Houston Mayor Will Play Crucial Role In Dynamo Stadium Plans

Houston's Mayoral Candidates Disagree About Dynamo Stadium Plans, Funding

The next mayor of Houston is "likely to be a central player in how soon or even whether" a new MLS stadium gets built for the Dynamo, according to Chris Moran of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Under Mayor Bill White, the city has spent $15.5M to acquire land for a new stadium, and White has proposed $10M in "redevelopment money toward the project." Mayoral candidate Annise Parker "supports the deal as structured by White," and her campaign claims that the city "will recoup some costs for the land." Mayoral candidate Gene Locke "pledges not to use property tax money, but he argues that a stadium built with mostly private money is something the city can't afford not to pursue." A runoff election will be held on December 12, and Parker and Locke's "delivery of their messages on a new home for the Dynamo could offer a difference" in the race. Both have "used the soccer issue to contribute to the larger narrative of their campaigns," and have "offered public support for the stadium in the past." Now their "challenge is to frame the issue in a way that courts conservatives for whom the stadium is unpopular." A Rice Univ. poll of registered voters conducted in mid-October indicated that "opponents outnumber supporters of a new stadium by more than two to one." But the stadium issue "has not figured prominently in the campaign." Dynamo President & GM Oliver Luck,  a fundraiser for Locke, said, "I don't think there's enough people either way that care enough about the guts of this particular deal for it to become a big political issue during the campaign" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/15).

FAR FROM PITCH PERFECT: In a special to ESPNSOCCERNET.com, Sounders F Freddie Ljungberg wrote MLS "has high aspirations, but there are some small things that need to be addressed to keep growing," and "tops on that list would be the quality of the pitch, in this case Houston's Robertson Stadium." Robertson Stadium has "American football lines and the surface is like a sandpit that hinders running or passing the ball on it." If MLS "wants to elevate itself to the next level, you have to give the players the opportunity to play good" soccer. Ljungberg said the "pitch in Houston wasn't playable" for the Sounders-Dynamo playoff game on November 8 (ESPNSOCCERNET.com, 11/13).