The Dynamo get a little more golden with Oscar De La Hoya

The MLS Champion Houston Dynamo have new owners, sort of. Boxer Oscar De La Hoya and business associate Gabriel Brener are set to purchase 50% of the club while current owners AEG will continue to control the other half.

AEG has placed the value of the Dynamo at more then $40 million, meaning this is at least a $20m investment by the two.

Interestingly De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, and Brener, a Mexican investor with ties to the real estate industry in the United States, will only be the second Hispanic ownership group in the league (Chivas was the first).

No word yet exactly what roll AEG will continue to play, however I would guess they would take over stadium issues while the Golden Boys handle the team. My reason for this guess has to do with AEG's desire to have a concert venue in the downtown Houston area.

With the city ready to move on the Dynamo stadium idea, possibly as early as tomorrow night, and with the ownership issue looking to be settled, it appears good news is on the horizon for Dynamo fans.

The one question I still wonder is how will the Dynamo make money off this? With AEG looking to front $70-90m of the construction cost, they will want to keep a large amount of any profits. The team will save money by not needing to rent Robertson Stadium anymore, however they will probably only get limited percentages from non-soccer events held in the facility and as FC Dallas can tell you, it is the non-soccer events that make you the money.

However, even with these concerns, it is still great to see this move forward. Sure it will be another soccer venue with a stage at one end, but at least it is happening.

Houston gets young Argentine striker, is a stadium next?

The biggest concern for Houston this off-season has been the lack of forwards in the squad, but it looks like that is about to change.

The team is expected to soon announce the signing of Franco Caraccio from the Argentine Primera División's Arsenal de Sarandi. Caraccio appears to be just the type of player Houston coach Dominic Kinnear loves to work with as he has talent but it needs to be developed.

Caraccio has played on Argentina's under-20 national team, but was mostly a reservist for his club, meaning his experience level is limited making this a bit of a risk for the Dynamo. However, at just 21-years of age, it is a risk worth taking.

Instead of going after a known 30+ year-old, Kinnear has opted to go for youth. Caraccio will have a fantastic opportunity to showcase himself as the speeder striker along side Brian Ching. Combine this with the attacking styles of Stuart Holden and Dwayne De Rosario and the Dynamo again look great up top.

It also appears to be a double win for the club as it looks like they will get him on a free transfer and that he will sign a four-year deal at about $70,000 a year, meaning they should have some money left over for another player.

It is amazing how many things just keep going Houston's way on the pitch and it looks like another might be about to happen off the pitch.

During the whole Houston soccer stadium debate, the mayor has insisted that no property tax revenues would be used to build a home for the Dynamo, however it now appears he is open to using other city monies.

"I'm not saying we won't provide any public funds," White said. "What I am saying is we won't use funds that could be used for providing for essential city services, such as solid waste and parks and libraries and things like that, public safety."

So what does this mean?

White said if public funds were used, they will not come out of the city's general fund or involve new taxes.

The mayor discussed a scenario that would involve property taxes collected by a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, a special district in which rising property tax revenues are funneled back into the zone for infrastructure improvements to attract further development.

Some of the TIRZ monies could be used to reimburse the city for the land purchase, or possibly for a small portion of the stadium itself, White said.

To sum up, it looks like the mayor is willing to spend some city money to get this deal down. Yet another example of how much Houston wants a stadium downtown.

But the always great Bernardo Fallas points out another sign this move seems to point towards, as it could mean the sale of the team to the 'De La Hoya/Brener people' is almost done.

Could it be that the next couple weeks will see the Dynamo get new owners and a stadium deal? They should be so lucky.

Houston stadium deal delayed

The city of Houston is giving itself an extra week to consider the proposal to purchase land for a Dynamo soccer stadium.

The City Council will look at the $15.5 million land deal on Wednesday but is expected to delay any decision to next week. If the city goes ahead with the purchase, they will acquire 5 blocks just outside of downtown currently owned by former Councilman Louis Macey. They are trying to get hold of the sixth block by swapping already owned land.

Although the main hope for this deal is to land a stadium, there is no guarantee that the Dynamo will build a stadium on the location. It is also not know if the city would sell or rent the land to the team.

It does seem that the city is very much hoping to make this happen, provided no tax dollars go to actual construction, so the pressure is on the Dynamo organization. The number one reason for the team's move from California was a lack of a stadium deal. Now it appears that a deal is coming together, however it might be the team that keeps it from happening.

