Major rivalry match between Midwest United and Flint City June 19 moved due to high temperatures!

Can anybody that follows closely help me out with picking tonight’s games ?? It is 6 total.

I ,and I imagine a few other people on this subreddit, want to start a club some day. I was curious about the acual logistics, so I emailed Minneapolis City with questions to see what it was like behind the scenes. I specifically asked them because of thier success on the pitch as well as attendece numbers, and I like the supporter owned model. While I was frankly not expecting a response at all, I am incredibly grateful for it.Here are my questions and their answers:

1. About how much does it take to sustainably run a club in the NPSL and USL 2 since you have been in both,particularly what are the expansion and league fees for both if you can say that?

I have written about it from the beginning of our journey through to right after Covid. I'm writing up a new one now, just haven't finished yet.

2016 - https://fiftyfive.one/2016/09/guest-feature-minneapolis-city-chairman-gives-year-review/

2017 - https://fiftyfive.one/2017/08/guest-feature-minneapolis-city-chairmans-2017-year-review/

2018 - https://fiftyfive.one/2018/12/a-look-inside-the-peoples-club-forecasting-year-4-for-minneapolis-city-sc-by-dan-hoedeman/

2019 - https://fiftyfive.one/2019/01/show-me-the-money-a-deep-dive-into-minneapolis-city-scs-revenue-sources-by-dan-hoedeman/

2019 - https://www.protagonistsoccer.com/features/mplscityfinances

2021 - https://www.protagonistsoccer.com/coverage/2021-mplscity-recap

The biggest things that you will want to keep in mind:

1. Where are you going to play and train and what do those cost

2. What will your travel situation look like

3. Will you pay to house players or will it be local guys

4. Where do you get the revenue from since you don't have an owner in the traditional sense?

Our primary sources of revenue are:

1. Ticket sales

2. Merchandise sales

3. Sponsorships

4. Player dues (esp for our Futures Program)

5. What has been the hardest part of running the club?

Oh man. Everything. Ha.

In all honesty, finding the right group of committed, positive people is the most important thing and continuing to develop that group over time. Everything is hard, but that's also what makes it worthwhile doing. When you're doing it with people you like who care about it too that's how you do it well and keep going.

4. How have you managed to draw supporters so well and develop a good club culture?

When we launched we had a very specific target audience in mind, made sure we were messaging and were physically where they were, and we made sure we were interesting. We had a point of view, we were on a mission, and we were willing to do things that got us noticed.

As far as the club culture, I think that's just about being specific about who you are as a club and what you value.

5. What do you think has been the most important factor in your success?

Not sure it's just one. I was able to bring in people with diverse skills and get them passionate about the mission and they brought in more people. We have had a talent advantage relative to regional rivals which has more than made up for a resources disadvantage. We had a compelling message and good timing and worked hard to get writers, bloggers, Twitterers, and others to hear it and talk about it. Built relationships. Worked hard to be interesting. Did new things. We have a great stadium that is small so it always feels full and is in central Minneapolis.

6. How did you develop a presence in your local community, especially with an MLS team right up the road?

Hard work and being there. We went to American Outlaws events and went to United games and were all over Twitter conversations and all that. We already knew the players from our men's league club and on the playing side just having top players meant other top players wanted to play with the club, that part was actually pretty easy.

7. What does 'front office' look like since everything is run by volunteers?

It has changed over time, but broadly...

1. President, oversees it all
2. Sporting Director, runs sporting side, hires coaches, ensures we attract players and have a good team, informs sporting budget
3. Commercial Director, runs commercial side which includes merchandise (and actually all gear even for the team), sponsorship, marketing/PR/social, website/content, informs commercial budget

Then under Sporting and Commercial we have ppl to support each

So Sporting has head coach, assistant coaches, video analysts, kitman, sporting ops, etc And Commercial has sponsorship sales, creative director, content writer (match reports, game day social, etc), social media, etc

At the beginning it was like 5 people doing it all. Now, we have 37 people of various levels of commitment volunteering (so guys do PA and the podcast, others are day-in, day-out doing stuff)

8. Any other general thoughts?

My only advice is to think about what you want the club to be, consider what your budget is/what you can lose if it doesn't work, who would do this with you, and what your stadium could be. From there, you can choose a league. Maybe you start at a regional league and UPSL and then try to level up. We did that. It helped us take smaller steps to get where we are, which made it doable. We couldn't have done USL in year 1. Or even, really, until probably year 5. We were too ragtag a group.

