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This rumor is really out there, even for us. But like the top of this page says, we publish any and all rumors.
This one in particular just landed in our mailbox and seems remotely possible but it is anyone's guess as to which club the author is talking about.
Here it is:
original mls investor will announce sale of franchise by first of year. sale in wake of investor learning urban sss project will not move forward. low attendance also cited. new owner currently manages stadium & arena with another long-term mls investor. said stadium will host relocated franchise. as conditions of sale, current owner keeps interest in sum & new owner drops pursuit of franchise in new pro grid league. current owner may also purchase minor stake in nhl team new owner hopes to land & house in planned arena project. despite relocation, mls franchise will maintain current name in entirety.
sorry for mystery format, but i am close to a party involved & must maintain anonymity.
KC -> ST, Louis
"mls franchise will maintain current name in entirety."
Since Miami seems to want a team with someone else's name, how about--> "FC Kansas City Wizards Miami"
name in entirety? Chivas USA? Everyone else has a locational name...
anyway i'd say it's hinting at a sale of crew except for the name thing. It said that the current own doesn't like the location of the stadium and the urban plans have failed. also, crew stadium has been a place mentioned for a pro-football team in the new league and they could be investing in the Blue Jackets.
It's probably bullshit but it is talking about the Crew.
nvm....maybe it is kc to st louis
Can't be St. Louis. Only bidding cities without NHL are Miami and Portland.
miami has the nhl... kinda.
ZZzzZzZzzZZZzzZzZzZ
"sale in wake of investor learning urban sss project will not move forward. low attendance also cited."
The sss projects that are in progress are KC and SJ, both of which could be cited for 'low attendance', but they both have the current extenuating circumstances of being in temp small fields. KC's project is very close to being oked for approval. And, more specifically, I doubt you can consider it an urban stadium.
SJ is the only one of those two that could be considered stalled and not moving forward because of the economy and the financial sector meltdown. Last I heard, Wolff had an alternate plan and said that the stadium would move forward.
The only team that has been pushing for a stadium that's kinda close but not made progress is Houston. Definitely urban. But there's no way you could consider them having attendance issues.
"new owner currently manages stadium & arena with another long-term mls investor. said stadium will host relocated franchise. as conditions of sale, current owner keeps interest in sum & new owner drops pursuit of franchise in new pro grid league."
Wolff is the only one I know of that might fit this discription. CUSA certainly doesn't. Houston fits the investor description, but, once again, not the attendance issues. Has anyone heard of anything about Golden Boy wanting a pro football league team?
This rumor has so many bizarre links in it, and none of them fit as far as I can tell.
But I don't know inner workings.
Chivas USA to Miami
chivas usa barcelona miami fc
doesnt add up at all.
if chivas guadalajara sold chivas usa then the team would no longer be called chivas usa. so scratch them.
columbus doesnt have attendance problems, and they won the whole thing. they also wouldnt need to move because their sss plan collapsed, they already have one. not them either.
kc? no serious attendance problems. neither does houston. those are the two teams whos stadium deal could collapse.
dc's stadium bid could fail as well, but mls would never allow them to move.
however, it could be new england. they dont have the greatest attendance, their stadium deal doesnt seem to be gaining traction, and most importantly, they can keep their name in its entirety if they stay in new england. if the revs move to hartford, connecticut, they can still be the new england revolution. also, hartford lost their nhl team, the whalers, about 10 years ago, and there has been talk about them trying to get a team back in a new arena there. maybe some guy wants to buy a big share in the revs and build them a stadium in conneticut?
dont forget, before gilette stadium was built there was talk of kraft moving the pats to hartford. they even had the renderings for a stadium.
sounds weird, but new england actually makes the most sense to me.
Attendance has been an issue for KC and Chivas USA, among other MLS teams. Montreal outdraws both teams for USL1 football. Since it's "original" investor, it narrows down the scope a lot. As for "maintain current name in entirety" it would point towards NE Revs... and yes, Hartford does make a LOT of sense.
However, KC is trying to lure a NHL team to an arena that is owned by AEG.... So it's either NE or KC.
If it isn't total hogwash.
It's New England.
Don't ask me how I know other than I was at MLS Cup in one of the club boxes talking with someone who is privy to all that was said here and a lot more. The league will announce the change before opening day 2009.
