Chet Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Aaron Davidson, NASL chairman and owner of the Carolina Railhawks, was among those indicted today. http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/27/the-fbi-may-have-struck-at-fifa-but-soccer-in-the-us-has-been-tarnished Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedinathan Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Those on twitter should follow Neil Morris. Great info on how this may effect the league and what is actually happening between the league and Traffic USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Misleading subject line. NASL has not been implicated in the FIFA scandal. A corporation and its president that happen to own a team in NASL have been implicated in the scandal. Even then, the department of justice documents point to wrong doing regarding Traffic's business with Concacaf, television and marketing rights for the Gold Cup, Champions League, Copa America, etc. Nothing about the NASL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Are you kidding masster? The NASL and Traffic have been so deeply entwined that it is fair to say that without Traffic there would be no NASL today. Aaron Davidson was the Chairperson of the NASL Board of Governors until he was removed yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Interesting developments, this. The people who always preferred USL to NASL think this is a fairly serious indictment of the NASL, and the people who always preferred NASL to USL think this isn't a big deal. Of course, it isn't a big deal!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Just when we get excited about a potential NASL team in Hamilton the league could be in some trouble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Just when we get excited about a potential NASL team in Hamilton the league could be in some trouble!I wouldn't panic. By all accounts Traffic had been pulling out of the NASL on its own over the past few years: reducing its stake in the league itself, selling off most of its teams, and it would already have been very happy to sell Carolina as well if it could find a local buyer. They weren't too active in the league management, and the very fact that the NASL Board of Governors had the power to suspend Davidson and Traffic's involvement is a testament to this. Which isn't to say it's a good thing. I mean, Traffic may only own one team but next to the Cosmos group they're probably the second-most important owner in the league. Still, the main risk is that investors are spooked away, and in the specific case of Hamilton, Bob Young knows the NASL well enough that he'll already have been fully aware of what he was getting into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazlo_80 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I wouldn't panic. By all accounts Traffic had been pulling out of the NASL on its own over the past few years: reducing its stake in the league itself, selling off most of its teams, and it would already have been very happy to sell Carolina as well if it could find a local buyer. They weren't too active in the league management, and the very fact that the NASL Board of Governors had the power to suspend Davidson and Traffic's involvement is a testament to this. Which isn't to say it's a good thing. I mean, Traffic may only own one team but next to the Cosmos group they're probably the second-most important owner in the league. Still, the main risk is that investors are spooked away, and in the specific case of Hamilton, Bob Young knows the NASL well enough that he'll already have been fully aware of what he was getting into. I think you nailed it with the investors point. Bob Young may have had an idea, but this sort of explodes the doors off the thing. No one saw this coming, or at least no responsible investor would see this as a possibility and still be willing to drop millions. The bigger worry beyond even new owners is how sponsors, media, etc. reacts. For example, does ESPN see this and decide to distance themselves by no longer carrying games on ESPN3? ...not to mention the USL/MLS seeing this as an opportunity to pounce and try to swoop in as the lower division option with "integrity". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Hammer- Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I wouldn't panic. By all accounts Traffic had been pulling out of the NASL on its own over the past few years: reducing its stake in the league itself, selling off most of its teams, and it would already have been very happy to sell Carolina as well if it could find a local buyer. They weren't too active in the league management, and the very fact that the NASL Board of Governors had the power to suspend Davidson and Traffic's involvement is a testament to this. Which isn't to say it's a good thing. I mean, Traffic may only own one team but next to the Cosmos group they're probably the second-most important owner in the league. Still, the main risk is that investors are spooked away, and in the specific case of Hamilton, Bob Young knows the NASL well enough that he'll already have been fully aware of what he was getting into. This might also explain why there was talk that Bob left NASL on poor terms. Traffic either muscling him out or doing stuff he didn't agree with, and would explain why they may be on the mend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Are you kidding masster? The NASL and Traffic have been so deeply entwined that it is fair to say that without Traffic there would be no NASL today. Aaron Davidson was the Chairperson of the NASL Board of Governors until he was removed yesterday. No. I'm not kidding. Read the department of justice documents. NASL has not been implicated in any way. Saying otherwise is simply untrue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 OK, I see your point in that "implicated" as an active participant is not what has happened so far. A better word would be "tarnished" or "damaged". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 ^^^No, not really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sport Shaman Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 How predictable that those who have no love for, or faith in, the NASL are running around like they just uncovered the smoking gun and a combination to the lock for the vault where all of FIFAs skeletons must be lobbying for the league. Looks reactionary in a knee jerk way I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 ^ LOL I don't think it is a knee-jerk reaction to suggest that the chief executive of the NASL being indicted on charges is a negative for the league. The charges involving a company with a long and deep involvement in NASL is also negative for the league to any neutral observer. No one is saying this particular incident is going to damage NASL in a major way but it is the sort of thing that lingers. The NASL needs some good news and some decisive action. They have made the right start and they can certainly recover, so long as no further bad news comes along for the next six months to a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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