Milwaukee soccer stadium investor under federal investigation

Now MLS has made it! We're up there with Chelsea!

 

Quote:

The partnership announced the hiring of Peter Wilt, an experienced soccer executive, as chief executive officer. Wilt, general manager of the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer, is in charge of securing an MLS franchise and getting the soccer stadium project off the ground.

Greenberg said the group had 10 other potential investors who could not be identified because they had signed confidentiality clauses with MLS.

End Quote:

I think their serious about getting an MLS franchise

 

Uh...Rick, it's ok to let your attorney know about this sort of thing.

 

Really? It seemed to be extremely negative to me, esp. the part where he writes it probably won't happen. I don't know how you can get much more negative than that. What parts did you think were enthusiastic???

 

sarcasm

 

Any sentence that starts off the the word "Boy" is probably at least riding coach on the Sarcasm Express pulling out of the station.

 

I think the editorial was more negative to the fact that they believe it won't happen, not that they don't support it. Obviously the caveats about the lack of local fan support, the citizens of Milwaukee not having enough money, etc. didn't help. Who knows though. Wilt has built a pretty good organization in Chicago, with a hardcore fanbase of about 12k or so, and most importantly, the stadium, which means the Fire are viable long-term.

He probably will do the same in Milwaukee.

One thing, if Bradley is fired in New York, does he join Wilt in Milwaukee? With Lalas and his overinflated ego in New York, unless the Metros make the MLS Cup, I don't see how Bradley even stays another season (IMHO Bradley has been doing fine, the team has a very strong base, and needs minor tinkering, for me the biggest thing was that he had to deal with so much garbage with Nick, and had to clean up one of the biggest messes in pro sports history, OZ had left a team in complete shambles with little or no inherent value, I wouldn't mind giving him another season).

Anyway, I think a Milwaukee team would be a good decision for MLS. While not the biggest sports market (like a Phili or a Seattle...wouldn't Portland be a better choice?), towns like this that don't have 7 or 8 pro sports teams allows MLS to assume a bigger role in the community.

 

Milwaukee Sports Teams include:

- Milwaukee Brewers (MLB)
- Milwaukee Bucks (NBA)
- Milwaukee Wave (MISL)
- Milwaukee Wave United (Exhibition Team that plays against A-League, Amatuer, PDL and MLS teams in Exhibitions)
- Milwaukee Admirals (AHL Hockey)
- Green Bay Packers (NFL, located 120 miles away but a HUGE part of the sports scene)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Football, Basketball, and Hockey (78 miles away)
- Marquette University sports, of which Men's Basketball is #1
- Univeristy of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sports, of which Men's Basketball is #1
- The Milwaukee Mile racetrack (47,000 seats) hosts a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and a Busch series race each summer, a Champ Car World Series race each June, and an IRL Race each July. Plus ASA and ARCA races, etc.
- The PGA tour comes to Milwaukee, in fact, it is this next week's tournament.

And those are just the sports teams that will compete for news time and consumer money. Throw in Summerfest, a 10 day music festival that runs from late June through the 10th of July and draws 900,000 to 1 million each year, plus weekly ethnic festivals all summer long, through September, each one drawing 100,000 to 300,000 people, and the Wisconsin State Fair, for 10 days in August, and you've got even more competition.

Oh yeah-- Alpine Valley Music Theater is 27 miles from the edge of Milwaukee, going towards Beloit. This year's lineup includes Jimmy Buffet, Dave Matthews, Coldplay, and Ozzfest, off of the top of my head. It's a 40,000 seat ampitheater.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that MLS Milwaukee will have plenty of competition. Maybe not as much competition as Chicago, NY and LA, but definately not less than any current MLS city either.

 

You can make a list like that for any city. MLS might as well give up on expansion with your thinking. Oh, I bet there is a movie theatre in Milwaukee too....they're screwed! You're right about LA having more things to do...LA has 500 x's more things to do than that and the Galaxy do fine.

Brewers suck too.

 

I'm sure that kebzach very much suports the idea of a Milwaukee MLS franchise. He's only pointing out that Milwaukee is a very competitive market, especially in terms of sports. In that regard, it's in a very different category than, say, SLC. This doesn't mean that MLS can't thrive in MKE, only that it needs to be done right (example, the stadium needs to be downtown).

 

agreed on all counts.

peter

 

Oh, yeah? Then try Salt Lake.

- Jazz
- Utes
- Minor league baseball
- Minor league hockey
. . . ?

Or here's Columbus:
- Buckeyes
- Blue Jackets
- Minor league baseball
- Arena Football
. . . ?

How about Rochester:
- Minor league baseball
- Syracuse Orange (90 miles away)
- Buffalo Bills and Sabres (60 miles away)
. . . ?

We should be seeing a difference here. And if we can't, the American City Business Journals was kind enough to quantify it.

