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November 30, 2006
Don Gagliardi talks Quakes on KLIV
Many of you will have fond memories of the Quakes games that were once broadcast by KLIV, 1590 on your AM dial. If you tune in again this week, there's a chance you'll hear the words "soccer" and "Earthquakes" on your radio again.
SSV president Don Gagliardi stopped by the KLIV studios on Tuesday morning and spoke with KLIV's George Sampson. Their conversation touched on a number of topics, including Lew Wolff, the economic impact a new stadium could have on the area, and soccer's international scope.
Posted by Jay at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)
But it's still Texas....
Glenn Davis recently made the following statement in an opinion piece concerning the new Beckham rule:
"The Dynamo's Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario are legitimate stars in Houston after only 11 months. They get more media attention here than in all their time in San Jose as members of the Earthquakes."
While there are a lot of problems with such a broad generalization, the obvious question that comes to mind is how Mr. Davis quantifies such a statement. Isn't measuring "media attention" a little subjective? Does spending money on your own team, finally, count as media attention? We know that AEG never spent any money putting Double D or Chinger on billboards here in San Jose, as they did in Houston. We were told that doing so here was a waste of money and that it would not translate into tickets sold. Were Brian Ching and Dwayne DeResario not stars in San Jose because AEG did not put them on billboards and conduct a marketing campaign centered on them?
Putting aside the idea that one can quantify media attention - maybe you can- does the fact that the players feel like they get more attention in Houston suggest that one of several reasons that AEG decided to move the Quakes was because of a lack of media attention? People here have complained that the Mercury News' lack of coverage and the cold reception given AEG at City Hall were to blame for their departure. Can the media generate interest for a team? Or does the team first have to "sell tickets" to generate media interest?
While we know there were no Quakes billboard campaigns here in San Jose under AEG's watch, we also know that the Mercury News never dedicated an entire front page to the Quakes, or did a four page pull out ahead of either of the MLS Cups' which the Quakes won, as the Houston Chronicle did for the Dynamo. Why was it considered important in Texas but not in California? Has the fact that AEG promoted the team there and spent money on them influenced coverage? Maybe. But it comes down to editorial bias. The editors here do not think MLS soccer is newsworthy and the editors in Houston do. The team gets better coverage there, and has a greater "buzz."
Posted by Colin at 09:17 AM | Comments (5)
November 28, 2006
MLS TV Rights Fee Summary
MLS, throught its marketing arm Soccer United Marketing ("SUM"), has done an excellent job in securing TV rights fees for MLS games. Over the last couple of months, MLS has announced that SUM has brokered rights deals that pay the league $20 million annually for the next eight years. A summary of those deals, as reported by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, is as follows:
ESPN/ABC - 8 years at $7-8M a year - Season opener on ABC; 26 regular season games (Thursday nights) on ESPN2; 3 playoff games ; all-star and MLS Cup on ABC; men's and women's national team matches; World Cup Qualifiers; MLS Draft and multimedia content for various ESPN platforms.
Univision - 8 years at $9-10M a year - Spanish language TV rights to 25 regular season games, 3 playoff games, 10 U.S. Men's national team matches, 5 U.S. based internationals run by SUM, MLS highlights on Reupblica Deportiva and Contacto Deportivo, online and wireless rights.
Fox Soccer Channel - 11 years at $2.2M a year - MLS Game of the Week on Saturday Nights, 3 playoff matches, 2 men's and 2 women's national team games through 2010, 3 internationals, online and wireless rights.
HDNet - 3 years at $2.5M a year - 26 regular season games, half of which are exclusive, 3 playoff games.
It's good news all around, especially with the Univision contract. That should give the league more credibility with Hispanics. The FSC coverage is also reportedly going to have three hours of coverage, including the game, every Saturday. It will include 1/2 hour pre- and post-game shows. It's good this is starting in 2007, so they'll have time to work out the kinks before showing the Quakes games in 2008....
