Soccer in Nashville

[Armacing]

2 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

They didn't need to- they got it approved without having to purchase it. 

 

100% agree.

[japan]

1 hour ago, UTgrad09 said:

I don't know if you're purposefully being dense or just trying to create some revisionist history.

It's this guys shtick.

[smeagolsfree]

Breaking news....Lawsuits starting to fly...

[LA_TN]

3 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Breaking news....Lawsuits starting to fly...

118% expected

[downtownresident]

Here’s the Tennessean article:

https://amp.tennessean.com/amp/4667392002?__twitter_impression=true

”Nashville Soccer Holdings filed a motion in chancery court Friday arguing it has a right to intervene in the Save Our Fairgrounds lawsuit, which is seeking to block the stadium. The ownership group said it could lose its team if the lawsuit is successful.”

 

"Nashville Soccer seeks to intervene to support Metro’s position that the Stadium Agreement wholly complies with and does not violate the Charter," the motion states. 

The team also argues that under the deal, the city must start demolition to clear the old expo center buildings to make way for the stadium. 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by downtownresident
Additional context

[LA_TN]

So, March 31 deadline for losing the team

"In February 2018, Nashville Soccer and MLS entered into a formal Expansion Agreement that brings Nashville Soccer into MLS and allows it to operate an MLS team in Nashville. The Expansion Agreement requires Nashville Soccer to begin stadium construction by March 31, 2020. If this milestone is missed, MLS can terminate the agreement and Nashville Soccer could lose its team. Metro was supposed to have delivered a site at the Fairgrounds for stadium development as of June 30, 2019 and Metro and Nashville Soccer are working vigorously to secure that delivery immediately.

2020-02-07-Memorandum-in-Support-of-Motion-to-Intervene.pdf

[PaulChinetti]

2 hours ago, LA_TN said:

So, March 31 deadline for losing the team

"In February 2018, Nashville Soccer and MLS entered into a formal Expansion Agreement that brings Nashville Soccer into MLS and allows it to operate an MLS team in Nashville. The Expansion Agreement requires Nashville Soccer to begin stadium construction by March 31, 2020. If this milestone is missed, MLS can terminate the agreement and Nashville Soccer could lose its team. Metro was supposed to have delivered a site at the Fairgrounds for stadium development as of June 30, 2019 and Metro and Nashville Soccer are working vigorously to secure that delivery immediately.

2020-02-07-Memorandum-in-Support-of-Motion-to-Intervene.pdf

So we know what Coopers deadline is Wednesday April 1, 2020...

A fun thread. 
 

 

[downtownresident]

21 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

So we know what Coopers deadline is Wednesday April 1, 2020...

A fun thread. 
 

 

That thread was infuriating to read. 

[grilled_cheese]

15 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

By them I am presuming you mean the SoF crowd? They couldn't build new shiny buildings because it isn't their land. The state/Davidson County would be the only one with the power to upgrade the facilities and they clearly weren't willing to do that until something came along to make the upgrade worth while.

For the racetrack are you talking about the Formosas? The Formosas couldn't expand the racetrack because it wasn't his track and clearly the operation was not capable of it. I am almost willing to bet the Formosa's bid was picked by previous administration with the knowledge that he was a smaller operation that has clearly not followed by the rules which would only make cancelling his contract and ultimately killing the racetrack easier. Nobody is racing there because there is no promoter to turn on the lights and there is no legitimate group handling the racetrack. Please don't minimize the racetrack because it is a good soapbox to stand on. 

Citation needed.   They either did or they didn't.  The racetrack is there, no way to minimize it.  I do, however, minimize the used item crowd, freely.

[BnaBreaker]

Are we even sure that a hard deadline is going to be a motivator for someone like John Cooper?  Hell, for all we know, his end goal is probably to push the team out anyway!

[nashvylle]

2 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Are we even sure that a hard deadline is going to be a motivator for someone like John Cooper?  Hell, for all we know, his end goal is probably to push the team out anyway!

I don’t think he’s going to budge 

️ You're Invited To "Kickin' It With MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Nashville SC Owner John Ingram and CEO Ian Ayre" ️

[titanhog]

This is another reason why Ingram should have had a plan b...and I hope he still does.  Anyone with any time living in Nashville should have known that the fairgrounds supporters are crazy and will fight tooth and toenail to keep it primitive.  Once Barry was canned, Ingram should have immediately started making plans just in case this fiasco would happen.

