The opening whistle for the franchise is slated for the 2010 season. The $115 million soccer-specific stadium will anchor an additional $400 million economic development project, including a convention center, ritzy townhouses and a promenade - all for a struggling riverfront town that wouldn't know a soccer ball if it washed ashore.

Before you cry foul, hear me out. I'm no soccer-hater. In college, I played for a top-ranked Division I program. Post-college, I continued to play competitively long after most of my peers settled into more sedentary lives.

I've spent thousands of dollars on soccer-related clothing, equipment and vacations. I love soccer - but I've been to exactly zero MLS games since the league debuted 12 years ago.

I have mixed feelings about this new team, and I know I'm not alone among soccer diehards. First, the negatives.

With all due respect to the "Sons of Ben" (SOB) - the Philly-based fan group on steroids that successfully pressured business owners, state legislators and league officials, and helped close this deal by deflecting shots from naysayers - Major League Soccer is just plain boring.

Most true soccer fanatics would rather watch pro soccer on TV via a modestly priced sports package, choosing from among the world's best European leagues, than buy season tickets to mediocre games in their back yard.

Even if MLS wasn't overshadowed on TV by better leagues and vastly more talented teams, there's still the almost total blackout of intelligent soccer commentary in all major media outlets. When Jon Stewart and Drew Carey talk about pro soccer more often (and more intelligently) than Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon (the "Pardon the Interruption" sports-show guys), you know your sport really doesn't matter.

This isn't MLS' fault, of course, but it's hard to justify $250 million to lure David Beckham to America and a series of expensive soccer-specific stadium deals when the league as a whole is still millions in the red. Only two teams turned a profit last year, the Los Angeles Galaxy (with Beckham) and FC Dallas.

For Pennsylvania legislators, these facts and figures seem to have gotten lost in the stadium lights. The Chester project is being publicly financed by a drop-kick worth $87 million, even though most studies show that such "sports pork" projects only modestly improve the local economy, if at all.

The 2,600 temporary construction jobs and 800 full-time jobs will be a nice boost to the local economy, to be sure, but what percentage of the good jobs will go to actual Chester residents?

The stadium complex and the adjacent walks, streets and businesses will glow like a shiny new soccer ball, but how many fans will linger along the shores of the Delaware after the stadium lights dim from the 20 or so home games a year?

MLS has long been doing things its own peculiar way, following a profit-sharing business model that may be financially justifiable but is artificial to anyone accustomed to leagues that have hierarchical divisions, where teams can move up or down an entire division (based on their won-lost record at the end of the season). In the MLS, it's pay-to-play. The franchise fee is a cool $30 million.

Before I get banned, permanently, from my soccer friends' family gatherings, I do have to say that this deal has does have a glimmer of potential, even if it will be tough to capture.

THE Philadelphia region has a lot of loyal participatory soccer fans and active players. The Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association boasts more than 200,000 members, including players, coaches and referees.

Each weekend, thousands of children and adults take the field in and around Philadelphia, playing for clubs with decades-old ties to ethnic communities that have seen professional leagues with strange acronyms (NASL, NPSL) come and go. These clubs have their own bars, banquet halls, youth and adult teams, and mailing lists.

Will the Philadelphia-based team hire a marketing director who knows how to harness the energy and enthusiasm of these diverse constituents in this very independent-minded region? With only 16 MLS teams in 2010, can the new franchise quickly bring a title to this championship-starved region?

I wish the team well and hope they turn a profit. Most important, I hope they bring joy to soccer fans in the region and inspire young men and women to improve their game.

The as-yet-to-be-named team seems to have already gotten a few lucky financial breaks. Even though I won't be buying season tickets, I may take my girlfriend to see David Beckham.

Once. *

Mark Franek is an adjunct professor of writing at Philadelphia University. He coached varsity boys' soccer at Penn Charter from 1997-2002.