It Seems To Me . . .

Heavyweight battle is brewing over American soccer promotion rights.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

(Friday, August 9, 2002) -- More than 70,000 soccer fans, each paying between $35 and $75 per ticket, showed up at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., last night to see Real Madrid and A. S. Roma play to a 0-0 draw in a charity match to benefit the United Nations' Global AIDS Fund.

Obviously, the size of the crowd spoke volumes about the potential of soccer in this country when two teams with real star power are matched. This was the largest crowd for soccer at Giants Stadium since the opening match of the 1999 Women's World Cup. The MetroStars have difficulty drawing 20,000 to their MLS league games when the tickets cost far less than last night's inflated prices.

Of course, that comparison is unfair since Real Madrid's Zinédine Zidane and Luis Figo's combined salary is equivalent to the entire MLS league payroll.

What made this match particularly interesting was that it was likely the first shot in what is starting to look like a bitter battle between soccer promoters in the United States, a skirmish that will be fought out in stadiums and in the courts. The outcome could hugely affect MLS, and could even determine how soccer at the professional level is managed here and around the world.

Last night's friendly, part of Real's centennial celebration, was a joint promotion of a new company, ChampionsWorld, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Authority officials, who control the Meadowlands complex, including Giants Stadium, are angry that the MetroStars, led by billionaire owner-operator Philip Anschutz, are trying to build a new stadium in the area. So NJSEA decided to start promoting international soccer matches, with last night's Real-Roma clash the first.

The MetroStars have sued, but failed to gain an injunction to prevent last night's match. The pending suit against NJSEA charges that the MetroStars' contract with the agency, which still has several years to run, gives it exclusive rights to stage soccer matches at Giants Stadium. NJSEA chief executive officer George Zoffinger counters that the MetroStars have not been aggressive in luring big-time international matches to the stadium and actually violated the terms of their lease by staging doubleheaders with international games packaged with MLS matches.

After the match, Zoffinger took a couple of shots at MLS. "I am overwhelmed by the response to this game," he said. "It clearly shows what can happen if the game of soccer is marketed correctly. We have offered to help the MetroStars in their marketing. We don't have a dispute with the MetroStars. We believe that this will help their product."

Adding to the intrigue, the ChampionsWorld CEO is Charlie Stillitano, the MetroStars' first general manager who was deposed after the 1999 season in which the club went 7-25. Stillitano says his company is not working exclusively with NJSEA, and would like to negotiate deals with other venues and with MLS. However, the only other project announced so far is a Manchester United four-game tour of the U.S. next summer, including two matches at Giants Stadium, demonstrating a cozy relationship with the NJSEA.

It's not completely clear who is behind ChampionsWorld. The match last night was televised live on the YES Network which is owned by YankeesNets, run by George Steinbrenner and the flagship New York Yankees who have a joint marketing agreement with Manchester United. YankeesNets also owns basketball's New Jersey Nets and hockey's New Jersey Devils, both NJSEA tenants at Continental Airlines Arena. Original MetroStars owners John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, who sold out to Anschutz, could also be involved.

All this establishes a clear collision course with MLS, and with Anschutz Entertainment Group which operates the MetroStars, D.C. United, Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy, as well as having a half interest in the San Jose Earthquakes. AEG, the Hunt Sports Group, run by Lamar Hunt and his two sons (with operating right to the Kansas City Wizards and Columbus Crew) and MLS investor Dentsu, the Japanese advertising agency, started Soccer United Marketing in January.

SUM's vision is of becoming one of the world's top soccer promoters and it gained instant creditability by buying U.S. English-language television rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2003 Women's World Cup. It too has big plans to promote international matches and tours on American soil.

It would be hard to imagine the U.S. soccer market being big enough for two such powerful promoters. Unless it is very careful, the U.S. Soccer Federation could get caught in the middle. Under the rules of world governing body FIFA, national associations have the right to sanction all international matches played within their jurisdiction, taking 10 percent of the net profit from these games. U.S. Soccer's position has been it will allow such matches except when they conflict with games being played by the U.S. national team or MLS.

To maximize box-office appeal for the national team and MLS teams, the practical application has been no sanction for games in a city which has hosted, or will host the U.S. men within 10 days, or within a few days of an MLS match in that city.

U.S. Soccer' sanctioning power in currently being challenged in court by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which claims such authority violates antitrust law. Coliseum efforts to stage matches, especially between Mexican and Latin American teams, have been blocked by U.S. Soccer when a proposed contest is on the same weekend the Los Angeles Galaxy is playing at home in the nearby Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

That case is beginning to wind its way through the courts. Should U.S. Soccer lose, and have its right to sanction international matches declared in violation of anti-trust laws, the ruling might have a worldwide ripple effect because of a U.S. pact with the European Union in which both entities recognize each other's court decisions. That would call into question the entire oversight of soccer by FIFA and by national federations.

U.S. Soccer gave its blessing to last night's Real-Roma exhibition, given its charitable purpose. However, Anschutz is a major benefactor of American soccer and about to become the landlord for U.S. Soccer's new national training center, which he is building outside of Los Angeles. How U.S. Soccer will treat ChampionsWorld future promotions with their inevitable conflicts with AEG's interests will be interesting.

Already, Stillitano and Zoffinger say they want to stage a fall match between the U.S. men and Brazil. One Federation official told me the chances of that happening are "slim and none," but is opposition worth risking a wider antitrust suit?

Stay tuned. This battle is just getting underway.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman's "It Seems To Me . . . " appears regularly on SoccerTimes. He can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com..