Since the league does due diligence and approves these deals, I can only hope that they got assurances that they will invest well in the clubs. I know Garber had mentioned Houston as an example a few years ago as an ownership situation that needed to be fixed. If this is more of the same, it'll be a while before we get new owners again and start this process over.
unfortunately the disaster of Sacramento Republic and Ron Burkle kind of hurts the recent reputation of the league overall in this regard. But overall they get it right more often than wrong so we should be okay.
I dunno, I don't think there is anything to be alarmed about this guy (he can't be any worse than Brener) but when you research the NHL issues with John Spano buying the Islanders, I think sometime they overrate due diligence if the purported price is high enough. Same thing with Frank McCourt owning the Dodgers - guy was a mess. Also, the Harris County Sports Authority took up the issue today on approval of transferring the stadium to new ownership. They did the crafty posting of the agenda on Friday for a Monday meeting. And the shame of it is our media is so disinterested in the Dynamo no one even noticed https://www.houstonsports.org/wp-co...of-Special-Board-Meeting-Website-20210621.pdf
Former Texans President Jamey Rootes is joining the @HoustonDynamo, possibly as early as today, sources tell @markjburns88. In February, Rootes resigned from his role with the Texans after 21 years with the team.Free to read ⤵️ https://t.co/aSZTmSO350— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) June 22, 2021 This actually seems like almost as big a deal as the ownership change. I don’t follow the Texans that closely but my interpretation was he was well respected when he was there.
sounds like Walker and Jordan would report to him in the article but yes, it seems like a legit hire of a seasoned executive (although I believe the Texans are almost impossible to screw up from a business standpoint as an NFL team in Texas). but really, who knows how this is gonna work
Rootes at least seems to have some sort of backbone given that he purportedly resigned over disagreement with Cal McNair. That counts for something in my book. Maybe this is a sign we're returning to a Canetti-esque style where someone actually runs the thing versus Walker and Jordan being siloed and reporting to an absentee ownership group. At the same time, I don't necessarily get why Walker would be retained. Seems like a duplication of effort. I don't think a business guy needs to be that heavily involved in the soccer operations side. What would be refreshing is someone coming in, setting some sort of performance goals for the GM and then sacking them if they repeatedly fail/show no growth. Doesn't take anyone with a soccer background to know that a team that has been to the playoff one out of the past seven years in a sport where 50% of the teams make the post-season is in trouble. Edit: For those that care about soccer credentials, in addition to being the Crew's president and GM he played college soccer for Clemson and was an assistant coach at Indiana.
Also have to imagine that two decades in Houston with the Texans means that he has deep connections here with the business community, which doesn't hurt.
I think what you said in the other post about having one person that the buck stops with for on field and off field performance is valid, I think this is one of the more important parts to this signing. I’m not going to pretend it’s just as easy selling sponsorship or luxury boxes for the Dynamo as it is the Texans but Rootes is a massive known commodity in the business circles of this city one must imagine.
Agreed, but how hard is it to sell the NFL in this market? He’s presence in this market will help (Garber may have recommended to new owner to hire him). I hope it’s a sign that our non-Houston NBA style FO techniques may change over time
Ted Segal makes some major announcements during his introductory press conference:✔️Signing of center back Teenage Hadebe from Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor to a DP deal✔️Three-year contract extension for Tim Parker✔️Addition of former Texans president Jamey Roots as CEO— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) June 22, 2021
Three year extension of Tim Parker is good news. Less happy about the DP deal for Teenage Hadebe who is an unknown quantity here. Maybe they're doing one of those deals where they turn off the amortization of the transfer fee and take the hit in one year?
I’d like to think that was the case but apparently Tab said that there ended up being a bidding war for the player and the DP deal was the only way to sign him
I caught a good chunk of the press conference - I liked how he was pressed about investment in the club and payroll but didn’t like how he gave the vague commitment to provide necessary resources. and when Garber tried to give credit to Brener for the “success” of the franchise, wow, just wow. Garber pointed out that we did have two stars on our jersey but failed to note that occurred in the second Bush W term!!!
Jordan already making the moves internally (both Clemson guys, hopefully Jordan is evaluated objectively) Former #Texans President Jamey Rootes with @HoustonDynamo GM Matt Jordan at the news conference for new majority owner Ted Segal. Sports Business Journal first reported Jamey is joining the Dynamo/Dash. pic.twitter.com/CWVaPFv5eT— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) June 22, 2021
This addition of Jamey Rootes to our Houston Dynamo is terrific news!!! And did anyone else get the email from our FO with a statement from our new majority owner? Here is the first paragraph: Houston Dynamo Football Club today announced that Ted Segal has acquired a majority ownership position in the Club. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Segal becomes the Club’s majority investor, which includes Houston Dynamo FC of Major League Soccer, the Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League and the leasing rights to BBVA Stadium. In addition to his ownership role, Mr. Segal will serve on the MLS Board of Governors. Limited partner investors Gabriel Brener, Oscar De La Hoya, Ben Guill and James Harden will retain minority stakes in the Club and work closely with Mr. Segal to return the Dynamo and Dash to the top of their respective tables.
this indeed seems to be the case. article in today's chronicle lays out that Teenage was tagged by us early in the year. He then finished the second half of the year very well getting numerous player of the week awards thus attracting attention from other clubs. Seems like we had to buy now at an inflated rate at risk of losing him. Not sure why we couldn't lose him or why we were so stuck in (pun intended). Using a DP slot on a CB sure seems to be a classic Dynamo move however, no matter who is running the show
the fact that they swooped in for Jamey Rootes right after he left the Texans and got him to me is more promising than the player signings announced at the press conference. That being said I’m still going to wait and see most likely. It’ll be interesting to see the mood of the crowd at tonight’s game though.
I thought Brener taking over was it, but we all know what happened. This guy might be it, we will find out what happens during next offseason as this year should be a year where he gets to evaluate team and performance. Now if he starts getting players and making drastic changes right now then we might be good.
I dunno if he's DP level but I would say MLS is pretty much the same level as the Super Lig or the SPL and he helped keep a team that is pretty similar to ours in terms of MV up.
This is the fairest take on the sale. Came in, made player announcements and brought in a new, respected (in MLS and out) executive.
not only that! so back in the day the word around the knitting circle was that McNair never wanted to do anything with sawker (as opposed to Jerry Jones who saw the money in it). Rootes was the one that convinced him and IIRC the first game was the “Revancha en la Cancha” in 2003. The first Mexico-USMNT game since the 2002 WC game. I’ve lost count at how many 70,000+ attendance games I’ve attended at NRG, but that was all Rootes not the McNairs. I’ve heard from people in the know that the US-Mexico game in 2003 was what made MLS NY see Houston as as a MLS market. 2 years later they move SJE to Houston. Rootes understands the importance of a spectacle. I wouldn’t doubt if we get our first big name DP under his reign. Also, don’t doubt this is all tied to the Houston 2026 WC bid. Rootes’ rolidex includes folks in CONCACAF, USSF, FMF, and MLS.