Investors in talks to buy share of MLS’s Crew....

When the President of HSG comes out and says he doesn't know where the group he's looking to partner with actually lives, only Mitchell calls him on it, and then he admits, yes it's the Las Vegas group, it makes you think we're not getting to see the full deck of cards.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. If anything, I've just seen this happen too many times in business.

All HSG needs to do is to say something along these lines:

"We are not going to move the team, and you can believe us because ________ , ____________, and ______________ have all happened."

They have nothing to point to as an anchor for the team. When Mitchell gave this putz a chance to do just that (the stadium question), he weaseled around the question better than any politician I've seen.

If he's not willing to say the first soccer specific stadium in the US is going to keep Columbus here, that's grave cause for concern, as it's pretty much all we've got.

Obviously, we're not going to know what the intricate dealings of the business transaction are, and that's to be expected. But at least give us Crew fans some reassurances, other than saying "Trust us, have we ever let you down before?"

 

Again, the line of questioning has been opened. Mitchell's interview may not have been illuminating as to the nuts and bolts of any potential deal, but they GET THE PROCESS STARTED. Should we REALLY be expected to wait to put pressure on the actors for information? Really??

 

You can't make a worthwhile decision without the information necessary to do so. You have essentially no information, you can make no valuable decision. You must investigate.

 

For what it's worth, I believe the group is technically out of Los Angeles. But it was still a dickish answer to Mitchell's lead question. He knew exactly who Mitchell was asking about.

 

That's exactly what Timon is saying.

 

Jesus ********ing Christ on a popsicle stick!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH BY MAKING SUCH A STINK???

And who among us is actually making ANY decisions?

Are you reading my posts, or the latest issue of Penthouse Letters, because you're making about as much sense as the picture that probably formed in your head.

 

The point is, there is no way to know that until the ink is dried. I'm not one for panic moves, but in reality, this is something that should have happened 10 years ago. Now there's a possible threat, and it's made many of us realize just how urgent getting local ownership is.

So, are you saying we should not try to organize and not try to start putting the word out there that we would support local ownership? Because that's the point here. It's not about the panic, it's about what the panic causes. If you panic when you're driving because you see a bug in the car, and slam into oncoming traffic, that's a bad thing. But if you overreact and panic to the doctors statement that your cholesterol is a little too high, and end up shedding 50 lbs to get in the best shape of your life, isn't that a good thing?

 

Kgilbert is right in that the long term prospects for MLS look bright and a lot of big money has been sniffing around for awhile. This is no secret just reference Red Bull.

And I would feel a lot more confident about Wagner's flat statement that the Crew weren't moving if the US sports landscape wasn't littered with gravestones of dead teams whose headstones were engraved with similar votes of confidence issued by their former ownership and/or management.

Despite the "Mary Sunshine's" v "Chicken Little's" war going on here I think that the situation and the circumstances tend to indicate that there is more to this going on below the surface. Whether or not it's a move of the team no one has any idea except the main players. And that is exactly the way it is in a business deal of this magnitude. You can bet that the LV group and HSG were none to happy about Calgiari opening his mouth.

This situation could be any number of things ranging from parties positioning for a franchise move to another group of investors pumping money into a club in order to buy down the Hunt's ownership interest and somehow make it look like HSG doesn't "own" the Crew. This so the league can say that "technically" HSG is down to one team and HSG doesn't have to give up a potentially lucrative venue and business. This washing of one hand is then repaid with the washing of the other hand in that investor group getting their expansion team (this would be really reaching).

I do know that I would feel more comfortable if: 1) Garber had even once acted like he gave a squat about Columbus and the Crew, 2) moving teams wasn't as common place in sports as teams changing uniform designs, 3) the LV group wasn't an active participant in the expansion situation, 4) the Crew had actually had attendance and a team the past three years, and 5) Paul Calgiari wasn't involved. Sounds childish but this man adamantly and publicly disliked being in Columbus and being with the Crew it's hard to believe that he doesn't still hold those same opinions.

There are a lot of random pieces to this puzzle floating about and they can all be viewed with whatever set of glasses you like. Fact is we don't know but something is afoot and we will not know until it happens. Welcome to the world of being an employee in a company where merger or buy out rumors have started.