"new owner currently manages stadium & arena with another long-term mls investor"
As much as many people here (and on BigSoccer) seem to like the idea KC->STL, then unless there's some "long-term MLS investor" who has connections to two of STL's current pro teams, then that's not it (which is great for me, since as someone who's lived in STL my whole life I ABSOLUTELY HATE the idea of adopting a KC team. KC is our rival, not our little brother).
also:
"mls franchise will maintain current name in entirety"
the only two teams I could think of this working are CUSA and NE. as CUSA obviously does not fit the "urban SSS" problem OR the "original investor", methinks the Revs will be moving somewhere else in New England.
That is, assuming this particular rumor is true.
I would discount Chivas USA as well because ownership has no interest in even owning part of an NHL team.
New England makes the most sense. Kraft and the Hunt Family are the only original owners left. The K.C. stadium deal appears set, and FC Dallas and the Crew don't need new stadia. So New England is leaving Metropolitan Boston. But would Hartford work as an MLS city?
This is interesting.
I think it's New England, and yes I believe they will move to Hartford. It makes complete sense. The Somerville (Urban plan) has not moved forward. The Revolution has low attendance even with a contending team.
Hartford was looking to get into the United Football League. Which was going to play in Rentschler Field at UConn, which is run by AEG. This pretty much meets all the criteria in the email.
Chivas to Miami I beat
Lol at the dummies saying its KC. They just secured money for their new stadium.
You can add an upgrade of 13k and let's rock.
From bizjournal.com:
"Johnson said his team will play in a soccer-specific stadium with a seating capacity of about 6,000 or 7,000, but would only say the team is evaluating options as to a location. The likelihood appears that it will play at a stadium to be built at Kennesaw State University. "
I have read and re-read this e-mail and the more I read it and the comments associated with it I think it is New England too... the only thing holding me back is that the Krafts have just this past year put a ton of cash into a study to build a stadium in Somerville, that and the fact they didn't seem to be in a hurry to move out of Gillette, simply because they own it.
But it does make sense from the standpoint of the content of the e-mail. How many original investors are there left? Wolff in San Jose is not an original, and neither is Chivas USA. The only others are AEG and the Hunt Group.
And the only way to keep the name intact is and switch cities is to have a name like Chivas USA, or Move within a region like New England.
The only other place I can think of is DC United, as they were thinking of moving to Maryland, but they don't have low attendance.
As a Revs fan that lives 15 minutes away from the Stadium, this pains me to say, but I think it is New England.
Although I don't see Hartford as being any better than Foxborough.
"You can add an upgrade of 13k and let's rock."
That would be unnecessary, since the only Johnson I can think of that owns a soccer team in that area is the owner of a Womens Pro Soccer team.
if the revs move to hartford i can see an expansion team eventually coming to boston.
Good stuff man, makes complete sense about the Revs moving. Although where have I seen that "move to CT" threat used before...oh wait :)
Could be a smokescreen to push the Somerville SSS people to get moving "or else."
United to STL, theyre using that nema already.
united was an MLS original and dont have a stadium deal, and St. Louis is already using the same name.
there is no chance at all that dc will move, we have the most dedicated fan base in the entire league not to mention we average well over 14 000 a game easy. just cause they dont have a stadium deal doesnt mean there gonna be relocated... md is working on one and the popular point one is still hanging on by a thread
your smokn crack dog, not in a million years would they take DC United out of the MLS mix, so many reasons but for now....average 22k a game last season, sorry but its the Revs We (DC) make a non sss look good
Obviously NE.
This is a fucking riddle. Not sure what exactly is meant by "keeping team name". It could mean St. Louis Crew, for example only.
Whatever team would be moving to a city hoping to lure a NHL team. Las Vegas, San Diego, Charlotte, Cleveland, Cincinatti, San Antonio.
Portland makes some sense, but would they give up the Timbers name? I'm stumped. Maybeye the NE to Hartford example but I can't see a team in Hartford. DC to Baltimore, Chivas to San Diego, San Jose to San Fransico.
F*&K the Krafts. They took a great soccer area, and pissed all over it. Then they consign it to a nullity, such as the Hartford area, as a way of stopping competition to their beloved Pats. Absolutely never had the interest of MLS, or soccer in mind. It was all gamesmanship to minimize threats to his eggball side. F*CK the Krafts.
Anonymous said...
This is a fucking riddle. Not sure what exactly is meant by "keeping team name". It could mean St. Louis Crew, for example only.
=====================================
This is what the email said:
despite relocation, mls franchise will maintain current name in entirety.
That means the name of the franchise won't change at all, so no, it can't be the St. Louis Crew.
