New soccer team Gold Star Detroit FC looks for immediate results
There’s a new pro soccer team coming to town.
Gold Star Detroit FC is a Gold Star Sports Management Group venture from founder Dan Milstein, who is the agent for former Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk and other Russian NHL players, and Gold Star FC CEO Alex Lubyansky, a former University of Michigan goalkeeper.
Gold Star on Monday announced the new Detroit club, which plans to kick off in 2023, along with the acquisition of FC Santa Coloma, an Andorran-based club that plays in the Primera Divisió.
The Detroit News conducted a question-and-answer session with Milstein and Lubyansky to get details on the vision of the club and what fans can expect a year from now.
(Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
► Question: How did this all come about?
► Lubyansky: It’s a vision that we’ve shared for some time, Dan and I together. It’s an exciting prospect to be able to find the brightest and best talent and then create a multi-club family that we’re launching together between Detroit and Andorra to showcase talent at the highest level of the game.
By having ownership of a club that competes in the UEFA Champions League, it’s a unique value proposition. It’s very exciting. Not just for players that we’re going to be able to help and identify and move into the biggest league, but for the local community in Detroit to have a platform for the very, very best of the best to get seen, not only by the MLS but also by Champions League clubs.
► Question: These two clubs will work in tandem?
► Milstein: While they’re independent clubs, it’s all about the development of the players. So it’s an alternative, and we give a chance and ability for the players to basically play throughout different leagues, and then there’s a path to success.
So, for example, a player that excels here and wishes to have the opportunity to play at the next level, they get to try to play in Andorra to be showcased and seen in Europe, and perhaps be picked up by a bigger, more significant club.
► Question: I saw that Gold Star’s plan to build a new stadium in Livonia is on the agenda at an upcoming Livonia zoning board meeting. Can you share any details about the plans for the stadium?
► Milstein: All we can say: We’re in the final stages of negotiations for the land and also the stadium. The team will be up and running in 2023. We would do a stadium that would also have a dome in the winter, so that local teams and kids can come and use the facility.
In the summer, the dome will be out and we’ll have initially 5 to 10,000 seats, and we’ll take it from there. But it will be a very nice facility, something in the tri-county that many people would be very proud of, and it’s going to be multi-use as well.
► Question: Are you counting on a large chunk of the revenue from this club to come from the multi-use facility and the ability to rent it out?
► Milstein: No. That would be a very nice addition to it, but basically, the bottom line is this company is backed by Gold Star.
We will compete in the U.S. Open Cup. We have a very large scouting department worldwide, similar to where we have in other sports and businesses, so we will identify talent. We would heavily rely and use analytics and rely on our scouts to put teams together. We will be better funded than most teams in NISA, as far as the compensation to the players.
With our sister club in Andorra, you will have an opportunity to play, and then you could always come back, and or you could move forward, and then there will be a transfer fee that will help to support our club.
We’re here to win. We’re here to be better than any NISA club, we’re here to compete with the USL Championship. We’re here to compete with the MLS clubs. We don’t believe that you have to spend $300 million to have the best team.
► Question: Why NISA?
► Lubyansky: The independent nature of the league is highly appealing. Rather than having territorial rights and exclusivity and the prevention of really great soccer culture, it is actually the most analogous to what you would see in Europe.
We welcome competition in Detroit. We welcome competition in our own backyard. We want to have rivalries. We’ve already seen some phenomenal Twitter rivalries thrown our way, so that’s all exciting.
And to us, NISA is the only league in the United States pyramid that mirrors the rest of the world. So, we believe in it. We wanna take the league to a completely different level. As Dan said, we’re very well-funded, so we feel that simply by joining, NISA is on the map and as big or competitive as any other league in the United States.
► Question: NISA has not exactly been a stable organization in recent years. Do you see yourself as a solution to that issue? Have you given any thought to what your plan would be if this league doesn’t exist in a year?
► Milstein: We would buy the league. All jokes aside, we’ve looked at different options, and we hope to bring stability to the league. If things work out with this particular club in this particular city, we could perhaps look at other opportunities within the same league and in other cities as well.
► Question: Is there any part of you that’s looking at this club as a proof of concept for starting a league of your own with the tentpoles of scouting, development, and a path to Europe?
► Milstein: The biggest thing is, in the United States, there’s a big lack in a development piece, right? So, there are so many great players who don’t get to play because they sit behind big-name guys and never have an opportunity. We would definitely have partner clubs in Europe and here in the United States.
To us, it’s all about the development, because development is a huge part in the soccer business. If we have a jam log of players and there’s an opportunity for them to go play elsewhere, why would we not do that?
► Question: Why claim Detroit specifically if the team has plans to play in Livonia? Will Detroit play into the identity of the club?
► Milstein: When I came to America 30 years ago, I came to Detroit and I’ve lived in Detroit Metro ever since. All of Gold Star was born in the Detroit suburbs as well. Detroit has always been our backyard, and there’s not a better place to give back to the community.
► Lubyansky: The per-capita amounts of soccer fields and availability to play the game is really exceptional here. … Right now, really the best option for a young domestic player is to move to Columbus, Chicago, Kansas City, Miami, MLS academies.
We’re not launching a for-profit youth club where we’re getting thousands of kids. We’re looking for maybe five, probably fewer from this area to play the very, very best of the best. And as far as fan engagement, those hundred-thousand local kids, it’s something to aspire to, to strive to.
► Question: Could you contextualize your scouting resources?
► Milstein: Basically, it’s spearheaded by two co-head scouts. One’s responsible for Europe and the other’s responsible for North America. There are no specific numbers of scouts, because we’re using the scouting across all of our soccer businesses. In the future, once we give Detroit off the ground and the running of Andorra, you should expect other clubs worldwide to open up under our umbrella as well.
► Question: Do you have the resources to not be concerned about being profitable early on, as you’re building up the club in your vision?
► Milstein: We are about winning. We’re about putting the best team and then the best entertainment together. We will do whatever it takes to get fans to come and cheer for us. This place is going to be a fun place for fans, fun place for children and families.
You can expect a show each and every time, you should expect a family atmosphere, and as a result, we would expect many fans in the tri-county joining us. We welcome the rivalry and also we welcome the fans from other clubs to come in and have a good time with us.
Twitter: @nolanbianchi
