Proposed Stadium Deal For MLS, San Jose State Football Dead

Wolff’s Involvement In SJSU Stadium Seems To Be Dead

A proposal by A’s Owner Lew Wolff to build a stadium on the campus of San Jose State Univ. (SJSU) to house an MLS team and the school’s football team “died late Thursday” after Wolff and SJSU President Don Kassing “decided they could not resolve differences over what Wolff should pay to use campus property,” according to a front-page piece by Witt & Wilner of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. SJSU Associate VP/Government & Community Relations Larry Carr said Kassing and Wolff “came to an agreement that the deal just wasn’t going to work.” Carr said that Kassing “believed Wolff was not offering enough money to justify giving up the university’s land for that purpose.” Witt & Wilner note Kassing “wanted $6[M] a year, guaranteed, from stadium-related revenue,” but sources said that Wolff offered $1M a year, “plus a split of future revenue.” Earthquakes Soccer Exec VP David Alioto in an e-mail to local boosters wrote that they “shouldn’t abandon hope on finding a new home” for an MLS team in San Jose. Meanwhile, SJSU officials said that they will “work on Spartan Stadium improvements on their own” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/20).