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reprint of COLORADO RAPIDS NEWS RELEASE -- byline German Sferra
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In a press conference held Tuesday, September 23, 2003, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber introduced the League's newest investor-operator, Stan Kroenke and Kroenke Sports Enterprises, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Kroenke Sports announced the purchase of MLS' Colorado Rapids soccer team from Anschutz Entertainment Group and the organization's plans to build a new stadium for the club which currently plays at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Major League Soccer Commissioner - Don Garber Kroenke Sports Enterprises Executive Vice President - David Ehrlich Anschutz Entertainment Group President & CEO - Tim Leiweke Colorado Rapids General Manager - Dan Counce Colorado Rapids Captain and Forward - John Spencer
"Major League Soccer was founded by a number of men who had a clear vision for what they thought professional soccer could be in this country -- how they could create a league that would capture all of the exciting changes that are going on socially and demographically with the explosion of youth soccer and the explosion of different ethnic groups that are playing the world's game.
"People like Lamar Hunt, a man who founded the American Football League and is the only man to be in two professional sports Halls of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Soccer Hall of Fame.
"Robert Kraft, who's involved in owning the New England Patriots and a man who is a key driver of the National Football League.
"But also a man that's so well known to all of you here in Denver and a man who has a vision for sport and about what sport can really mean in our communities and what sport can really mean in changing the lives of our young people. That man is Phil Anschutz. He has run with us against the tide to try to make professional soccer one of the five major sports in this country and to try to have a league that can capture and take all of that excitement that's been bottled up in this sport at so many different levels.
"Now we're here to announce today that we're ready to add a new pioneer to the vision of soccer in America, as Phil Anschutz and the Anschutz Entertainment Group sell the rights to the Colorado Rapids to Kroenke Sports. We're very excited to welcome Stan (Kroenke) and Dave Ehrlich and Charlie Wright to the family. We're very, very excited about what they can bring to building the sport in this country. If you just look around you in this room at all the things that have been done with professional sports in this town, it's just overwhelming to us to know that we have a group with that power and that vision to help us to continue to grow the sport of professional soccer in the United States."
"This is a day with a lot of mixed feelings for Phil Anschutz and AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group). The Rapids were our first franchise in Major League Soccer. It's the reason we're in the sport and the reason we're so committed and passionate toward the future of this sport. To have this team and the employees and the players leave our family is really something we had to think long and hard about. We are very grateful to Dan Counce, Coach Tim Hankinson, the players and the front office of the Rapids. You've all done a phenomenal job and we're going to miss having you in our family.
"At the same time if you look at the best interest of this franchise and soccer in not only Denver but the state of Colorado, it's clear that the Kroenke Sports Group can come in and offer strategies and support and synergies that we at AEG can't offer. The Rapids were a stand alone proposition for us, one of six franchises we own in Major League Soccer. Our focus was in the areas where we had other properties. We couldn't find a better partner than Stan Kroenke and Dave and Charlie and the rest of the group (Kroenke Sports) here. There are still a lot of people in this organization (Kroenke Sports) that I had the great privilege of working with while I was in Denver. In my opinion this is the organization (Kroenke Sports Enterprises) I most admire and respect in all of professional sports. It'll be interesting. They beat our head (AEG) in with hockey. We like to beat their head in with basketball. Now we have a third sport to settle the score. The only difference is that we have five teams and they have one. I like our odds right now but the way they're playing (Colorado Rapids) who knows.
"We again will be a part of this League going forward. We believe in the future of Major League Soccer. There are other announcements in the near future that the Commissioner has been working on diligently with his staff. We couldn't be more excited about MLS. And to show you the future and hope of this League I think all you have to do is look at that fact that we've been able to add the Kroenke Group as owners and we're able to put the Colorado Rapids in such great hands. I don't think the future has ever looked brighter for the Rapids. To the staff, the coach and the players - thank you. You guys have been great and you've been an important part of our family. On behalf of Mr. Anschutz he wants to send a big thank you to all of you. This is his home team and you've served him well. We wish you nothing but the best of luck in the future. To the Kroenke Group we say welcome. We're honored to have you. We look forward to working with you in building the sport of soccer."
"It's really an honor to be here today and, when you talk about visionaries in sports, the people you really talk about are AEG, led by Tim (Leiweke) and Mr. Anschutz. So we are very, very proud today to be part of this. I think it was probably one of the worst kept secrets in Colorado sports the past couple of weeks as we've been talking, and it's very exciting for us to announce the acquisition of the team.
