With all the tumolt surrounding Portland’s 2011 expansion effort, its cousin in MLS expansion, Vancouver, has quietly slid under the radar. With opening kick for Vancouver just 86 weeks away, thinks are quietly moving towards a successful opening. Vancouver is well set up for success. The ownership group seems solid. Billionaire Greg Kerfoot has long [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: expansion MLS, Vancouver MLS, Vancouver soccer, Whitecaps | 4 Comments »
When the San Jose Earthquakes became the Houston Dynamo in 2005, part of the understanding was that a soccer specific stadium was just around the corner. After years of playing in Robertson Stadium (home of the Houston Cougars), it appears that the dream of a downtown Houston stadium is closer to a reality. The downtown [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: business of soccer, Houston Dynamo, Houston stadium, Soccer Business | 2 Comments »
With the Confederations Cup in full swing and another MLS weekend behind us (for attendance figures and a nice year by year comparison, check here), we thought we would note some key business moments from the week that was. In MLS, Commissioner Don Garber continued his occasssional “blog” posts with another edition of the “Commisioner [...]
Filed under: Contracts and Transfers, Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: Jermaine Jones, KC Wizards, MLS attendance, Philadelphia Union, Red Bull Arena | Leave a Comment »
We neglected to comment on a story from last weekend about RSL’s Rio Tinto attendance and its impact on revnue. According to this story from the SL Trib, attendance in Salt Lake City is down this year, but revenue is way up. Despite the lowest attendance in Team history, revenues are up more than 25%, [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: MLS attendance, Rio Tinto, RSL Attendance, Soccer Business | 1 Comment »
We promised a post on soccer gambling, but with the big announcement in the City of Brotherly Love, we’ll put gambling to the side for now. At City Hall, the Philadelphia Union were officially announced in front of more than 500 “Sons of Ben” and other supporters. With the League Commissioner and City Mayor in [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: Blue and Gold, MLS, MLS in Philly, Philadelphia Union, Sons of Ben | 1 Comment »
Attendance issues are all the rage in MLS circles with pundits and fans floating the economy, the absence of Beckham and a multitude of other reasons for the slow-down in ticket sales this year. In Chicago, the Fire have added a new possibility to the equation: maybe the fans can’t find the stadium. The Sun-Times [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | 4 Comments »
We have discusssed Portland’s expansion bid on multiple occassions. Recently, these stories have focused on the “funding gap” between the money promised by Merritt Paulson, the City of Portland and other sources. Specifically, there is more than a $28 million hole, even if the City is able to sell more than $35 million in bonds [...]
Filed under: Expansion and Stadiums | Tagged: MLS, Oregonian, Paulson, PGE Park, Portland expansion, Soccer Business | 3 Comments »
