Sports Authority CEO Oliver Luck is readying the champagne as Houston appears to be one step closer to getting a Major League Soccer team:
Major League Soccer announced Tuesday that it has cleared the way for the San Jose Earthquakes to relocate to one of a number of potential cities, with Houston the likely destination.
League commissioner Don Garber said in a prepared statement that the MLS Board of Governors granted approval to the Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of the Earthquakes, to relocate the franchise. The decision came at a meeting Saturday in Frisco, site of the MLS Cup.
Houston is the only city specifically mentioned by Garber as a possible new home.
“In order to ensure the team will have the appropriate time to prepare for the 2006 season, a final decision on the location of the team will be reached within the next 30 days,” Garber said.
[snip]
MLS spokesman Simon Borg said the league will have no comment on the situation until AEG reaches a decision.
AEG’s request was made because attempts to secure a buyer in San Jose have failed.
The company purchased the franchise � a charter member of MLS � from the league in 2002 and has reportedly invested about $20 million without earning a return.
“We stepped in and took over the team three years ago,” said Leiweke. “For three years we’ve been trying to find an ownership group (in San Jose). That’s unfortunate. That said, we’ve made more progress in the last few months in Houston than we did in the last three years in San Jose.”
The news is encouraging to Harris County-Houston Sports Authority head Oliver Luck, who has been involved in efforts to land a soccer franchise for more than a year.
“It’s clearly an important step,” Luck said. “From our perspective, it’s validation for what a great sports town Houston has become.”
One more thing to check off the world-class to-do list? We just have to be getting closer.
Do you think an MLS team will be able to pay for their own turf or will the Sports Authority offer to pay for it?
Laurence Simon wonders why Reliant Stadium isn’t being named as a probable venue for an MLS team. The answer could be in a Soccer Times story from July:
[…]the league [MLS] has been stymied for some time trying to find a place to play. Reliant Stadium, where the National Football League’s Houston Texans play, was looked at, but its ownership did not want to become MLS franchise owners at this time, nor did it want to become landlord.
And let’s not forget that San Antonio recently rejected an MLS franchise opportunity because the city would have taken a financial beating:
And what happened in San Antonio? Well, in April the cost of bringing a soccer team to San Antonio skyrocketed from $6 million to more than $20 million. And then this month, talks completely collapsed, apparently due to financial concerns — including MLS’s plan to use the Alamodome rent-free.
I certainly hope whatever deal Luck and Mayor White are negotiating with MLS doesn’t soak Houston/Harris County taxpayers…too badly. There’s no doubt there’ll be some soaking. That seems to be the nature of these deals.
(Old) Forum Comments (12)
