An inconvenient truth
And spoken by the owner of the Seattle "major" soccer league team:
Roth said he doesn't think the players fully understand the league's economic situation, or choose not to accept it. Only a couple MLS franchises make money, Seattle and Toronto. Coupled with low television ratings and sagging attendance, he said it is hardly the time to radically reform the league's structure.Meanwhile, back in my old stomping grounds in New Jersey, they're ready to cut the ribbon on this baby. It's going to get really interesting if this very shaky league implodes.
| Posted at 11:46 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
If only every industry could lose money year after year and somehow persist.... I hope that the richies who own these franchises as their pet vanity projects don't actually consider themselves to be businessmen.
Posted by Snards | March 18, 2010 12:02 PM
And our fair city has hitched its general-fund wagon to this falling star. Oh well, if the league goes bankrupt and Paulson scuttles back to the East Coast, he'll pay us back, right? Right?!?
Posted by Eric | March 18, 2010 12:21 PM
Are you kidding? Not only is our $12 million burned and the stadium no good for baseball any more, but Paulson and his daddy get rent-free use of the place for many, many years. You'll have to pay them even more money to get rid of them.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 18, 2010 12:40 PM
No wonder you have adapted so well here Portland is almost as stupid as Noo Joisey.
Posted by Tom | March 18, 2010 1:56 PM
Well, actually, the city has hitched it's Spectator Facilities Fund wagon to this, not the general fund, where exposure is minimal.
Secondly, pre-paid rent does not equal "rent-free."
And while on the subject, given recent events, using the Spectator Facilities Fund on a spectator facility almost deserves special recognition.
Posted by Roger | March 18, 2010 2:09 PM
So, if an investor wanted a 10% return on $200MM, then they should receive $20MM per year in ticket sales. Divide that by 25,000 ticket holders and average price of $25/game and it equals 32 games. They play that many games at home?
Posted by pdxjim | March 18, 2010 5:56 PM
"the city has hitched it's Spectator Facilities Fund wagon to this, not the general fund, where exposure is minimal."
Not quite, the SFF is like TIF. They expect the increase from Timbers games to pay for PGE Park. If they don't sell Timbers tix, then we'll pay for PGE Park like we do now - from the general fund.
Which we'll still have to do because Paulson is NOT paying for the $30M still due on PGE Park.
But then again, the grown-up who like to pretend being soccer hooligans will have some place to drink beer before they go back to their McJobs.
Posted by Steve | March 18, 2010 8:39 PM
Secondly, pre-paid rent does not equal "rent-free."
Yeah, right. That's a cute one Janik cooked up. It's either rent-free use of the stadium or another seven figures that you can add to $12 million up-front city contribution to the construction. You can't have it both ways.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 18, 2010 9:56 PM
Here's a hint of the fun we'll get to witness with MLS:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2011367604_seattle_soccer_hooligans_choke.html?syndication=rss
Posted by Rich | March 18, 2010 11:57 PM