MLS

Newly released transcripts offer look inside city’s MLS negotiations – WSOC TV

Published

3 months ago

February 12, 2022

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CHARLOTTE — In two weeks, David Tepper’s Major League Soccer expansion team, Charlotte FC, will play its first regular season match. Tepper paid a league-record $300 million entry fee and negotiated $110 million in taxpayer help as part of the successful bid to land MLS.

The $110 million proposal was later reduced to a $35 million investment by city taxpayers.

[ ALSO READ: ‘It feels way more real now’: Charlotte FC unveils inaugural kits ]

According to transcripts of three closed meetings held by council and other city officials in the weeks before MLS awarded Charlotte an expansion team in December 2019, local leaders were concerned that the team would instead be known as Carolina FC. In addition, they discussed and debated how to persuade Tepper to guarantee the NFL Panthers wouldn’t relocate as part of the MLS incentives (which did not happen), and warned of the damages caused by leaking details of the negotiations to the media.

[ ALSO READ: WSOC, TV64, Telemundo Charlotte announce TV partnership with Charlotte FC ]

Mayor Vi Lyles and City Council members met once in September and twice in November as speculation heated up that Tepper Sports & Entertainment — the parent company of Tepper’s Charlotte-based sports ventures — was close to securing an expansion team.

Read the full story here for more on the negotiations.

(WATCH BELOW: Charlotte FC hopes to break attendance record for team’s inaugural match)

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MLS

4 RED Cards in Kansas, PK Debate in LAFC vs Austin FC Clash – Major League Soccer

Published

32 mins ago

May 19, 2022

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4 RED Cards in Kansas, PK Debate in LAFC vs Austin FC Clash Major League Soccer

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MLS

PREVIEW | FC Cincinnati seek fifth-straight win, return home to host the New England Revolution

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2022

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SCOUTING THE NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (3-5-3, 11 POINTS, 11th EASTERN CONFERENCE)
FC Cincinnati will get a second crack at the defending MLS Supporters’ Shield holders, a rematch of the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 contest on Wednesday, May 11th in Foxborough, Massachusetts. On that day, the hosts came out on top, 5-1, the fourth-straight win by New England in the head-to-head series with FCC across all competitions.

The Orange and Blue saw on that evening first hand how dangerous New England’s top offensive threats (Carles Gil and Adam Buksa) can be. Gil secured a hat trick, and Buksa scored a brace to combine for all five New England goals. In MLS action this season, Buksa has scored in five consecutive games, the longest active streak in MLS.

Gil is one of the league’s craftiest midfielders. He led MLS last season in assists and creating chances, and he is right on the heels of the Orange and Blue’s Luciano Acosta this season in key passes and shot-creating actions.

The Orange and Blue did not have to face Matt Turner, one of the best goalkeepers in the league last Wednesday. The USMNT netminder returned from injury and made his season debut in late April, and has one clean sheet in three appearances this season. Turner is expected to join English Premier League side Arsenal in June, making Saturday perhaps the last time FCC will try to put shots past the 27-year-old standout.

The Revs are unbeaten in their last four games across all competitions. Bruce Arena’s squad are coming off a 2-2 tie last Sunday at Atlanta United FC.

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