Milwaukee again in mix.

[Pygmalion]

The article is not yet online and it may take until Monday until they put it on the website but the Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting that there is another investment group proposing to put a 22,000 seat SSS on land in downtown Milwaukee.

I'm assuming the article will appear here within the next several days and will post it when it comes up.
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/

The "Park-East" freeway spur which bordered the northern edge of Milwaukee's downtown was recently dismantled and the city and county are now soliciting proposals for development.
http://www.mkedcd.org/parkeast/index.html

According to the article an investment group called Pegasus ParkEast Partners LLC was formed in late 2004 to explore development on the ParkEast land. A separate company, Milwaukee Professional Soccer LLC was formed in April to negotiate with MLS about bringing a franchise to Milwaukee. According to Marty Greenberg who heads the Pegasus group, "MLS officials are open to discussing expansion in Milwaukee."

This is a different group than that headed by Tim Krause who took ownership of the Milwaukee Wave in 2000/2001 at the same time that he was trying to finance a stadium. That stadium would have been built right next to the Bradley Center (home of the Milwaukee Bucks) and ran into solid opposition from Bradley Center ownership.

As always its a question of financing and we will have to wait and see what they come up with.

The article provides the following background on Greenberg:

"In the past 30 years, Greenberg has become one of the nation's authorities on sports law and sports facility financing. The Milwaukee lawyer has written seven books on real estate finance, sports law and financing sports arenas and stadiums.

In addition to being managing partner in the Milwaukee law firm Greenberg & Hoeschen, he is the founder and former director of the National Sports Law Institute of the Marquette University Law School.

Greenberg is also managing partner of ScheerGame Sports Development LLC which has offices in Milwaukee and Jacksonville Beach, Fla. ScheerGame has developed more than 14 sports facilities in a dozen states. Greenberg's CollegeTown company is a subsidiary of Scheer Game and has several projects pending on college campuses."

The article also indicates interest from city and county officials. The Pegasus group plans to bid for 12 acres that will include the stadium in a mixed use development. "The Greenberg proposal for a downtown stadium and its surrounding commercial and residential developments would be owned and managed by a private developerand property management firm, not a tax-exempt organization."

[that'sthecrewforyou]

How do you know

[Pygmalion]

The paper copy of the business journal is out today (May 20) and they usually delay putting their articles online for a few days. The article is on the front page.

Title:
Soccer for Park East - Development would surround stadium.

[that'sthecrewforyou]

sure it's not just likke one of those expandable 6,000 seaters they use for youth soccer teams

[VioletCrown]

sure it's not just likke one of those expandable 6,000 seaters they use for youth soccer teams

I wouldn't think so, looking at the information on Pegasus Group and Marty Greenberg. Absolutely not if they're talking to MLS.

Funny, I was just posting something over on the Montreal thread and thinking "Gee it sure would be nice if someone would step in an revive the Rampage. Or some team in Milwaukee. It'd make things much better for Minnesota."

My ideal would be that, rather than an MLS team, these guys go for a USL 1 team. A nice cozy 15,000 seater. But if they're talking to MLS, then they're too big league for that.

Wow. What a season it's been for expansion possibilities.

[VioletCrown]

And digging through the PDFs, it looks like this'd be another (after Houston, assuming that took place) central-city park. Damn, that'd be nice. It'll be interesting to see if this happens. Obviously, with all this activity, it's time to sit back and watch the horse race.

[Pygmalion]

More on Greenberg's credentials:

Governor Appoints Martin Greenberg as Chair of State Fair Park Board
From Feb. 2003
http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?prid=71

[jri]

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo Peter Wilt! :)

[Pygmalion]

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo Peter Wilt! :)

Milwaukee would be lucky to have him but it would be a perfect fit. :)

[Hooplehead]

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo Peter Wilt! :)

Aha! Interesting thought...boy, that would be fantastic for him, wouldn't it? Beng able to build a stadium in his home town--plus he's already done this before--and the rivalry would write itself if he were in the mix for this.

