Real latest news

[Frank Cunha]

Ussoccerman you can had Utah to the MLS club forum

http://www.soccer365.com/US_NEWS/Bre...31_75952.shtml

[Frank Cunha]

Utah going to be my second team after the Metrostars
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595076329,00.html

[Frank Cunha]

Saturday, July 10, 2004












MLS team coming to Utah
By James Edward
Deseret Morning News

It's official. The MLS is expanding to Utah.
Deseret Morning News sources confirmed the widespread rumor Friday that Major League Soccer has awarded an expansion franchise to Dave Checketts. An official announcement is expected next Wednesday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The MLS is the highest level of soccer in the United States, and with the addition of Utah, it is now a 12-team league.
Checketts has been working with MLS commissioner Dan Garber for more than a year in hopes of bringing an MLS team to Utah. He reportedly paid the league $1 million two months ago for the rights to any franchise awarded to Utah. As soon as the MLS makes its official announcement next week, Checketts will owe an additional $9 million to pay the league expansion fee of $10 million.
Six months ago Utah wasn't even mentioned as a potential MLS site. Cities like Houston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Seattle appeared to be the finalists to join Chivas USA as expansion teams in 2005. Chivas is the most popular team in Mexico, and its owners are expanding a franchise to Los Angeles.
Then rumors began flying about Utah's bid.
Two things vaulted Utah to the top: Checketts' declaration that he'd be ready by 2005, while most investors wanted to wait until 2006. Second, Checketts' goal of building a soccer-specific stadium.
When the MLS was founded in 1995, all 10 teams played in gigantic 65,000-plus seat football stadiums, which appeared empty even when 25,000 fans attended. Whether it was Soldier Field in Chicago, Giants Stadium in New York or the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, it was virtually impossible for franchises to generate an exciting atmosphere in those vacant stadiums.
Then in 1999, the Columbus Crew finished construction on a soccer-specific stadium. Two years ago, the Los Angeles Galaxy began playing in the Home Depot Center, another soccer-specific stadium. Dallas, Chicago and New York are in the process of building stadiums as well. The consensus among soccer investors is that it's nearly impossible to make money without building a stadium.
That's why Garber is much more likely to award a city an expansion franchise if the owners are serious about building a stadium.
Until such a stadium is complete, the MLS team would call Rice-Eccles Stadium home.
That team will be sharing that stadium with the Utah Blitzz, the newest A-League franchise.
The Blitzz are finalizing plans with the United Soccer Leagues about making the jump from the Premiere Select League to the A-League. The A-League is the equivalent of Triple-A baseball, while the PSL is the equivalent of Double-A baseball.
Can the Salt Lake market support two professional soccer teams?
"I don't know," said Utah coach Chris Agnello. "I know that under our current structure with our youth programs, we are a very stable franchise. Whatever happens here, whether the MLS comes to town and works with us or doesn't, we don't have any concerns about sticking around here and lasting."
It's possible the Blitzz will become an unofficial affiliate for the new MLS team. Then again, it's possible Checketts decides not to work with the Blitzz, which Agnello sees as a mistake.
"It would be a tremendous benefit to them to utilize us as a resource," Agnello said.
Because Utah's metropolitan area is so isolated from other major cities, it's almost impossible for the Blitzz to find quality opponents to train against. Agnello said an MLS team will likely face similar problems. He sees great potential for a professional working relationship.
Either way, Agnello is ecstatic about the MLS in Utah.
"I'd be the first in line to buy tickets, but I also don't want to see it come and go," said Agnello, who helped found the Blitzz in 2000. "I know, however, that the group that is bringing (the MLS) to town is a sensible group."
Checketts was the president of the Utah Jazz from 1984-90 but resigned to become the New York Knicks club president. Four years later, he was promoted to president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden in New York City. He resigned after the 2001 season. Checketts now owns Sports West Productions.

[Frank Cunha]

Saturday, July 10, 2004














Will taxes fund a soccer stadium?

