I think this is close enough to being on topic because of the issues of Spartan Shops rent, AEG's possible involvement, as well as the general topic of the struggles of selling pro soccer in San Jose. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6688868.htm
I think there's a real possibility the Rays will tell Spartan to shove it. Read on another thread that it's costing $15,000 per game to rent Spartan while other WUSA venues cost as little as $1,000. AEG could use additional tennants in Carson, and the Women's World Cup events there will raise local awareness of the game. I don't wanna see the Rays go, but I can't discount the chance that it will happen.
Makes you wonder whether AEG is really serious about San Jose and the stadium deal after all. I thought sure there'd be some kind of announcement by 9/1.
Side by side there's no comparison to the brand of soccer that MLS puts out of WUSA, so I'm 100% behind the Earthquakes and now have just a passing interest in the Rays. The Womens National Team is fun to watch and plays at a pretty high level, but across the WUSA I just don' see the talent on a consistent level. (Locally, the Rays just haven't been the same since Julie Murray retired.) That being said, I don't think them leaving would be good for soccer in the area. I've always thought that Buck Shaw stadium would be a better choice for the CyberRays. Pretty close to a freeway, train station right there and not a bad place to watch a game, having seen a number of Earthquakes pre-season games there in the late 70's. Plus, not a lot of competition for the use of the field, seeing how Santa Clara University no longer has a football team.
$15000. Is that all?!!! I thought some of us were given a figure of $50000 for the Quakes. I'm gonna be seriously pissed it the Quakes pay that much more.
lets remember that the articles in the Chron and in the MN don't have any quotes from AEG people, not even "no comments." Spartacus, what was significant about 9/1 for an announcement? Given how long its taking for MLS and the owner of Chivas to reach an agreement, of a deal that seemed reasonably close to fruition, I don't think its a surprise that any deal between Spartan Shops and AEG would take some time. If anything, the Rays threatening to leave may bolster the Quakes bargaining position. Tony
Given when we started spreading rumours and that most of the rumours had an announcement imminent "within 60-90 days", I thought 9/1 would be about the time an announcement would be made. Pure conjecture on my part. But the Broncos use Buck Shaw for baseball. And as I recall, setting a soccer pitch over Buck Shaw would require them to play on the skin portion of the infield...unless you could get SCU to spring for re-sodding for every soccer match like they do in Rochester. Spot on, Mike.
Buck Shaw isn't an option for the CyberRays because during the first half of every year it's a baseball stadium with a cut-out infield, pitcher's mound, etc. The $15,000 number comes from Oliver Tse, who isn't the most reliable source, especially on WUSA matters. I have heard the Quakes pay more than the Rays, because bigger crowds require more Spartan Shops staff to be on duty, but I don't know if $50,000 or $15,000 are at all accurate. Kevin Payne of AEG has a no-comment in the Merc article. The curious part of all of this is that AEG might be removing a tenant from a stadium that it might be investing heavily in and taking over. True, they would be going to an already-existing AEG facility, but it's still a bit difficult to interpret. A pessimist might say that AEG wouldn't remove a tenant from Spartan Stadium if they were going to take control of Spartan Stadium, so this must all mean that the rumored AEG reconstruction is dead. There are also optimistic (from Quakes fan's perspective, but not a Rays fan) interpretations, such as AEG wants the Quakes to succeed in AEG Spartan Stadium, and they think the Quakes will have a better chance of that if they don't have WUSA competition, so they move them to the Toolbox where the Galaxy is strong enough from a business standpoint to better coexist with the WUSA than the Quakes can, and they get more use out of the stadium they already have in their hand rather than one they might have in a few years. It's tough to figure out.
Not an option today, but SCU is putting in a baseball field and renovating Buck Shaw for soccer only. I don't know the timetable, hopefully within the next couple years. New Maloney at Stanford is too small holding what, like, 3000 I think.
Today's Rose Garden Resident (paper for San Jose neighborhood where the CyberRays are headquartered) says the team isn't relocating. Apparently, the discussions between AEG and WUSA weren't about moving the Rays--they were about adding an expansion team in Los Angeles, says Courtemanche. Rays GM Marlene Bjornsrud also notes that "Spartan Stadium just doesn't fit into our budget, and we've got to figure out that piece quickly." http://www.rosegardenresident.com/rg-coverstrip2.shtml
Yes, my ear ring does sing strongly. I don't know what that has to do with this thread. Arn't there any other stadiums in the area that could fit ~5000 people? There are plenty of high schools, some with nice football fields.
Spartacus may have to correct me on this, but it seems that the Quakes and the CyberRays are being required to make up for (pay for) the deficiencies of SJSU's athletic program.
But how reliable is this source when it says the following: "Courtemanche said that, contrary to media reports, discussions with Anschutz Entertainment Group have been regarding potential ownership of a new, Los Angeles-based WUSA team that would be the ninth in the league. The entertainment group currently operates six Major League Soccer teams in Southern California." THE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP CURRENTLY OPERATES SIX MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER TEAMS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Did I miss the official announcement for expansion teams in Orange county, San Diego, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and Chivas LA?
Didn't you know about that expansion thing? My guess is someone didn't research their article, and the editor didn't fact check. They're probably counting the Staple Center Teams (Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, Kings, Avengers) along with the Galaxy. In terms of a stadium for the Rays, I think doubling the capacity of Maloney (Stanford) to 6 or 7K wouldn't be that hard to do. It's a matter of where the money comes from. You'd also have a sellout, or close to one for every weekend game.
Boy, I'm glad they got that wrong. Imagine Clippers' owner Donald Sterling as an owner in the WUSA or MLS.
Women's soccer league suspends operations http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-wusafolds&prov=ap&type=lgns Good or bad for MLS? Good or bad for the Quakes? I think this will be seen as a women's sport failure as opposed to soccer, and therefore, I don't think it will have much of an effect on MLS. Good for the Quakes. Probably not short term in that the CyberRays fans are going to be pissed off and not likely to come to Quakes games. However, we should pickup another 500 - 2,000 soccer fans in the next couple of years.
Knowing the media's soccer-phobic slant on things, I beleive this will be seen as a failure for the sport of soccer and as an opportunity for them to marginalize the sport that much further. Evidence the words of Bud Geracie in the SJ Merc at the end of the US' run in last year's World Cup "Now I can go back to ignoring it." Also, I doubt they will want to portray this as a failure of a women's sport. Instead they'll probably say that if a league made up of (when they should say dilluted across) the best athletes in the world fails, it must mean that America is too <<insert your own adjective here>> (Sophisticated, oriented to high scoring, blah-blah-blah) for soccer. While I don't have much of a vested interest in seeing the 'Rays stay or go, it is better for soccer if teams did not get moved or obviously, contracted. I think the best thing for the Rays is to find a nice high school facility and call it home. Or what about San Jose City College, by the way? Nice and central to major freeways...New parking garage?
Given the struggles of WNBA as well I think WUSA will go the way of ABL in terms of a "women's professional sport" failure. Ultimately it was a poor business plan (too heavily reliant on TV revenue) that did them in. I think with the proper olive branches extended we could see an uptick in our gate because the soccer market will no longer be fragmented (family vs. hard core soccer fans).