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June 23, 2007
Queens columnist weighs in on potential Mets interest in MLS
One of last week's most interesting stories was the report that the New York Mets might be interested in starting a second MLS franchise in New York; specifically, in the borough of Queens, where the Mets play baseball.
Today, Dylan Butler, a sports editor from the Queens Times Ledger newspaper, weighs in on the idea. He makes a good case for a second New York team in general and specifically for a new stadium in Queens:
Queens makes perfect sense for a professional soccer team. After all, it is the most ethnically diverse borough in the country and soccer is the most popular sport in the world. As witnessed by last year's World Cup, the borough breathes soccer and needs a team to call its own. Heck, if half the people who play soccer in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Metropolitan Oval show up to this yet-to-be-named team's games, they'll sell out for sure.And the Mets make perfect sense as an owner as well. Last year the team made it one game away from the World Series and the man responsible for changing the face of the franchise is Omar Minaya, a native of the Dominican Republic who grew up in the soccer-crazed neighborhoods of Corona and Elmhurst. Baseball might be his sport, but soccer is the pulse of western Queens. Minaya understands New York and, perhaps more importantly here, he knows the Latino community.
Besides, the Mets wouldn't be the only professional sports organization to make the leap into MLS. Already, owners of professional basketball, hockey and baseball teams have invested in Major League Soccer.
The owners of a baseball team, investing on soccer? Something about that strikes us as a good idea.
Posted by Jay at June 23, 2007 10:23 AM