The facility would house Utah's new major league team
By Brady Snyder
Deseret Morning News

The same day Major League Soccer confirmed it is bringing a team to Utah, some Salt Lake leaders said tax money may be needed to pay for a new stadium to house it.
A handful of Salt Lake City Council members, as well as Salt Lake County officials, have met the investors — led by former Utah Jazz President Dave Checketts — who are bringing MLS to Utah and explored the possibility of using city and county taxpayer funds to build a soccer-only stadium.
City Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said while there will be significant private contributions to the stadium, city, county and state funds likely will be needed as well.
"I expect that those bringing the soccer team to Utah will explore funding possibilities with the city, county and state," she said. "I don't think they will be able to do this entirely with private dollars."
Councilman Dave Buhler agrees, saying the investors were "exploring options of what participation there might be from public entities" during his meeting. Salt Lake County officials also confirmed that they met with the MLS group to discuss county funding options.







But convincing public officials to spend taxpayer money on what is perceived by some as a risky endeavor — are there enough soccer fans in Utah to support an MLS franchise? — might be easier said than done.
Buhler warned that there are many other expensive public-private projects in the works in Salt Lake City.
"There's a lot of people in line," he said. "You've got the aquarium, the Utah Theatre, the Leonardo."
Council vice chairman Dale Lambert, who has not met with the MLS advocates, said he is wary of allocating city funds for the project.
"I would be very reluctant to ask the taxpayers to help in financing," he said.
And such stadiums can be pricey. While no specific price tag has been suggested for a Salt Lake facility, the New York Metro Stars announced this month they will spend $100 million to build a 25,000-seat soccer-only stadium, while the Chicago Fire will break ground on a $70 million facility soon.
Such soccer-only stadiums, which are smaller than most football stadiums, are generally thought necessary for a successful MLS team, since drawing 20,000 fans to a half-empty 50,000-seat football stadium doesn't necessarily create a frenzied atmosphere that crowds and teams enjoy.
That said, Utah's MLS franchise will likely have to play in the 45,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah for a few years until a soccer-only stadium deal can be put together.
Love, Buhler and Lambert said there may be ways the city could help without spending actual tax dollars. For instance, the city could issue industrial revenue bonds, which offer lower interest rates and don't risk tax dollars, or use Redevelopment Agency funds to secure land.
The city may have to step up to the plate financially to ensure that the soccer stadium, if one is built, isn't lost to the suburbs.
Mayor Rocky Anderson, who did not return calls seeking his position on supplying taxpayer funds for the project, is pushing for the stadium to be located in Salt Lake City and has talked with Cherokee Investment Partners about potential investment in a soccer stadium.
Cherokee is a real estate investment firm based in Raleigh, N.C., that acquires environmentally impaired assets. Essentially, what Cherokee does is purchase land valued between $10 million and $250 million, clean it up and then build on the property.
City leaders want the stadium downtown if at all possible, and the city has developed a map of the greater downtown area with various locations detailed as potential spots where the stadium could be located. One of those locations, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous, is the vacant block that billionaire Earl Holding owns just west of the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse and north of Holding's Little American Hotel, near West Temple and 500 South.
Still, some of those same sources say there is little chance Holding would give it up for a soccer stadium.
Other potential sites are industrial areas in the Gateway Mixed-Use District just west of downtown or on the 220 acres where Salt Lake City plans to build a sprawling sports complex with some 30 soccer fields and nearly a dozen softball diamonds.
The city has developed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Utah, which would facilitate the transfer of the 220-acre state-owned parcel where the sports complex is to be built, near the Davis County line between Redwood Road and I-215.
That memorandum still needs to be signed by state and city officials before a transfer of title could be worked up, Public Services Director Rick Graham said.
The city is moving forward with plans to build the sports complex on the site since that was the promise it made when voters approved a $15 million bond to fund the project, Graham said.
Putting an MLS soccer stadium on the site would be contingent on "to what extent Major League Soccer can do something without affecting what we've planned," Graham said.



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[Ricochet]

Utah going to be my second team after the Metrostars

Why is that Frank?

[Ricochet]

I'll ask for a new sub-forum for the SLC team.

[Frank Cunha]

Originally posted by USsoccerman
Why is that Frank?

