Negotiations between the WUSA's Bay Area CyberRays and
MLS "for the rights" to play at Spartan Stadium "have broken
down," according to Matt Schwab of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE, who
noted that the leagues "have been negotiating about whether"
MLS "will waive its" blackout dates at Spartan Stadium and
allow the CyberRays "to play the bulk" of their home games
there during the MLS Earthquakes season. Cyber Rays GM
Marlene Bjornsrud questioned MLS' willingness to work with
the WUSA: "It really appears [they] just don't want us (in
Spartan Stadium). ... It's difficult to plan even our ticket
prices when we can't go to Spartan and say, 'How much is it
going to cost us here?' and negotiate a deal." Meanwhile,
Bjornsrud questioned the sincerity of the so-called
"cooperative agreement" between MLS and the WUSA to jointly
promote soccer in the U.S. Bjornsrud wondered if MLS
considers WUSA a threat and believes the South Bay area can
support two teams. Bjornsrud said that the Cyber Rays have
"received more than" 500 season-ticket deposits and have an
e-mail mailing list "of over" 1,000. Bjornsrud: "These are
people -- we don't know where we're playing and they're
still sending their money." The Cyber Rays have "been
exploring" other stadium sites, among them San Jose City
College and 3Com Park (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 12/16).
