By Ben Nicholson
August 5 – The bidding war for the final expansion team spots in the MLS has intensified further as the previously thought long shot Sacramento has raised eyebrows with a big money investor.
Vivek Ranadive, who became owner of the Sacramento Kings basketball team in 2013 after a $534 million payment to take operating control, has expressed interest in bringing MLS soccer to the area. Ranadive is considering purchasing the Sacramento Republic, a USL PRO team, with the intention of taking them into the MLS.
The club and area shows promise enough to bring a competitive expansion bid to the table versus the likes of Minneapolis, San Antonio and Las Vegas.
The team recently took the USL attendance record, bringing in crowds of over 13,000 in their inaugural 2014 season. Furthermore, the Sacramento area showed particular interest in the world cup, as shown by television ratings indicating that they drew the seventh highest ratings in the nation, indicating a keen market for soccer.
“Clearly the support for the Republic has been noticed by all of us. It’s been incredible what we’ve seen week in and week out,” said an MLS representative.
The Mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, has traveled with Kings President Chris Granger to Portland for the All-Star week festivities to meet up with members of the MLS to discuss the prospects of getting an expansion bid.
Warren Smith, Sacramento Republic’s President, mentioned previously that he intended to bring the MLS to the capital of California by 2016, and with the potential monetary backing of Ranadive his hopes could receive a substantial boost.
Meanwhile, in Orlando, where Orlando City Soccer Club already have secured their MLS expansion spot, stadium location troubles have resulted in a change of plans.
The city of Orlando was seeking to obtain land that a church belonging to the Faith Deliverance Temple occupied. The city initially offered $1.5 million, which was twice the appraised value for the property, but the church asked for $35 million. Orlando city then raised their offer to $4 million but the church refused to go lower than $15 million.
Pastor Kinsey Shack’s statement makes the church’s stance relatively clear, “Faith Deliverance Temple does not want and has not wanted to sell its property”.
The city were in the process of bringing a lawsuit against the church so as to settle a fairer price, but have since dropped that plan in favor of simply moving the stadium one block west instead.
They will still suffer from a $4 million bill, as the new site requires about that sum to be spent on storm drain improvements, as well as necessitating the movement of a Fire Station.
Phil Rawlins, the Orlando City Soccer President, expressed his desire to cooperate with his neighbors, wishing to foster a healthy relationship between the community and club: “We applaud the mayor for finding an alternative solution that is a win for everyone involved. The new location allows us to remain on schedule to play our matches in the new stadium starting with the home opener in 2016. Our fans will benefit from added amenities created by the new location such as more entertainment areas prior to and after the matches.”
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