[tragenvol]

Council pushing back:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/02/08/nashville-sc-soccer-stadium-fairgrounds-demolition-contract-ordinance-approval/4696099002/

 

[DMilner]

Cooper speaks....and offers absolutely no new insight. The anchor quotes him as saying there will be an exciting announcement next week. 
 

https://fox17.com/news/local/mayor-cooper-responds-to-criticism-over-mls-stadium-delay

[downtownresident]

34 minutes ago, DMilner said:

Cooper speaks....and offers absolutely no new insight. The anchor quotes him as saying there will be an exciting announcement next week. 
 

https://fox17.com/news/local/mayor-cooper-responds-to-criticism-over-mls-stadium-delay

The unbuilt area of Nashville Yards is being redeveloped into a carniv, err, amusement park?

[BnaBreaker]

58 minutes ago, DMilner said:

Cooper speaks....and offers absolutely no new insight. The anchor quotes him as saying there will be an exciting announcement next week. 
 

https://fox17.com/news/local/mayor-cooper-responds-to-criticism-over-mls-stadium-delay

Probably going to be his NASCAR bs

[UTgrad09]

1 hour ago, DMilner said:

Cooper speaks....and offers absolutely no new insight. The anchor quotes him as saying there will be an exciting announcement next week. 
 

https://fox17.com/news/local/mayor-cooper-responds-to-criticism-over-mls-stadium-delay

Quote

“Have I, as Mayor, tried to get the best thing done for everybody in town? Absolutely, absolutely, but there's no real delay in any of this,”

What do you mean by "no real delay," mayor? If construction was supposed to begin in October, and it is now February, then there has been a 4 month delay. That is real. I wish the reporter would have pushed back on that point. Maybe no delay in his own plans. Certainly not true when considering the stadium construction.

Quote

Reporter: “People are saying that you are the holdup, you're not willing to give in, you are ruining soccer for Nashville and you're making us look bad when it comes to negotiating deals maybe in the future. To that criticism you say?"

Mayor Cooper: “None of that is really true at all. I mean, the reality is, not every plan is implementable. I took an unimplementable plan and now there's a vision for it being super successful in the future. Now, that has required everybody participating to make that plan work out, and in the end my goal for this is to make it financially sustainable without a cost to the general tax payer and a well-orchestrated plan that serves all the historic uses for the fairgrounds."

First of all, that's a poorly worded question.

"None of that is really true at all." -- Maybe in your own head, mayor. Councilmembers and business leaders strongly disagree with you there.

And another answer that deserves pushback from the reporter. The stadium plan was unimplementable? Explain how. The only way it has become unimplementable is that you refuse to issue a demolition permit and you are now trying to take something out of the original plan that is needed for the ownership group to fulfill its obligations to the CBA.

And now there's a vision for it being super successful? What is that vision? We need details, because the clock is ticking. All I can see now is that you have taken a plan, that was passed by the Metro Council, and you have single-handedly decided to tear it up in favor of something that is probably going to take an eternity to iron out the details, and also have to pass Metro Council....because....your ego.

 

 

Here's my guess as to what's going to happen. You're going to announce that NASCAR is returning to Nashville, and that the only thing standing in the way is Nashville SC and their greedy holding of parcel 8C. And if they'll just give that up for nothing, then the stadium can proceed. There will be no detailed plan for racetrack expansion and the costs the city is on the hook for, because they don't exist. Just pretty renderings, and the promise of weekly noise at the Fairgrounds. SMI will not have to submit a CBA, and all infrastructure improvements on site will be paid for by Nashville SC. 

I can just about guarantee that Cooper will blame Ingram's group for the hold-up.

[PruneTracy]

14 hours ago, LA_TN said:

So, March 31 deadline for losing the team

"In February 2018, Nashville Soccer and MLS entered into a formal Expansion Agreement that brings Nashville Soccer into MLS and allows it to operate an MLS team in Nashville. The Expansion Agreement requires Nashville Soccer to begin stadium construction by March 31, 2020. If this milestone is missed, MLS can terminate the agreement and Nashville Soccer could lose its team. Metro was supposed to have delivered a site at the Fairgrounds for stadium development as of June 30, 2019 and Metro and Nashville Soccer are working vigorously to secure that delivery immediately.

2020-02-07-Memorandum-in-Support-of-Motion-to-Intervene.pdf

11 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

Even by my lofty standards, this is a bit too much procrastination, but the more likely scenario is that Nashville Soccer will have to have an inviolable, long-term stadium deal in place by around Thanksgiving. This is about the drop-dead date that MLS needs to finalize plans for the 2021 season, i.e., when they need to know which teams are playing and which aren't. They aren't going to drop Nashville SC a month into this season and they aren't going to hand the expansion slot to another city if there's any chance at all of Nashville Soccer pulling through with a deal before they are forced to act. Having a one-and-done club would be a major black eye for MLS, regardless of the details.

