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Philly MLS Rumors!

Jan. 11, 2007

Yes, yes, we know its been awhile. Things have been happening though. Rumor has it 3 investor groups are fighting it out for the right to operate the Philly MLS team.
Also, rumors abound that one key location for a possible stadium deal is Chester, PA, near the riverfront.

Finally, we hear that we might know something more official within the next month or so.

Lets hope!

October 13, 2006
PhillySoccer.com has it from a good source that top MLS officials are meeting this week with "important institutions" in the Philly area to fly a potential project to build a soccer stadium in the city.

September, 2006
Sorry for the long delay on updates. As many of you know, the Rowan project is currently in neutral. The State of NJ is withholding funds for the project to go forward.

On the rumor side, we have confirmed that MLS is not only talking to new investors in Philly but actively seeking out new locations for a stadium, all on the PA-side of the Delaware. Rowan still, is not a dead project.

July 31, 2006
Wizards to Philly?
Kansas City Wizards players were told by MLS Comm. Garber last week that if local investors and community didn't step up and buy/build a new stadium for the Wizards that "Philly is waiting".
Rumor has it that players have been talking to the media, saying that they feel a Philly move is coming.
Other sources within MLS have told us that the Wizards to Philly move is very intense.

*PhillySoccer.com doesn't endorse moving teams around and cities losing their franchises, but we have to point out that Milestone (Philly MLS investor)'s proposal to MLS clearly stated that the MLS Board of Governors had awarded them the rights to a "relocated" MLS franchise. .

July 6, 2006
Holding pattern -but almost there
Although the deadline for Milestone, Rowan and MLS to hammer out a deal was July 1, all three parties agreed to continue negotiations. Rowan has been very vocal in saying that all they have to do is cross their "t"s and dot the "i"s.
According to the 120 day deadline, Rowan actually has 120 days from March 20, which is July 18. So we aren't too far past the deadline.

June 12, 2006
Franklin Field leads the pack?
Both the Daily Penn and the Philly Daily News have published articles saying that the Lincoln Financial Field and Villanova have declined to host a MLS team in 2007. However both articles said that the University of Penn and Franklin Field were still discussing the possibility. Penn declined to comment further, but they did not deny that they were still in negotiations with MLS/Milestone. A small side-note is that Milestone CEO Jeff Goldberg is a Penn alumni.

June 1, 2006

May-2006

Updates from an inside source:

Over 25 other proposals were shot down because they were incomplete. They are not messing around here. There are 3 big money players {investors} involved with the stadium and... all of them on campus the last few weeks. It will be announced shortly who they are and they are very serious and will shock the heck out of alot of people. The plans on the website are completely different than what is actually going to happen. That was just a quick release of what is wanted, but the setup is totally different. I heard alot of people were saying they didn't like the setup of the stadium, that was a quick draft. The new plans for the stadium are amazing.

A Philly soccer fan gleaned this info from a great source and wanted to share it with us!

1) They will choose a developer by the deadline. They received proposals and that shouldn't be an issue. There seems to be lot's of interest. That doesn't mean there won't be issues come contract time but that's the way construction is.

2) There are several commitments or near commitments from national sports federations to use this complex as its national training center. US Field Hockey and Lacrosse were mentioned as was the USWNT. As was annonced already, the USSF plans to use this site for an east coast home. They'll have 18 fields about six will be turf.

3) They plan a big elite youth club branded after the MLS team. This would be like a PDL for South Jersey with about 18 teams.

4) Rowan will own the property and buildings, leasing the space back to the developer and MLS which will in turn lease the space back to franchisers and shop owners and the like. Rowan will pick dates it wants to use facilities which some will see as a bad thing but I don't think this will affect MLS too much compared to an NFL team or something.

5) They want minor league hockey for the new arena they are building.

6) The most exciting thing I saved for last. They are planning a massive retail complex at the stadium site that would be really unique in this area. It sounded like the upscale Sagemore complex in Marlton. This will be on a "Main Street" leading to the stadium. The idea is to get the professionals like me who live in the area to stop there after work to eat and shop and then cater to the students at night with some night life. On game days, they'll close car access to the road and foot traffic will be forced to walk up Main Street to the stadium, passing its shops, restaurants, pubs, etc (doesn't seem alcohol licenses are an issue). This would give things the kind of feel you have walking to a stadium through an English town. The coach said the stadium will blow away the HDC.

They are also already fielding naming rights offers. Each facility will be named individually.

The devil is in the details but it seems like this will really happen. They have been working on this for a long time. Source has said D1 sports for Rowan is inevitable because they'll have over 20,000 students once they're up and running but the current regime is reluctant to do this.