WRAL published an interesting article about Steve Malik. It’s no wonder he and Kane make a great team.
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This thing is the real deal, whether the MLS comes knocking or not. Malik and Kane are practically willing the city to the next level.
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I kinda wish they start with a stadium size in the 12-15,000 seat range for the current teams and expandable to the 20k if MLS does indeed award a franchise. Lou City FC is building an amazing 11,300 seat stadium for their current team and with no carrots of future MLS.
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@mike
Out of morbid curiosity, why do you wish this? 
They currently average 4-5,000 per game in Cary. I’m sure there will be some increase moving to Raleigh and as part of a mixed-use destination center. Filling 12,000 seats would be an accomplishment. But would look ridiculously small in a 20,000 seat stadium.
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@mike I agree. If you’ve followed MLS expansion nearly every city that is really in the running is putting out large scale plans backed by big money. This is Raleigh’s play.
I think the initial pitch (the stadium off of Peace) was kind of rushed and was trying to cash in on expansion when only a few cities had their acts together. Now you have a handful that are locked and loaded. After Tuesday you’ll be able to add us to that mix.
I still do not believe a 20k seat stadium is built on speculation., no matter what Malik says publically. If a stadium does happen, I’m guessing it will be smaller and less permanent until the final word on MLS expansion is heard.
Lastly, you have to believe that its either us or Charlotte that is getting a team (it’s hard to envision both). Everyone knows Tepper is pushing for MLS and Malik/Kane’s new announcement will likely accelerate his plans being ramped up and made public.
Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
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I think that the stadium will be used often for concerts and could probably replace Walnut Creek Amphitheatre. Walnut Creek currently has a capacity of 20,000. So I think that maybe this is not that big of a reach.
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After the fiasco that was the BNL/Hootie gridlock last month, I will never go back to Walnut Creek. Any alternate venue automatically gets my vote.
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That would be great if it replaced walnut creek. I would maybe start going to concerts.
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…I think that is the big take-a-way here…
I think we can at least be certain Kane and Malik are going to develop the area no matter what.
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I think the fair assumption is that St. Louis and Sacramento are locks for slots #28 and #29. And the last spot in this current round of expansion would be us or Charlotte. Although, I think its pretty likely that MLS does not stop at 30 teams.
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Do you think that if Charlotte gets the #30 team, that Raleigh being so physically close will actually ever get a team? Or maybe Raleigh would have to grow a lot more after that to obtain one?
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I would like to see the stadium right-sized, there is nothing worse than playing or watching in front of lots of empty seats. I am not sure what that is though, lol.
Malik has a great management team at NCFC, folks well-known around MLS. With this project, and that team he will have a really strong bid. My gut is telling me we have a very good chance of Raleigh landing a team.
And let us not forget the ladies. The 7 women playing for 4 different teams (4 for the US) should spark some interest for the Courage, as if their winning record is not enough!
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Why only Raleigh or Charlotte? There is pretty tough competition in Detroit, Phoenix and San Diego.
Walnut Creek rarely has shows worth going to as it is. Its 75% country and the rest is nostalgia pop rock.
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Assuming that it would be a very good biz decision for MLS to fill the void between Atlanta and DC.
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I personally think teams in Raleigh AND Charlotte would be successful! And if done right could become a rivalry similar to Portland-Seattle. Both pairs of cities 170 miles apart.
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RedHat has some good stuff, but its to small to me. Ticket prices are high if anything good actually shows up there
I don’t think Charlotte or Raleigh is going to get that last spot. Malik said so himself. This is a bet that MLS expands past 30 teams.
Malik for some reason states that most pro sports have 36 teams. That’s not true. MLB has 30 (and is looking to add 2 more), NBA has 30, NFL has 32 and NHL has 31. That doesn’t mean MLS can’t have 36, but it’s just correcting something he said in that article (unless I’m misreading it.)
So Raleigh getting MLS is hinged on…
1) MLS actually deciding to expand past 30 teams.
This is not a given, however, MLS did leave the door open recently when they said they may look to expand further in the future.
2) Beating out Charlotte
If MLS DOES add 2-4 more teams, it’s hard to see them choosing both Raleigh and Charlotte. This proposals probably helps them in leapfroging Charlotte for the time being and puts us in a good position for that next group. But all eyes need to shift to Tepper after this announcement. What is his next move? He IS the richest owner in the NFL and isn’t likely to go down without a fight.
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