Personally, at this level, NPSL seems expensive and dying but maybe in your area it's not.

In my experience it can be quite hard to find USL 2 jerseys and I'm big about supporting lower league teams, so if there are any teams you'd reccomend whose jersey I should add to the collection, let me know!

I’ve fallen in love with lower league soccer this year, specifically NPSL, I’m looking to watch more USL2 as well and was curious what clubs are really popular in their markets? I know some cities can be a huge hit or miss when it comes to semi pro sports.

Just thought I’d share a pic from a match on Thursday in Herriman Utah.

I’ve noticed USL 2 attendances steadily increasing these past years in Utah. There’s progress to made with regards to organizations seeing themselves as legit soccer teams in their own right with branding, fan outreach etc but it’s happening.

Salt City play at the home of MLSNP Real Monarchs and are drawing around the same crowd size of 200. Make of that what you will.

A lovely scene to watch the boys put 5 on it, Tacoma Stars 5 - Junction FC 2

Hi everyone. I was just wondering, are there any USL League 2 teams that have SSS stadiums built for them? For example, Laredo Heat SC of the NPSL have their own SSS (and it looks sick for an amaetur stadium, seen in pic). Was just wondering if there were any in this league. Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/5420rrljwf4d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=374f6f06ee751b27a37056b69f6578f9ac63fb12

I live in the Bay Area and has a lot of USL2 teams. I've watched the SF Glens and SF City FC and they get a decent crowd (maybe a few hundred). The one team I know for sure that gets solid fan support is the Oakland Soul on the women's side and has a legit supporter's section that bangs drums all game. I go as a casual fan and like the local feel and intimacy to it. Still, I feel like I'm in the minority and that the majority of people are family or have some association with the players most of the time.

Five goal explosion in second half seals United's victory in home opener.

READING, PA (29 May 2024) – Reading United opened their 2024 home slate in dominant fashion routing the visiting Philadelphia Lone Star, 7-1, in USL League 2 midweek action at Alvernia University Stadium. Sam Hershey jump started Reading’s offense, scoring twice in the first half to push his season tally to four goals. Dominik Topolsky, Giampaolo Nardi, Tim Timchenko, Sora Noda and Carlo Cavalar found the back of the net in the second half. The 7-1 win was Reading’s largest margin of victory since 2013 when United pounded the Westchester Flames, 8-0

Hershey got the scoring going in the 23rd minute, tapping in from short range after the Lone Star goalkeeper Flannan Riley spilled a shot directly in his path. It was the American University forward’s third goal of the season and gave him goals in each of Reading’s first three matches of the 2024 season.

The lead would last only nine minutes as Lone Star leveled in the 32nd minute. Aboubacar Camara got Lone Star on the board when he buried a shot past United backstop Kieran Brown.

Just before halftime, Hershey broke the deadlock with his fourth goal of the young season. The Lancaster County native took a pass from Nardi and coolly slotted home to put United back in the lead at 2-1.

Reading picked up where they left off when they came out of the locker room for the second half. In the 50th minute, Topolsky found himself with time and space 30 yards from goal when he unleashed a cracking shot that rippled the back of the net to extend United’s advantage to 3-1.

Two minutes later, Reading had the ball in the back of the net yet again. With the home side piling forward, Nardi took a ball from Topolsky and fired home to push the hosts to a 4-1 lead.

Reading captain Tim Timchenko was next to get on the score sheet when he thumped home a headed ball off a gorgeously placed corner kick from Liam May in the 68th minute to make it 5-1 to United.

The rout was on when substitute Sora Noda deftly chipped the Lone Star goalkeeper to make it 6-1 to Reading in the 76th minute.

Three minutes later, Noda turned provider when his shot on goal was parried by the Philly goalkeeper. Carlo Cavalar was in the right place at the right time and made no mistake as he fired home to cap the scoring at 7-1.

Match: https://www.youtube.com/live/E9nO3hfoM6E

At the higher levels it's just normal to get support, chant, drums, and be loud. It definitely helps with the experience and energy. I've gone to some San Francisco City FC games and they occasionally do chants but no drums, loud speaker, or consistent flow through out the game. I know it's tougher to get people to commit to USL2 but I feel if you get some kind of energy in a small crowd it helps. The women's USL team the Oakland Soul get a really good supporters and chants through out the game.

Anyone know of a way to watch games on an Apple TV aside from AirPlay from another device?