USL Takes Over Ownership Of Rochester Club; NASL RailHawks Getting Name Change?

USL last month "terminated its franchise agreement" with Rochester Rhinos Owner Rob Clark after his family "told the USL it didn't plan to operate the team next season," according to Jeff DiVeronica of the ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE. Clark on Tuesday said that the decision "came a couple of weeks" after the city informed his family it was "terminating the operating lease at Sahlen's Stadium on Dec. 31." DiVeronica notes the Rhinos have been "one of the most successful teams in league history," and won the USL Championship in October. Clark took over the Rhinos in '08 "after the team's original ownership group defaulted" on $10.6M in loans, among other debt. Clark said that the lease termination, which was "delivered to his desk Dec. 1, ... came as a shock." But DiVeronica notes it "wasn't the first unrest between the city and Clark over the city-owned stadium." Rochester Communications Dir James Smith on Tuesday said the city wanted to find a new stadium owner/operator because Clark "never paid us any money." Clark also cited "family reasons" in walking away. He said that his wife is pregnant and his father has some "health issues." Clark noted that his family "did consider looking at other venues in Rochester to play and decided they were done." Clark: "The league swooped in and said they're taking over the franchise and I said, 'Great, that'll assure soccer stays in Rochester.'" USL CMO Tom Veit said that as of Monday, the Rhinos' payroll was "being picked up by the USL and that no employees have been let go" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 1/7).

FLIGHT OF FANCY: In Raleigh, Ian Pierno notes not long after NASL Carolina RailHawks Chair & Owner Steve Malik took ownership of the club in October, he also "purchased the trademark 'Carolina Flight,' raising some eyebrows." Malik said that he "hasn’t completely ruled out a rebrand of the RailHawks in the future," but for now, he is "being proactive in securing trademarks because he might want to bring another sports team to the Triangle one day." Malik: "(We’re) contemplating a women’s (soccer) team, we’re also going to look at several other sports, maybe rugby or lacrosse, there’s a number of professional leagues starting up that might be of interest. There’s a number of possibilities. I also bought a lot of other domain names" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 1/7).