Most of you guys are glossing over a very important thing here. "original mls investor will announce sale of franchise". That only leaves Anschutz, Hunt, and Kraft. So right out of the box the only teams in question are LA, Houston, Columbus, Dallas, and New England. Now LA and Dallas are safe because they have stadiums. Columbus was rumored to be looking at a new stadium but they are safer than NE and Houston.
"new owner currently manages stadium & arena with another long-term mls investor." The only long term investor that is in the stadium management business nationwide is AEG. Since they use the word "another" that would knock Houston off the list as well.
It all breaks down though with this line: "current owner may also purchase minor stake in nhl team new owner hopes to land & house in planned arena project". The only expansion city without an NHL team is Portland (Miami has a team. Even if they didn't their ownership group wouldn't invest in an NHL team). Portland's Rose Garden is only 13 years old so I don't think they will be opening a new arena anytime soon. So I'm going to call BS on this one.
One small thing though. An interesting thought is NE to Hartford. AEG runs the XL Center and Rentschler Field. Hartford seems like a logical place for an NHL team since they lost the Whalers and the XL Center is 33 years old so a new arena project would make sense there. I still call BS on it though.
This is all nonsense, but it would be Kansas City. New England, despite their attendance woes actually turns a profit because the Krafts own Gillete Stadium and they get to keep all their ancillary revenue and don't have to pay rent like other teams. With these tough economic and credit crunch times, I would not be remotely surprised if KC's stadium deal collapsed despite their recent tax approval. And KC's attendance is absolutely brutal.
Too many stupid "KC are moving" people to focus on here. KC isn't moving. Let's pretend for 1 moment that this rumor is even a possibility. 1) OnGoal are NOT "original MLS investors", they bought the team from Hunt. If you don't believe that, 2) they do have all their tax funding both from the state and additional assurances from the city to cover the money. The demolition fences are going up around the mall.
IT
IS
NOT
KC
This story has all the hall marks of a clever "plant" by Kraft.
Think about it. HE wants a stadium in Somerville. The economy tanks and Somerville say, "hey wait a minute here, what's in it for us? Lets look at this closer." So Kraft has one of his minions send the email in this post to MLSR and boom slowly it gets back to people in Somerville that he's looking at moving the team to CT, better act fast or risk the development....
It's Krafty.
Oh man, would be awesome if Chivas USA move to Miami... Miami in 2010 (like a lot of people are saying) would make a lot of sense. I have no problem if that =D
This is bull.
Houston to KC KC to Houston
KC to Portland
NE to Barcelona, Spain
If New England do move I hope they do change their corny singular name. Hartford FC sounds really good. Tough sounding. Opens the door up for FC Boston in the future. How do you not have club named "Boston" wearig green?! Travesty.
It should be noted that the original name for the New England Revolution was Boston Revolution as trademarked by "Major League Professional Soccer":
Word Mark BOSTON REVOLUTION
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: printed matter, namely posters, stickers, trading cards, programs, tickets and magazines
(ABANDONED) IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: wearing apparel, namely T-shirts, shirts, shorts, pants, jackets, sweatshirts, hats, sweaters, and footwear
(ABANDONED) IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: entertainment services, namely organizing, conducting and staging professional soccer games and exhibitions; production for television and radio presentation o f professional soccer games and exhibitions
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 74714795
Filing Date August 14, 1995
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) MAJOR LEAGUE PROFESSIONAL SOCCER, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE 2029 Century Park East Suite 400 Los Angeles CALIFORNIA 90067
Type of Mark TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date January 19, 1996
Two extra points:
1. Anschutz is not one of the original owners. He took over the Galaxy in 1998, I believe; the club's first season was 1996.
2. Chivas USA to San Diego would fit if San Diego had a decent arena for a hockey team. It doesn't. The San Diego Sports Arena is an aging hulk. Heck, a minor-league team disbanded down there about five years ago.
Besides, where would Chivas USA play in San Diego? Maybe at the University of San Diego but that's not a long-term solution
The answer to this riddle is clearly New England. I don't think there can even be reasonable debate about that. The legitimacy of the rumor, is, of course, up for discussion.
While Kraft has certainly played the "I'm moving to Hartford!" angle before, I don't believe for a second that he'd bother to try that with Somerville.
I have no idea whether or not this is real, and I'm pretty tapped in. Certainly an interesting thought. Foxborough, MA is a lousy location for anything, let alone an MLS team.
Sunil Gulati grew up, or at least went to highschool near Hartford right? He's the president of Kraft soccer for the NE revs, maybe there is a connection there.
Chivas USA will never die!
