A's owners purchase option with MLS
Wolff, Fisher acquire a three-year exclusive option for an MLS team
Major League Soccer announced Wednesday that the league has formed a partnership with Lew Wolff and John Fisher, principal owners of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball, that gives the pair an exclusive three-year window to acquire a new MLS team in the Bay Area, should they be successful in developing a new soccer-specific stadium.
"We're well aware, through our previous experience, of the passion and knowledge of the sport in the Bay Area, but we've believed from the beginning that we need a local owner, we've needed a stadium plan," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a media conference call. "We think that combining Lew and John's sports expertise, along with their real estate development expertise and their knowledge of the market, that we have the best opportunity we've ever had to secure a successful long-term return to the Bay Area."
Wolff and Fisher are currently searching for a site to build a new baseball stadium for the Athletics. Wolff said on the call that the two might or might not be linked, but that the entire Bay Area will be considered when looking for a new home for the Earthquakes.
"It's not an easy task to even find land in the Bay Area, but we think there are lots of opportunities that we can create if we have to and we're not limited to any specific location," Wolff said. "The whole Bay Area is part of our option."
The Earthquakes, who were previously known as the San Jose Clash, were one of the founding teams of Major League Soccer, even hosting the league's inaugural game in 1996. But the lack of a local owner and a sufficient site on which to develop a new home for the team in recent years forced Anschutz Entertainment Group to uproot the team and re-establish in Houston as Houston Dynamo.
"Where we are as a league is we need more than just a passionate fan base. We need to have local ownership that can manage the growth of that fan base and help expand its commitment to the team to being active members of the soccer community, which means watching games on television, buying tickets, buying luxury boxes, buying club seats ... In San Jose with the Earthquakes, we had none of that," Garber said.
"This is not to take anything away from Spartan Stadium, but it was not a stadium that could support the economics that we need to grow the sport in this country that the fans in that market deserve. So while the fan base existed, it didn't exist to the point where we were able to support that team financially."
Garber said the league hopes to have a new team in the Bay Area no later than 2009. That team could begin play as early as 2008, should a stadium resolution be near.
"We need to be in a position where we have a stadium commitment so that we're not back where we were last time around," Garber said. "We would not -- at this point -- accept the exercising of the option unless a soccer-specific stadium plan was in place."
"We need a really firm path to a venue before we'd even impose ourselves on Major League Soccer," added Wolff. "If there was an interim place to play, we would, but we will not do that unless we really know we're headed for a venue."
Wednesday's announcement comes on the heels of MLS unveiling its 13th team, which will begin play in 2007 in Toronto in a soccer-specific stadium that is currently under construction. Garber said on the call that the league has set a goal of having 16 teams by the end of the decade.
"It's our plan to add a 14th team in 2008. That team will likely come in the Midwest, likely either St. Louis or Cleveland or a number of other places that we're looking to that could represent our 14th team," Garber said. "Obviously, we've got two additional teams. We hope that San Jose will be one of them and a number of other markets from Philadelphia, San Diego and a number of other places that could fill in that 16th spot."
Wolff said he and Fisher are excited about the possibility of taking a stake in soccer.
"We think we're hitting the soccer world at perhaps exactly the right time, both from an interest point of view and a financial point of view," he said. "We're planning to open an office (in the Bay Area) almost immediately. We hope to hit the ground running."
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
