MLS in Minnesota?

[François]

Posted on Tue, Jun. 21, 2005

Wilf seeks MLS team for the Twin Cities

BY TIM LEIGHTON AND JOHN SHIPLEY

Pioneer Press


New Vikings owner Zygi Wilf wants to bring a Major League Soccer team here. If he does, the landscape of professional soccer in the Twin Cities would change dramatically.

One of the most prominent questions involves the local pro team, the Minnesota Thunder, which has been keeping pro soccer alive here for the past 11 years without quite reaching the top level of the professional ranks.

"It's a little too early to tell, but it really wouldn't make sense to have two pro teams in one town," said Jim Froslid, one of three Thunder owners and formerly the team's general manager.

That doesn't mean the Thunder are in immediate danger of dissolving. For one thing, the Thunder could be involved in a move to MLS. For another, Wilf hasn't spoken extensively about soccer, though he insists MLS is part of his stadium plan. Five of MLS's 12 teams play in open-air NFL stadiums.

"That's something which would be of interest, certainly in conjunction with, hopefully, the building of a new stadium," Wilf said last week. "If (the stadium) is open, soccer would be a perfect complement, especially for the area that we're thinking of building it, because it is a very sports-oriented community in the Anoka County area, so I think it would be a big plus."

Froslid was returning from talks with MLS on Monday and said the league, eager to expand, has targeted Houston, Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia and Toronto. MLS, he said, wants two additional teams by 2007, and the sport's world governing body, FIFA, ultimately wants an 18-team league.

While local enthusiasts have worked hard to keep soccer alive here, money has always been tight. The Thunder, while no longer bleeding red ink, have never made a profit. And attempts to build a soccer-specific stadium in the Twin Cities, the ideal carrot for an MLS team, have failed.

For Wilf, whose ownership group just laid out $600 million for the Vikings, the MLS franchise fee of between $12 and $20 million would be less daunting, especially if he already had a stadium.

Wilf said he "would have to explore" working with the local cognoscenti. Thunder coach and co-founder Buzz Lagos said he can't believe the locals would be left out.

"I assume that there would be some kind of cooperative agreement,'' he said. "I don't think MLS would jump in and ignore us... . Our ties to MLS are too strong.''

The Thunder (4-2-4) are playing their 16th season and 12th as a pro franchise. Their next game is Friday at James Griffin Stadium against the Toronto Lynx.

"There are different ideas out there about how to do this," Froslid said. "One would be to make the Thunder the MLS team. Another would be to make the Thunder a feeder program to the MLS team; maybe we drop down a level and develop players for it. Another would be to dissolve the franchise."

That's what happened in Salt Lake City, where MLS set up an expansion franchise and a lower-level team folded.

Froslid said Wilf's interest in soccer is enticing because the Thunder's mission is to bring soccer "of the highest level possible" to the Twin Cities. Right now that's the Thunder, playing in the First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, one step below MLS.

If the promotion to MLS has to come without the Thunder's involvement, Froslid said, so be it.

"From my perspective, and understand that I'm only one part of a three-person ownership group, that's a good thing," he said. "That's honestly how I feel. That's been our consistent message."

Wilf said he is "concentrating on football" right now. Should he soon get serious about soccer, he'll have an eager audience in MLS.

"There is a huge opportunity that exists in the Twin Cities for top-level soccer,'' said Dan Courtemanche, a senior vice president of marketing and communications for MLS. "We need to make sure the market is a great market, and with the Twin Cities, that isn't a question."

Alan Merrick, director of soccer at the National Sports Center in Blaine, said he is working to bring an MLS franchise to his stadium. He contends he has potential investors but declined to identify them.

"Let's just say I have a few oars in the water,'' said Merrick, a former star defender for the Minnesota Kicks.

The NSC has a national reputation for its soccer complex, one of the largest in the world, but it would require modifications before an MLS team could call it home.

Merrick encouraged Wilf to give him a call and join forces. Froslid would be interested to talk with Wilf, too, though he isn't sure when it might happen.

"We'd be all ears to that," he said, "but I guess he hasn't been here in the community long enough for us to approach him. It would make sense for us to sit down and discuss things."


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