It's pretty simple, if the rumor is right as framed, it's New England Revolution... they are they only ones that fit it perfectly.... For the MOVE KC dummies, please raise your IQ's 25% and get real. And moving Columbus is rediculous. I think most of these move the team people think Miami would support soccer, when the town has shown it won't support ANY sport to a large degree.... Miami is the worst sports city in America by far.
Assuming there is any truth to this rumor, I am 100% positive that the author is referring to New England.
Bob Kraft is an original MLS investor. His project for an urban soccer-specific stadium in Somerville, Mass. never seemed to get off the ground.
While Kraft probably never expected to fill Gillette Stadium, he's probably just realizing now that using it for soccer games is not profitable enough, which justifies the low attendance claim.
The new owner is Northland Investment Corporation, headed by Larry Gottesdiener.
The stadium that Northland runs with AEG is Rentschler Field in Hartford, CT, which currently hosts the UConn Huskies football team, but has previously hosted soccer games featuring the U.S. men's and women's national teams and at least one game between foreign club teams (a 2004 friendly between Liverpool and Celtic that 'Pool won 5-1).
The notion that Kraft would insist that Northland drops its pursuit of a franchise in the newfound UFL makes perfect sense given that the fan base for such a team would be treading on the territory of the Kraft-owned Patriots. Moreover, the UFL even considers Hartford a potential franchise city.
As for the NHL-Hartford expansion link, Gottesdiener twice tried unsuccessfully to buy an existing franchise in order to move it to Hartford (first, the Pittsburgh Penguins; second, the Nashville Predators). And, given Kraft's business savvy, he'd obviously want some stake in such a venture given the chance to bank off of a Hartford-Boston NHL rivalry.
Last, common sense explains the notion that the club's name would be kept in its entirety if the club moved from Foxboro to Hartford.
If it's Rentschler Field then I'll be the first to say it's still too big at 40,000. Not to mention Hartford's population is only a little over a million. The only good thing is that Rentschler has grass and designed wide enough to accomodate a full sized soccer field.
I can bet a bajillion billion trillion dollars that the team with the current stadium project (that is underway) - KC. Is not going anywhere.
I hope it's chivas.
yeah, id hate on people who live in miami if i lived in kansas city as well...
NE to Chiva USA
If true, and it is NE to Hartford, as a local I'd be psyched and buy season tickets
Maybe the Revs will become the second team in the NY area. Theoretically, New York is part of New England, but not many people think so. I just doubt Hartford's ability to support a top-level team in any sport.
no, new york is not part of new england at all.
new england consists of conn, rhode island, mass, vermont, new hampshire, and maine. new york is new york.
This is a great rumor. Hartford, among many other cities, would make a much better venue than Foxboro.
I expect more relocation rumors. An unsuccessfull expansion bid from St. Louis, Portland, Vancouver, or Montreal could become quite attractive to a unhappy Houston, not profitable Colombus, poorly planned Dallas, or second-fiddle Chivas.
God, I wish it was KC, but's it's got to be NER!
"original mls investor"...Kraft?
"sale in wake of investor learning urban sss project will not move forward"...Kraft found out Somerville is not gonna happen?
"new owner currently manages stadium & arena with another long-term mls investor"...Anschultz co-operates Rentschler Field
"new owner drops pursuit of franchise in new pro grid league"...Hartford fits that to a tee with the UFL.
"current owner may also purchase minor stake in nhl team new owner hopes to land & house in planned arena project"...with a lot of teams losing money in the NHL, could they be looking to rivive the Whalers? Anshultz has a lot of pull in MLS and the NHL.
"mls franchise will maintain current name in entirety"...NER would not have to change their name with move to Hartford.
==================================
..."If it's Rentschler Field then I'll be the first to say it's still too big at 40,000. Not to mention Hartford's population is only a little over a million..."
====================================
The population of Hartford is less than 200,000. To be factual in 1996 it was 124,512. Somehow I doubt they grew 800% in 12 years.
@ Loyalgoat fan:
"Chivas USA will never die!"
Yaaaaa...OK there (sarcastic)
guys, someone is pulling your leg...
As a Hartford local, I'd love to see this happen but I don't think it will. The freater Hartford area actually has pretty strong soccer roots and support, but if there is any truth to this, Kraft is just bluffing
The Hartford Metro area population is over 1.1 million. This is New England and thus towns are smaller than you can imagine in relation to area.
Either way, being a CT resident, if this rumor is true I'd be psyched. If, as an added bonus, the NHL comes back to where it belongs I'd be double psyched.
