Major League Soccer

Earthquakes move to Houston could happen in next week.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Tuesday, November 15, 2005) -- A move of the San Jose Earthquakes to Houston could be imminent.

At a Board of Governors meeting Saturday in Frisco, Tex., the site of Sunday's MLS Cup 2005 championship match, Major League Soccer granted approval for Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owner-operator of four MLS franchises, including San Jose, to move the team.

A terse statement issued today from commissioner Don Garber said. "At the recent MLS Board of Governors meeting in Frisco, Tex., the Anschutz Entertainment Group was granted approval by the board to move the San Jose Earthquakes to a number of potential cities, including Houston, Tex. In order to ensure that the team will have the appropriate time to prepare for the 2006 season, a final decision on the location of the team will be reached within the next 30 days."

According to The Mercury News, San Jose's daily newspaper, a decision to move the club to Houston could come within one week. "We hope to be done once and for all," AEG president Tim Leiweke said.

There does not seem to be a local group prepared to buy the Earthquakes. If there is one, it would be Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, a group that owns the National Hockey League Sharks and ran the soccer team for nearly two years between January 2001 and December 2002.

AEG has been trying to sell the Earthquakes -- or at least find a partner -- since 2004 and, even with a relocation to Houston, it appears intent to divest itself of the Quakes. AEG reduced its MLS ownership stake to four teams when it sold D.C. United in July, leaving it with the Earthquakes, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire and MetroStars.

"We are in conversations with two groups in Houston that are negotiating to buy into a partnership with us,'' Leiweke told The Mercury News. "In both cases, they would become a managing partner. The partnership would be structured in a way they could buy us out."

A sale price would probably be in in the $10-15-million range.

SVSE has been in talks with city officials from San Jose and nearby Santa Clara about building a soccer stadium. A new venue and control of its parking and concessions revenue would be necessary for SVSE if it were to buy the Earthquakes and keep them in the South Bay region.

SVSE agreed to a multiyear deal to operate the Earthquakes on January 9, 2001. That fall, it began seeking investors for the team, which belonged to the league. AEG announced its investment in the San Jose franchise on March 19, 2002, but SVSE continued to run the club until December when AEG assumed full control.

Leiweke told The Mercury News that AEG lost $7 million operating the Earthquakes in 2005 and the company had lost $20 million running the franchise since it took over in 2002.

When AEG seemed prepared to move the Earthquakes in 2004, a local booster group, Soccer Silicon Valley stepped in and tried to find a local group to buy the club. Nothing panned out. "We stayed at the request of the fan club, and the guy they brought to the table had no money,'' Leiweke told The Mercury News. "We came out a lot worse because of it."

AEG had discussions with Club America of the Mexican first division about acquiring the Quakes and moving them to Texas, but nothing materialized. An announcement regarding new ownership was rumored in July, but nothing happened.

Oliver Luck, chief executive of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, told The Mercury News that he had not spoken to AEG since "late September, early October," but Houston was prepared to be the new home of the Earthquakes, even if the short time frame complicated matters.

Luck told The Mercury News that AEG discussed a partnership with the Houston Independent School District to upgrade its downtown Del Mar Stadium. Such a deal would resemble the one in which Hunt Sports, the owner-operator of three MLS teams -- FC Dallas, Kansas City Wizards and Columbus Crew -- teamed with city, county and school district to build a new stadium in Frisco, Tex., for FC Dallas, which was previously known as the Dallas Burn.

The result was Pizza Hut Park, which opened in August and was the host venue for Sunday's MLS Cup 2005, the league's 10th championship match.

Rice University, University of Houston, and facilities owned by the Cypress-Fairbanks and Galena Park independent school districts are possible homes for the Earthquakes, though building a new stadium would be considered essential to the long-term success of the franchise.

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