Ownage

Guess who's back? No, not me, although it has been too long, but your San Jose Earthquakes of course! It all started Tuesday when it was announced on MLSnet that there was going to be a special expansion-related announcement made by Commissioner Garber on Wednesday afternoon. Later that night, it surfaced, somewhat obscurely, on Major League Baseball's official website that on Wednesday there was going to be an announcement about a venture between Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff and Major League Soccer. This was confirmed definitively later that evening when the always-reliable Matchnight reported that Major League Soccer was going to announce a return to the Bay Area in a press conference on Wednesday. Naturally, on Wednesday it was indeed confirmed that Wolff and his associate, John Fisher, had made a deal with MLS giving them three years in which they are given priority as an expansion franchise.

This news came only a day after news that San Jose State University, in a move of crushing humility, announced that they were hiring an outside managing firm for the now tenant-less Spartan Stadium. It should come as no surprise that without the Earthquakes as a primary tenant, Spartan becomes practically useless and costly for those other eight, non-football months. It's unclear whether the officials at SJSU believed that AEG was bluffing, but from what we know of the negotiations, it's obvious they thought that they could get a sweetheart deal. That of course didn't happen and now their former tenants are playing at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas. The timing of both this article and the expansion announcement is funny, if not also a little ironic. Whether Spartan is in Wolff's plans, whether as a permanent solution or as a temporary option, remains to be seen, but you can't help but think it has to warm Don Kassing's heart just a little.

Of course, this three year deal does not mean that San Jose will be receiving an expansion franchise anytime soon, or even at all, this is all still contingent on a soccer specific stadium. However, the only thing that Wolff wants is the land and transportation access. According to the San Jose Mercury News: "If San Jose or another Bay Area city is willing to donate the land and pay for related road improvements, Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff will build a stadium and deliver a Major League Soccer team to replace the departed Earthquakes." Or, in Wolff's own words: "We think we have a concept of financing that's a little bit hybrid between public financing and private financing." If Santa Clara is an option, either at the Fairgrounds property, or near the Great America amusement park, a stadium plan would not require a public vote like it would in San Jose. Either way, what the public needs to be aware of is that this will cost them almost nothing.

What's most important about this move though, not only for the team, but for MLS as well, is the public visibility of the owners involved. Indeed, just as Dave Checketts is a huge name in Salt Lake City sports, Wolff and his associates are big in the Bay Area and owners of a successful Major League Baseball franchise. Already articles from sports journalists who typically ignored the Earthquakes, such as Ray Ratto, have begun appearing in Bay Area newspapers. This is the kind of publicity you can't buy, and it's all because of the local visibility of the owners. However, this move is equally as important for MLS, since it means getting an ownership group that is already committed and experienced with another franchise in another league. Certainly, AEG owns other sporting franchises, but Wolff is not a faceless conglomerate, nor does he want to create an entertainment center (like stadia in Dallas, Chicago, and Colorado demonstrate), but a true soccer home for the San Jose Earthquakes.

This is a step in the right direction, not only for the Earthquakes and their fans, but also for MLS. By getting a committment from the ownership group, MLS has sent a signal to all other potential expansion cities that says: "Step up, front the fee, and promise a stadium, and you can get a team." Not only that, but it puts MLS right back where they wanted it, in one of America's largest television markets. This is a win-win move for the league.