I still bleed green.
"The population of Hartford is less than 200,000. To be factual in 1996 it was 124,512. Somehow I doubt they grew 800% in 12 years."
You're not an idiot. You know I was referring to the metro population which is the only relevant number so there's no need to be an anal fact monkey about it.
very interesting,hartford?
well, i think conneticut would be to say the least interesting....but every single sport pretty much has a new england team, this would be horrible for the revs
i cant say i know to much about conneticut, but i know it would be a major mistake if MLS did not have a NE team!!!
Are you serious????
Move New England to Hartford and you alienate its whole fanbase (Providence and Boston). Move my team and I will curse MLS for ever and I've been around since 1996
=====================================
You're not an idiot. You know I was referring to the metro population which is the only relevant number so there's no need to be an anal fact monkey about it.
=====================================
Anal fact Monkeys don't read MLS rumors.
"Move my team and I will curse MLS for ever and I've been around since 1996"
Don't cure MLS, curse your owner you idiot.
New England to Old England
The Revs would be much better off in Hartford. Foxboro is in the middle of nowhere and people aren't going to games there.
Oh and Hartford is the sports mecca of New England? I think not...
its either CHIVAS USA or NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
If this is true, I wonder what it means for soccer in Boston? I don’t think that Kraft tried very hard and I think Boston has great potential. But if the Revs do move I don’t see expansion coming back to the area for a long time. If true it would be ironic that Kraft was nominated to the soccer hall of fame as a builder and then kills the game in his own State.
First of all considering Kraft Sports just dumped over 100 grand into a STUDY for a potential Somerville stadium I find it hard to believe he would sell. I think he's a terrible soccer owner, but considering how fast this would have to happen (how much time is left in 2008?) I highly doubt it.
Hartford is a horrible location. I see all these people decrying Foxboro as the middle of nowhere. Pull out your maps and find Hartford. Too far away from Boston to draw any significant support from the biggest metro area in the region. There's a reason Kraft didn't move the Pats there. It's not an area can support a pro team (sorry Whale fans, you know its true).
Kraft has done a horrible job with soccer in Boston but what sense does moving from one of the top sports markets in the country to one of the smallest make?
Think people.
NE or Kansas
@ Loyalgoat fan:
"Chivas USA will never die!"
Yaaaaa...OK there (sarcastic)
What makes you think Chivas USA will relocated out of Cali?
Their attendance is getting better, and are doing well with sponsors.
The only move Chivas USA will due is when they get their own stadium in California.
Sorry dude, Chivas USA needs to go.
Why doesn't Chivas USA move to Arizona!
Just some numbers for you people to think about (copied from Mike Marshall's bigsoccer post):
-------------------
Liverpool vs. Celtic drew less than 25,000 at Rentschler.
The USWNT drew "almost 10,000" when they played Norway there.
The USMNT drew just barely more than 25,000 fans for a World Cup qualifier in 2005 against Trinidad and Tobago.
In their "send off" game before the 2006 World Cup, the USMNT drew less than 25,000.
----------------------------
Sounds like MLS would do great there. Really. Wow.
I SUPPORT GUADALAJARA, TRICOLORES AND CHIVAS USA. FUCK ALL YOU GINGO PUTOS!@@!@!@!
Uhhh you just said fuck you to yourself. If you support chivas you support MLS and all its teams.
Sounds like your the gringo pussy!
DC United
I agree that New England is the mystery club in question. However, it's my understanding that the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is the major roadblock in the Somerville, MA SSS plan. The Boston Globe reported in October that "the state Executive Office of Transportation, which is legally committed to extending the Green Line beyond Lechmere to Somerville and Medford by 2014, announced in May that it would probably need to split the Inner Belt and Brickbottom [the land for the proposed SSS] with a narrow, 11 1/2-acre railyard to store and service 80 Green Line cars." The article also states "The Krafts are exploring multiple urban and suburban locations for a Revolution stadium..." which gives the Hartford, CT idea floated here a lot of credibility.
Whether or not this rumor is true, the Revs could benefit from a new home.
Regarding the part about reviving the Whalers:
The NHL can't use their logo or identity on any gear because the city retained ownership of the brand, but recently, some Whalers stuff has been popping up in the NHL online store...
I think the NHL has been looking for a way to bring them back for a few years now.
I think in the long term, a Hartford location would be better for the Revs. They may not be as close to Boston, but they will be much closer to an immediate fanbase who have been starved of a real "home team" for a LONG time. I think the move could really work.