Posted by Colin at 09:34 AM | Comments (3)
November 20, 2006
Mercury News, CC Times profile Wolff
It looks as though the area press may finally be waking up to Lew Wolff and his goal of building both a soccer stadium for the Earthquakes and a new baseball stadium, Cisco Field, for the A's. Both the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times ran a profile on Wolff and his long history of successful South Bay developments. (The same articles appeared in both papers; our link is to the Merc.) This is good news on a couple fronts: one, it serves to publicize Wolff's ambitions regarding soccer to a wider audience and two, it provides a recap of all that Wolff has already accomplished. That list is particularly impressive and should serve to reintroduce the public to Wolff, who has repeatedly shown that he can both talk the talk and walk the walk.
The Chronicle also ran an interesting item over the weekend. Matier and Ross checked in with another angle to the 49er's ambitions to build a stadium in Santa Clara, surveying the recent failed attempts to build sports stadium deals in that city.
Don't go banking on Santa Clara being the answer to 49ers co-owner John York's stadium dreams just yet -- questions of land, financing and history itself suggest he may be in for tough times.There have been three attempts in the last 16 years -- involving the Giants, the A's and Major League Soccer -- to bring big-league sports to Santa Clara, and "we have yet to find one that works,'' said Santa Clara Assistant City Manager Ron Garratt.
Garratt goes on to state that the Great America site is the only one in the city suitable for the 49er's project, despite assertions to the contrary that have recently been seen in the press.
From our perspective, it looks like the situation in Santa Clara is going to get more complicated before it gets clearer.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Monday's Matier and Ross column says that Hunter's Point may be in play for the stadium. They also detail some of the behind-the-scenes activities of some of the principal players. With the effort that's being put into keeping the Niners in SF, it's starting to look as though the team's announcement of their intentions to pursue an exclusive deal with Santa Clara were premature.
Posted by Jay at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2006
Merc weighs in on 49ers stadium
Today, the San Jose Mercury News offers up a story on Santa Clara's attempt to win the 49ers stadium deal. The story focuses on the City of Santa Clara's long track record of financial foresight, something that has always impressed us at SSV as well. For example, the article notes, Santa Clara owns the land upon which Great America is built, and pockets over $5 million a year in rent.
Naturally, there's a lot of enthusiasm in that city for the potential Niners deal. In San Francisco, the stadium cost was projected at $600 to $800 million, and most cities would be pleased to have that kind of investment in their community.
We've been thinking a bit about the numbers, though, and we're not so sure that a new soccer stadium isn't a better deal. We know that opinion will surprise a lot of people but here's our thinking:
- The football stadium proposed for San Francisco would seat 68,000. In a typical season, the Niners have ten home games, for a maximum potential total of 680,000 fans.- The soccer stadium proposed by Lew Wolff and Earthquakes Soccer, LLC would have a capacity of about 20,000. MLS teams typically play about 20 home games over the course of a season, generating a maximum total of 400,000 fans. Add in an international exhibition or two, appearances by the U.S. men's and women's national teams, and you're up to 24 matches and a total of 480,000 people.
- While that's well below the football total, consider the following: A 20,000-seat stadium is ideal for concerts. The same cannot be said of the proposed 49ers facility—there are only a few bands these days that can sell out a 50,000-seat stadium: The Rolling Stones, who are sure to be cutting back on their touring schedule now that they have reached a cumulate 250 (!) years of age; U2; maybe Bruce Springsteen. There's also a lot of competition in the Bay Area for shows of that size: the Giants' ballpark is one, and we expect that rents at the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum will be very reasonable for concerts once the A's leave those confines for Cisco Field.
On the other hand, there's an incredibly long list of performers who are capable of filling a 20,000 seater. If you sell out a modest six concerts a year, you're up to a total maximum of 600,000 attendees for your soccer stadium, which puts us in the neighborhood of total visitors to the potential 49ers stadium.
- Without even considering any of the other possible uses for the soccer stadium, we're looking at 10 events at 68,000 people each versus 30 events at 20,000 each. Those numbers are comparable, but which of these would have a greater impact on economic development? We'll ask you this: If you're an entrepreneur interested in opening a restaurant, do you want to be where there will be events drawing big crowds on 30 weekends a year or do you want to be where the crowds are only guaranteed 10 times a year? We think that most people making that decision would choose to be where the crowds will be 30 weekends a year, three times more than football has to offer.
