Mecklenburg County (N.C.) commissioners this morning voted 5-3 to "move forward with investing" $118M in a Charlotte MLS stadium as part of SMI President & CEO Marcus Smith's expansion bid, according to Bruce Henderson of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The county vote comes as Charlotte City Council was "scheduled to vote" tomorrow on the $175M stadium. A “no” decision by either the city or the county "would kill the deal." The county and city "each would ante up" $43.75M under the proposal before them. The county, which owns the site, "would finance" another $75M of the team’s share of construction costs, "to be reimbursed over 25 years" (CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.com, 1/26). Following the county's approval this morning Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts canceled tomorrow's meeting and vote on the stadium proposal. Roberts said, "Over the past several days, we have been discussing this opportunity, and while this is very promising, it is clear that we are not prepared to move forward at this time." Roberts added the city council is "interested in a future opportunity" to pursue MLS with "more information and time to allow for interactive dialogue with the community and appropriate due diligence on our part." MLS expansion bids are due Jan. 31 (THE DAILY). Five city council members yesterday said that they are either "against the stadium" or said that they are "likely voting against it." One more vote "would be a majority of the 11-member council" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/26).
CHARLOTTE'S WEB: The OBSERVER's Harrison reports USL Charlotte Independence Managing Partner Jim McPhilliamy, whose team worked on a plan to renovate the city's Memorial Stadium, said that his own architectural plans were used "without his consent" to help Smith's bid. McPhilliamy in an email to City Council yesterday wrote that in the spring of '16 he "spent $230,000 'of our own money' to commission an architectural plan to renovate the stadium." The plan allowed for the stadium to be "expanded a second time if Charlotte landed an MLS team." McPhilliamy said that he "doesn't know how his plans were shown to the MLS." SMI Chief Strategy Officer Mike Burch said, "We haven’t seen the Independence’s architectural plans." McPhilliamy said that if the city and Mecklenburg County "pursue the MLS bid, he may have to close" the Independence and MLL Hounds. McPhilliamy: "The Charlotte Independence ... is now faced with a situation where we have no viable short-term or long-term stadium solution in Charlotte. ... We have been run over in this process." McPhilliamy said the county asked him “to stand down” on his plans for the stadium and support Smith. McPhilliamy: "Right now, I am being asked by many people to back a bid for Major League Soccer that, if successful, will likely harm both of my teams. We have tried to partner with the Smiths multiple times appealing to their sense of community but to no avail" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/26).
HOW DOES SAN ANTONIO STACK UP? SI.com's Brian Straus examined San Antonio's push for MLS, noting Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s track record and reputation "will anchor" the city's application. SS&E is a "huge part of what makes San Antonio stand out." On its own, the market is "on the fringe of the 28-team league MLS currently envisions." Dig deeper, however, and MLS "might find some intriguing statistics" (SI.com, 1/25).
