I read the following post on MLSR today:
http://www.mls-rumors.net/2009/08/st...rthquakes.htmlRemember this article about San Jose's stadium plans? Well it turns out that the only reason we will see those ultra secret stadium renderings is because the process has stalled to the point where the owner is questioning whether to built it at all. San Jose fans better get used to Buck Shaw for the foreseeable future. In what amounts to what many may view as the league's biggest "bait and switch" move, owner Lew Wolf is lamenting the fact that San Jose is a weak and damaged soccer market. Anyone who reads MLSR could have told him that. And remember San Jose was awarded an expansion team only after Lew Wolff vowed to build a soccer specific stadium.
Here's the original article from the San Jose Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingn...nclick_check=1
But Tuesday he backed off the projected opening date of 2012 that Quakes officials have targeted. Ownership needs to secure naming rights to provide steady financing for a privately built facility. They are struggling to generate sponsor interest in difficult economic times.
"You can't do it out of magic," Wolff said. "There's no sense
building a stadium unless you have some flow of revenue."The club plans to unveil architectural renderings of the facility next month in hopes of attracting sponsors. Wolff worries the team's fan base isn't deep enough to show potential sponsors that the South Bay is a soccer hotbed."It didn't catch on the way I thought it would," Wolff said. "I thought it would naturally fall into place.
"We expected to have a waiting list — before we fielded a team. While we did OK, it is about half of what I expected."
Imagine that. An expectation that everything will just magically fall into place. Nica and easy like. Honestly, who needs a plan? Things will just sort themselves out...I am encouraged that Lew Wolff has what it takes to eventually turn things around though. Who wouldn't be with comments like this:
"I don't give a damn what the fans say. It is not something that happens overnight."