Your examples suck. In both these cases, the ownership groups based their future on building a SSS. Salt Lake announced this early and often and even went so far as to talk about moving the club when there were problems with financing. In the case of San Jose, there is a site already picked out and the organization is already at least halfway through the process with the San Jose City Council. Neither one of these cases have anything in common with putting a MLS team a NFL stadium. Perhaps you should go back to writing fantasies?
Go read the front page of Bigsoccer today. The whole space is about the meetings yesterday in Philly with Garber and the Collinsville vote on Monday. Both places sound extremely positive and are the exact way MLS would love to enter a market with a SSS already in place. They see how well that worked in Toronto.
And, as a person with some inside sources, I can say that we are hearing that Seattle are still in the lead. I am only telling you what inside sources are saying. I can't qualify it anymore than to say the people who are talking are close to the Seattle bid and the MLS expansion race in general. You may want those two bids to go forward. I may want Seattle's to make it. Either way, sources are saying Seattle and Qwest are closer than the other two.
They are spot on. Wolff's plans are yet to be concrete, and Checketts had only the desire for an SSS and what he thought were possible political allies in his quest. If MLS are requiring SSS 'plans,' then Seattle are making them. Why else would they remain active? If you think the league has told Seattle they need SSS plans, fine. Do you really think the Seattle people would answer back with "No, it's only Qwest for us?" Not if they wanted a team, according to the people posting in this forum. Seattle MLS right now are in the final stages of negotiating a very sweetheart deal with Qwest that MLS fully approves of. Coming forward right now with talk of an SSS is counterproductive to the Qwest negotiations. Once those are settled, then some public talk will begin about a possible SSS for Seattle MLS.
The more this thing plays out the more I think Seattle is being used as leverage to motivate Philly and St.Louis to finalize plans for a SSS. MLS won't be coming to Seattle unless one of the three groups involved commit to building a SSS within a certain amount of time imo. The funny thing is the Hanuer/Roth group seems to be making the most noise but it makes me wonder if the Athletico group may be actually making more headway on a realitisc proposal to bring MLS to Seattle and into a SSS. As far as I'm concerned all the hype and noise coming from the Hanuer contingent is more of the same stuff we've been hearing for the last five years from him. He hasn't been able to get it done in 5+ years and I just see this as more posturing from him with out any substance.
Hype? Hanauer has said almost NOTHING publicly about his efforts with Joe Roth. It is big mouth's like ME who can't keep shut about rumors and inside sources. We actually don't know much beyond the original article posted in the Biz Journal a month ago: http://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...s/2007/08/13/story5.html?b=1186977600^1503222 Other hints have surfaced, such as the Steve Kelley pieces in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2003847485_kelley22.html http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soccer/2003869053_kelley05.html But there has been no 'hype' coming from the Sounders, Hanauer or Roth on this subject. In fact, Adrian is quite conservative in his approach, to this day.
You're not very familiar with business negotiations and the bidding process are you? Unless your sources are from Don Garber's office then it's nothing more than hearsay and quite possibly an excellent example of shrewd negotiating tactics on the part of MLS. You sir are being played like a fiddle.
Yes. I have some inside knowledge. Yes, as we all know, it is important to use someone like me, with such a huge following, in MLS negotiations. MLS' shrewd plan of linking false rumors to me via various sources is working like a charm! Your accusations made my morning. Don't skip your meds next time.
Don't take it personally but you're the self-appointed internet mouthpiece of the Haneur group. Full of hearsay and links to the Seattle Times and Puget Sound Biz Journal.
A certain soccer writer tried to tell me that his "sources" inside MLS told him that San Jose wasn't being talked about at all at MLS headquarters and that San Jose was not on the radar at all. Geez, look at where we are at today.
So back up your accusation then? Prove that I am 'being played like a fiddle.' Oh, you can't? That's what I call heresay.
Exactly my point and quoting inside sources as gospel is a foolish proposition and quite annoying for some who are trying to base this discussion on the known facts (which have been conveniently ignored by a few in this thread).
I honestly could careless which cities get in but I can't imagine that the Seattle bid at Qwest would every beat bids in the other 2 places that include starting play at a SSS. That wouldnt make any sense for MLS. Maybe they would just let in 17 teams but they will certainly not reject bids from 2 desirable markets with SSS.
Hearsay is "second-hand" information with no supporting evidence. My description of you as the self-appointed " Internet mouthpiece" for the Haneur ownership group is based solely on your continuously posting your inside status with said group to support your opinions (rather weak and poorly constructed ones at that). IMO you're being played.
Wow, this thread is better than midday television! Coming up next... We'll find that Jaypro shot JR and Sounderfan is actually Dr. Feelgood!!!
It's not personal and very rarely ever is for me on Big Soccer. I would certainly shake your hand and discuss this very topic in person with you in a civil matter over beers at a Sounders tailgate.
Jaypro - you need to see Hanauers face at the matches sometimes. I've run into him a few times and every time I start in with "Thank you, Mr. Hanauer! Bring us MLS in 2009!" I say the same thing every time and he walks away beeming. I wouldn't say that that is quote 2 and 2 making four, but...
Cool! I'm all for it if it's done right. Aside from the Qwest long term deal my only other concern is his business acumen and ability to successfully market and run a club in Seattle. I don't doubt he's a stand up guy he just seems a bit out of his depth dealing with MLS and the complexities of getting a SSS built.
It never fails to amaze me how the Sounder fans seem to miss this one simple fact: MLS fans don't want to see MLS games played at Qwest regardless of if the league can worked out a 'sweetheart deal' with the stadium ownership or not. The honest truth is, soccer does NOT look attractive in huge stadiums where 2/3's of the seats are empty. The league does not need that anymore. So I don't care if you pack 20k into Qwest and it sounds great, it looks bad and quite frankly is embarrssing when watching it on TV. I too don't see the league bypassing cities that are working out SSS plans to allow a Seattle team into the fold simply because they are such a "great" market. I think it comes down to some people who want it so bad they'll believe just about anything, even if it makes no common sense.
You are missing OUR point. We DON'T CARE what you think! Only what MLS thinks! And they change that yearly! Go Seattle!
And it amazes me how many anti-Qwest supporters seem to think that what MLS fans want matters one bit to the decisions the MLS FO will make. Seattle may get in, it may not. But it will have nothing to do with "We can't let Seattle in because BigSoccer fans hate football lines". Of course, this is the same group that thinks the BigSoccer outcry over Arsenal Colorado FC is what caused the Rapids to make a last minute decision not to go through a name change.
Do MLS fans make the expansion decisions? And who are you to determine what's "attractive"? Do you have survey research that proves it, or are you just going off what a few of your friends and some posters at Big Soccer have said? If Seattle did draw 20k a game, do you think the league would complain? And as the lower bowl at Qwest only holds 25,000 anyway, and is very well defined, I doubt it would look all that unattractive. Qwest isn't the Rose Bowl. But really, that isn't the point. SSS may be pleasing visually, and may provide more atmosphere, but the primary reason MLS wants them is control. Control of revenues, control of playing dates. If the league wants weeks off for international breaks, or wants to move to a different time of year, control of playing dates is important. If you're giving $5 a ticket over to 1st and Goal to play in Qwest, that's revenue lost. In light of that, I would surprised to see MLS bite on a plan that didn't at least talk about the possible ways to get out of Qwest somewhere down the road. But if there's enough money and a sound enough plan overall, I don't think having the SSS immediately on the way is an insurmountable hurdle. It certainly wasn't in Salt Lake or Houston.