AEG has said in the past that they are very interesting in building a stadium, however they also want to sell their Houston franchise to focus on their other club the LA Galaxy. Since MLS wants teams to own the facilities in which they play, if AEG does sell the team, they would have to work out an agreement over the stadium with new owners, but this could take some time to accomplish (look no further then the year long delay with the New York Red Bull stadium after AEG sold the team).

So in the end, we have a situation that appears to be more common then ever in the league, a city ready to help make a stadium happen (Houston, Miami, St. Louis) but either the team or league holding back.

Site of Houston Dynamo stadium selected

There might not yet be a deal to build a soccer stadium for the two-time MLS Champions, but at least the city of Houston and the Dynamo have decided on a location.

The city has agreed to purchase six-blocks of land near downtown that could become home to a Dynamo stadium. However, the two sides still need to workout a great number of details before an actual stadium deal is reached.

Interestingly enough, one issue might be the sale of the team to local owners. One of MLS's big missions is to get every team owned by a local group, however in Houston's case, that might be causing a delay in another one of MLS's big missions, get every team in their own soccer stadium. AEG, the current owners of Houston have said that they are willing to pay for a large majority of the $70-80 million building cost for a home, however the possible local ownership group is not so interested in paying that much. Since Houston's Mayor Bill White does not want taxpayer money to pay for the stadium itself, there is a problem.

AEG could always build the stadium and lease it to the Dynamo's new owners, however that would deprive the team any chance to make money from non-soccer events at the stadium, so it really is not that much better then their current situation.

So as for now, the team that moved from San Jose two-years ago because they couldn't get a stadium deal still can't seem to get a stadium deal. I can only imagine how the players feel about this.

Gold medalist boxer wants to be a Dynamo - Sale will not hurt stadium deal

A group that includes boxer Oscar de la Hoya wants to purchase the Houston Dynamo from current owner Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). It is not clear how far along talks are, but MLS is very interested in seeing the sale take place.

AEG at one time owned over half of the league, but now stands with just two teams, Houston and LA.

The good news for Houston fans, any sale will not effect the negotiations to get the club a soccer stadium as any sale would include a non- relocation clause which would severely penalize the new owners if they moved before the lease for the stadium was up.

However, the stadium might face an issue of a different sort from the NBA's Houston Rockets. It seems the Rockets have a provision in their lease of the Toyota Center that 'prohibits the city from promoting or helping build a rival venue that would stage concerts.' Since AEG is all about building soccer stadiums that can be used for concerts, this could be a problem. However, if the Rockets will not budge, AEG might hold off staging any concerts in the new stadium till the agreement ends in 2013.

Of course a better solution would be to just build a stadium without a stage, but good solutions don't always equal profit, thus it will never happen.

Still, it looks like the Dynamo will soon have local owners, which would mean the league would have 14 owners for their 15 teams (I'm including Seattle) and a stadium. Now if the Hunt family can just find a buyer for the Crew, all will be right. Hard to believe that as recently as 2003, there were only three owners for the whole league. A lot has changed in four years.

Houston Dynamo stadium deal close

The Dynamo have had an easier time winning titles then getting a stadium deal but it looks like that might just change in the next couple weeks.

City and team officials have both said that a private-public deal to build a stadium could be in place within weeks. Dynamo's owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) want to build a 22,000-seat, open-air stadium costing around $80 million. AEG would cover a majority of the construction costs for the stadium with the city chipping in to provide infrastructure improvements.

Houston Mayor Bill White does not want to see any public money used in the building of the stadium.

The location of the new stadium has not been released, however, it will be in the downtown area.

This all sounds wonderful and I hope the deal gets closed soon, but I do wonder about the open-air stadium. With a number of games taking place in the summer months, I would think some coverage for the fans would make it a bit more enjoyable. Also, with a roof, the sound echoes, making the home field that much more hostel to the opposition.

I'm guessing since this is an AEG project, a stage will be included with the plans, although it would be very funny if they elected not to have one after their arguments with Red Bull over the New York stadium. Also, I wonder if any of the money Red Bull paid AEG for the New York rights buy out is not in the Houston stadium fund?

New York Red Bull stadium plan back on

Could it be that the joke of a stadium in New York is finally going to put to rest again? It looks like things are on track to make that happen as Red Bull have bought out AEG's 50% share in the complex.

After 18-months of back-and-forth between the two, it was obvious they were not going to get past their major hang-up, a stage. AEG wanted one while Red Bull did not. With today's move, New York now has a chance of building a great stadium that will be used solely for soccer.

Now the question is how quickly can they get this thing built. If the 18-month time frame for other stadiums hold true, New York could have their stadium finished right after the start of the 2009 season.

Hopefully, this will all come together because the stadium plan looks to be one of the best in the league.