Milwaukee Question

[Buckingham Badger]

Can anyone give me any information on why Milwaukee was being talked about but then disappeared? I'm originally from there and I was reading in the Milwaukee Urinal-Sentinal about a plan in downtown Milwaukee that then just got killed. Can anyone give me the lowdown. I seem to remember that there was an investor and he wanted some land in downtown but couldn't get it from the Mil. Bucks owner? Anyone have what really happened?

[BhoysFC1995]

welcome to bigsoccer badger,

i beleive the team seemed like it was moving foward in a good direction until it showed that the owner/operator was a sham.

i am sure there are others out there who remembers more on it.

[Minnman]

Originally posted by BhoysFC1995
welcome to bigsoccer badger,

i beleive the team seemed like it was moving foward in a good direction until it showed that the owner/operator was a sham.

i am sure there are others out there who remembers more on it.

Since Preston isn't around to give us his unique spin on Tim Krause's business credentials, let me give you mine:

I do not believe that Krause was a sham. He may not have been a very good businessman, but he always seemed to me that he was up-front in what he was trying to do in Milwaukee.

First, the $30 (or was it $50?) million in funds gathered together to bring MLS to Brew City wasn't Krause's. He never claimed it was. He represented a group of investors who were intersted in building a downtown stadium in Milwaukee and buying an expansion franchise. Krause presented to the MLS board at the 2001 all star game. Reportedly, the league was very impressed.

Second, Krause got the Milwaukee mayor and WI governor on board (which didn't end up doing much, in the end) as well as an endorsement from the Journal-Sentinel.

Third, one major problem was that Krause's best location for building the stadium happened to be a plot of land used (occassionally) by the Bradley Center as a staging area for concerts. The BC didn't want to give up use of the land (even though they didn't own all of it). Instead, this plot ended up being used as a pawn in a battle being fought between The BC and the rival Wisconsin Center. The WC was building a performing arts center (a renovation project) and had the ability to tap into some local taxes in order to do so. The BC claimed that they, too, planned on building an arts center .. on the very plot of land Krause needed for his stadium. The two sides battled on, very publically, for months (Milwaukee didn't need two such venues). The BC wanted a piece of the WC's tax base to help pay for major renovation of the center itself. It proposed some sort of merged management structure. The WC had no interest in this arrangement. Meanwhile, the mayor just sat there and watched for months while this dragged on and Krause's plans became delayed indefinately and, eventually, ground to bits in the battle between the BC and WC.

Fourth, September 11 happened that $30 million in investment (some of it foreign, as I understand) went away.

Really bad timing, screwed up local politics and, perhaps, a less than shrewd businessman killed what looked to be a nice general idea in Milwaukee. I sent in my $50 season ticket order when the plan was first announced. It was refunded when I asked for it back months later. I don't blame Krause for what happened. But I do think that this kind of thing is one reason why MLS seems so much like a club for billionaires sometimes: it doesn't want to deal with investment groups who need to scrape together funds to get a stadium built or pay a new franchise fee. If something goes wrong, the whole thing can fall apart quickly.

[Buckingham Badger]

Thanks for all the detail. The reason I became interested in it is I am origally from Madison (hence the name) and I always thought that it was a good plan down by water street or even down by the Summerfest grounds. Too bad, I thought that would do well as people in Wi like to be outside in the summer and support the brewers pretty well for how pathetic they are.

[kenosha]

Originally posted by Buckingham Badger
Can anyone give me any information on why Milwaukee was being talked about but then disappeared? I'm originally from there and I was reading in the Milwaukee Urinal-Sentinal about a plan in downtown Milwaukee that then just got killed. Can anyone give me the lowdown. I seem to remember that there was an investor and he wanted some land in downtown but couldn't get it from the Mil. Bucks owner? Anyone have what really happened?

Good summary by Minnman. There is one addtional factor, which from what I understand ended up being the last straw breaking the back of the investors. They were going to make this investment in return for taking over management of the Bradley Center. Their business plan claimed to offer cost savings by running the two businesses together (new stadium and BC) and thus spreading overhead among the two organizations. This gave some politicians the ability to publicly cleanse themselves and back the project. I don't know why they couldn't get agreement to take over the BC management-- probably stepped on somebody's toes with connections. However, managing both entertainment complexes was a key to financial success for the investors supposedly.

[WarrenWallace]

I would have liked this to happen also. Another team to support. Maybe someday, you never know.

[Buckingham Badger]

Thanks for all the details. i really appreciate it. I went back and read up in the MJS and what you said seems to make sense. I also noticed that Tim Krause is now the owner of both the Milwaukee Wave (MISL) and Wave United (A-league). It seems like the MISL team did pretty well and that the Wave United have started out allright in their first year, but it seems that when he takes over he cans everyone involved with the old club. Can anyone tell me anything more about this man. I also read in an article that he is looking to buy part of Queens Park Rangers. Do you know if this has happened or anything more about this guy. I just thought his plan for the stadium was great. Additionally, with Herb Kohl keeping the Bucks there is some talk that he make make them a non-profit orginatization and maybe that would allow a rebirth of a MLS stadium.

[BulaJacket]

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/rno/city082003.html

[Minnman]

Originally posted by BulaJacket
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/rno/city082003.html

Really interesting. Thanks for the link.

[chinaglia]

I spoke with the Director of Media Relations for the Wave/Wave United earlier this month and he said that the team is looking to solidify themselves and gain wider fan support. However, he said that MLS is still the goal in Milwaukee but there is no timetable as to when.

I hope to speak with Tim Krause by the end of this week for more info.