Could Milwaukee Handle an MLS Team?

h/t @BennyHutch

For years, people have said Milwaukee should have a National Hockey League team. Many people believe
this team could support hockey team even though they really do not support a basketball team in the winter months, but I digress. Given the massive crowds at Brady Street this past Sunday for the World Cup, it makes one wonder could Milwaukee or the Milwaukee suburban area could support a Major League Soccer team. There are some realistic areas where it could be built plus provide a low-cost option for fans to support yet obvious hurdles exist all over the place.

It was estimated 15,000 people came down to Brady Street to support the United States Soccer effort with a great deal of passion and excitement. That number would fill up a majority of MLS Stadiums.  Milwaukee is more of a soccer city than people might think it is despite not being around the top 10 in the television ratings for the World Cup. There has always been a great deal of soccer love in the city with support of UW-Milwaukee and Marquette's soccer team along with a rich tradition in high school soccer. Milwaukee once had a professional team named Milwaukee Rampage where they did not draw very well, but this was a long team ago before the preceived leap soccer is making right now. 

Miller Park will be hosting a friendly with Swansea City and Chivas USA during the All-Star Break for the Milwaukee Brewers. If that draws well, it should be a push in the right direction for adding an MLS team in the future. This is not something where Milwaukee should do it in the next five years because the city needs to get the Bucks a new arena before everything else. Once they have that in place, the next step should be trying to add an MLS team with a new stadium somewhere in the City of Milwaukee. If the expansion of Milwaukee grows in the right direction adding a soccer team might not be the most ridiculous thing in the world. Further, it is time to think outside the box with the stadium and how to build Milwaukee as a city. 

Imagine if they put it around the old Pabst buildings right around the courthouse. There is a clear relationship with Pabst Blue Ribbon and soccer and if the Pabst sign looming in the background as they play soccer, it would be a thing of beauty. They could add around Miller Park in the golden triangle which we have talked about countless times for the Bucks. If Milwaukee does not work, putting a 15,000 seat stadium in the suburbs of Brookfield, Mequon or Franklin is not a terrible idea. All the sudden, there is a new place to host outdoor concerts and could create a whole new revenue stream for the entire area. Although there are many hurdles they will have to go through before actually making this a reality. 

Currently, the MLS has 18 teams with four teams coming through in the coming years. At some point, MLS will probably cap how many teams they want unless they go the route of European leagues and have a secondary division. Further, Minneapolis has an even better soccer reputation than Milwaukee and nearly got a team last time around. It might be hard to see all three cities, Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis, all have MLS soccer teams. Another city that might cut Milwaukee's chance to get a team is Indianapolis which could bring more to the table. 

Another big concern for the MLS addition in Milwaukee would be the Green Bay Packers. Now, there are 10 teams with NFL teams in the same city and in fact, New England Revolution plays in Gillette Stadium. My argument would be if New England can deal with having a soccer team, Milwaukee could deal with the Green Bay crowd. Same goes for Washington D.C. The other thing about is it would be much cheaper to see Milwaukee's MLS team versus doing anything else in the city.  There might be too much going on with the Brewers as well when it comes to September plus let's not forget about Wisconsin Badgers either. Milwaukee is a big small city and things might be spread too thin yet all of the options for the sports fan of Milwaukee would be tremendous.  

It will be interesting to see if this gains any momentum. I am all for the idea of adding new professional teams to the City of Milwaukee. Nothing wrong with getting on the bandwagon for Cream City FC or Milwaukee Futbol Club.   

Charlie.