"It's really just Step One, though, and the most important things are coming. The main thing we are going to do next is we are going to immediately start looking for a site on which to build a soccer-specific, state-of-the-art new stadium, a new home for the Rapids. We've been down to The Home Depot Center and seen what AEG has done there. It's a beautiful stadium and we think it's something we want to do out in Colorado. I think what's important, though, and what we see from them, is that we want to couple that with a massive investment in youth soccer development. I think the two go hand in hand. We're very excited about putting together a state-of-the-art facility for the professional team but at the same time investing in the youth in Colorado and really trying to build the sport from the ground up. I think the Rapids have started that and we're very eager to take that on and grow it even more.
"This is really a great day for us to be a part of this group and we're very, very excited about taking the next step. I'd actually like to introduce Dan Counce, who's now our new GM, and we're very happy to have him in the KSE family."
"It's a really exciting time for us. Not too many teams in their history have an opportunity to be owned by Phil Anschutz and Stan Kroenke, two visionaries in the sports and entertainment business today. We're really, really excited. The possibility of a soccer-specific stadium for us in Denver in the near future is one of the components that make us really enthused. We know that this is an important part in the development of the sport going forward and for Colorado to get into the fray of a new stadium very quickly is really an exciting thing.
"I would like to recognize our Coach Tim Hankinson. He is in his third season coaching us and as you know we had a rough start to the season but we've turned it around and the team is playing entertaining, fun soccer and I can't wait to see that in a new stadium.
"Personally, I have mixed emotions. I have been with Phil Anschutz now for seven or eight years and have developed a lot of respect for the man and organization and I've been working with Tim (Leiweke) during that time. It's a sad time but it's really exciting going forward to be joining the Kroenke Group, particularly in Colorado and Denver - they have an organization that is the best in our area. All you have to do is look out the window to see the commitment they've made to our community and the impact they've had on the entertainment and sports scene here. The Rapids are very privileged and excited to be a part of that. We're very enthused to add to the development of the sports and entertainment business for the Kroenke Sports organization. We're really excited and ready to go. Our staff is all here and I'd like to recognize the current staff and previous people who have worked for the Rapids who have played a big part in us being able to develop this franchise to a point where we can get an organization such as the Kroenke Group to want to step forward, purchase the team and build a stadium for us. I want to congratulate everyone for a great job."
"I think it's a great day for soccer in America, not only just in Denver. Hearing the news today that we're going to have a soccer-specific stadium is excellent news for all of the players and everybody connected with the soccer side of things. I think having the chance to play under the Anschutz Entertainment Group has been fantastic. They always looked after the players and I'm sure the players really appreciate it. But having landed on our feet today, to go from the Anschutz Group to another big massive sports organization like the Kroenke Group, I don't think you realize how lucky the players feel.
"I would just like to say thanks very much to the Anschutz Group for what they've done in the past for the players and the team. We really appreciate it. Congratulations to the Kroenke Group for purchasing one of the top teams in Major League Soccer. I heard a little rumor that when Kroenke buys a team, they win the championship, so I hope we're going to deliver one this year."
"We've just started the process in terms of where we're looking. Downtown is one alternative. We want to be in the metro Denver area but we want to be flexible because there are a lot of communities out there that might be a great fit for us."
"Based on what we've seen at The Home Depot Center, what we can tell you is that we built an intimate stadium. We have 27,000 seats out there, we average 22,000 and we had 23,000 the other night. The energy that our players feel from that crowd and the emotion the crowd generates by being in a small, soccer-specific stadium right on the field gives it a very European feel to the game. I've always felt that what we have missed in this country, and it's no offense to Invesco because it's a great place to play soccer and it's one of the most beautiful facilities in all of sports in North America. But the reality is that when you put 20,000 people into a 60,000 seat stadium it's very hard to get the atmosphere and emotion. And soccer more than any other sport thrives off the emotion of the crowd. The crowd is more involved in this game than any sport we're involved with or that I've ever seen. If you don't create the right environment in the right facility, then you can't create that enthusiasm for the fans and without that enthusiasm you're missing half the sport.
"At The Home Depot Center we've seen an amazing turn in the passion of our fans and the support and the media coverage and obviously in the economics. We're a break-even proposition which is pretty amazing this day in soccer in this country. The experience of coming to a soccer specific stadium now for the fans has given them that European feel and flavor that has changed the dynamics of the game and the experience of coming out to that sporting event.
"So I think it's critical that all of our teams are committed to that vision. I think it's one of the things we were excited about with the Kroenke Group which is that they were focused on that opportunity. Clearly we're as equally focused on that opportunity in New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago where we have teams as well and where we intend on building soccer specific stadiums to join Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles and Columbus so that the whole League has that atmosphere and that feeling every place you go."
