True, but since Televisa is going to buy and move the Quakes Milwaukee's expansion partner for 2007 is pretty straight forward: How do I know that the Earthquakes are being moved? Because I say so
can we get a good name for this team? something connected to the city of milwaukee (ala future rivals Chicago Fire)...
Per Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Peter Wilt will be CEO of the Milwaukee group. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/socc/jul05/340675.asp
Wow, Peter Wilt was REALLY keeping this a secret. Look at the first post of this thread to see what he commented about Milwaukee TODAY.
Was Peter Wilt involved with this before his removal in Chicago? if so, that probably explains why he is being phased out. I wonder if they can snatch the name of the local club Milwaukee Bavarians? That has a nice sound to it. And it would be hilarious to see a team called "Milwaukee Beers"
I REALLY doubt that Wilt would've been involved before. There really was no reason for him to leave Chicago. And seeing as Wilt is now in charge, I expect Milwaukee to have an awesome name. I pray he chooses Beers.
Wilt was removed by AEG because they felt they needed someone with more sales experience to help sell the Bridgeview stadium. They weren't happy with the revenue numbers he was generating and decided to make a change. I am so damn happy he is going to get to work on another soccer project from the ground up. Here is hoping he makes Milwaukee a great club (although not as great as the Fire, of course).
You know, I check this goddamned site 10 times a day. All day - nothing. Blah blah blah Gold Cup blah blah blah New Predators blah. Now, I find that in the last three hours, Milwaukee is getting a team, an SSS and Peter Wilt is heading the club? I need to go apologize to the people who I insulted for thinking Beckham is coming to play in MLS soon. They might have something. I officially give up in my attempts to forcast what will happen next for this league.
A team with the nickname "Beers" would instantly have the best selling jersey in MLS. I used to work at a soccer shop and people who didn't know anything about soccer would occasionally come in to buy Newcastle (Brown Ale) jerseys.
I hope this leads MLS to keep the Quakes in San Jose and to award Televisa a Houston expansion team to go along with Milwaukee. And those who speak lightly of teams moving (Sempuukyaku, that means you) should spend eternity in hell for the sin of disrespecting local sports fans. - Paul
It seems Greenberg is the stadium guy, and Wilt will be put in charge of doing what he does best--building a loyal fanbase. A perfect fit for his talents, and being a local guy is that much better.
More like: Greg Howes, Tony Sanneh, Brian Mc Bride, Tim Ward, Chad Dombrowski, Tighe Dombrowski and Bobby Lish please pick up the white courtesy phone.
Since it is Milwaukee -- a Harley Davidson sponsorship would be pretty cool. Miller Lite makes most sense. But a black and orange Harley color scheme would be unique.
If I were MLS -- I'd put a team in Milwaukee just to have a class act like Peter Wilt come on board! It makes sense because you know that Wilt will get the job done. Heck -- being a Chicago supporter -- Milwaukke would have to be my second favorite team just because of Wilt!
I was originaly shocked last night but this morning the more i think about it the more i think this city would work for MLS. There are plenty of surrounding suburbs that have organized leagues in Racine, Kenosha, Waukasua, Mequon, Germantown. They have a very long standing and rich soccer culture with the Kickers in the area as well as some very strong amuatur clubs like the Bavarians, Serbians, Croatian Eagles. They have the indoor Wave that gets decent following. The outdoor team did well back in the day when guys like McBride and Sanneh played here but the Wave United (Rampage) never really took off. The fans are definatly there its just a matter of getting them to support a pro team here. The stadium issue is what i think it all comes down too. I hear this proposal is part of a massive bid of 300-500 million of privatly finaced monet for the entire area that was leveled and open for development. FOr those that don't know I will tell you whu this spot is golden. It is right on top of Water Street in Milwaukee. Water Street is a stretch of pavement that contains the focal point of the entire Milwaukee food and beverage as well as bars. This new stadium would be right on top of the epicenter of the city.
Why would the act of awarding an expansion team to Milwaukee have anything to do with the Quakes moving to Houston? The real issue in San Jose is the lack of any viable stadium options. Without a decent stadium deal, there's no way that any MLS team can ever get close to profitability and that's the goal of the league right now. I personally have a great deal of respect for local sports fans, but I beleive the Televisa deal is done and there's nothing SSV can do about it. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee expansion proves again that MLS does not have any broad geographical plans for expansion. All it takes is an investor group and a stadium deal and any city can have a team.
Yeah, that was classic. Did you know that that example is used amongst (hollywood) writers as an example of a (desperate plot measures when you've run out of sensible ideas)...a series that's burned out, and going to end soon (lose its audience). They call it 'jumping the shark' in the industry. And yeah, that would be cooollllllllll. Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
This is just great news. I am really happy for Peter. Outside of being wrong on Spector , I can't think of any mistakes he made. Perfect guy for perfect situation. The % of success of the project go up materially, and the Chicago-Milwaukee thing just gets more delicious. Tony Sanneh to Milwaukee gg
Wow. I mean, wow. As someone who followed the previous Milwaukee MLS very closely (enough to put down a deposit on season tickets despite the fact I was living in NC at the time) this is really quite amazing. Wilt lives in Whitefish Bay? My in-laws live in Glendale right next door. Who'd a thunk it? The keys for me are: - A downtown stadium. Competition for the sports entertainment dollar is fierce in a modest market like MKE. The downtown stadium renderings from the previous bid, and its economic rationale made sense. In the right place, downtown MKE would be an amazing spot for a stadium. - Wilt's involvement is huge. After going to SLC for the US-CR match, talking to a lot of RSL fans, seeing the kind of media coverage the team gets there, you see the difference between a well-run franchise and, well, a lot of other MLS franchises. In SLC there's a real connection - even in year one - between the team and the fans. And a huge part of this is the club's GM and his obvious dedication to the fans. Of course, he learned his trade under the tutelage of none other than Peter Wilt. It's going to take a GM of Peter Wilt's talents and energy for this hypothetical new franchise to be able to carve out a adequate niche in Brew Town. Again, wow. Fingers crossed. Now if only Buzz Lagos could manage to do the same in Minnesota I'd be on Could 9.