I am completely reading into Hunt's announcement, I have no hard, factual basis for this: It seems, the way Lamar Hunt is talking, that MLS is taking on some of the financial burden of the Wizards. Maybe MLS is trying to avoid the double embarrasment of moving two teams in one year, and so they are helping underwrite KC's losses and maybe even might help finance the stadium. Did anyone else get this either? I could be crazy.
I heard it more as MLS would be leading the effort in town to get the stadium deal done, not in running the team. I'll go back and listen more carefully.
I think more along the lines of the MLS needs to be involved in helping to secure the stadium is all.
hoew i understood it listning to kurt wsa that mls would be helping to get the stadium and maybe help break the chicken/egg scean that has been created
so do you think there will be any money involved on MLS's part. I guess subsidizing might have been the wrong word, but this seems like its a new way for a franchise to do things: to have the league find a stadium solution. maybe MLS just looks around and gets people moving, but i have this feeling that MLS is gonna be paying money, and that its related to SJ moving soon and them not wanting KC to, in the same year. yes, run on sentences galore.
I gather this as well. The potential ownership group may be rich and committed and very good businessmen, but that doesn't mean they are experts in handling the delicate process of negotiating a stadium deal. The MLS has know-how and likely more influence in this situation. That is the real "value" that they would be providing. It makes no sense to reinvent the wheel at the expense of franchises.
Exactly. From today's stirring announcement-- Key words in Huntspeak: "Chicken"-- "Egg"-- "Tire-kicker" discuss.
lets how much would rent at the Meadowlands for 12 years be. lets say an avererage of 15 home games a year @ $100,000 a game times 12 years is $18million by the time they get out of that stadium. And people talk about how Kansas City is a drain on the league.......
According to http://logansrevenge.blogspot.com/ (sort of), it looks like I got this right. Not to pat myself on the back, because I totally guessed when I started this post, but this Doug Logan guy says that MLS is indeed subsidizing KC. As I said in my first post, my guess is that they wanted to avoid a double black eye of having two teams move in the same year. The next case I will tackle will be...
BLOG: Big Loser Opinionated Garbage Two quotes from the bloggers introduction: "My intention is not to spread false or misleading information, and be assured that anything printed here has been verified by several sources." "Got any dirt to share with me?" He might be on the up and up as he claims to be, but I never trust a blogger, regardless how he/she claims to be reliable. I think you have more work to do on this case... Incidently, He said "It is more than likely that MLS is handling the bills for the Wiz(ards) for 2006." That sounds more like a hunch then a statement of fact.
I've been checking this blog for about 4 months or so, and from all I can tell Logan is usualy right. He maybe wrong on this but his sources seem to usualy be reliable.
Nope. Here's the Tulsa-centric viewpoint: Tulsa ownership magically appears out of nowhere at MLS Cup in Frisco... not really out of nowhere, since Global Development-- you know, the folks who bought DC United-- are pushing for a soccer stadium/40 acre urban development in downtown Tulsa. Garber lets the cat out of the bag by saying KC will stay put next year. Still, Hunt doesn't make any comments and the Tulsa World publishes TWO front page articles on MLS moving to Tulsa. Reason: MLS/Hunt can play hardball with KC but Tulsa risks losing the Tulsa/Global plan since there will be a mayoral election in Tulsa next April... But this is NOT San Antonio... no reason to allow some political demigogue a chance to use the sport of soccer as a "political football." Tulsa's unidentified ownership group is kept secret due to a "confidentiality agreement." Meaning: republican mayor LaFortune could be defeated based on the "soccer stadium issue"-- especially if he trots out the Global Development proposal weeks before his re-election bid... yet the unidentified ownership group is, by my latest rumor-mongering guesses... BI-PARTISAN. I heard a few FUN rumors as to who these "unidentified" folks were... strangely enough, one guy I never heard of/knew of from these rumors a couple of years ago is likely now on the shortlist of candidates for mayor... Cross your fingers... that this gets the KC people off their butts... and gets MLS a 14th team in Tulsa to go with Toronto...
I don't know if this hurts or helps Tulsa, but Global Development pulled out of the D.C. United purchase. Supposedly they're still helping with the stadium. My complete guess would be, that if MLS is "subsidizing" KC, it comes in the form of either reduced or non-existent cash calls from the league. Lamar only pays 1$ a year for rent. If MLS gets rid of KC's cash calls, that leaves HSG essentially paying for operation of the stadium and advertising (of which there is essentially none) to run the Wizards for a year. I can't imagine Lamar loses money on that deal.
You sure about that? It has been quoted in the KC Star (albiet a few years back now, but I absolutely remember reading it) as being $1/year.
I thought we learned early in this process that that figure, though rumored for years, wasn't true at all. I could be wrong though, it's happened before.
That would be news to me. I was under the impression that that figure was still believed to be true. The way I always understood it was that Lamar paid $1 per year, they split ticket sale and merchandise profits (after the NFL takes the revenue sharing dollars) by a set percentage and then the county got the majority of the parking and concessions. I figured it was a similar setup for the Wizards.
I can't remember either, but even if it is higher, it might as well be 1 dollar per year since he's already paying to house the Chiefs there. I would be shocked if keeping the Wizards in Arrowhead cost Lamar any additional money.
I know we were told at one point that the Wizards were "paying" the Chiefs $40,000 every time they opened the gates to host a game.
But that's just clever accounting, not money going to the County. It's like charging the Wizards 75 bucks an hour for IT Support when you don't have to pay the IT guy any extra money because he already works for you.