Sacramento Stadium Partners (SSP) "has little more than
a month" to complete a business plan so the City Council
"can finally vote" on whether to provide city-owned land for
the project, according to Kelly Johnson of the SACRAMENTO
BUSINESS JOURNAL, who writes that the city "wants a detailed
business plan" from SSP for the proposed 15,000-20,000-seat
soccer stadium which would cost "less than" $20M. Johnson
reports that the city also has questions such as, "Would the
team be a new franchise? Where would the money come from?
How much would Sacramento Stadium Partners put in the
project? Would the partnership be the landlord, or would it
own the team and which companies are considering buying
naming rights?" Johnson adds MLS "remains interested in
Sacramento," but it knows that the partnership "needs to get
moving soon" if the city "wants to grab" one of four
expansion teams. The two teams are "slated" to begin play
in 2002 and two more in 2004. SSP partner Dick Hyde added
that SSP "needs to solidify its deal with the city before it
can go to MLS and investors" (SAC. BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/14).
