Quoted myself in the stadium thread - in the cost benefit analysis the team commissioned for the stadium deal there was an estimate of the penalty the owners would have to pay to the City to sell the team prior to April 1, 2019: $17 million in 2017. I'm no global plutocrat, but that strikes me as a ton of money to give up so as not to own DCU for another two years (when the penalty expires). Wonder why they're so eager to get out now? Thohir cash poor these days?
This isn't a surprise at all. I just want an owner/operator who gives a damn about the product on the field. And pretty much anyone would be better than Dan Snyder. Him buying the team is one of the few way this situation could get worse.
This is why our players have no confidence and it's hard to attract foreign talent. Agents know we're just a placeholder club with no ambition. I could put $100k on it if I'm sure it'll appreciate. Only $490, 900,000 to go. Who's with me?
No surprise, I called this four years ago (pats himself on the back while kneeing himself in the groin). But this is a good thing! DC gets a stadium and therefore we keep the team and soonish, new owners where hope is rekindled. I'm sure the penalty of selling early could be added to the price and isn't a deal breaker. Nice cash for the district also.
Nope. The owners would need to sell more than 50% to trigger the "Franchise Appreciation Recapture Clause."
According to Goff, "D.C. United’s primary investor said Sunday that he is seeking additional partners but has no plans to sell his majority stake in the MLS organization." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-not-selling-the-team/?utm_term=.d766f8e2854e
I don't believe anything Goff writes anymore. He protects his job by writing whatever line the organization tells him, so he's nothing more than a puppet. I'm sure in his mind he's a news man.
That doesn't have to be untrue. The other article says they want to sell the former Chang share which isn't a majority. I expect a buy-in with a later discounted option for more after an amount of time.
I mean certain aspects could get worse. He could charge $60 for parking, bring in cheerleaders, rename the team some racist name, etc... But at least in his FO someone would care about the product on the field (even if they had no clue how to improve it), and that is miles better than what we have now.
So, a team that continues to be worthless on the pitch, just for different reasons, while at the same time making moves that make the fan experience even worse than it already is. Yep, sounds worse to me.
Quick google shows that one of the authors of the NYT story on DCU, de la Merced (other Aaron Ross Sorkin), wrote a puff piece last year on the Raine Group, a "boutique investment bank" which according to the story had been retained by Thohir and Levien to find another owner. One guess as to who de la Merced and Sorkin's source was! So Thohir tells Goff he has no plans to sell, but the firm Thohir and Levien hired to sell an equity share in the team tells the NYT that in the process the owners grew to entertaining selling the whole team. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/...group-finds-deals-for-clients-and-itself.html
Don't get me wrong I am not advocating for the team to sell to Snyder. I am not fan at all, I just don't think it would be worse. If his track record were to be anything like the Redskins, he would at least throw money at the team. We may overpay for some aging Euro star, but at least we wouldn't be starting Jared Jeffrey.