Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL and founder of Home Depot, is pondering a bid for an MLS team that would begin play in 2011. “We have had discussions with Arthur Blank and his staff recently and those discussions are positive,” said MLS Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Dan Courtemanche.
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Miami is getting waaay more serious…
FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure, President of Bolivar Futbol Club are in discussions with FIU about possibly bringing a Major League Soccer expansion franchise to FIU Stadium. Before FIU’s football practice Tuesday afternoon, a ”Welcome MLS” sign was playing on the FIU Stadium video jumbotron.
FIU built its new stadium not only for Golden Panthers football, but with soccer in mind by putting the seats as close as possible to the field, but with enough room to allow for soccer matches to be played (check out the huge sideline above - retractable stands).
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High-ranking officials of Pachuca, Mexico’s oldest professional soccer club, might announce today whether they picked the Valley as the home of their first expansion team in the United States. Pachuca’s officials are meeting with the mayors of Mesa and Tolleson and probably Gov. Janet Napolitano today to discuss bringing the Valley its first professional outdoor soccer team, a United Soccer Leagues First Division club.
Pachuca was interested in joining MLS, but the organization’s leaders now believe it’s more feasible to join the USL first, Starky said. Pachuca’s ambitious plan is to eventually join MLS, build an indoor, soccer-specific facility in the Valley - if the organization docks here - and build a youth soccer academy that mirrors the efforts of Pachuca’s academy in Mexico. Pachuca officials might make an official announcement at about 7 tonight at Pepi’s Pizza on 7227 S. Central Ave., where Pachuca officials will discuss their plans with a local soccer fan group, MLS Phoenix Rising.
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Vancouver’s outgoing mayor Sam Sullivan was in New York to shore up support for his city’s bid for a new Major League Soccer franchise on Tuesday. “There certainly is a lot of competition, and that’s why I’m here,” said Sullivan. “I think I can add that little extra to show that, to give the good reasons why Vancouver is a great opportunity for the league.”
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“MLS is looking to expand further, with potential teams in Ottawa, Portland or St. Louis on tap. And you know what? I’m sick of getting overlooked…”
Is MLS ignoring the Southern US? One writer takes a look.
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Like the other DP sites are reporting, a group of Vegas investors are interested in buying into the Columbus Crew. No one knows the direction this is going, but MLS expansion talk is all the rage ahead of October 15th. Mark Noorzai is the key investor here and they sound ambitious.
Could this proposed Harrah’s Las Vegas Arena - built in partnership with AEG - be a future home of an MLS team…?
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As reported here a couple days ago, MLS brass have been in Chicago the last few days discussing how to grow the business. MLS commisioner Don Garber was watching him some Blanco Rolfe and Becks Eddie Lewis and he discussed a few issues in the press box of Toyota Park.
Take-aways? No promotion/relegation, not many schedule changes for 09, and a Midwest team is preferred georaphically and one other team seem to be in the lead in the expansion race.
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From today’s Herald Tribune:
There were crews all about Florida International University’s new on-campus football stadium this week, doing everything from installing a $2 million scoreboard to painting logos on the freshly-installed turf. It’ll finally be ready Saturday, in time for a visit from No. 12 South Florida.
….The stadium, much like FIU’s process of building a program, remains very much a work in progress. It’ll hold about 18,000 people on Saturday, which would be the biggest home crowd in FIU’s history. Constructed in 16 months, with turf wide enough to host professional soccer matches — FIU has been talking with MLS officials about expansion — and chairback bleacher seats. It will have replay screens and state-of-the-art audio systems and 15 luxury suites in use by deep-pocketed fans this weekend.
More here. Fieldturf…not classy.
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Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is making a forceful pitch for a Major League Soccer franchise as part of a political and financial power play that would likely force municipal officials to choose between chipping in for a soccer stadium or a Canadian Football League park.
Though Melnyk’s grand vision for an MLS team has clearly energized the city’s soccer establishment, it has lowered the temperature on an increasingly chilly relationship with backers of Ottawa’s nascent CFL franchise…the CFL has already granted a provisional franchise to an investment group led by Jeff Hunt, the owner of the Ottawa 67’s junior hockey team. The group is to present its own stadium proposal this month.
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Eugene Melnyk, owner of Senators Sports & Entertainment (SSE), will hold a news conference to officially launch the bid to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Ottawa and present details to build a new world-class stadium.
The news conference will take place Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 9 a.m. at Scotiabank Place’s Gate 1 entrance. Melnyk will be joined by SSE chief executive officer Roy Mlakar and chief operating officer Cyril Leeder. Members from all levels of the National Capital Region’s soccer community have also been invited.
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