[Pygmalion]

More background:

Scheer Game Sports Development
http://www.scheergame.com/pages/indexpage.html

"Teammates":
Aon insurance, Bank of America, Turner, Hok Sport
http://www.scheergame.com/pages/ourteammates.html

[swedcrip34]

Are their "individual" deep pockets in the mix here? MLS is still at the stage where I'm wary of owners that can't tolerate losses (corporations, investment groups, Horowitz's).

Is the market strong enough? Sounds a lot like KC - small market with baseball. KC's about the only one in MLS (though Denver is mid-sized).

[Pygmalion]

I guess I'd reiterate:

As always its a question of financing and we will have to wait and see what they come up with.

The article does not provide details on the members of the investment group.

The stadium would be in a prime location and I'm biased as a soccer fan but given that location I think the city would embrace the team. The other summer competition, the Brewers, are a state team and Selig more or less kept Miller Park out of downtown to permit easy freeway access.

The proposed stadium would be within easy reach of a slightly different fan population and would have a lot of potential to draw people in just based on where they are placing it.

I don't know what KC's soccer tradition is, how many leagues, club teams, youth participation, indoor/outdoor facilities, but I'd say Milwaukee is pretty strong in those areas and there would be at least some correlation to fan support. Playing Chicago three times a year would be a good start.

[NoodlesMacintosh]

I'm honestly a little shocked that Milwaukee would even be interested, but then I bet a lot of people said that about Salt Lake. If they want it and can get organized, this sounds like a good glimmer of hope.

[suppitty]

I'm not sure about Milwaukee. The problem I see is that it is not as big a market as most other MLS cities, and unlike RSL which is in a smaller market, there would be big competition from the Brewers during the summer. If they're going to have an sss ready though, I would have no objections.

[NoodlesMacintosh]

I'm not sure about Milwaukee. The problem I see is that it is not as big a market as most other MLS cities, and unlike RSL which is in a smaller market, there would be big competition from the Brewers during the summer. If they're going to have an sss ready though, I would have no objections.

The Brewers haven't won a pennant since '82...of course that doesn't mean that they can't be/aren't loved by the locals, but these aren't the Cardinals we're talking about here.

[swedcrip34]

The Brewers haven't won a pennant since '82...of course that doesn't mean that they can't be/aren't loved by the locals, but these aren't the Cardinals we're talking about here.

and the Royals, Rockies, and Devil Rays are perennial pennant winners ...

[NoodlesMacintosh]

and the Royals, Rockies, and Devil Rays are perennial pennant winners ...

I wasn't saying that a poor MLB team leads to strong MLS support. Just that I doubt it hinders it either. And to nitpick, KC, Denver, and Tampa all have teams in leagues other than MLB that overlap with the MLS schedule.

[swedcrip34]

I wasn't saying that a poor MLB team leads to strong MLS support. Just that I doubt it hinders it either. And to nitpick, KC, Denver, and Tampa all have teams in leagues other than MLB that overlap with the MLS schedule.

others overlap a little, but MLB is the direct competitor IMO, april-november seasons outdoors for both. My point is there hasn't been a "successful" MLS franchise that isn't 1. in one of the top 8 markets (2+ million people) or 2. have no other outdoor major pro sports. LA without NFL, Washington without MLB until now - consistently good MLS markets. If MLS is struggling to draw good numbers in the Boston area, the Bay area, Dallas, and Chicago with MLB competition, what gives us reason to believe the smaller markets with MLB will be viable? KC may still yet prove us wrong, but so far there isn't any track record after 9 years. Build a SSS and I'm all for giving Milwaukee a shot, but forgive me if I have my concerns.

[Pygmalion]

How many MLS teams have stadiums centered in a downtown area? Given the location, and again I'm biased as a soccer fan, having an SSS downtown would make this a "Milwaukee" team in a way that even the Brewers aren't. From Jimmy Conrad's most recent piece I'm thinking not too many teams play in the middle of their city. At one point when the Tim Krause led group was trying to put a stadium deal together they were looking south of the city and my feeling was that that would have been a disaster.

If you make it part of the fabric of the city the team has a better chance and the loyalty is almost built in. The comparison between Comisky and Wrigley for example might be a stretch but is also the first thing I think of.

In terms of population density, if anyone has figures on cities that you think are comparable it would be interesting to get into that a bit.