Hennepin County (Minn.) BOD Chair Mike Opat on Thursday "made a surprise appearance" at MLS HQ in N.Y. during a meeting with league execs to support the bid for an expansion club headed by NASL club Minnesota United FC Owner Bill McGuire, according to a front-page piece by Kaszuba & Olson of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Opat’s visit on behalf of McGuire "immediately put him at odds" with Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf, who also is trying to land an MLS team. Though Opat "has said little publicly of Hennepin County’s potential involvement regarding soccer, he led the push" for the county’s $350M public subsidy package for Target Field. Opat said, "If expansion happens, I’d prefer it be the (McGuire) group." Kaszuba & Olson report Opat's involvement -- and whether McGuire would ask the county for public money for a new, soccer-only stadium near Target Field -- "further entangled an already complicated issue." United President Nick Rogers did not speculate on "whether the group would ask for a subsidy." Opat and Rogers both said that there is "no agreement between the county and the hopeful owners." T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor and the Pohlad family, which owns the Twins, also support McGuire's bid (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/21). In St. Paul, Andy Greder reports United's presentation "focused on how the franchise has grown soccer in Minnesota" and "also included details on United's local ties." Rogers: "It was a great conversation. It was part presentation, part dialogue" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/21).
OTHER PRESENTATIONS: In Las Vegas, Alan Snel reports a group of Las Vegas soccer stadium backers “pitched MLS” during a two-hour session on the stadium’s proposed downtown location in Symphony Park. Findlay Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner Justin Findlay said that the group “explained that a professional soccer team would do well in Las Vegas Valley’s market of about 2 million people.” The group consisted of Findlay, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, City Manager Betsy Fretwell and stadium advisor Dean Howes. Findlay added that the Cordish representatives outlined the $250M commercial and residential development that “would be part of the soccer stadium project” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/21). Meanwhile, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said a local contingent seeking to join MLS feels "very strongly about what we're doing" after meeting with league execs in N.Y. Johnson said that he "had not received a clear indication from MLS of what the next steps would be in the league's expansion" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 11/21).
