The MetroStars are experiencing "difficult days," with
the team "discovering how difficult it is to barge into a
market saturated with 10 other major league teams,"
according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. The
MetroStars "have lost more money" than any other team in the
league, and MLS Chair & MetroStars co-Investor-Operator
Stuart Subotnick said the team's rent at Giants Stadium "is
the league's highest" at between $15,000-60,000 per game.
The team hopes to select a site for a new $40M, 27,500-seat
soccer-specific stadium at either the Meadowlands or Newark
"later this year." But Sandomir notes the facility's
completion "is at least a couple of years in the future."
Subotnick adds that the MetroStars have also "been unable"
to get some MLS sponsors to "advertise at Giants Stadium
because they are in conflict with some of the facility's
sponsors." Sandomir: "But it is even harder to generate fan
and sponsor support when the team undergoes a hefty turnover
of players and coaches." The team's TV ratings on MSG
Network "have plunged" 48% since '96, which is "worse" than
ESPN's 42% drop in the league's ratings. One "critic" noted
that the MetroStars "have not thrived in a league with lower
expectations." Soccer America columnist Paul Gardner, on
team GM Charlie Stillitano: "The problem is 90 percent
management. ... No g.m. with this record for three and a
half years should last this long" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/13).
LEAGUE SPIN MOVE? Sandomir reports that MLS is
"examining whether to sell" a 20% stake in the league to
"help build more new stadiums." But he adds that the plan,
"of course, would have to overcome skepticism about the
future of a league in which no team has a made a profit and
two teams lack investor-operators" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/13).
