Man I would love to get a team here in Baltimore. I think we as a community are finally ready for a squad.

With DC United just down the road, I would think the most you could hope for would be D3.

Baltimore last had a USL team (the Bays, in D3) from 1995-1997 which averaged 289 fans per game in their last year of existence (not sure where they played).

Other teams in the area in recent history - keeping in mind that I'm not terribly familiar with the region, so I don't know how close these are to Baltimore:

1998 - Eastern Shore Sharks (D3) played at Seahawk Stadium in Berlin, MD. Record: 0-18. Avg Attendance: 264.

1999 - Sharks. 2-16-1. Attendance: 216.

2001 - Chesapeake Dragons (PDL) play at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD. Record: 5-13-2 Attendance: 138.

2002 - Dragons.

The Dragons also have Super-Y League entries, and the Maryland W-League franchise has been fairly successful on the field, although their attendance at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds has not been any better than the above men's teams.

I think Baltimore could and should have a USL team, but it'd need to be marketed somehow differently than these teams have been in recent history.

Oh, and how could I forget the short troubled history of the Maryland Mania who played at UMBC in 1999. They were A-League in name only, finishing 3-25 and averaging 469 fans per game.

BTW, before moving to the SoccerPlex last year, the Pride played at Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville.

You'd think that with the MSI being so huge that there would be bigger draws...Montgomery County is large though...it can take a while to get from Silver Spring to Poolsville.

Being from the area I can tell you this--there are alot of leagues and interest in soccer in the area--however it was very poorly marketed when we did have teams here. An example--before our a league team was here all the papers wrote about were how bad the owners were,the suicide of our coach before a practice even started,and how previously soccer didn't suceed here. Well how are you going to create interest with nothing but negative stories? Not one article about any of our players was written. The media -NEWSPAPER-in this area does not respect soccer or it's fans.We rarely even get an article about DC UNITED. When the World Cup was here however boy did they get on the band wagon --when they found out that people actually were watching the games at early morning hours and that fans did care about soccer.Now that it is over--no more soccer coverage.

Thank you, well said. From people I have reciently talked to, none knew of the fact that we even had a team in either league. The Baltimore Bays were semi-popular but just because they were mostly of the old MISL's Baltimore Blast. It would be enjoyable to really have a team in the A-league though I do not see it happening soon. If it does happen and Harrisburg happens to get a team then who knows... maybe a Richmond-Baltimore-Harrisburg type cup could be formed just like the Southern Derby cup. None the less, Baltimore is a huge area with much soccer talent and fan base if tapped right. With the right distribution of information it will take off here.

You are right about a majority of the outdoor fans being indoor Blast fans. I used to go to Washington Warthog games during the summer also -just to see soccer. It needs to be marketed correctly, but can succeed in Baltimore--there is too much interest and too many leagues for the failure of outdoor in Baltimore. I also went to many Wildcats games in Hershey and I don't understand the failure there--not sure if it was a marketing problem but you had a lot of Heat players from indoor on that team and I know that when Hershey Park passes were offered they drew a good crowd. Not sure about how well they were advertised in the paper and radio. They seem to be a good area to tap into too--if marketed correctly.

Somebody mentioned Cleveland on BigSoccer, and I think it's sort of a similar deal - the Crunch are pretty popular among indoor fans, but the popularity just hasn't translated to an outdoor team. And you could eve include St. Louis in the same mix of indoor-major league, outdoor-no league cities.

Baltimore to have a team in by 2005!... well as long as I can get more info on how to enter the league. I found a company owner that is interested on an investment of starting an A-league franchise in Baltimore for the 2004 or 2005 seasons... does anyone know where to get info on how to enter the league and what qualifications there are, etc. We understand this is a long operation and are willing to do what it takes.

On a side note, here's hoping on that Harrisburg franchise rumor... either that or we have to start a feud with the 10 year vets at Richmond.