Announcement - Wizards up for sale

1. It's all relative.
2. It's all marketing.

The Wizards are doing better financially than they ever have with relation to themselves.

The Wizards were a cheap team in an era where nearly everyone else in the league was renting, and league HQ was paying for three franchises to exist. Now that teams are moving into their own stadiums, the Wizards are no longer such a good deal.

The bit about being a drain on the Chiefs is just good PR.

 

I brought up Stowers name in the other topic...but the Stowers gave the 2nd largest single donation in the nation a few years ago, behind only Bill Gates.

I wouldn't exactly call that stingy.

 

Why the hating on Lamar? It would have been one thing had he just said "Due to our inability to find a suitable situation for a stadium, I am reluctantly putting the Wizards on the market." and/or "owning three teams is difficult." or something along those lines, I'd be distraught, but somewhat understanding. What angers us is that he brings the Chiefs, and particularly Bi-State II into this as the main reason he's selling the team, and it sounds like he's just doing this to bully the citizens/fans into giving him money for Arrowhead.

He said "the Wizards are a drain on the Chiefs." Oh you poor, poor man. Yes, the Wizards don't make money so I suppose they take away funds that could be used on the Chiefs. But are they THAT big of a drain that selling them just solves all of the Chiefs problems? I doubt it. And if the Wizards are taking money from the Chiefs, doesn't that mean that the Crew are a drain on the Chiefs? The Crew don't make money after league losses are paid. Hasn't Dallas been a drain on the Chiefs as well? How much money have they lost playing in the Cotton Bowl and Southlake? Can you guarantee that they will turn a profit in Frisco, especially with the attendance problems caused by the Southlake disaster? This isn't a dig on the Crew or FC Dallas, rather an illustration of Lamar really not telling the whole story.

 

So, just a basic question, does anyone actually know how Lamar is making out with the Chiefs and the Wizards operations out of Arrowhead?

Is he actually losing money on their operations? Its mindboggling to me with the spectacular labor deal the owners' have negotiated (namely a salary cap) that an NFL team could lose money if they regularly sell out their games and recieve their piece of the pie from TV revenue. But perhaps I am uninformed.

Lamar has shown willingness to take significant losses in the past for the advancement of MLS, it just seems strange all of a sudden that he would bail, but perhaps, with the picture Andy painted, he actually felt it was the only way to insure he was in front of the line for stadium funding before the Royals.

I feel bad for KC fans, I think they have been a tremendous group of supporters over the years and have been a very stable market for MLS. I sincerely hope that something comes up which will allow the Wizards to stay in KC and with a SSS to insure their future.

By the by, when will tax payers wake up and stop paying for stadiums? I'm a Sport Industry student and the picture that has been painted for us through a number of studies is despite all the rhetoric about economic regrowth and job production stadium's paid for with tax payer dollars don't come close to reaping an economic benefit equal to their cost.

 

i've read/heard that lamar made $40M on the chiefs last year. the word is that the wizards lost less than/around $1M. draw your own conclusion.

 

I wasn't aware of this. I was speaking more in terms of sports sponsorships, though.

 

Can we read anything into this announcement on Tuesday?

"WIZARDS PARTNER WITH KANSAS, NEBRASKA
& IOWA STATE SOCCER ASSOCIATIONS
Wizards Become Marketing and Sales Arm of Three State Associations
Representing 97,000 Youth and Adult Players"

...or is this just because the Hunt announcement was a well kept secret internally?

 

I would think it was becasue the announcement was kept secret, I mean the people that made that deal gotta feel really disappointed after creating this great deal and then something like this happens.

 

If I were a betting man, long odds would be available on KC not going anywhere. I'd take them happily not with the expectation of winning, but for the value the odds would give me if they don't leave.

This whole thing screams of a man who is shocked and embarassed by wasting almost $1M on a failed BS II effort. Certainly his people hear whispers at parties that the local "King is Dead". Combine that with the difficulties of failing health we all will likely face and you have the root of why the offensive was taken, IMO.

Pick almost any Shakespearian play and you have similar themes. Kings and power and all that. This is a losing decision from Mr. Hunt any way it comes out. In Mr. Hunt's own words his loss began at the naked cash grab that was BS II and putting KCW up for sale is just a consequence of the failure. Regardless of what follows Mr. Hunt's reputation is now decidedly in an ebb flow among us, but now it's evident that it may be the case city wide.

I think you may see a flank attack on the downtown inititive, firing of KCC personel, further disadvantage to KC in MLS league decisions, and the like. Clearly Mr. Hunt is acting like a man whose facing mortality in the mirror and doesn't like the reflection. Men in these situations, fictional or not, have a long inglorious history of bad decisions.

I'll put it like this, seemingly the only certainty in this whole thing is that that Mr. Hunt will die soon.

Fvck dc.

 

But if Hunt isn't going to support MLS in KC, who will? Do you think his kids will want to keep running the team? Do any of them live in KC? This may be about bi-state and the chiefs but I still think he's determined to sell the team.

 

Here's a new take on things. It'd really depend on a local investor stepping up to save Hunt from the villain image.

Maybe Hunt is prepared to play serious hardball with KC. He no longer cares about being beloved in this city he doesn't live in. He knows that what he's about to go through will make him unpopular and seriously damage any hope of getting a SSS for the Wizards. So by selling first to a local interest, he'll preserve the Wizards from being too associated with his unpopularity for the threats about the Chiefs he's prepared to start unloading.

Sure he could try and land a SSS deal first, but obviously a new FSS is his #1 priority and that makes sense given the magnitude of difference that would mean to his bottom line. I've pretty much bought the "making a point about the Chiefs indirectly" argument (I was suggesting it earlier this year when Trecker was spouting off). But for those that belive Hunt loves the Wizards, then maybe this is another way to look at things. This would mean that no deal with CA or others is already in place.

By the way, some ticket representive (I think) told someone on the Rapids forum that St. Louis is the best bet.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3763300&postcount=19
there's some rumor mongering for you.

I'll be taking a look at KC later this week, but unfortunately this all is making me reconsider KC as the place to be the next 4 years.

edit: http://www.coloradorapids.com/Team/Staff.asp
Marcus is an "account executive"