An MLS team in Eugene? Doubtful. NASL however...

by Geoff Gibson on Feb 3, 2011 9:21 AM PST

A recent report by KVAL Eugene has an interesting quote from one of the groups trying to save the city's Civic Stadium. Apparently, "Save Civic Stadium" board president Ron Crasilneck wants to turn the decrepit stadium into a fully functional, professional soccer stadium where a professional soccer team can play. Here's the exact quote from Ron:

"Soccer is really growing as a professional sport in the United States especially among the younger generations," said Crasilneck. "So we are very confident that Eugene would embrace this new team."

Now, I might be jaded, living in the far bigger city of Portland, but I seriously doubt there is any way an MLS team could be supported by the small-ish city of Eugene and any outlying cities. In fact, it's so outlandish, I'm wondering if the reporter who wrote this story even got the quote right at all.

Let's be honest, the Eugene metro area is only around 350,000 people. Beyond even finding the support to fill the stands (of which anything sub-15,000 is considered a failure in MLS) where would the money come from? Running an MLS team isn't cheap. It's a $40 million entry fee combined with all other associated costs of staff, equipment, and a mandatory academy and reserve program. Those kinds of things aren't cheap.

Which leads me back to the reporter. Did Ron actually say "MLS" or did he say professional soccer? It's unfortunate that despite the great strides MLS has been making the past few years, our D2 league is still almost entirely unknown. It's my guess that Ron didn't actually mention MLS but instead was suggestng a pro-soccer team could play in Eugene, for which I believe would be a great idea.

NASL needs teams, no doubt about it. So why not Eugene? The costs are lower, the entry fee is easily managed, and I believe Eugene could definitely support a 6,000-ish sized stadium given it's population (I've never lived in Eugene so I can't comment on the mentality). Sure, the Ducks would remain the #1 team in the city, but given that there is very little overlap between college football and NASL seasons I'd say this could be a fantastic move.

So, MLS? No. NASL? Why not?

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I see no downside to having an NASL or other minor league team in Eugene

fun road trip!

by pdb on Feb 3, 2011 9:41 AM PST reply actions

As someone that lives in Eugene I would love a USL/NASL team here. I would still be a Timber, but you better believe I would support the local, smaller club. It would ultimately benefit soccer in Oregon, thus benefitting the Timbers.

Make it happen Eugene. We would love them and they wouldn’t replace the TImbers for fans down I-5.

by Timber Dan on Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM PST reply actions

There's no way Eugene could support an mls team. There's just not enough people in the area.

However, the city does a pretty good job of supporting the Eugene Emeralds single-A baseball team. Putting a NASL/USL team in Eugene would affect Emeralds turnout somewhat, as both leagues would be going on during the summer and would be directly competing with each other for spectators and money. It’s not as if the Emeralds sell out PK Park, either. They do well, but it’s still not incredible.

The Emeralds left Civic Stadium because it was a terrible, decrepit facility. The move hurt fans’ feelings, because the new ballpark has a sterile environment (everything but the pitchers’ mound and the area around home plate is FieldTurf, for instance). Players seemed to be pretty happy with it, however. I don’t think that Civic Stadium is suitable for anything but high school football games now, because it’s in such bad shape. After a year of disuse, it’s bound to be even worse, to boot.

In terms of soccer culture and developing soccer in Oregon, getting a team here would be awesome. It would give more access to fans who want to see good soccer (and soccer isn’t a wasteland in these parts, either; Flounders striker Nate Jaqua played here in high school). It would also give potential fans a way to learn the game as well.

However, as I alluded to earlier, I don’t think it makes much sense in a financial sense to have two minor league teams directly competing against each other during the same season. The Emeralds would win that battle because they are established in this community. I don’t know if there are enough dollars or people to make a second minor-league team viable.

(And on a completely personal note, I would totally be down, because I’ve covered the Emeralds before. If there’s more sports in town, it just means I would get to cover more stuff for the paper.)

Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.

by thehemogoblin on Feb 3, 2011 12:35 PM PST reply actions