Q&A: How city is competing on the MLS field
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Major League Soccer has set an end-of-January deadline to name the city that will host its 16th team, with St. Louis believed to be leading Philadelphia. As league officials gather in Baltimore today for the player draft, people inside and outside soccer have questions.
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Major League Soccer has set an end-of-January deadline to name the city that will host its 16th team, with St. Louis believed to be leading Philadelphia. As league officials gather in Baltimore today for the player draft, people inside and outside soccer have questions.
Question:
Why is the deadline Jan. 31?
Answer:
The timing is somewhat arbitrary, but other cities want teams, and MLS can't wait forever. Setting a deadline puts pressure on St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Q:
What's the difference between the proposals from St. Louis and Philadelphia?
A:
St. Louis has a stadium deal, but not enough wealthy investors. Philadelphia has rich investors, but no agreement for a new stadium. The Philadelphia market is far larger, but that won't matter unless organizers secure a stadium agreement.
Q:
Will a team definitely be placed in Philadelphia or St. Louis?
A:
No. Any number of alternate scenarios could occur. The league could award teams to both cities, neither city, or an as-yet unknown contender. The original idea was to award two franchises this year. Seattle has won one of them. In MLS, a city with two key elements - strong ownership and a stadium deal - can cut to the front of the line.
Q:
Is this a race against time, with the expansion team going to the first city that finalizes its proposal?
A:
Nobody knows. Or at least MLS officials won't say, citing a no-comment policy on how potential expansion markets stack up. But both criteria must be met before the league would award a team to either city.
Q:
Who would own the Philadelphia team?
A:
Jay Sugarman, chief executive officer of iStar Financial, leads a private investment group that includes Wilmington developers Christopher and Robert Buccini and James Nevels, chairman of the Swarthmore Group financial advisers and a former head of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.
Q:
Why would the stadium be built in Chester and not Philadelphia?
A:
Lots of reasons. Two big ones: money and politics. The investors want $45 million from the state. By putting the stadium in Chester, political leaders can offer the funding as much-needed help for a downtrodden city, a public-works project that would provide jobs - not a tax-money giveaway. Plus, land is cheaper and more abundant in Chester.
Q:
Who would pay for the new stadium?
A:
Lots of people, including Pennsylvania taxpayers. The investors estimate that starting a team would cost $155 million: $115 million for the stadium, $30 million to pay the MLS entry fee, and $10 million for working capital. Of that, the investors intend to put up $80 million. Delaware County has promised $30 million toward stadium construction, and the state has been asked to contribute $45 million.
Q:
Why would a new soccer team succeed, when teams like the Philadelphia Atoms failed?
A:
That's a big question. It hasn't been proved that a new team would be successful. But MLS believes it has hit on a winning business strategy. Unlike the old North American Soccer League, whose owners competed for players and money, MLS operates as a single entity. Owners buy in as owner-operators, sharing profits and losses. MLS tries to put teams in new, soccer-specific stadiums, keeping control of millions of dollars from parking, food, souvenirs and luxury suites.