MLS folded the Mutiny, as well as its other Florida-based team, the Miami Fusion, in 2002. ![]() The Glazers considered the deal but ultimately declined, leaving the league with no prospective owners willing to take over the team. Faced with financial losses up to $2 million a year, MLS courted Malcolm Glazer and his family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League team, to purchase the Mutiny. By 2001, they drew an average attendance of under 11,000 per game, among the league's lowest. In 1999, the team moved from Tampa Stadium to the new Raymond James Stadium, which required a more expensive lease. However, the Mutiny were hampered by low revenues, declining attendance, and an inability to secure a local ownership group. Valderrama was named the 1996 Most Valuable Player. They were successful in their first two years, winning the first Supporters' Shield with the best regular-season finish and going to the playoffs both years. The team managed strong signings in 1995, including Carlos Valderrama, Roy Lassiter, and Martín Vásquez. MLS operated the Mutiny along with two other teams, the Dallas Burn and the San Jose Clash, hoping to later sell to a private local owner. ![]() The region was seen as a potentially fertile market for soccer due to the success of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the old North American Soccer League in the 1970s and 1980s. The newly established Major League Soccer organization announced it would place a team in the Tampa Bay Area in 1994.
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