I suppose you have to start with teams who have been around a while. Shows commitment to and love of the game: Seattle Minnesota ...? Seattle Sounders ownership has been amazing. Outdrawn every year by Portland and Vancouver, playing in a 67,000 seat stadium and drawing 3,000 per match...the ownership remains loyal to Seattle soccer despite losing about half a million dollars ANNUALLY. The Sounders had the smarts to restructure themselves as a "non-profit" entity. Meaning that any profits, if ever, would go to forwarding youth soccer. So the owners can write off the half-million loss every year in their taxes. Since these guys are all millionaires, the Sounders serve both as a "nice thing to do for the community" and also a tax break. Meanwhile, as Seattle enters its 12th season...no one seems worried about survival, or even the fact that small crowds could spell doom. In fact, the few hardy fans up in the Emerald City are actually looking forward to 2006 as a possible MLS year. Thanks, Sounders owners!
Afew more from Washington State... Spokane Shadow and Yakima Reds owners are being honored for their TENTH seasons... http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/85305.html
Maybe not the best owners but here's some very stable owners (by stable no major changes in the last 2 - 3 years); A-League Minnesota Rochester Richmond Charleston PSL Wilmington New Hampshire Western Mass Utah
Tony Bakker, Charleston Battery The only one that actually said "Screw it, I'm building a stadium." making it the first SSS in America and doing with private money. One of the nice, least pretentious guys you could met. His charitable works in the community are well know as well form a sizeable donation to have the Aquarium built a couple years ago to make-a-wish foundation to local arts and cultural groups and of course to sever soccer programs throught the lowcountry (sponsoring fields at soccer clubs, Pele's Kids inter-city soccer program, BUDDY soccer for handicaped kids.) He is also responsible for bringing in quality exhibitions year after year, (DC, Columbus and Sunderland last season alone). He also bought the entry tickets for all of us that made the trip to Chicago for the USOC match there (around 40 or so). Mikey
Rochester and Charleston get my top vote. Richmond & Minnesota right below. PSL ====== Western Mass, Utah, Wilmington New Hampshire right below, but now that they have a permanent home it should be better.
I'll toot the Battery's horn. As has been pointed out, been around for 10+ years. Continually upgrading facilities and rosters and moving up the USL ranks. Built the first privately funded soccer only stadium in the US. No tax incentives, bonds or gov't money of any kind was used. That's putting your money where your mouth is and making that kind of commitment takes a good business plan. We have a full time, year round staff to keep things moving in the offseason, and not just an intern or 2 or a couple of players wives working for free. But screw all that, the biggest reason is the stadium has it's own pub. EDIT: Mikey beat me to the punch.
No list of good owners would be complete without the Silverbacks. John Latham was part of a group that saved the team from folding and turned things around. He helped make us stable and reputable. That was no easy task after the disasters of the late 90's. Boris Jerkunica is taking a reputable team and turning it, slowly, into a real winner. They've made the pro-team competitive, built their own training facility, and have reorganized into a complete club system with youth and amateur teams. In the next couple years we will have our own stadium and sports bar. All this growth is reflected in the turnout at pro-games, which has steadily grown in the past two years, in spite of a $15 ticket price. I know attendance figures are frequently inflated, but I go to every game and it is clear to me that attendance is growing.
Being around awhile doesn't mean anything. Whitecaps were founded in 1986 (as the 86ers) and been playing since 1987, have had plenty of owners, and one of them was just horrible!
Some people might think I am going out on a limb here, but i would say Kyle Krause of the Des Moines Menace. They have led the league in attendance the last few years (by A LOT) and have been successful for the most part. Some of his decisions have been questioned, especially the head coach ones. Brought in Laurie Calloway, who led the team to an undefeated regular season then went to the A-League...good move on Krause's part. Then brought in two guys that disappointed, but still made the playoffs one year and finished a point out (I think) last year. The atmosphere is unbelievable at the games and we attract quite a few famous people...Freddy Adu, Tiffany Roberts when she was on the World Cup Winning team, Kirk Ferentz the best college football coach in the country, etc. He has the money and definitely uses it; just a matter of if he uses it wisely. All of this in a pretty small city (Des Moines...that is in Iowa for you numbskulls out there).
You have to throw the Charlotte Eagles into the mix - due to their unique setup and what they offer to everyone!
Seeing as my only expertise is the Impact, let me stick them in there. Saputo 1993-1999 and then Saputo/Provincial Government 2002-2004 (especially). The Impact had a few years with terrible ownership around the millenium, but with their rebirth in 2002, things have become really much better. The stability is assured by strong owners, who have gotten big sponsors. The club was set-up as a non-profit organization which has had a surplus for its 3 years and who reinvests it in the club; its mandate is to develop local players. It has a very sane business plan (original 5 year plan 2002-2006 had attendance going from 1,800 to 5,000 -you listening, former Edmonton owners?-: 5,000+ was attained during the first year!). On top of that, it has really become a part of the local soccer landscape, getting youth clubs to come out in record numbers (a problem a lot of USL teams have), getting crowds above 9,000 in two other Québec cities! And through all that, it has built a championship team built around local talent and has brought in (more importantly) lots of young local players which will assure the Impact is strong for many years. Now they need to get a new CCR and some youth teams...
You must be proud. By the way, what in the world makes you think MLS will promote you if your city can't even support an A-League team now? Get a grip.
I am proud of our OWNERS, which is what this post is about. Seattle remains on the MLS growth list because of the possibilities of getting a part of our big TV market, and because MLS would like a team in this region. Also, we have a ownership group coming together. A-League fan support has never had much effect on MLS expansion decisions.
I agree with you on this one Roman...Krause doesn't have a whole lot to work with when it comes to soccer, but he seems to be drawing one hell of a crowd for the Menace. Iowa isn't exactly a soccer hotbed or an exotic place to spend a summer, with all the heat, bugs, and the fact that Des Moines may be one of the worst places in the United States (New Jersey is most certainly the worst, don't even get me started). Yeah, I know I live here and don't like it, but Krause does well bringing in well over 3,000 a game for a PDL team on average. The coaching screw ups are questionable, but as long as the crowd comes, the players will too.
I don't know how the finances are going, but I'd stick Vermont (PDL) up there with Bo Vuckovic. He's done everything humanly possible to have that team succeed.
Montreal is indeed a nice franchise. The NASL Manic drew good crowds for quite awhile as I recall, proving that Montreal has a solid continuing soccer base. Hopefully the current Impact management will continue its good work.