Houston--At MLS Cup or not?

[chapulincolorado]

MLS Live Chat with Garber:

Kyle in St. Louis
Matthew in Philadelphia
Antonio in Cleveland
Eric in Baltimore
Eric in Phoenix, Az.
Alejandro in Houston
Any chance of a team in our city anytime soon?

Don Garber
As you know by now, Toronto is on track to be our thirteenth team. Here, in Frisco, we have representatives from investor groups from Philadelphia, Tulsa, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Houston and Cleveland. Each represent great prospects for our 14th team and beyond and we'll work hard to try and finalize those deals as quickly as possible.

BUT

Press release from MLSnet on State of the League:

Representatives of the proposed Toronto club are in the Dallas area this weekend for MLS Cup 2005, as are potential investors in five other cities: Philadelphia, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Tulsa, Okla. Garber noted that if a second 2007 expansion city is not decided on, the league could employ an unbalanced schedule with just 13 teams.

Whoa!!! Where is Houston?!

[anderson]

Oliver Luck is in Frisco.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

You'll get some key info from this story:-

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/498846.html

Houston would be the destination for a relocated team and it specifically mentions negotiations with an out of town group in the case of Hunt and the Wizards but Club America appear to be out of the picture as a potential I/O. Maybe Barcelona would be the I/O instead?

[chapulincolorado]

Houston would be the destination for a relocated team and it specifically mentions negotiations with an out of town group in the case of Hunt and the Wizards but Club America appear to be out of the picture as a potential I/O. Maybe Barcelona would be the I/O instead?

I am not in Houston and I don't know who the heavy hitters are there, but I would be surprised if Televisa [slight nitpick since CA is owned by Televisa] is out. At this point, I think this means they are still in. Remember, if one takes what Garber states as 100% accurate, then A) Televisa and MLS were still discussing the TV rights [something that gets mixed up with Univision and the whole SUM/USSF/FIFA tv deal] and B) Garber stated that the FCBarcelona was still something of a long-term thing that was barely on it's baby steps.

Don Garber
Joan Laporta, the president of F.C. Barcelona, along with six members of the FCB board are attending Sunday's game and will be in Frisco all weekend. FCB has a real interest in MLS. How that interest materializes into a relationship is still a long ways from being finalized.

[chapulincolorado]

Houston would be the destination for a relocated team and it specifically mentions negotiations with an out of town group in the case of Hunt and the Wizards but Club America appear to be out of the picture as a potential I/O.

http://www.electric-escape.net/files/images/smilies/slap.gif

Sorry BTB...I reread the aticle you cite and righ there:

Other announcements:

Mexico's Club America are no longer in discussion with MLS over becoming an investor-operator in the League.

Well........then I am not sure who the H-town investors would be. It ain't FCB. I know that only entities that were interested in MLS from Mexico were Pachuca and, mayyyybe, Tigres UANL. Tigres UANL is owned by CEMEX (Mexican Cement) and do have the money for MLS-type of bling, bling.

[fireman451]

Unfortunatley, this could be the end of Houston MLS talk for a while. too bad for the Bayou City, I was hoping my home town would get MLS.

There's still a chance I guess with SJ and KC up in the air, but expansion looks like a long put.

[anderson]

Today's Rumbo includes a report by Gustavo Rangel from Frisco that includes some references to Houston - my quick translations follow the quotes from the article:

Houston nuevamente quedó en el aire, expectante de lo que suceda en los próximos 30 días con la franquicia de San José.

...

Sobre la posibilidad de cambiar a San José y Kansas City de sedes, el comisionado dijo que le gustaría que estos equipos se quedaran en sus ciudades actuales, pero sentenció que si no encuentran inversionistas locales que tomen la propiedad, buscará llevarlos a otras plazas. Una de esas posibilidades es Houston, sin embargo, Garber no quiso confirmar si el destino de San José es la Ciudad Espacial.

"Hemos tenido pláticas con gente de Houston y pienso que esa ciudad va a tener futbol en un futuro; difícilmente será el próximo año, pero todo es posible, los próximos 30 días serán clave", dijo.Translations:

Houston again remained up in the air, depending on what happens over the next 30 days with the San Jose franchise...

As to the possibility of moving San Jose or Kansas City, the Commissioner said that he'd like these teams to stay in their current cities, but stated that if they don't find local investors to take ownership, he'll look to take them to other sites. One of these possibilities is Houston, but Garber didn't want to confirm if San Jose is destined for the Space City.

"We've had discussions with people from Houston and I think that city will have soccer in the future; it would be very difficult for next year, but everything is possible, the next 30 days will be key", he said.


MLS tiene un pie en Toronto, Houston en el aire
(http://www.diariosrumbo.com/rumbo/articulo.asp?idart=297305&idcat=808)

[cristoforo7]

Well, as we have discussed before, even though Televisa/Club America would be better situated to start up a new team (relocated or otherwise) in Houston on a short time frame given its marketing advantage with the Hispanic population, that quite apparently won't be happening ... but AEG, who does not have that marketing head start, still might move the Earthquakes "franchise" in 2006, with a decision date as late as December 15th (per today's MLS press release).

I would have to bet that a contingent stadium lease has been or shortly will be signed. By "contingent", I mean AEG can opt out of the lease, unconditionally and with no significant penalty, on or before December 15th (or thereabouts).

It is interesting that Houston is not the only candidate for 2006, per the MLS press release, as the MLS Board did give AEG to move the team to "a number of potential cities" which include Houston. This would indicate that AEG has certainly not yet focused in on the Houston relocation option to the exclusion of other relocation options.

This also may be part of the negotiation game, so that AEG can get the best possible deal in Houston, if relocation does occur.

(Elsewhere, it's been stated that Tulsa might be one of those other cities.)