Just this past weekend I was thinking to myself "things are awful quiet in Philadelphia." One year out from the franchise's debut and the silence hasn't quite been deafening, but when compared with all of the noise Seattle has made over the last 12 months is doesn't seem to have as much excitement surrounding it. You also haven't heard too much about construction progress out of Chester (or at least I haven't) since the groundbreaking.
You have heard --or most-likely read-- rumors of financial issues affecting the project. You'll read about that and FC Barcelona's on-the-down-low visit to the Chester construction site in this week's Sports Business Journal; the publication is focusing on MLS this week and they'll have a slew of related content so I'd highly recommend that you sign up for the free trial subscription today.
A few bullet points form the article:
- "FC Barcelona is exploring an investment in MLS’s Philadelphia expansion franchise, which has been seeking new capital for months in an effort to further strengthen an ownership group fronted by iStar Financial CEO Jay Sugarman."
- "Joan LaPorta, president of FC Barcelona, visited Philadelphia on Feb. 28 and toured the site of the franchise’s future stadium being constructed in Chester, Pa. The tour took place days before FC Barcelona announced it wouldn’t pursue an expansion franchise in Miami."
The financial freak show has cost Sugarman more than $38 million since February 2008.
9 comments:
Ugh. I hope not. We don't need another team in the league branded with a foreign's club name. By the way, could two cities have LESS in common than Philly and Barcelona?
"could two cities have LESS in common than Philly and Barcelona?"
Barcelona and Philly are at almost the exact same latitude, so sure!
Barcadelphia FC
if this happens, i hope barca keeps their trademark off of the philly team
it would be nice if the two teams are linked. but not share the same name. Philly SC
You want Barca to keep their trademark off of the Philly team? So you don't want their trademark of playing the most attractive football in the world anywhere near Philadelphia, gotcha.
I think it would be great if Philly could pull in some extra investors like Comcast, FC Barca, or even some smaller ones to give it more stability. I think the Philly team should happen as a NY fan since the rivalry between DC, Philly, and NY will be incredible and Philly is a good soccer market. It would really be detrimental to MLS and the team however if they branded the team FC Barca Philly.
Barcelona cant make up its mind.
Phailonia. The new name for a bad idea.
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