's former CEO is the driving force behind expansion, it's "uniting" Minneapolis and St Paul, maybe?) but generally, lame. I wish they'd just be Minnesota SC, or even Twin Cities SC. Let the Loons live on as an informal nickname, and make the naming simple.

As for soccer at TCF, bring it on. I will likely be purchasing season tickets for the team in advance of their MLS debut season.

Started to really follow the league this past season, and though the quality of play and depth of rosters is lacking (but improving year by year, admittedly), there are some really passionate supporters and fun atmospheres out there. Orlando, Portland, Montreal, Toronto, Seattle, Kansas City, Vancouver all bring good fans to the table. That comes through when watching on TV and makes it more exciting to watch for me. I think Minnesota will fall into this group when they join the league, given how much support the team gets at the next level down, in Blaine. Might look a bit sparse in TCF for a season, but once they're in an 18,000 seat stadium I'm guessing it will be crowded and boisterous.

Once the not-so-greatly supported teams catch up from a fan perspective (New England, Chicago, Dallas, DC - all of which are in terribly located or not well-designed stadiums) it will make the product consistently more fun to watch and follow.
 

I'm looking forward to traveling to some away games. The atmosphere at places like portland, seattle, kansas city all look phenomenal.
 


There was some discussion I saw that MLS may request that the club change the name since there are already a couple "X United" teams. I'd be a fan of just calling them FC Minnesota or Minnesota FC (I guess SC if you want to really push the American side of things). Nice and simple.
 

Gopher07 said:
Didn't see this posted; the first stadium renderings are coming later today:

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Agree on the note about team names. Trying to be England is lame. MAYBE Minnesota has a better claim to "United" than some other areas (MUFC is "uniting" the old Kicks and Stars under one banner, United Healthcare's former CEO is the driving force behind expansion, it's "uniting" Minneapolis and St Paul, maybe?) but generally, lame. I wish they'd just be Minnesota SC, or even Twin Cities SC. Let the Loons live on as an informal nickname, and make the naming simple.

As for soccer at TCF, bring it on. I will likely be purchasing season tickets for the team in advance of their MLS debut season.

Started to really follow the league this past season, and though the quality of play and depth of rosters is lacking (but improving year by year, admittedly), there are some really passionate supporters and fun atmospheres out there. Orlando, Portland, Montreal, Toronto, Seattle, Kansas City, Vancouver all bring good fans to the table. That comes through when watching on TV and makes it more exciting to watch for me. I think Minnesota will fall into this group when they join the league, given how much support the team gets at the next level down, in Blaine. Might look a bit sparse in TCF for a season, but once they're in an 18,000 seat stadium I'm guessing it will be crowded and boisterous.

Once the not-so-greatly supported teams catch up from a fan perspective (New England, Chicago, Dallas, DC - all of which are in terribly located or not well-designed stadiums) it will make the product consistently more fun to watch and follow.
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Renderings coming around 2:30
 

The team is in Portland for a pre season invitational. They got their shirt handed to them against the MLS champs (Portland Timbers) on Saturday night with the help of 2 red cards and 2 penalty kicks, but they go up against the Chicago Fire tonight at 7 who we might actually be able to hang with if our defense doesn't completely fall apart from the 2 suspensions.

Game is on YouTube and the stream is very well done by the Timbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7cJVAf_OYU
 

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