And the Anschutization of MLS continues. Not that I'm complaining. Hope that guy has soccer-friendly will...
The unknown part of the deal for Landon Donovan is that the team will not be known as the Bayer Nike Earthquakes (just kidding). Well, they have a marketable name for the next couple of years at least.
Thank God. SJSE treated the team shabbily. At least Anschultz Entertainment can concentrate on marketing the team now without SJSE getting in the way.
The Quakes front office was doing some good things toward the end of the 2002 season. Was that SVS&E finally getting its act together, or had AEG stepped in by then?
When Johnny Moore starting complaining about not getting enough support AEG stepped in and paid for some additional marketing personnel out of their own pocket by-passing SVS&E. I think that confirms it's the latter.
This was pretty inevitable once it was a co-op arrangement at the beginning of last season. Perhaps SVSE wanted to make sure they gave it a fair shake, or didn't think it would look right to dump the team after only one year and right after they won the Cup. Makes you wonder why they got into it in the first place, kinda. So, let me make sure I have the scoreboard straight now: Anschutz Colorado Chicago Los Angeles MetroStars DC United San Jose Hunt Columbus Kansas City Dallas (at some point) Kraft New England Hunt is 70 years old. Anschutz is 62. Kraft is 61. Right now, actuarians are beginning to sweat.
Yes, they are getting on in years. But doesn't that pretty much hold for the other major league sports as well?
Rather disappointing actually. I thought if anyone knew how to market a sports team it was SVSE. They did wonders for the Sharks and I thought they might be able to do similar deeds for the Quakes. Oh well. But with AEG taking the helm, no worries here.
bad news indeed. To me, minus Donovan, SJ is a mess. Worst attendence (? correct me if I'm wrong ) , no owner on the horizon, no control over their own stadium on the horizon, not to mention the tiny field that makes games a little difficult to watch at times and really restricts donovan's development. Perhaps, I'm draggin a dead dead dead dead horse up to beat, but I still think that keeping Miami over SJ might have been the better idea... If you are going to have anschutz take it over anyway, why not have a stadium that you control revenue for? Well, too late now... SJ just has to hold on for dear life.
I know Hunt's children are very enthusiastic about soccer. Alot of dopes in KC complain that the Hunt's sons care more about the Wizards than the Chiefs.
Well that's what NY/NJ fans were saying until the club had to deal with politicians in regards to the stadium deal as you know. His problems over the Qwest situation are a real problem. It's scarry having so much of the league depend on one corporation.
Ultimately, though, money gets things done. He's a multi-bajillionaire. The ownership, or should I say, investorship, situation in MLS isn't ideal. But its much better than it could be.
And for what it's worth, Johnathan Kraft is the member of the Kraft Family that's at nearly all the Revolution home games, and Johnathan's sons can be seen from time to time kicking a ball around with members of the team.
I agree..And Uncle Phil loves the sport which is most important of all. Now if some of the Quake fans could get Bill Gates to a few games it would be appreciated.
While some people preach gloom and doom about a future without Anschutz, I try to remember that there are people like Tim Liewieke and Kevin Payne who really run the show. While some people might not like them personally, AEG is a company that can exist without Phil so long as he makes the provisions to keep it solvent after his death. Plenty of businesses go on after the owner dies.
Too bad. Hopefully AEG can do a better job. Why does it seem so often that MLS news is good news / bad news - all in the same day?
I agree Northside...if it ain't one thing, it's another around here... Sure has made for an interesting off season so far. Stupid prediction: if AEG actually markets the Quakes from the beginning, attendance will rise 1,000 a game.
Hopefully this means that the team will be better marketed and promoted. It's a shame to see such a good team with lousy attendance.
I'm less worried about the ages of the 3 men. You'd expect the two in their early 60's to live 15 years or more. Even Hunt you'd expect to live a while. If the league isn't in better shape financially in 2010, it won't matter anyway.
Goulish, I know, and perhaps unrealistic.... Deathclock.com tells me Lamar Hunt's Personal Day of Death is: Sunday, May 14, 2006 I don't have birthdates for the other two.
I think you can pretty much count on Hunt's wife, Norma, to carry on his wishes when Lamar eventually passes away. Mrs. Hunt seems to be quite the sports fan herself. She and Lamar attend every Chiefs game, home and away, even though they live in Dallas. Lamar and Norma are at left in the photo below: