Sorry for the long-winded comment, but this has to be one of the most opinionated and unsubstantiated "news articles" (put in quotations because this is really an op-ed article) I've ever read... In response:



1. I am still trying to figure out what the connection between an MLS bid and the anti-gay sentiments of a fourth-tier team is... But putting that to the side, Carolina Lightnin' was a team that went away in 1984, hard to compare the future of an MLS expansion team to a team that went away before the MLS existed...



2. Similar to #1, trying to connect attendance between a tier 3 team (Independence) and a major league team is a reach. That's like saying we don't have an MLB team because attendance at our high school's baseball games is low. Average MLS attendance is 20,000 people, with a number of clubs having an average attendance between 14-17,000, which is definitely attainable given the next point...



3. This point actually sounds like a reason why we WILL get an MLS team.. We have hosted a game in 3 of the 4 ICC cups with attendance ranging from 53,000-69,000 people (BofA Stadium has a max attendance of 75k). We have hosted two matches in each of the 2011 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cups (they only happen every other year FYI) and attendance has ranged from 46,000-55,000 people.



4. The current professional club is two years old and is a USL (third tier) team in the US Soccer League system. It will of course take some time to garner interest in a lower level team, don't think you can say because people aren't necessarily interested in Independence (which I also disagree with) that they wouldn't be interested in an MLS team.



5. Stadium wouldn't need to be built from scratch. Have already said they would RENOVATE Memorial Stadium, with an expected cost of $25 million. Also, what in the world does HB2 have to do with this?!? And Roy Cooper just won and he's obviously going to fight to resolve this...



6. Not sure of what stats/info he is referring to, so no idea why he thinks attendance is mediocre?



7. Absolutely no idea what he means by this... But as far as market goes, Charlotte is the second fastest growing big city in the US (according to US Census Bureau), we're in the top 20 in the nation for cost-of-living vs. income so plenty of money to spend on entertainment, with one of the busiest airports in the nation.



8. Again...what? Franchises are not connected to clubs or the community and the community isn't connected to the club, so nobody is connected to anything...?



9. UNCC trying to break into FBS is far from Charlotte trying to break into MLS. Honestly, this statement sounds like a bitter, defeated person mad at his city... Charlotte interested in MLS is just another 'example' of a rapidly-growing city wanting to bring more sports entertainment-value to it, in addition to professional football, basketball, hockey (minor league), soccer (USL), baseball (minor league), NASCAR, and even lacrosse.



While I believe the chances of Charlotte getting one of the next bids for an MLS expansion team is not great, none of the above 9 'reasons' are why... The more likely reason is that we're just a little late to the table compared to some other cities who have been in the bidding process for a while. I don't doubt we'll get a team eventually (assuming MLS remains popular nationwide), I think it's just going to take a bit more time than some people are hoping.