changes are a'comin' (Wizards Moving???)

Or if you wanna talk about the Wizards moving, where would they play if they did move? If they did move to another city, for example let's say Houston, they would move from one spacious stadium to another. The problem would be, they would be paying a hell of a lot more on rent then the Wizards are currently paying at Arrowhead. It doesn't make financial sense to move the team to play in another football stadium.

 

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle headshot:


Oh my. He's a sports radio guy. This link starts an audio ad for his show:
http://www.wham1180.com/Matthews.html



Maybe we should call in to his show. It is an 800 number.

 

holy crap. that due is seriously f'd up. he didnt get the attendance figures right by a ton. he also failed to point out that our attendance has gone up for several years straight.

ok. i feel a lot better if this is the start of the rumors.

 

I'm going to e-mail them with links to MLSnet with the average attendance to the wizards' and burn home games through the first 8 seasons

 

Welcome to BigSoccer. Threads are to be about one topic. Leave it at that. If you want to talk about something else, start a new thread or find one that has a similar topic that you want to post about.

And to answer your question in short, it is not the job of the fan to get more people in the stands. Sure word of mouth is the best advertisement, but the Wizards have to get them there and keep them there.

Now lets keep talking about the original topic. I'm getting sick of all the talk, how about everyone else? No one seems to listen to reason on this topic. As Andy has pointed out in several locations, people always demand facts but in this case they seem to be assuming the rumor as truth.

 

Nothing official has been announced yet, but United is looking to have something open for 2007...

On the fan stuff, it's being discussed here.

 

Re: changes are a'comin'

The 4 years of the Clash were the 5th best-attended 4-year period in San Jose soccer history.

 

Re: changes are a'comin'

So where do the 4 years of the MLS San Jose Earthquakes rank?

 

LOL... this article is great. I'm glad you posted a link to the source. I had assumed it would be something as ridiculous as this, but never took the time to research it. I'll pull some of my favorite quotes.

Key word there is "hunch." Also, wasn't PaeTec park suppoed to be finished in like 2001 or something?

If the Wizards were the only pro sports team in town, they'd get lots of coverage too.

What does that even imply? The MLS "wouldn't be reluctant to embrace" the Rhinos? Who the hell is out there that the MLS would be reluctant to embrace? Talk about not really saying anything with that statement.

Wouldn't it be even more realistic to prospect that they could be the Buffalo Sabres of the MLS?

Forgot the Columbus Crew too.

I would give this guy a break thinking that maybe he didn't know that Hunt owned the Chiefs and the lease to Arrowhead, but nope, he threw that charity away. The fact that he owns the Chiefs and the lease to Arrowhead is probably the sole reason why the Wizards are still in, or were ever in Kansas City.

There it is!!!! He proved the reason why Hunt will move to Rochester, because he has visited there in the past!


I like this quote...

I think Hunt recognizes that 2+2=4 as well. I don't even get what he's trying to say with that statement. Is that trying to say something positive about Hunt, that he pays attention to a competition that is named after him? This reported just baffles me.

Which is why he wouldn't move a team to lose money.

LOL! Then why even include that? I wonder if he even called up the Rhinos to ask them.

Reporter's phone call to the rhinos office...
Reporter - "Hi, umm... I was wondering if you had anything to say about the rumor that Lamar Hunt is going to move to Rochester?"

Rhinos - "What? This is the first time I've heard that rumor."

Reporter - "Well yeah, I know, I haven't written the article yet."

Rhinos - "Written an article in response to the rumor?"

Reporter - "No, actually an article to start the rumor."

Rhinos - "You can't just make up stories and hope they come true."

Reporter - "So you aren't confirming it or denying it?"

Rhinos - "How can I confirm or deny a rumor I know nothing about?"

Reporter - "Great, thanks!"

Click

This just baffles me... you are inventing something, just out of the air, trying to prove that it is going to happen, then going back and saying "It could happen, but we don't know." I like the "possibly Hunt" comment too becuase Hunt's interest is what he's been trying to show. If not Hunt then who else?

This is why the talk of this rumor has annoyed the crap out of me so much, there is no validity to this rumor at all! He's just making stuff up and people just went along with it.

 

Re: changes are a'comin'

Rock bottom!

 

Re: changes are a'comin'

Actually, it's not a "digression" as it is precisely that four year period that is the basis of all the "crappy Wizards attendance" statements we continually see in the press any more. The Wizards aren't a problem child when it comes to attendance, but the perception of 4,800 Wednesdays and 8,500 Saturdays remains.

