MLS keeping an eye on South Florida...

Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald wrote about it on her Total Futbol blog yesterday:

"Miami may not have an MLS team anymore, but apparently it still has MLS fans. The league has discovered that Miami is one of the top three television markets for MLS games among non-MLS cities, along with San Diego and Atlanta."

Reliable sources tell me Major League Soccer is investing a pretty penny in South Florida to promote upcoming playoff games thanks to reports that MLS TV ratings in South Florida are among the highest in the country, not to mention the great turnout at Friendly International matches in the past year.

 It also helps that the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League have also had strong attendances numbering just under a 4K average... Not bad considering it's Division 2!  Add to that the great atmosphere you can experience at Lockhart Stadium with the supporters groups Flight 19 & The Ultras and did we mention the epic tailgates? If you haven't been to a game you should try it. Check out the video!


Just last year I helped organize a meeting with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, where he told the Miami Ultras in attendance that South Florida needed to show him we wanted MLS... Well, Commissioner Garber, in 1 year we've done all you've asked us to do!

Recently Commissioner Garber had this to say about our market on mlssoccer.com :

“Miami is continuing to intrigue us a bit more than it had been,” Garber said. That growing intrigue stems from recent news supporting Miami’s soccer bona fides. First, there is the strong interest in the recent news that Chelsea and AC Milan will play a friendly at Sun Life Stadium as part of the World Football Challenge. Second, Garber pointed out that Miami had the third-highest local TV rating for last weekend’s LA Galaxy-New York Red Bulls match on ESPN. Only LA and New York had higher TV ratings. “We’re going to do in Miami what we’ve done in many other markets,” he said. “We’ll continue to schedule international games and continue to get inundated with emails from the Miami Ultras, who want us to bring a team there. We’ll continue to be intrigued by it"

All I can say is that South Florida is ready for the next level! Be it the Strikers that make the leap to MLS or a new group of investors (Rumors of Beckham ownership), we want to hear you are out there! The fans are here and we are ready! 
If you want to help support soccer in South Florida by playing in our soccer teams (Miami Ultras FC or Ultras FC) or if you want to come out and support the Strikers with us or if MLS is your passion and want to help with our campaign then contact me at uncleed@miamiultras.com
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