Short summary: if one were considering a) the size of the market and b) how much competition was in it as the only factors in expansion, then there would be a hundred cities* where MLS is viable, and Milwaukee is not one of them, because it is judged to be overextended by the teams it already has.

*- {Note: I have my qualms with this for a simple reason, which is that the figure they list MLS as requiring for support is based a current definition of 'viability', which is not where MLS wants to get to, and is based on a set-up where MLS is losing money in many of its current markets. The real figure should probably be higher than $14 Billion, but that makes it tougher to support economically, not easier.}

 

Two critical points the American City Business Journal didn't consider:

1) The target markets for MLS (young adults, soccer families and new Americans) are more interested in soccer than most if not all of the sporting alternatives in Milwaukee.

2) The success of the project will be judged by the economic success of the overall mixed use development, including the commercial, retail and residential opportunities as well as the entertainment/soccer component.

peter

 

Well, if we get to count NFL teams within 120 miles, there's the Browns and Bengals. If we get to count college sports within 80 miles, there's University of Dayton basketball and Ohio University basketball and football. There's the PGA tour stop in Dublin. And there's Mid-Ohio Sports Car course about an hour away. Oh, and the Indians and Reds are hugely popular here too.

None of which really have any impact on the Crew.

I just have a tough time believing that things like UWM basketball and Milwaukee Admirals hockey are going to negatively impact a Milwaukee MLS team. I get the point - there's a ton of sports options in that market, but many of them don't play in the summer.

 

I don't give 2 **********s about the American City Business Journal. If Peter Wilt is on board it's full steam ahead and going be successful. Period.

 

First of all, I was born and raised in Springfield, IL as a die-hard Cubs fan. I've lived up here for just over 2 years. So, we are in agreement that the Brewers suck, but I don't think you expected me to be on your side of that statement, did you?

Secondly, I made the list just to be fair and objective-- a MLS team in Milwaukee will indeed face some competition, and I don't want for people to get the thought into their heads that there is nothing to do in Milwaukee, simply because Milwaukee isn't one of the 15 largest cities in the U.S.

Even though I'm a die-hard Fire fan, having a MLS team 10 minutes away from my house would be fantastic, and I plan to support the team with my wallet, much like I do for those Brewers. Even though I'm a Cubs fan, I still go to 6-10 Brewer games per year.

For a Milwaukee MLS team, I'd definately be buying a flex pack season ticket package, and I'd be promoting the team to friends/co-workers.

 

Thank you. You are 100% correct.

 

The fact that many of them don't play in the summer doesn't preclude corporations and/or businesses from spending their promotions budget to sponsor those teams/sports rather than soccer. There is more to being a financially successful (or even financially stable) team than drawing fans, and that goes for the Crew as well as it would for Milwaukee.

 

rochester should def.. get a team. they have no competition. it would be another real salt lake.. plus its a big soccer town. already has a sss that just might need expanded a little bit.

and milwaukee wouldnt really do bad. really they just need to compete against football.. which is on a different day. brewers are basically the worst team consistently in baseball behind tampa bay and the royals.

i figure soccer will overtake baseball in 20 years.. seriously.. watching baseball gets really boring.

 

While I agree with this statement, you must remember that you are living in the country with the fattest people in the world, who have perfected the use of a La-Z-Boy chair, have hot dog eating contests shown on ESPN, and think driving in circles is "cool" (******** NASCAR... watch F1). I think that's part of the appeal about baseball in this country, and to some degree, football too (the idea of a
"stop-and-go" sport, where 3-4 minutes could pass between each pitch, or spike of the football).

So... while I agree with you that I WISH soccer would overtake baseball, whether in Milwaukee, or the US as a whole.... it will never happen.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong. They only considered market size and competition, which are far from everything to think about. In fact, they probably generally rank third and fourth as factors, behind owner and venue (unless we're talking about putting a team in guam, no offense to the guamster). It's just that the assertion that Milwaukee was 'no different from any other MLS town' does not bear scrutiny.

I'm in your corner enough to have written a response to Michael Hunt (which has yet to be answered) outlining exactly what's changed in the world of soccer since the 1970s (short summary: a lot). I just don't think the market size and competition should be looked at as if they weren't challenges.

You'll always have to work a little harder than the next GM to sell the suites, the ads, etc. But if anything, the fact that they hired you gives me more confidence in the bid.

 

To get a team, Rochester will have to do two things:

1 - Get the funding to complete their venue to MLS standards (which could happen in as little as a few weeks).
2 - Swallow a little bit of pride and look for additional investors with deeper pockets.

Im a way that actually kind of worries me. The Law of Unintended Consequences being so fickle and capricious, I have a slight nagging worry at the back of my mind that the presence of a soccer team might cause the Brewers (and baseball) to suddenly wake up and look at soccer as competition for the first time (I'd much rather that happen the next time baseball has an extended work stoppage). Not that even that would kill soccer, but just make everything that much harder.