MLS Looks Elsewhere as Anaheim Fades Out
While Major League Soccer still targets Edison Field for an expansion franchise, frustrations over discussions with Disney have contributed to the league’s decision to explore alternatives for a second team in Southern California.
Although Disney consulted with MLS officials before designing an outfield configuration that could accommodate a soccer field, the league could expand to San Diego or Irvine instead of Anaheim.
“We do have an interest in a team coming here,” Anaheim Sports President Tony Tavares said. “But I’m not going to say I care if there’s one at El Toro Marine Base or somewhere else. I don’t think we have a monopoly on sports in this marketplace.”
The league hoped to stage two exhibition games at Edison Field this year, but Disney rejected the MLS offer of a June exhibition between the Galaxy and Kansas City Wizards. The other proposal, for a game between an MLS team and an international club, appears in jeopardy as well.
“It doesn’t look like we’re going to do anything there this summer,” MLS Commissioner Doug Logan said.
Kevin Uhlich, the Angels’ director of stadium operations, said he continues to talk with MLS officials and hopes to stage that international game in August. Uhlich also said Disney wants to land a four-team international tournament in December, independent of MLS involvement.
The league plans to add two teams in 2000 or 2001, and successful exhibitions could persuade MLS and Disney to place one of those teams in Anaheim.
In the meantime, MLS awarded its 1999 All-Star game to San Diego. If the Padres move into a new downtown ballpark, city leaders want an MLS expansion team at Qualcomm Stadium.
Logan said the league would not consider placing teams in both Anaheim and San Diego.
“We’re going to take a look at all the possibilities,” he said. “San Diego could draw from a good part of Orange County, and vice versa.”
A third possibility, Logan said, could involve the league helping to finance and build a smaller, soccer-only stadium somewhere in Southern California. The Columbus Crew will move next year into such a stadium, with construction costs estimated at $15 million-$20 million and seating capacity of 22,000, expandable to 44,000.
The league has identified several possible sites within Southern California, Logan said, but has not yet contacted any potential cities.
Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said she would be interested in talking with MLS officials. With the NFL leaning heavily toward placing a Southern California expansion team in Los Angeles, despite Shea’s efforts, the promise of an MLS franchise could spur construction and financing of the proposed stadium at the soon-to-be-closed El Toro base.
“I’d be open to any kind of professional team,” Shea said. “We’ve had a lot of people talk to us about how [soccer] is the sport of the future. I’d love to see it happen.”
Disney invested heavily in the future of MLS, co-sponsoring this year’s All-Star game in Orlando, Fla., and signing a six-year contract to broadcast MLS games on ABC and ESPN. However, as a potential franchise operator, the head of Disney’s professional sports empire suggested he would not recommend the company invest in an MLS team until evaluating how the league fares this year.
“It came out of the blocks real strong [in its 1996 debut] and fell back last year,” Tavares said.