- Here's another thing to consider: traffic. Which of these facilities would have a greater impact on traffic? Or, to put it another way, would you rather have to navigate through the cars that carry 68,000 people or those that carry 20,000 people? Granted, there are other issues involved here—proximity to mass transit, for instance. Still, the question stands.
- The thing that clinches it for us, though, is the cost: an estimated $600 to $800 million for the 49ers stadium (680,000 fans) versus an estimated $100 million for soccer (600,000 fans). To us, the soccer stadium looks like an absolute bargain.
The good news for Santa Clara, of course, is that they have the available land for both soccer and football stadiums, so either/or is not necessarily a choice they have to make. We thought it was worth pointing out, though, that a proposed soccer stadium can hold its own when compared to a gridiron facility, and could even be seen as a smarter investment.
Posted by Jay at 08:13 AM | Comments (2)
November 15, 2006
No One Can Enter Cartman's Amusement Park
After a couple of articles in the Houston Chronicle this week on the on again - off again sale of the former Earthquakes now Houston Dynamo, SSV was reminded of an episode of South Park. Somehow Cartman gained possession of a Neverland-type amusement park and only allowed himself to use it. South Park news reports suggested he was using the world famous exclusion sales technique. Drive up demand by saying that it's off limits. Mostly to annoy Kyle, he had proclaimed that "no one can come to my amusement park!" Next thing he knew, the kids were lined up around the block to get in, and he could charge anything he wanted. Everyone got in at but at outrageous prices(except Kyle who would not be admitted at any price.)
AEG said they were moving the team to Houston to get a new owner. First the Dynamo were for sale - $30M according to Tim Leiweke. Then they were not for sale, according to Oliver Luck. Well, which is it? We suspect AEG is using Cartman's world famous exclusion sales technique, but that Cartman won't get any credit for it.
Posted by Colin at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)
San Jose 2, Houston 1
Many of you may have noticed the lazy reporting that's been prevalent in the coverage of Houston's victory in last Sunday's MLS Cup. Far too many in the media referred to the win as Houston's third championship, obviously confusing the team's San Jose past with its Houston present. Even Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney, whom we regard as the dean of MLS writers, wrote that "Houston preserved its perfect record in championship games by prevailing on penalties, 4-3, to win MLS Cup '06," despite the fact that Houston had no record in championship games to preserve.
So, just so it's clear to everyone, we'll explain it. This is Houston's first year in MLS. The records of the San Jose Earthquakes are being held under lock and key and will only be reopened when the Quakes return. And if anyone doesn't believe us, perhaps this correspondence between MLS president Mark Abbott and SSV president Don Gagliardi will be convincing:
Don,
As we discussed, all competitive records of the Earthquakes remain with any future SJ team. Under our official records, this was Houston’s first, not third, championship.
Mark
Mark Abbott
President
Major League Soccer
So, congratulations to Houston, but it's only in American football that one kick can result in three points.
Posted by Jay at 03:43 PM | Comments (4)
SF still interested in Earthquakes?
We haven't seen the words "San Francisco" mentioned in the same breath as "Major League Soccer" for quite a while now, but the San Francisco Chronicle does just that today. Matier and Ross, the Chronicle's reporters who work the inside angles at City Hall, state that the San Francisco Olympic was hoping to salvage their bid with help from soccer:
...local Olympic organizers huddled over the weekend to try to come up with a plan to change (U.S. Olympic Committee executive Peter) Ueberroth's mind -- focusing on a scheme to build an 80,000-seat Olympic stadium at Candlestick that could later be shrunk down and converted for use by Major League Soccer. In the end, however, they concluded that San Francisco's credibility had been put in what committee boss Scott Givens called "an unrecoverable situation.''
That "unrecoverable situation" was created last week when 49ers owner John York suddenly decided, on the same night as the grand opening of Earthquakes Soccer's new San Jose offices, that he preferred Santa Clara to anything San Francisco had to offer.
Addendum: The Contra Costa Times reports today that, with San Francisco no longer mounting a bid, the Spartan Stadium and Stanford Stadium could become part of the Los Angeles Olympic Committee's bid to host the 2014 games:
Los Angeles officials said Tuesday they will consider using stadiums at Stanford and San Jose State for preliminary soccer matches if they win the bid."We certainly could use an additional venue or two," said David Simon, president of the L.A. Olympic bid committee...
