http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpYjk0aWtjBF9TAzk1ODYzNTkwBHNlYwN0aA--?slug=reu-peruuniversitario&prov=reuters&type=lgns Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara will fly to Peru on Friday to try to buy one of the country's best-loved clubs, Universitario de Deportes, for $25 million, a spokesman for him said. The flamboyant Vergara, who made his fortune selling weight-loss and nutritional products, dreams of owning a soccer club in every country where his Omnilife empire operates. Vergara already owns Guadalajara -- nicknamed the Chivas -- in Mexico, Chivas USA and Saprissa in Costa Rica, and is eyeing Atletico Madrid in Spain.
Hey, Vergara stole my idea!!! I want to own a team in every country!! Oh well, god bless him if he can pull it off...
Do his clubs in Mexico and Costa Rica have a parternship where they let players and coaches work with each other in development? If they do then the potential for forming a great MLS team would be there for Chivas USA.
Omnilife will be a sponsor of MLS, but Vergara does not like his shirts to have sponsors on them. The Chivas jersey is free of sponsors.
$25 million is very sheap for the country's most historic club(A-Rod should invest in stuff like this), must have fallen on hard times like Argentina.
It's surprising to me how few people attend matches in many South American leagues. Universitario's attendance leads the Peruvian Division 1 league with an average of 12,000. The league itself has an average attendance of 4,500. http://www.geocities.com/worldfootballrankings2004/Top125Leagues.html
That isn't good considering they have 2 new stadiums that exceed 60,000 http://www.worldstadiums.com/south_america/countries/peru.shtml
I think it's because no one can afford the tickets. Look at any matches from Brazil. They're in these huge stadiums that are only 1/4 full. The teams must make most of their cash from advertisers and selling players. Really, how much do Peruvian players make a season? Probably not much.
Pretty much the whole continent of South America has been in financial trouble over the past 10-15 years. I would expect on American erms the average player makes $10,000 a year.
Peru has been in financial trouble forever. People cant afford to go to games. Ive seen tickets go to $.50 US and people still cant fill up a stadium. If you go there though you notice that everyone has a team and nearly everyone lives by them. Just cant make it to many games. Only big matches get filled up. Also there is ALOT of violence at and around games that also scares away some people.
I think its funny that the article says that Vergara owns a team called Chivas USA. Where exactly do they play again? Oh thats right, we have to wait until July now (9th expansion announcement change)
Oh God! If Vergara buys Atletico Madrid my head is going to explode. We finally got rid of Jesus Gil, altough not in the way that any of us wanted (may he rest in peace), but if Vergara comes in, we'd go right back in the crap heap. I just don't think you can be very successful owning that many clubs in one sport on so many different continents.
If each team is adequately staffed with competent administrators, I see no reason why one person or entity can't own several on different continents. It's an organizational challenge that tons of businesses successfully accomplish in non-sports ventures.
Here's a picture from the inside of La U's Stadium. I was there last December. It's a shame they have so much trouble with attendance because it's such a beautiful stadium. If you see the mountain in the background, a friend who lives there told me that during important national team matches, the side of the mountain is full of people hoping to get a good view of the game for free. The stadium is even more impressive when you see the stadium for Alianza Lima, which is very tiny, and in one of the worst neighborhoods in Lima, La Victoria.