I would seriously take Ted freaking Lasso over blue collar Freddy every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Maybe a terrible year makes the sale that much easier? RSL goes on sale, like 25% off by Black Friday or Cyber Monday. You know, for Ryan.
I just want to state for the record, I've been very consistent on 2021 being a garbage year no matter what happens. It would suck if this is our swan song.
I'm starting to have a bad feeling about the long term prospects of RSL in Utah. This ownership search has gone on somewhat longer than anyone expected. With the incredible interest in prospective owners pitching to Garber to start clubs, nobody wants to buy a fairly well packaged turnkey operation? There must be some seriously bad financial entanglements such that every prospective owner opens the books and closes them quickly saying, "NOPE!"
Those other potential buyers aren't coming to the table with nothing behind them. Most every single one has a USL level team, or something of that nature, they're looking to build on. Further, this league isn't mature/attractive enough (despite the participation fee) to lure a billionaire to drop that much money in a region/area s/he isn't that familiar with.
I don't know if that's an issue, and I'd doubt it. Maybe it's an issue in the sense that DLH might still operate as a landlord in some capacity. Wasn't he slowly acquiring the land around the stadium, and wouldn't that complicate future development? I can't imagine financial entanglements would be the issue. I think the bigger issue, like @15 to 32 pointed out, is there aren'a a lot of billionaires interested in owning a sports team in Utah.
I think another big issue is the fan base has absolutely been decimated over the last several years. Remember when Rio Tinto was almost always a sellout? Potential buyers want to know how well the team is supported,
But I thought that demand was so high that to get season tickets you had to sign up for a waiting list . Stupid marketing department...
IMO, DLH operating as a landlord of some kind fits the notion of: financial entanglements. I'm speculating the club has obligations that effectively serve as poison pills to anyone who gets a peek at the books.
I'm not sure if it changed when the league took over the sale, but I understood that initially the sale included all properties associated with the soccer team and the academy. Downtown RSL merch store was not included and has already been jettisoned.
I never understood the business decision to have that store. That location could not have been cheap and it was in an area that didn't get a ton of foot traffic (well, how much of downtown does?) after "working hours" or on the weekend. As to the rest: Does the academy housing fall into the academy? You'd think so, but... well, DLH isn't a billionaire for making business decisions that help out many others beside himself.
The only way that downtown store worked is that space was owned by DLH and had been vacant, other than short spurts, for years. Working about 1/2 a block from there (when offices were still a thing), I actually would say there was decent foot traffic there, not as much as on main street, but not bad. The problem is that strip between main and state was mostly a conduit for people on their way either to main street for lunch or to City Creek - it wasn't a destination in itself. And there was nothing about the store that drew you in - no sidewalk marketing, merchandise tables, etc. So it was incredibly easy to walk right by. Honest question about ZBRA - are the classrooms, and housing attached to the practice facility? Or in a separate building?
I've always had my doubts about the selling of the team. Not because RSL isn't a solid bet or something like that but mostly because of what COVID has done. I have to imagine those that once were looking to buy a MLS team are now holding on to their cash to see what the future holds. And as far as DLH is concerned, how much do you want to bet he knew how hard it would be to sell this team? He had to be kicking back and chuckling a little saying to himself, "Yeah, go ahead MLS, try and sell this team. Let's see how far you get."
This. Sacramento's financial backer backed out of the expansion team over the weekend. I'd imagine a good number of people/investors are playing the waiting game.
Would you rather grind your balls in a steam punk can opener OR tie them to a grenade and pull the pin with your teeth. I mean... come on!
Topic A: Soapbox has an article up about a rumor of Savarino being moved to Boca Juniors. Unclear if that would be on a sale or loan, but either way the speculation is RSL would be compensated as there was a sell-on agreement built into the sell from RSL. Which, sounds great. However, as you'll notice if you scroll down to the comment section, I'm not sure where exactly those funds would potentially go. The league absorbs a minimal fee in those situations, I know, but the remainder would hypothetically belong to the club. Now, tell me, who gets to then use those funds? Without the club being sold, how is it not Del Loy Hansen? Topic B: RSL Show made a really good point today: Since re-joining the club, John Kimball hasn't done all that much in terms of public appearances or statements. The Andy Williams situation only accentuates that silence. Then you add in how the club has no public announcement of preseason (which started yesterday, apparently), has made no mention of the progress of the sale for quite some time, has made no effort to help clear up anything, really. We get some small things here and there (Luke, Tyronne, etc.) but they all pose their own follow up "well, ok, wait, what does that mean for..." situations. It's really frustrating. Topic C: Same RSL Show mentions a new spanish language podcast for RSL - which is awesome. Apparently in the first show they had Freddy "I know tactics" Juarez on and he essentially said the club was looking to bring in another CB (thank god!) and THREE more wingers. Which... am I taking crazy pills - we don't have that much roster space. The brush off of "Monarchs" doesn't work if you think these guys coming in are any good and/or you think enough players on the first team can be moved to make room. Also, MORE WINGERS?!?! Holy shit, Elliott Fall really is just another Craig Waibel
The potential-investor for Sac Rep (Burkle) was never committed. Honestly, Garber rushed it, probably to try and pressure him from a 60/40 decision into more certainty. He never committed any $$$ down, and is now gone, while holding no obligations nor lost investment. MLS should never have announced Sacremento until Burkle had actually committed non-refundable $$$ to the endeavor. Burkle's only hit is his credibility, which, when you are valued at $2billion or so, doesn't mean much when there are line of people willing to do almost anything to get a piece of your fortune.
In short, it shouldn't go to him. However, it wouldn't surprise me if tried a "shrewd business move" of some kind in an attempt get it back when the team sells. From mlssoccer.com: The revenue share from transfers or loans for clubs is as follows: A club shall receive 95% of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses), from any transaction involving a player that is NOT a Homegrown Player. If a Designated Player is transferred or loaned, the club will receive all amounts of the transfer or loan fee revenue until it has recouped all out-of-pocket cash payments made by the club in connection to that player prior to any sharing arrangement with the League. After such recoup, the transfer or loan of the Designated Player shall be treated as any other transfer with the club receiving 95% of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue. A club shall receive 100% of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses) from any transaction involving a Homegrown Player. All remaining portions of the transfer or loan revenue fees are retained by the League. Usage of Revenue The club's share of transfer or loan fee revenue may only be used as follows: The club may assign up to $1,000,000 of the transfer/loan revenue as General Allocation Money. (in the case of Designated Players, such assignment of Allocation Money can only take place after the club has received 100% of its out-of-pocket investment). The remaining balance of the club's share (if any), and which cannot be traded, will be available for use by clubs in the following ways: Against the expenses incurred by the club in relation to the costs of an existing or new Designated Player; or With League approval, against an expense that (i) would not otherwise have been incurred by the club; and (ii) reasonably represents an investment in the League or club (e.g., youth development and training facilities).
Tony Beltran was on ExtraTime with the guys from mlssoccer.com. He talked a lot about changing the culture at the team. Wish they would have asked him about Andy Williams. I'm beginning to doubt the efficacy and implementation of "The RSL Way" when stuff like this keeps happening. Spence Checketts had a good rant with Dunny the other day about the Andy situation, worth a listen.