I like teams the play out of big cities like the old Tulsa Roughnecks,
Memphis Rouge
Columbus Crew and now I got Utah,

[Frank Cunha]

Originally posted by USsoccerman
I'll ask for a new sub-forum for the SLC team.

thanks, I will take care of the Utah sub forum , until we get somebody else::leedswac

[Frank Cunha]

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: MLS in Utah;

"He just does not want any of us to talk about it right now."
-- Dan Checketts, the brother of Dave Checketts and a partner in his ownership group that is expected to announce a 2005 MLS expansion franchise in Salt Lake City, on closed lips ahead of a Wednesday press conference in which details of the new team will be revealed. (Salt Lake City Tribune)

"

[Frank Cunha]

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Naming Utah's MLS Team

"Most readers suggested team names that harkened to either the area's history (Golden Spikes), its culture (Missionaries) or its ecology (Peaks). But a few emphasized soccer history (Wanderers), while others aimed for silly (Brine)."
-- The Salt Lake City Tribune's reporter Michael C. Lewis on nickname suggestions for the Salt Lake City's 2005 MLS expansion team e-mailed by more than 100 readers responding to the newspapers' poll. (The Salt Lake City Tribune)

"Utah Saints, Utah Pioneers, Anything without ZZ's, Salt Lake Gulls/Seagulls, Salt Lake City FC/SC, Utah Avalanche, Utah Golden Spikes, Utah Wanderers, Utah Blizzard, Salt Lake Bees."
-- The top 10 nicknames names selected by The Salt Lake Tribune from readers' suggestions. (The Salt Lake City Tribune)

"Wasatch Front, 1847 Utah, Salt Lake Brine, Utah Mountaineers, Utah Peaks, Salt Lake Flock, Utah Hive, Salt Lake Siege, Utah Crickets, Utah Divide, Salt Lake Inversion."
-- The "best of the rest" nicknames selected by The Salt Lake Tribune from readers' suggestions. (The Salt Lake City Tribune)

[Frank Cunha]

Major League Soccer is expanding to Salt Lake City next season.

A league source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the city will become the 12th MLS team as part of its 2005 expansion.

MLS has also granted an expansion team to Jorge Vergara, who owns the Mexican club Chivas. The franchise is still looking for a host city.

MLS commissioner Don Garber will make the announcement about Salt Lake City on Wednesday at a news conference at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the team is expected to play its first two seasons.

Dave Checketts, former president of the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks, leads the group of investors that is bringing the expansion team to Utah. Checketts did not immediately return a message Tuesday afternoon.

Utah has been home to the Jazz since the team moved from New Orleans in 1979. The Salt Lake Valley is one of the smallest markets in the league with a population of about 1 million.

But it has sustained an NBA team for 25 years, and officials hope the top soccer league in the country can also thrive there.

"It reminds me of the old days when Larry Miller started the Jazz," said Mark Burk, director of Rice-Eccles and the Huntsman Center. "It's an opportunity and they're going to try to make it work. There were some people wondering back then if it would go."

Burk said negotiations have been going on for about a month with the Checketts group, which wants to use Rice-Eccles as its home until a soccer-only stadium is built.

Rice-Eccles is already home to the minor-league club Utah Blitzz.

A Cleveland group had a preliminary plan last fall to get one of the expansion teams, but it stalled after prospective owner Bert L. Wolstein died in May.

[Ricochet]

IMO they should be named Salt Lake City FC or Salt Lake City United and have there nickname be the Golden Spikes.

[Frank Cunha]

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/index.jsp

more on Utah

[Frank Cunha]

"If you look at all the major leagues and their growth and development, you have to conclude that soccer is finally going to take hold in this country, mostly because of the kind of ownership that these teams have. These are guys who are pretty determined and passionate about it."
-- Dave Checketts, the man responsible for bringing MLS to Salt Lake City, where a a yet-to-named named team will begin play in 2005. (Deseret News)

"I remember this with the Jazz, too, it always used to drive me crazy when people would say, 'You've got to support the Jazz because we're lucky to have an NBA team so the community should support the team. That's not how this works. The team better give the community something to come for. We have to put a winning club on the field, we have to have stars, it has to be compelling, the game entertainment has to be exciting, it has to be a fun place to be -- it has to be the place to be.
-- Checketts (Deseret News)

[BethlehemFC]

If Chivas USA has their own thread then we should start one for Utah. Admin or Moderators?