Thursday, March 30, 2006
New Money
There's the smell of new money in the air for MLS this year. The deals are coming almost weekly now. This week's news brought word that Chelsea would be partnering with AEG for more than just a few friendly matches every other summer. AEG's prived possession, the LA Galaxy, will also reportedly give Chelsea first dibs on the transfer of players...if there's anyone to their liking. I couldn't think of a worse team for Landon Donovan to go to - Hernan Crespo and Joe Cole have a hard time getting reular minutes for our friends in London - but the potential is there.
Here's more evidence of plenty of cash being thrown at MLS...
* Real Madrid's association with Real Salt Lake and their likely visit this summer.
* Red Bull's purchase of the Metros and their unprecedented marketing campaign. (All kids enter for free for the home opener!)
* Rowan University's aggressive courtship of an MLS team for South Jersey with the carrot of a new stadium.
* Toronto's recent stadium groundbreaking for their 2007 team.
* Colorado's current building project for their 2007 move.
* Chicago's near completion of their brick firehouse stadium for use later this spring.
It's safe to say the league actually has a good bit of momentum. There's not a week that goes by that a European star doesn't mention MLS as his next stop. Not that we really need any of these big names, but it's nice to be mentioned as a negotiation ploy at least.
On the downside, the league still has plenty of spotty attendence figures. Yet maybe this will be the year that those figures start to creep up. A World Cup spillover? No, but I think the marketing is getting better as the investment increases. It's only natural.
Will the league become profitable? It may or may not have a club or two make that claim this year. But from all the recent investment, some folks are banking on the fact that there is real money to be made, one way or another. (Bostrom)