 

Maybe this is a statement to get the Chiefs a new stadium. How close are the Hunt's ties to KC? If Anchutz builds a stadium in LA wouldn't Hunt find it financially appealling to move his team there? Most NFL teams have newer, more profitable stadiums or at least some local plan for one?

 

I seriously doubt that Hunt would ever consider moving the Chiefs out of KC. KC loves the Chiefs, and I don't believe that there has ever been an appeal for a new football stadium in KC recently. I would also say that Hunt loves KC as well, and wouldn't want to move the team. The Chiefs are too well supported to move that team, the only way the Chiefs would move, without a major riot, would be for them to pull a Colts and pull out middle of the night. There is no way that this city let's the Chiefs go, they'd probably be the one team that would get a new stadium if they asked for it.

 

Hate to switch from the Houston Wizards talk, but I believe I've found the inspiration for our crappy logo.

Leave it to the Wizards to get branding ideas from a defunct U12 girls team in Novato, California.

 

I did a little more research on Arrowhead. It actually doesn't look bad for an older stadium. I don't know about profitabillity (boxes, club seating, etc. and operating costs). So a renovatoin plan failed a few years ago. I was surprised no to find much news about any current demand for renovation and found nothing about threats of relocation. I still have one big question, what is the Hunt family commitment to the community? It could be the operating cost is too high at Arrowhead, I hear about this great lease yet I've never heard the team is profitable. Despite a great lease, if the team can't be profitable and no path to a SSS is present, I'd have some concern. I wasn't following MLS closely but was living in Tampa in late 2001 and the contraction talk came on quickly and took me by surprise (now rumors are that it was already decided in early 2001!).

 

The way I understand it is that the Chiefs are the primary tenant and they get most of the money that comes in from parking & concessions.

So while HSG doesn't lose any money, that income doesnt' show up on the Wizards books.

 

Rumor has it that they're building the Chiefs a FSS in the parking lot at Arrowhead.

 

Yes and no. The last I knew, Jackson County got the first $5 in parking revenue for all events at TSC. Ergo, the Wizards get $1 or whatever, and the Chiefs get $15 for their events. It's something similar with the concessions...the Wizards do get money, but it isn't a whole lot.

Again, allow me to describe how this all works, at least as of the last time a higher-up from HSG described it to me (I was kind of shocked that he was as open about it as he was).

The Wizards pay half of their rent ($20,000 per game) to the leaseholder on Arrowhead (some other HSG subsidiary). The other half is paid from the MLS general stadium rental and construction fund. The setup is nearly identical for all teams, even the ones that have built their own stadia...the league winds up paying a chunk of the mortgage payment, basically.

Basically, the Wizards could show a loss of $400,000 annually, and it still wouldn't matter a fig to HSG, because, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't a loss. The Wizards haven't shown a loss anything like that in a *long* time.

These numbers have, I'm sure, changed, but the net effect is still the same.

This is one of the main reasons that the talk of relocation is such utter crap. The fact is, it's well worth it for HSG to have Arrowhead in use more frequently, and it's worth it to Jackson County as well. If you ask me, we aren't going anywhere...and that includes a SSS.

Don't forget, folks; the Wizards don't just play in Arrowhead Stadium. Their offices are there, and their training facilities are there. They have indoor and outdoor facilities, the Chiefs' weight facilities, the whole bit. If they go anywhere else, they're automatically spending, oh, $80,000 minimum annually on office expenses, or they have to pay to have all of that constructed in a stadium, few of which of have room for adding a whole office.

It's total garbage. The Wizards PR department is showing some rust here by not being more proactive about it.

 

Thanks for the info. Are we sure the Wizards cover the operating costs of the stadium? I'm not so sure they are profitable. The league wide payment to HSG for operating costs might bother prospective investors in MLS. Is KC a market MLS feels it wants to be in when it gets to 16-20 teams? I agree it seems like this is all started by 2 dubious sports writers making crap up with little basis. But that the "?Sports Business Journal" which "?is respected" printed the story could be the sign of something omnious and ought to be taken seriously. The league will look a lot better with full SSS and enthusiastic crowds. 15k in a ~80k stadium just can't match this. If they get DC a stadium and move SJ, build SSS in SLC and Seattle, then they are close to having the ENTIRE league is SSS. I'm not sure how committed Kraft is to his team. In NE they have a new stadium that probably is cheaper to run and more profitable and are a larger market (and there is always east-coast bias in sports necessitating a presence along these cities to keep the national media interested). I don't agree that KC should be moved now but there are serious issues here.

 

But who says they can't build one in the Sports complex? That way everything is all together.