"The Home Depot Center is one of the most impressive facilities I've ever seen in my life. But the focus that we took from it was the beautiful stadium and the youth development facility. When you drive up toward the stadium and there are six-year-olds playing in one field and 12-year-olds and 16-year-olds playing all the way up to the professional stadium. It's incredibly compelling not just from a business standpoint but also from a community partner standpoint. So if we're going to take a lesson from that it's not really in terms of other sports (hosted) like tennis but it is in terms of creating that youth component."
"We call The Home Depot Center the cathedral for soccer in America. It's not about the suites. It's not about the beautiful pitch and it's not about the fact that it is appropriately sized. But it's all of those things together that celebrate the sport. What soccer needs in this country is to have these beacons that can drive the growth of the sport and bring new people to it. At the end of the day the sport is very successful at the youth level and very successful at other levels. And to make it successful professionally, we as a League need to be that focal point - the portal which the rest of the sport comes through. The way to do that is with a home.
"If you look at the Pepsi Center here today and the experience that people have with the teams that play here is different than before this facility was built. You look at baseball before Camden Yards was built or at football with the new stadiums like Gillette Stadium that are being built. It just changes the people's perception about the sport. It speaks about stability, viability and celebration and that's why we're committed to do that in each one of our markets both current and future markets."
"Our highest attended market on average until The Home Depot Center was built was Columbus, Ohio - the first soccer-specific stadium built in America in a market that was selected because we believed that the sport needed these facilities to bring people together and give them a home ... I believe whole-heartedly that if you build it they will come and it's proven to be that way. Tim (Leiweke) has competition in Los Angeles and have exceeded their goals (Galaxy's) in terms of what the team has been able to attract coming out of the Rose Bowl. So the model has proven to work. The skeptics won't think it will but we've proven the skeptics wrong in just about every one of the strategic decisions that we've made over the last couple of years."
"People see soccer today and they make assumptions on whether or not a soccer specific stadium will work in a place like Denver based on today. The sport is going to continue to grow. It is the world's most popular sport and it is a religion everywhere in the world and it's changing dramatically here. It is a dominant force within our youth who are playing the game today.
"Denver is the largest growing Hispanic population in all of this country today and if you look at the Hispanic marketplace soccer is by far their most passionate sport. I think with the additional teams that will be coming into our league in the next couple of years and with our homegrown talent proving that they are some of the finest players in the world, I think not only are you going to see soccer continue to grow but I don't think you're going to see that in other sports. I think soccer has huge growth potential and baseball is at a ceiling. I don't think you go out to the playgrounds today and see them full of kids playing baseball.
"So at the end of the day I believe this is a good bet for the future. You can't look at attendance today but you have to look at the attendance 10 years from now. There is no question that we have the best professional growth sport in our country and I also think there is going to be a day in time that the United States wins the World Cup and when we do we're going to have stars, athletes and players in our League that are going to be renowned not just in this country but everywhere in the world. And I don't think we're that far away. When you see a Landon Donovan and some of the great players this country is developing, you sense that not only we are being competitive on world stage but from an attendance standpoint this sport is close to breaking through in every place in this country. Los Angeles is just one more example of how that has occurred."
"Our experience in the past year when we brought on the Mammoth and the Crush there was a question about the fact that we already have a lot of sports teams here. We proceeded to sell out both teams. What that shows is that if you can provide compelling, affordable family-friendly entertainment for people these days you will draw."
"Let me start by saying there was a team that was sold. Marc Rapaport was the original owner of the Los Angeles Galaxy and sold that team to Phil Anschutz in 1998. The last sale in our League was in 1998 when we expanded and Ken Horowitz came in and bought the Miami Fusion. So this is a tipping point, if you will, that we have a team that is being sold because of the value that it can represent to the investor and how that investor, in this case Kroenke Sports, sees the team integrating into their other holdings and how it can be utilized to help develop their relationship with the community and also have an asset that will appreciate in value. So it is a very positive thing for us.
"We have nothing but good things to say about Invesco Field. It's a great facility. It's a great football stadium. It's not an appropriate-sized facility for the future of soccer in America. The future of soccer is about soccer-specific stadiums. It's certainly about the continued development of our players and the continued addition of investors and staff with passion. But, at the end of the day we've got to build stadiums that are appropriate for our sport and we now have a new investor here in Denver that's committed to doing that, so it's a very exciting moment."
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