L.A. officials haven't discussed the plan with anyone in the Bay Area yet, but Dean Munro, executive director of the San Jose Sports Authority, welcomed the idea.
"I would think they would have plenty of soccer facilities in Southern California," he said. "If not, we would enthusiastically listen to what L.A. has to say."
Simon said Stanford's new 50,000-seat stadium would be the first choice. Spartan Stadium holds 30,456. The Los Angeles Games used Stanford Stadium in 1984.
Posted by Jay at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2006
A's announce plans for new stadium
A plan for a new stadium for the A's was unveiled today at Cisco's San Jose headquarters.
One piece of the Bay Area sports landscape's puzzle fell into place this morning as the A's unveiled their plans for a new stadium in Fremont.
As you can see from the illustration above—there are more on the A's web site—it's a beautiful thing. Congratulations to the A's and to Cisco, their technology and naming rights partner in this venture, on taking this very important step.
We don't want to say too much about this development because we know that some of our members out there will be combing through this post for some clues about soccer. We have none to offer, though; this stadium is not for the Earthquakes. What makes this important for Quakes fans is twofold: one, today A's managing partner Lew Wolff has established that he can put together an attractive stadium deal, which should give credence to his existing offer to build a soccer stadium; and two, any county or municipality that negotiates with Wolff regarding soccer will know that it's just about soccer and not, through some circuitous route, about baseball.
We recognize that a baseball stadium, with its 81 home games a year and an annual attendance of roughly two million people, is a bigger prize than a soccer stadium. But the opportunity that remains—the opportunity to provide a home for a $100 million soccer stadium and reap its attendant economic benefits—ain't exactly chopped liver. In the coming months, we'll get to find out who wants it.
Posted by Jay at 03:09 PM | Comments (1)
November 12, 2006
Congratulations, H... Hou... argh!
We just can't say the "H" word, so we'll say this instead:
Congratulations to Dominic Kinnear, Dwayne DeRosario, Brian Ching, Alejandro Moreno, Rico Clark, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan, Wade Barrett, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, Kelly Gray, Pat Onstad, and the rest of you all who used to play in San Jose. (Oh, and you too, Bruce Morgan.)
And, well, all right—congrats to the Houston fans who've done such a great job supporting your new team. We would have preferred they never left, obviously, but you all have risen to the occasion. We hope we'll get to meet some of you one day soon, at a tailgate before a Quakes/Dynamo match. We can show you then how good jerseys look when they have two stars on them instead of just one.
Posted by Jay at 06:07 PM | Comments (6)
November 11, 2006
The Merc chimes in
The old saying is, 'better late than never,' right? So the good news is that today, the Mercury News finally ran a story about the Earthquakes Soccer grand opening. Not only that, they got the number of attendees right (a few hundred, versus the reference Mark Purdy made to 'several dozen soccer fans') and they made this accurate observation: "the A's came across nothing like the Anschutz Entertainment Group, the previous operator of the Earthquakes that moved the club to Houston in December." So true.
We're still waiting for a piece that focuses more exclusively on Wolff's offer to build a privately-funded, $100 million stadium, but we'll cut the Merc some slack here because Wolff is playing his cards close to the vest right now. Still, as someone who lives outside the South Bay, I have to say that if a developer proposed a $100 million project where I live, the local papers here would be all over it.
Posted by Jay at 06:38 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
SI.com: "It's still Quakes country"
We're still waiting for the Mercury News to print a meaningful story about Lew Wolff's desire to invest $100 million into the South Bay economy, but thankfully some other publications are picking up the slack.
The latest example is today's story by Jonah Freedman on SI.com. Freedman attended Wednesday night's grand opening celebration and spoke to Wolff as well as several fans, including Casbah head man and perennial media target Guy Gayle. (Who knew that banging on a big bass drum was the key to getting TV time?)
Freedman summarizes the events of the last year and then strikes a note of hope as he relates what he saw at the grand opening, saying "...one of the greatest injustices in the 11-year history of Major League Soccer is on its way to being righted." We couldn't agree more.
