Belgium-based owners buy U.S. Pro team.

Hello.

At a small gathering before the last match of the season for the Minnesota Thunder, a professional soccer team in the USL-1, (equivalent to the U.K. Coca-Cola Championship League), General Manager Djorn Buchholz introduced two men as the next owners of the club.

They are based in Belgium. One is originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. The other is originally from the Netherlands. One of the two gentlemen is reportedly a real-estate developer.

Here is a link to a short article about the meeting from a local weekly newspaper.

http://blogs.citypages.com/sports/2007/09/minnesota_thund_1.php

And here is a picture of the owners with team officials.

http://blueskysoccer.com/index.php?...howimages&fid=106&template=slideshow&iid=1056

From left to right:

Djorn Buchholz, Minnesota Thunder General Manager; Manny Lagos, Minnesota Thunder Director of Soccer Operations and former US National Team member; unidentified new owner; Brian Quarstad, Dark Cloud (Minnesota Thunder supporter's group) member; unidentified new owner.

The new owners are the only ones in the picture wearing jackets.

Anyone got any more on this? Who are these guys?

Doin' the thinkin', cause thats what I'm good at, I remain,

That little old jersey collector

Me

 

Okay...

Here's a few extra bits of info. The guy in the center of the pic is Henk Habers, Netherlands. The guy on the far right is Dean Johnson, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. They are partners in a Belgian-based real estate development firm called the WingField Corporation, headquartered in Brussels. I've located their website, but other then that and a few news stories on some doings with a luxury hotel and spa in Spain, they have little web presence.

Does anyone here have any additional info on the company or these two gentlemen?

I would appreciate any data you could give.

Concerned that the team will be renamed Cercle Minnesota or even Racing White Daring Minnesota Thunder, I remain

That little old jersey collector

Me

 

Hello.

These are some fair questions you ask and I'll try to answer them. But first, here's an article in a local daily newspaper with some details about the sale followed by the team's official press release:

http://www.twincities.com//ci_7204996?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com

http://www.mnthunder.com/igsbase/ig...=&NewsID=355&NewsCatIDdisplay=&KeywordSearch=

I'm not sure how familiar you are with the business structure of soccer in America, so I will try to clarify a few things you might not be aware of, judging by your post, before I further answer your post.

In American soccer, a team cannot climb to the top division by on-field performance alone or even primarily. While USL (lower division) teams are individually owned and very autonomous in their operation and financial dealings, MLS clubs are collectively controlled by the league and most revenues equally shared among all the teams.

An illustration of this is the fact that a USL team signs it's players to contracts, while players in MLS are signed by the league and allocated to various teams by a variety of league rules.

The resulting difference in business structures dictates that for a USL team to ever reach the MLS, it would have to come up with an "expansion" fee, currently $30 million. This, plus other considerations (suitable stadium, market viability, etc.) would gain a USL franchise league entry, regardless of their on-pitch record. This has not happened so far. As a matter of fact, I know of no minor league franchise in any US sport that has moved up to the majors in the last 100 years. The usual occurence is for a new major league franchise and organization to move into a market while the old minor league franchise and organization either folds or relocates to another market.

The USL has plans for a promotion/relegation system between USL-D1 and USL-D2 (FIFA classified Division 2 and Division 3 leagues), but most of the clubs aren't financially stable enough to implement it.

Now to add to the reasons stated in the two articles I hot linked above, here are a few more reasons why WingField Corporation bought the team.

WingField, a real-estate developer and financier, is trying to take advantage of a variety of development opportunities in the Twin Cities, especially St. Paul. Owning a local sports franchise helps to demonstrate to the community and local government that they are committed to the area.

The team, while struggling to financially break even in recent years, had created a business substructure that would provide an extra revenue stream plus scouting and player development organization through the Thunder Soccer Camps, the largest soccer instructional program in the United States.

Also, the team is situated in a large market which could be very profitable to a soccer franchise if marketed right. Plus, because the team was not properly marketed, for a variety of reasons, it was available for an "extremely reasonable" price.

And, if the new owners are successful in developing the attendance base and taking the maximum from the profit potential, a move up to MLS could be contemplated in the future, unless WingField decides to go another route (which I won't go into now, as it would involve a lot of speculation on my part derived from a few ambiguous remarks I've learned of second-hand).

All in all, if the new owners are dedicated and savvy enough, this could be an excellent business opportunity for them and a treat for soccer fans in Minnesota.

By the way, any info anyone could provide on WingField or it's owners would still be appreciated.

Finished channeling Jeroen Bernaers, I remain

That little old jersey collector

Me