http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/05/22/story2.html?hbx=e_sw I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Truly unbelievable. If I were Wolff or MLS no way I'd consider building an SSS on SJSU property-- I'd keep them in the running as a negotiating chip, but nothing more.
Mistake admitted. Well, not really. George W like. "No it wasn't a mistake, I'm just doing it the opposite way I wanted to in the first place because it didn't work, and it's hurting me now. That's all, so it wasn't a mistake on my part." BTW - Not a political statement, just factual, like "I didn't inhale, and "read my lips, no new taxes."
An understandable reaction, but we need to be more practical. If working with them would get a team back in a modernized stadium (if not completely new) than we need to pursue it. As for any resentment about the past, remember: there is more joy in heaven for repentant sinner...blah, blah, blah...
Unless you get a 40+ year ground lease for all property you are developing (the entire lifetime of a stadium), you'd have to wonder about how future business dealings might go negative with the university administration. So it's not just about the past, it's about the future. Every time there's a new university president, you don't want to have to sweat out some contractual issue.
Of course that is true. But that is a detail that can be worked out. I just don't think we can afford to close off any options no matter what the treacherous a-holes have done in the past.
Philadelphia-based SMG Management Co. and Denver-based Global Spectrum Inc. are the finalists for a two-year contract -- estimated to be worth about $500,000 -- to manage Spartan Stadium for San Jose State's Athletics Department.
I think the author is reaching by suggesting that the Spartan management deal might have somehow kept the Quakes from relocating. For one, AEG's offer regarding Spartan was presented a couple (several?) years ago, and I doubt they were still interested in it. Also, we don't know what kind of revenue sharing arrangement SJSU is willing to offer. The Spartan management deal may have been useful to SVS&E, but I'm not sure that they were interested in a site other than the downtown site, except as a stopgap.
Yes, but what is remarkable is Kassing's about face on having an outside group manage the stadium. If AEG has been offered to do this who knows what kind of revenue sharing deal they could have swung regarding the Earthquakes use of the stadium. It might have been the "stopgap" needed until a more ambitious plan for Spartan could be realized. It looks like Kassing is finally seeing the light, too bad it was too late for the Quakes. This latest news probably goes hand in hand with Kassing's comments of not too long ago about SJSU's willingness to work with a future Quakes team.
or maybe this paves the way for an expansion team, or USL Div 1 team, to play in Spartan for a few years with a decent revenue stream? Probably not, but one can hope. Tony
This presumes that AEG had any inclination of keeping a team in San Jose. There are too many indicators that dispute that inclination. AEG wanted out of San Jose, their decision to move vs. sell was based on money, control of venue, seats on MLS board and one that hasn't been discussed too much, spite.
But this is really just a replacement of Spartan Shops with another management company, isn't it? If SJSU is doing this to generate more revenue for their football program, I'm not sure that they will be offering significantly more generous revenue sharing figures. I guess the difference is that they are going to contract this out to a "for profit" organization, not a "not for profit" one, and that the management companies are going to presumably start actually aggressively marketing the venue. So yeah, it's frustrating that they didn't pull their heads out on this sooner. I think this kind of thing would have been more of interest to SVS&E than AEG, and might have helped the negotiations out a bit at the end of last year.
[/subliminal gloating over the fact that AEG wasn't the only entity that made a mistake] [again... AEG absolutely mismanaged the situation, but they weren't the only players at fault]
It would be interesting know if SJSE had bid for this job. Talk about irony if they had won the contract!
Yes, certainly, and this is all post mortem speculation, but, let's say AEG had been allowed to manage the place, and made money for SJSU. Perhaps their offer to put $15 million towards renovation and a private/public partnership would have been received a little better.
I'm having trouble getting worked up about this. AEG's offer was not equivalent to getting a stadium management contract today. AEG's offer required SJSU to match or exceed AEG's $15 million to pay for renovations and SJSU would probably have reliquished much more control over the stadium than they will by hiring a stadium manager. What SJSU is accepting now is not the same as what they rejected from AEG. From SJSU athletics' standpoint, they are moving from being tenants of Spartan Shops to clients hiring a contractor to take care of a business interest.
Spartan Stadium is still by far the most practical stadium for the new San Jose Earthquakes to play in for a season or two until The Epicenter at San José is up and running. Besides, whether or not Spartan Shops was a major factor in the previous Quakes leaving would be moot since they'll no longer be running Spartan. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G