Zodiac, Pond Near Indoor Soccer Agreement

The Zodiac and the Arrowhead Pond have reached tentative agreement on a three-year deal to return indoor soccer to the arena, Zodiac President Richard Brown said Wednesday.

Brown expects Pond officials to forward a formal proposal by Friday. If the Zodiac signs off, indoor soccer could return to the Pond this summer for the first time since the Splash folded in 1997.

“The biggest hurdles have been overcome,” Brown said. “We need to fine-tune the agreement.”

The indoor franchise would play in the World Indoor Soccer League, renamed this week to reflect a partnership between the Premier Soccer Alliance (PSA) and the four-team Professional Indoor Football League of England.

The PSA made its debut last summer, with teams in Dallas, Phoenix, Portland and Sacramento. The league already has added teams in Houston and Monterrey, Mexico, for this year and in St. Louis for 2000.

Brown and Mike O’Donnell, assistant general manager of the Pond, outlined the tentative deal at league meetings Tuesday in Las Vegas. Although a Salt Lake City group submitted a formal expansion application at the meetings, Brown postponed his submission pending completion of negotiations with the Pond. The league covets a franchise at the Pond, and approval of an Anaheim application is considered a formality.

The Zodiac, the top minor-league affiliate of the Galaxy, plays a spring/summer schedule at Santa Ana Stadium. The indoor team, which would share some players and staff with the Zodiac, would play a summer/fall schedule at the Pond.