 

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/soccer_redcard/2008/09/garber-its-impo.html

"Here are some of the other things Garber had to say:

"Expansion: "We need teams in the Midwest. I'd like to see St. Louis round out their ownership group and find a way to be able to come into the league. We have lots of energy in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Canada, Atlanta...Miami has resurfaced. There is a lot of energy on the coasts and up north of the border, but we need more teams in the Midwest. The Chicago Fire needs to play against somebody that isn't a long plane ride away every time they have a game. We hope to find a way that [St. Louis] can round out their group, but that hasn't happened yet."

Which, of course, means the Crew are moving to LV.

 

I don't have the time to go reading through this entire thread right now.

My take on the matter is something of a conspiracy theory:

The Noorzai group is investing in MLS and the Crew so they can turn around and say to the league: "Look, we helped you out with the Columbus Crew, we believe in this league. Now help us out with an expansion team in Vegas."



The odds of the Crew moving to Las Vegas seem incredibly slim. Why take a team with a known fanbase and move them to such a risky city? Taking a team out of a city with an SSS would be a terrible message to send to other cities around the league. Any chances of government help in building stadiums or training complexes would almost immediately evaporate.

I'm not going to worry about the Crew moving to Vegas until they actually start building a $500 million stadium out there without having an expansion team awarded to them. And even if they do start building it without an expansion team, there would still be less than a 50% chance of the Crew moving.

 

Don't try and put words in my mouth. I have never said anything about local ownership.

What I am saying is that too many of you are over-reacting to one report of a routine investment option and that you need to calm down and find out what is really going on. After all, you might end up scaring away a reasonable investor, rather than protecting the club from being moved.

 

Ok- here's my conspiracy theory-
Caliguiri hates Columbus as much as Columbus hates him.
Caliguiri loves LA.
LA plays CLB this weekend.
He creates a big stink about the potential sale to distract the team so LA wins. The distraction has been created with local press picking up the story. It obviously has hit the team as the president of HSG comes to meet with the players.

The true test will be how these players react to all this. A true championship side can put away this crap and focus on each other and win.

It is quite possible that the Noorzai group wants to buy into MLS because they see it as a good long-term investment. They forsee MLS' continued success and they want to learn how a franchise operates on a daily basis in advance of spending 500 million on a stadium/casino/franchise fee. The only way to do this is to buy into a team. The Crew is established, has a stadium, and frankly, they are playing some of the best soccer in league history. What better team in which to invest?

 

I'll bet that's what Brooklyn Dodger fans said about LA! I would worry less about the Crew moving if they had broken ground for the new training facility--and next year, as I recall, is the last year on the Obetz lease. If LV does not get an expansion team (likely, I think), then the Crew has to be the top target for a number of reason. The fan support is ok, but we are only in the middle of the league attendance-wise *and* have cheap tickets. HSG *will* divest one team--which almost certainly has to be us. SO, you have a willing seller and a willing buyer. With all the money flying thru LV, the league guys may not see them as that risky, especially as this group seems to have a lot of money to kick in. They surely do not understand Columbus or even seem to know where it is, if Garber thinks that Chicago is a "long plane flight" from any other opponent.

I see your argument about the SSS, but a lot of sports teams have been pulled out of cities with relatively new venues because "the city wouldn't build us a new one". Lots of agruments could be made about CCS being "too old" at some point. 10th anniversary *is* next year. The argument could also be made that the city/state/coundy did not do enough to keep the team as they wouldn't pave the lots/allow signage for naming rights, etc. (all of which are true). Plus many other cities tend to have the "it won't happen to us" mindset, which would not discourage them--especially if a move were to take place 2-4 years down the road *after* all the expansion teams have been awarded and stadium deals are in place.

 

If Moneybags is scared off by a bunch of Little People pounding on keyboards essentially demanding that due diligence be exercised, then maybe we don't want him.

 

Note that Columbus, despite being a whole 14 miles further away (as the crow flies - not sure about driving) was not mentioned at all as a team that Chicago "needs to play against...that isn't a long plane ride away".

 

And let's face it, KC is in the *same state* as St. Louis and so cannot be that much further away....

 

Hey, now! KC is a whole 36 miles closer to St. Louis than Columbus is to Chicago! That's HOURS.

'Course Chicago to KC is 411 miles.

