hester may be MLS-ready soon
By Bob Matthews
Democrat and Chronicle columnist
(April 25, 2004) — Could a timely bit of soccer sorcery turn the Wizards into the Rhinos?
My hunch is that Rochester’s best chance to ever become a member of Major League Soccer could be coming soon and that PAETEC Park would be the catalyst.
MLS plans to expand by two teams by 2006 at the latest. One team will be owned by Mexican interests and is expected to play in San Diego or Los Angeles.
Rochester has been listed as a strong MLS candidate for several years and has at least five big things in its favor:
1. Rochester is expected to have a brand-new soccer stadium up and running for the 2005 season. No other expansion candidate can say the same.
2. Several published independent studies have concluded that greater Rochester is one of the two most promising markets (based on population, standard of living and potential corporate support) for an MLS franchise among the communities that have no teams in one of the four major team sports. The other is the Norfolk, Va., area, and it has displayed no fervor to join MLS.
3. Rochester has a solid pro soccer tradition and has proved it has a significant fan base. Media coverage of the Rhinos exceeds that of most teams in the MLS and would increase if Rochester were to join MLS.
4. MLS officials are familiar with the management of the Rhinos and would not be reluctant to embrace them as members of the league.
5. Many MLS officials have bought into the prospect of Rochester as their equivalent of the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. Nationally televised games from a soccer-specific stadium with enthusiastic capacity crowds would be more attractive for MLS than games played in major markets before sparse crowds sitting on their hands.
An expensive expansion franchise fee would be a steep hurdle because Rhinos management doesn’t have the financial resources of the current MLS owners. But one way to circumvent that would be to inherit an existing team.
MLS currently has 10 teams and two of them - the Kansas City Wizards and the Dallas Burn — have done little to suggest they belong in the league. They lack soccer tradition, receive scant media attention and consistently rank at the bottom of the league in attendance.
Wealthy sportsman Lamar Hunt, after whom the U.S. Open Cup has been named, owns both the Dallas and Kansas City franchises.
He is helping to build a soccer-specific stadium for the Burn in his hometown of Dallas but has announced no plans for a such a facility for the Wizards, who play in Arrowhead Stadium (Hunt also owns the NFL’s Chiefs).
Hunt has visited Rochester in the past and has been impressed with this community’s affection for soccer at all levels and the enthusiastic support of Rhinos fans. He recognizes that the 1999 Rhinos were the only non-MLS team to win the U.S. Open Cup since the MLS was launched in 1996.
The Dallas Burn has averaged 11,072 paid attendance for 122 home games and the Kansas City Wizards have averaged 10,692 for 122 home games. The turnstile counts probably were significantly lower.
Hunt is a pro football and soccer visionary and a sharp businessman. He was a pioneer in the American Football League and has been elected to both the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta. Becoming any sort of partner with the Rhinos and having small-market Rochester become a MLS success story would only add to his reputation.
No one from Rhinos management will confirm or deny that a Kansas City-to-Rochester move is in the works or even a remote possibility.
But no one can dispute that it would be a logical scenario for the Rhinos, MLS and possibly Hunt in 2005 or 2006.
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