December 01, 2005
Quakes shakedown in San Jose
That took, let's see, two weeks? On November 15, MLS commissioner Don Garber issued a statement that "the Anschutz Entertainment Group was granted approval by the board to move the San Jose Earthquakes to a number of potential cities, including Houston, Texas," and that "a final decision on the location of the team will be reached within the next 30 days." This Tuesday, the San Jose city council met in closed session to discuss city subsidies for a new soccer-only stadium for the team, which under the plan would be purchased by the owners of the San Jose Sharks. How much money?
Mayor Ron Gonzales and council members who support keeping the soccer team in town declined to say how much the Sharks' owners are seeking from the city to keep the franchise in town.
If the council approves a deal - so far everyone's saying they want to see the price tag first - it would have to go before a public referendum as well, which should give San Jose voters plenty of time to ponder the quandary of the magic wallet.
As a city with international ambitions, San Jose should have soccer stadium. A 25,000-seat facility can make money in ways a 70,000 seater can't. That said, I hope they can do it with little or no public money.
A similar stadium in Carson (Home Depot Center) reportedly makes money, doesn't it? Maybe if anyone has figures on this they can share.
On a scale to rate public subsidies, the deal city of San Jose is potentially talking about rates as "peanuts". It's a small 5 acre piece of land. It needs to be determined what the exact nature of this subsidy is. Is it just free land, or is it money from the city? I agree that no public funds should be (and need be) touched for this as much as possible. We aren't talking about some crazy scheme like bringing Oakland A's of MLB to San Jose. MLS stadiums are much smaller in terms of capacity as well as financial requirements. Such a stadium is absolutely needed in San Jose for MLS, where there is a very good fanbase. I hope SVS&E is able to pay for most of the expenses for a stadium.
Posted by: Chandu on December 1, 2005 06:16 PM
Maybe the city of San Jose could sit down with SPartan shops and work out a temporary deal until a new SSS stadium can be built. The Earthquakes play more games than their football team, has higher attendance than their football team, and I would imagine makes much more money than the football team does. Spartan shops is looking at the Earthquakes in the wrong way. being a good partner with the Earthquakes could go a long way for Spartan shops and the university they represent.
Posted by: Bertell Ollman on December 2, 2005 01:18 AM
What San Jose decide's to do in conjunction with SVS&E will be interesting to watch, but it's worth mentioning that you could probably get 40 or 50 MLS soccer-specific stadia built for what they were thinking of spending on a Jets stadium in Manhattan ($2bln). As long as the money's there these things are a comparative bargain. ;)
If you start with city donation of land, plus government-issued interest-free bonds, add-in some faceless corporate naming rights and then a substantial contribution from SVS&E and you start to get close to what would be needed to make this work, right...?
He can stay home and follow his own program, remain in the same organization as his son, Mike 18 http://mike18boy.ifrance.com/
Posted by: mike 18 on June 6, 2006 05:39 AM
