Are you sure about this? I don't recall a vote by the City of Santa Clara other than voting yes to have a feasibility study done. Am I missing something? I wouldn't count them out so quickly.
Santa Clara Earthquakes for 2 reasons: #1. It will stick a thumb in the eye of MLS officials for sounding too bush-league. #2. san jose doesn't deserve to have their name in front of the team as they did nothing to try to keep it.
I remember a majority of the council and city staff (which is very important in a city manager run city) ruling out issuing bonds. That was the sticking point.
I wouldn't rule out Santa Clara either. I think they want the Quakes. And I've heard that from a very reliable source. Now, what they are willing to do to get them, that's another story. So if it will work out, who knows? But I don't think they are entirely out of this.
They ruled out the bonds suggested in AEG's ridiculously naive, boilerplate proposal. The didn't rule out working with ownership for a reasonable deal. Since then, there hasn't been ownership for them to deal with.
As far as i can tell, that "ridiculously naive, boilerplate proposal" was more generous than what SVSE was asking San Jose for. There as no talk of an operational subsidy for one thing. Correct me if you think I'm wrong.
I have no idea how much money SVSE was asking for. AEG was asking Santa Clara for $65 million while offering to put up about $16 million. More importantly, AEG was not willing to negotiate on the terms, because they had already decided to leave this market.
it was a bit more complex than that. They proposed that the 65 million could be raised through tax revenue related to the stadium. This would involve issuing bonds which staff in Santa Clara were opposed to. I hope they come back to the table but this is the kind of proposal it would take to make a deal work.
Very, VERY interesting and excellent post in News and Analysis: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6963984&postcount=97 I'll say it again, don't rule out SC just yet.
Yes, the bonds would be debt, and the revenues would be intended to pay off the debt, but the division of revenues between AEG and the city in AEG's proposal would not have provided the enough revenue to cover the debt, according the analysis of the city staff. Thus they would have had to dip into the general fund to pay off the remaining debt, which was the problem from the city's perspective. In ordinary circumstances, with an owner who really wants to make a deal, at that point negotiations would start over the various terms of the proposal. Can the ownership increase their contribution to the cost? Can the revenue streams be rearranged? Things like that. But AEG wasn't interested in negotiating. They had just sent out this boilerplate proposal to all these cities in May, so that they could claim they had tried to find a local deal when they announced the move they intended to announce in September. Some other owner might be willing to negotiate.
Exactly the feeling I took away from that meeting. AEG = after the "look at how wonderful we are slideshow" Blackmun stood up to be spokesman for AEG, the dictators of the entire situation with absolutely no room for give. It was very clear that SC did not want to work with AEG because there was NOTHING to work with. And similarly, AEG did not want to work with SC because it was clear that the city would NOT be bullied.
Well I hope you're right and I'm sure there are people in Santa Clara such as Kevin Moore and Pat Mahan who want to make a deal work. I'm skeptical because Santa Clara did not come back with a proposal of their own to counter and the need to have the deal be self-supporting without risk seems pretty darn tough to work out. However, SC did make a really gutsy deal once before when they bought Great America and it was a very smart move. So let's hope they find the fortitude now. It's interesting that the Great America site wasn't mentioned in the link. Just Mission College. Hmmm.
If I lose my team, I will never spend another dime in San Jose again. My car could break down while driving through and I'd push it to Milpitas before contributing anything to that city.
Reminds me of this (possibly apocryphal) tale about legenday Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes: Woody was famous for his hatred for Michigan and anything that had to do with the state (he referred to it, of course, as "that state up north" or "that team up north") . One night on a recruiting trip in the state of Michigan, an assistant noticed that the car he was driving was going to run out of gas. He let Woody, who was dozing in the passenger seat, that he had to pull over for gas. Woody refused, and the assistant drove on. The assistant, who saw the weather was starting to get bad, began to become worried about getting stuck in the middle of nowhere, and once again stressed his desire to pull over and get gas. Woody erupted: "No, goddammit! We do NOT pull in and fill up. And I'll tell you exactly why we don't. It's because I don't buy one goddam drop of gas in the state of Michigan! We'll coast and PUSH this goddam car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money!" The assistant knew he wasn't kidding, and they barely made it across the border and sputtered into the first gas station they found in Ohio.
Im confused "San Jose" as in city council and the politicians or in terms of the entire city and all the people of San Jose. Cuz i think it is quite bluntly, and sorry folks if i say this: "San Jose" as the people and the entire city that does not care. Your attendance indicates this.
No you're not confused. So don't pretend to be. You've made up your mind. Thanks for saying I don't care. Now piss off.
No, you're not confused. You're simply ignorant. You understand absolutely nothing of the situation here.
OK, so we all know AEG are hard lined corporation (demonstrating capitalism at its best) with a 250 attorney staff legal department. SO, why don't we all start calling Don Garber, Commission of MLS, and tell him ...... IF the MLS pulls out of Northern California, it is a clear sign the league is destined to NOT succeed. If he was a smart businessman, he would turn the screws on AEG and encourage them to negotiate fairly with Santa Clara and the Sharks. This would be GOOD business for MLS to be centered near Top Tier US corporations such as eBay, Google & Oracle. The rewards will return to help bring in more revenue to the MLS league. Call afterhours (like right now) and you will get in his voicemail, Don Garber (212)450-1201
Attendance is NOT an issue here. The low point was 4 years ago, and even without anything resembling a dedicated ownership, attendence has been on an upward climb since then. Check the playoff attendence numbers for this year and it is obvious that people in this area will attend Quakes games. I would love to see Johnny Moore back in the general manager's position, should something be worked out. His committment to this area, along with the fact that he has a long history here, both as a player and resident, make him a personal favorite. I think he probably rubbed AEG the wrong way on so many levels. AEG was never in this market for the long term, and that was probably at odds with the way Johnny wanted to manage the team.
This really stinks. Man I cant believe you gusy may move and KC will stay. I just cant fathom it. The Earthquakes have such a storied history and such a solid fan base..
At the same time, it's embarassing that none of the billionaires populating those mega corporations has stepped up to save the Quakes or at least help out by lending a few billion dollars! Lack of civic pride, I guess.