Soccer Mathematics

TAKE ARTICLE ONE...

Wed, Feb. 28, 2007

Deal near for SJSU stadium
A'S OWNER WOULD BRING SOCCER TEAM, BUILD NEW FACILITY
By Jon Wilner and Barry Witt
Mercury News

San Jose State University President Don Kassing and developer Lew Wolff met Tuesday and agreed to the framework of a deal to build a multipurpose facility next to Spartan Stadium.

Although several details remain to be worked out, ``everything that needed to be ironed out to move forward . . . was agreed upon today,'' a source familiar with the negotiations said.

``It's going as well as I could have hoped,'' said Wolff, who declined to provide specifics.

The approximately $80 million facility, which would house San Jose State's football team as well as the professional soccer team Wolff hopes to bring to San Jose, is tentatively scheduled to open in 2009.

Capacity would be about 23,000 for soccer and 30,000 for football.

San Jose State would provide the land at South 10th Street and East Alma Avenue. Wolff, who owns the Oakland A's and has deep ties to San Jose, would pay for construction....

If a stadium deal were made final, Wolff would exercise an option he negotiated in May to invest in Major League Soccer and operate an expansion franchise. San Jose State and the soccer team -- to be called the Earthquakes -- would operate the stadium as partners.

San Jose State would keep revenue from its events, the Earthquakes would keep revenue from their events and the two would split revenue from additional events such as concerts.

THEN, add this story:

February 27, 2007 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) -- Ownership groups representing franchises in six major U.S. cities have signed letters of intent to become charter members of the Women’s Soccer Initiative, Inc.’s effort to launch a new professional women’s soccer league.

WSII CEO Tonya Antonucci announced the signings today and said the league anticipates a Spring 2008 launch, timed to capitalize on interest built during the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China in September....

The league is three-quarters of the way to reaching its goal of 8 charter teams and has plans for expansion in 2009....

The new league is built on a traditional franchise model and will play its games in stadiums designed specifically for soccer. This will give the teams opportunities to generate and retain more revenue and better showcase the sport, Antonucci explained.

In creating the league, WSII will also build partnerships with established soccer and sports marketing organizations. The league is currently in negotiations with Major League Soccer’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, to represent its national sponsorship and marketing assets.

“The new business model significantly reduces overhead while taking advantage of efficiencies and synergies with existing MLS club owners and other professional sports teams,” Antonucci said.

AEG Sports President Shawn Hunter said, “Having initial franchises owned and operated by organizations with not only strong ties to professional soccer but with established internal marketing, sales, promotional and operational infrastructures is a critical and significant component to launching a league that can have immediate credibility and success.”...

“In addition to the cities we are announcing today, we are also in talks with investor groups about additional markets,” Antonucci said. “We are also building our list of expansion cities, and we encourage interested investors to contact us.”

WSII’s URL is http://wsii.typepad.com

AND I BELIEVE we are looking at an expansion team in San Jose in 2009.

OR maybe I'm just a fool, a fool for love.