As has been reported over the last couple of days, the winner of the Carolina Railhawks name was, indeed, Traffic USA. Now it has been confirmed that Carolina will indeed play this season under their old name, but as an entirely new organization.
Carolina Railhawks Live: Team Will Re-Launch In NASL Under Old Name
After previous owner Selby Welman gave up his ownership and auctioned off the team assets, Traffic USA took ownership of the Carolina team and entered an eBay-bidding war for assets such as the team’s name. Traffic USA ultimately won that bidding war, paying $14,999.
Although Traffic USA will be the majority owner of the team, Cary resident Paul Singh will be a minority partner. The team president will be Curt Johnson, who played at North Carolina State University and was once the general manager of the Kansas City Wizards.
“Traffic Sports is excited about the new Carolina RailHawks. We believe that the Triangle area is a great market and that the Carolina RailHawks will be one of the model teams of the NASL,” Vice President of Traffic Sports Enrique Sanz said in a league release. “We look forward to continuing the winning tradition of the RailHawks on the field and to taking the commercial operation to that same championship level. And with the hiring of Curt Johnson returning home to guide this team and Martin Rennie, considered one of the top young coaches in the United States, we believe we are well on our way to building an all-around championship team.”
Whether or not the Railhawks will have a league in which to play remains an open question. The USSF is scheduled to meet this month to determine whether or not the NASL will be sanctioned as a Division 2 team. The NASL lost its provisional sanctioning just as the Railhawks situation was turning uncertain. Since that time, the league has put up $6 million in Letters of Credit in an attempt to convince USSF that the league is stable enough for official sanctioning. NASL CEO Aaron Davidson has previously hinted that his league will not go forward without Division 2 sanctioning.
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