 

... if you are Amish.

 

While it's true that Chicago and St. Louis are something of regional rivals - although that's mostly in baseball - it's also true that when he said that Garber was thinking long term and the picture he saw did not have Columbus in it.

It also should be noted that, frankly, HSG has some serious resentments about Columbusand how they feel they got screwed on the hockey deal.

And has anyone seen our owner around recently? Just asking.

Look, it's like I keep saying - we've had our heads in the sand for far too long; we've always known that this team was in jeopardy without a local owner.

The issue isn't whether Columbus loses the Crew, only how long before it happens.

HSG would obviously be fine with selling the team to a local group. Nobody would deny that.

So why wouldn't they be fine with selling the team to a group out west?

Loyalty to Columbus?

Excuse me - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

This is how it goes when someone who doesn't give a crap about the community owns a community asset like a sports team. Eventually, one way or another, for an excuse or none (Well, we wanted to stay in Columbus, but since nobody will step up with the kind of practice facility the team needs, we unfortunately have no choice but to relocate) teams like the Crew are in jeopardy.

And I wish someone would find out why having Alan Rothenburg, who is backing the Vegas bid, being on the Board of Governors and thus having a huge voice in whether the team moves, is supposed to make us feel better.

The guy is an ally and close personal freind of Sepp Blatters and was Jack Warner's deputy at CONCACAF for years. What part of that gives you a good feeling about his integrity?

Bottom line, it's always been a matter of time. And we can't pretend that's not so any longer.

And while I love my fellow Crew fans like brothers - actually better than brothers, since my real one is a shithead - any of you who take even a smidgen of solace in the empty, worthless words of John Wagner needs to have his head examined.

 

To make sure I'm understanding something, let me ask a few things. MLS has 51% ownership of every team? So, theoretically, they could move any team they wanted regardless of the other 49%'s wishes? Obviously, money issues would arise and complicate matters if the other owners of that team disagreed, but essentially that is what could happen?

Now in the Crew's case, this group is buying minority interest...10%, 20%, whatever. So, if they would want to move the Crew, and MLS is down with it....that would be 61-71% of the ownership saying move?

Again, figuring out how to buy out or get the rest of the ownership to agree makes issues more complicated than that, but I can see some cause for concern over this.

 

Well, Bill said we're moving, so it must be true. Please forgive me if I don't leap on board the Good Ship Hyperbole with you.

So when Garber says we need more teams in the Midwest, he's really saying we need more Midwest teams because Columbus will soon be gone....ah, I get it. Silly me. Election year logic...not one of the reasons why I moved to Ohio, I must admit.

Anyway, carry on everyone. I hear they're having a sale on ulcer meds at CVS.

 

My thought in a nutshell. You would kill any chance if this hapens in the near future. ( not saying 5-10 years down the road if everyone has a SSS) you shoot yourself in the foot by saying you have to build us a SSS then leave because someone offers a bette deal.

 

I'm not going to catch up on 24 pages, so forgive me if this has already been addressed, but it's kind of a sore spot for me.

I'll go to other forums and people put a link and the whole article. The reasoning is so that people don't have to load the forum, and then click a link to read the rest of the article. (Are we still using AOL dial-up here?)

Try that on BigSoccer, and you'll get admonished. BigSoccer is the only website I'm a member of that forbids whole article re-postings, even with a link to the article.

Apparently BS is the only website that plays by the law.


My thoughts on this whole thing? Do we NEED a local investor? No. A "local investor" is not the same as one "willing to keep the team local." However, we know Las Vegas has plans for a stadium complex and wants an expansion team. Why would they need an expansion team when they could buy a PARTIAL (key word there) share in another MLS team and then somehow force a move to their city?

John Wagner was quoted in today's paper as something like "why should we move the team when we just put investments into the stadium?" Yeah. It's not that hard to build a concert stage, then sell the stadium to the State of Ohio for fairground usage, high school sports, and maybe some OSU or other college stuff that would be too big for Jesse Owens Stadium, but too small for Ohio Stadium.

After all, who's land does the stadium sit on? The State's.

This team can move at any moment. But honestly, ANY team can move at any moment. In ANY league.

 

If it's 5% percent I don't think this would have ended up in the Sports Business Journal or would have been discussed at this depth.