2 hours ago, titanhog said:

This is another reason why Ingram should have had a plan b...and I hope he still does.  Anyone with any time living in Nashville should have known that the fairgrounds supporters are crazy and will fight tooth and toenail to keep it primitive.  Once Barry was canned, Ingram should have immediately started making plans just in case this fiasco would happen.

This is the crux of the issue. One of the first rules of land development is that you minimize your dependence on government entities to the maximum extent practicable. If you need to work out agreements with governments to make your development work, then you effectively take on every constituent of that government as a business partner. That may not be a big deal if you just need a zoning change or a water line to start construction, but it is when you need bonding capacity, millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements, and rights to develop some of the most controversial land in the county, not just to build your primary venture, but all of the associated developments that are supposed to make the whole mess profitable for you. It's not even a Barry issue, there was going to be a mayoral election whether she was banging her bodyguard or not.

Ingram's best bet at this point is to use his Vanderbilt connections to work out a sweetheart revenue-sharing deal at their stadium and then head back to the drawing board.

[nashvylle]

3 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

Here's my guess as to what's going to happen. You're going to announce that NASCAR is returning to Nashville, and that the only thing standing in the way is Nashville SC and their greedy holding of parcel 8C. And if they'll just give that up for nothing, then the stadium can proceed. There will be no detailed plan for racetrack expansion and the costs the city is on the hook for, because they don't exist. Just pretty renderings, and the promise of weekly noise at the Fairgrounds. SMI will not have to submit a CBA, and all infrastructure improvements on site will be paid for by Nashville SC. 

I can just about guarantee that Cooper will blame Ingram's group for the hold-up.

1,0000000%. 
 

Cooper is going to back Ingram into a corner and make it seem like Ingram is the only thing holding back Nashville from having soccer and nascar. Ugh. Praying it all works out
 

 

[MLBrumby]

After reading Mayor Cooper's letter in the Tennessean, if I were advising John Ingram on the soccer stadium deal, I'd immediately start negotiating with Rutherford County for a stadium just across the Davidson line, near I-24.  That's the highest growth area of Davidson County too, and he could buy as much land around the stadium to develop, just like The Braves did with Suntrust Park. And I'd turn dirt on that stadium as soon as possible as I wave (with my middle finger) goodbye to Cooper.

[nashvylle]

1 minute ago, MLBrumby said:

After reading Mayor Cooper's letter in the Tennessean, if I were advising John Ingram on the soccer stadium deal, I'd immediately start negotiating with Rutherford County for a stadium just across the Davidson line, near I-24.  That's the highest growth area of Davidson County too, and he could buy as much land around the stadium to develop, just like The Braves did with Suntrust Park. And I'd turn dirt on that stadium as soon as possible as I wave (with my middle finger) goodbye to Cooper.

MLS doesn’t want that location. They want downtown. 

[MLBrumby]

4 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

MLS doesn’t want that location. They want downtown. 

I get that... but things have gotten out of hand with Cooper. Ultimately it's Ingram's team... yes, MLS has influence but Ingram's got the money. I doubt MLS like the fiasco that Cooper has caused. Ingram would end up with a helluva lot more revenue and less constraints on his team. Obviously, Ingram wants to keep it at Fairgrounds, but as I said, if I were advising him, I'd want to start construction with as few shackles as possible. But that's how I am naturally.  Wouldn't hurt things also to embarrass Cooper in the process. 

Edited February 9, 2020 by MLBrumby

[nashvylle]

12 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

I get that... but things have gotten out of hand with Cooper. Ultimately it's Ingram's team... yes, MLS has influence but Ingram's got the money. I doubt MLS like the fiasco that Cooper has caused. Ingram would end up with a helluva lot more revenue and less constraints on his team. Obviously, Ingram wants to keep it at Fairgrounds, but as I said, if I were advising him, I'd want to start construction with as few shackles as possible. But that's how I am naturally.  Wouldn't hurt things also to embarrass Cooper in the process. 

MLS has too many bad situations with teams out in the suburbs (Dallas in Frisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago, etc). They would take back the team. 
 

In some good news, I’m hearing season ticket sales are close to 14k. If we can get to 15k that is respectable. 

Edited February 9, 2020 by nashvylle

[MLBrumby]

1 minute ago, nashvylle said:

MLS has too many bad situations with teams out in the suburbs (Dallas in Frisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago, etc). They would take back the team. 
 

 

After this fiasco, I doubt that. But that leads to my second piece of advice if I were in that position with Ingram... move the team to a completely different city that MLS is considering for expansion. I realize as boosters, everyone here wants soccer, but I'm paid to be a dispassionate adviser. 

[titanhog]

I would figure that if there was land available within the downtown loop, he'd jump on it.  But...I imagine the fairgrounds location is about the closest he can get to downtown...which puts him in a tough spot.