Oh, and in case anyone is wringing their hands about the 49ers' sudden interest in the plot of land that SSV once proposed for a soccer stadium, Freedman has this to say about potential locations:
Wolff and his partners have been negotiating with the city of San Jose, Santa Clara County and San Jose State University and could soon strike a deal to build a state-of-the-art arena in one of two sites in the area.
Do you see the City of Santa Clara mentioned anywhere there? We don't either.
Posted by Jay at 01:50 PM | Comments (3)
Quakes could benefit from MLS Youth Development Initiative
We here at the blog have been basking in the afterglow of Wednesday night's fabulous fete, but we've come out of our reverie for long enough to spot an important item in today's news. What's the big scoop? MLS has just announced a new Youth Development Initiative that "allows teams to acquire, outside of the annual draft, top young players from their respective local areas. Ultimately, this initiative will enhance the quality of young players entering the League and allow more of them to represent their hometown teams."
There are lots of reasons that this is exciting. To begin with, the Quakes' territory would be one of the top regions in the country for youth soccer. The vast number of top-quality youth players would provide a pipeline of talent into the team. We've already seen the success that the team had with players drafted from local colleges and this would allow the team to play a greater role in developing this talent.
What should also prove to be a great asset is that by creating youth squads—the team is permitted to field teams at the Under-25, U20, U18, U16, U15, and U14 levels—they would be enlarging the Earthquakes community. For years, the team's front office struggled with their efforts to make a significant connection to the Hispanic community. What better way than to have home-grown Hispanic players in the Quakes' youth development system, with some players eventually graduating to the senior team?
Finally, this initiative does not come as a threat to existing youth leagues. The MLS release notes, "Players on MLS youth teams may be able to compete with other youth club teams at various times during the year." This is a smart direction to set and should help grow regional youth soccer rather than divide it. In fact, it occurs to us at the blog that a successful MLS Youth Development program would benefit all levels of youth soccer, a segment of the sport which should only get more popular when kids see a direct path from their youth team to the big leagues.
Well done, MLS!
Posted by Jay at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2006
Now that was a Grand Opening!
The Grand Opening party spilled out of the Earthquakes' offices onto the Paseo de San Antonio. Lew Wolff is in the yellow sweatshirt at the center of the photo; A's president Mike Crowley is the tall man to his right. Ronnie Ekelund can be seen near the center of the picture as well. And yes, that's a rockin' four-piece combo at right.
For months now, SSV's board members have been telling everyone about how the people at Earthquakes Soccer, LLC, impress us at every opportunity. Thanks to the amazing Grand Opening celebration they put on last night, we know that there are going to be a lot more people who share that opinion.
The evening was, in a word, magic. It was one of those occasions that people come into with different goals but they all get what they come for. Long-suffering Earthquakes fans had a chance to see the commitment and class of Lew Wolff and company, to catch up with each other after a year, and to sing some songs not sung for just as long. Wolff got a chance to see the unique enthusiasm of Earthquakes fans and came away impressed by both our numbers and our spirit. Local politicians and dignitaries from San Jose, Santa Clara, and San Jose State had the chance to recognize in new ways the opportunity that they have in helping create a permanent home for the soccer community. David Alioto, Earthquakes executive vice president, told us that a number of potential high-level sponsors attended the event and walked away knowing it was something they wanted to be a part of. And the former Earthquakes players who attended got a glimpse of a future they thought would never unfold—Troy Dayak told one of our board members that he had butterflies in his stomach at seeing the Earthquakes flag being flown so proudly again.
There's still a long way to go but this was a fantastic start. Thanks to everyone who came and thanks to Earthquakes Soccer for a memorable kick off.
(Click below for additional pictures.)
Bill Ward of Club Quake and his wife Holly are interviewed by a writer from Sports Illustrated.
The Fairmont provided an amazing array of delicious food, including hot roast beef (below).
Earthquakes executive vice president David Alioto introduced the former players who attended, including Jeff Baicher and Ian Russell.
Lew Wolff spoke briefly to the crowd, explaining that he lost a bet to Alioto because of them. "There are 10 times more people here than I expected," he said.
Posted by Jay at 10:02 PM | Comments (2)