A's add a new twist to the story... Oakland A's want to own MLS team http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news?slug=oaklandathleticsmls&prov=st&type=lgns Is there hope??
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I just can't imagine that anyone or anything would want to deal with Ron Gonzales or the city of San Jose after all of their crookedness. Maybe with a new mayor and city council. Maybe.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Isn't Gonzo a lame duck anyways? While I am all for the A's (and whoever else) overturning every rock possible in seeking a new Quakes team, I just hope it isn't some sort of ploy in Wolff's scheme to get a baseball park for the A's. Lee
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Garber mentioned this in yesterday's press conference. Said he'd spoken personally with Lew Wolff already. And, hey, I'm an A's fan, so I'd love them to run the Quakes. But one has to ask: If Wolff wants a soccer team in SJ, why didn't he just buy the Quakes now? Isn't the expansion fee going up on the first of the year? Why lose even more money than what you will supporting a team while waiting for an SSS to be built?
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Exactly! To gain a foothold on the South Bay (usually considered Giants territory)? In an effort to get a baseball stadium rolled in with it? What's the true motive here?
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Lewis Wolff has dealt with San Jose plenty of times. He owns the Fairmont and Hilton hotels downtown, and some office buildings as well. He would buy in if the $80 million from the city became reality, but the politics of making that happen are difficult. As an East Bay resident, I don't want to see this tied in with A's-moving shenanigans.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... This relationship (click a link, any link) looks a little too cozy to me. We need to be AEG-free.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... The A's can hardly afford to keep their own players, had their stadium ruined when the Oakland pols build Mt. Davis, are trying to build their own baseball stadium, and they can buy the 'quakes over the next year and bring them back? MLS is blowing smoke up our asses. they ain't coming back, but they know how bad that sounds. "can we still be friends?"
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Of course Wolff is looking to move the Oakland A's team to San Jose. EVERYTHING these guys do is about making money. Bringing the A's down to San Jose will draw more money for the team overall. Its a better market. So yes, Wolff is looking at making more money. We had to wait until AEG was out of town before they could step forward. Because part of the contingent if they sold the Quakes to a local buyer was that AEG wanted to control the rights to a newly built stadium And yes, dealing with the San Jose City right this second isn't a good idea. They are in chaos right now with the Mayor. We have held our breath for 3 years, and now we finally blew up. I am not ready to hold my breath any longer. I am sick of the MLS.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I am not sure it makes any different. That is, now AEG is out of the picture. Would that make any dealing/negotiation easier? Would the new stadium still be the must-have? All AEG wants is the control of a venue.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... jiminy crickett! I just clicked your link pWave. oh geez.... making a deal with the devil himself.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Just wondering. Considering this guy is in real estate, is there any possibility of redeveloping the South Campus as once had been suggested to include a new soccer stadium? Without the Quakes, SJSU and spartan shops have no leverage. Maybe Wolff and SVSE can partner in to run the operation of the stadium, especially since aeg is hopefully out of the picture. Isn't this district in one of the supervisors who was an ally of saving the Quakes?
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... If their relationship was so cozy, why didn't they just go to him in the first place?
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Because its still business. AEG really wanted the QUAKES in Houston. You have a team that has the best regular season record, you got the Coach of the Year and a star MVP Goal of the Year with DeRosario. Why get rid of them when its more financially advantageous to move them and expand your other businesses empire. Its business. They really didn't want the team to stay.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I don't think AEG had any intention of keeping the team here. They have had Houston on the brain for a long time. Houston is far enough away from LA as to not be in direct competition for events (X-games, bowl games, monster truck rallys, USMNT matches, MFL matches, etc). They will be more than willing to build a stadium in Houston, even if it is with their own money. The league would not grant AEG an expansion team, hence the reason AEG was trying to get Club America involved. The league needs to move to single owner/single team to have any chance at legitimacy. So the only choice that AEG had at getting a team/venue in Houston was to move the Quakes. Don't you think it's kind of strange that Wolff's offer appears two hours before Garber goes live with the conference call? By Wolff throwing his hat into the ring now, it dangles the A's in front of the San Jose City Council and keeps any other investors at bay. Do you think that Wolff just realized "Hey, I could owned the Quakes if I had acted earlier, but I guess I'll just get the San Jose expansion team". Naw, this is just a partner helping a partner manage a market.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... The A's made a press release about this: http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NA...ent_id=1283243&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I think Blue Meanie was hinting at the economics behind it... Why not just buy the franchise for roughly $10 mill instead of starting all over again at an entrance fee of $25mill.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I don't know if I should be happy or go take a shower. This feels kind of dirty. There must of been a lot of back room dealing going on.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I know they said the expansion fee would rise considerably, but is 25 million the number quoted?
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... I don't like the sounds of it. If he is such buddies with AEG cronies, then its putting false hope. History has spelled out who to trust and who not to. And I am following history. Rule #1. Actions speak longer than words. Rule #2. Free Enterprise = Capitalism, and AEG demonstrates the worst of what Capitalism represents Rule #3. San Jose Earthquake players (our guys) just got f#@% over by our (a) San Jose City Officials, (b) MLS & (c) AEG Based on rule #3, why would you do business with any of those listed.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... It's really true. You were the one with the USL idea, right? If the silver lining here is our "clean slate" so we can "do it right next time", I would think that would exclude all the villians in this mess: (a) San Jose City Officials; (b) MLS; (3) AEG. What that means is we should push for new parties like: Santa Clara, USL, and Steve Jobs or somebody like that, someone WE FANS solicit. Why wait for the vultures to pick over our bones? Let's haul ourselves off the desert floor one more time and build our own dream situation. Now that we have time on our hands, SSV, and a clean slate and all...
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Doh!! you're right; that number was never given. I think I was thinking about the DCU sale to Payne et al.
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... Ironically, I'm a San Francisco Giants fan. To take it a step further: assuming that this is all legit rather than more smoke & mirrors (though aside from SSV, which entity in this whole mess can we really trust? ), could this be a case of Wolff doing Anschutz/MLS a favor (becoming the I/O of the new Quakes) in return for them helping Wolff in his search for a new A's stadium? Even if San Jose ends up not building a baseball stadium and getting the A's, the very threat of the A's moving to San Jose could help hasten Oakland to build the A's the proposed Oakland baseball stadium. If this is the case and Wolff ends up being our I/O, then I hope that he's successful in getting his baseball stadium in Oakland - not only because it would stink for Oakland fans to lose their team, but also because according to this Merc article: In any case, I still believe that going after potential stadium sites that don't need a public vote such as the Fairgrounds or Santa Clara would be more prudent. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Re: A's add a new twist to the story... http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_y...slug=ap-athleticsowners-mls&prov=ap&type=lgns Yahoo Sports reporting that the A's want to buy the Quakes or get an MLS team for San Jose as early as 2007.