MLS could be coming to Philadelphia area

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
October 18, 2006

Would Philadelphia show some brotherly love for an MLS team?

Local soccer fans seem to think so, which has the league clamoring to get an expansion team in the nation’s fourth largest market. Currently, Atlanta is the only other top 10 market without a team.

However, recent plans to bring an MLS franchise to the campus of Rowan University in Glassboro, N..J. have apparently hit a snag. Just a month ago, Rowan announced that its $1 billion plan for a soccer-specific stadium and infrastructure (including housing and a retail complex) will have to be renegotiated.

This comes after Governor Jon Corzine’s rejection of $100 million of state aid for roadway, parking lot and utility improvements. Corzine has cited the state’s budget woes as the main reason for holding back the funds.

Supporters of the project, however, say that the state will benefit almost immediately. Dr. Robert Burchell of the Rutgers University Center for Urban Policy Research has calculated that the three-year construction would create $89 million in wages and $10.75 million in annual taxes. Once the stadium and infrastructure are up and running, he claims, the Garden State would benefit with an annual $76 million in wages and $9.2 million in taxes.

In March, Rowan entered into an agreement with the MLS that gave the University 90 days to develop plans for a stadium that would serve as home for an MLS team beginning in 2009. The league would like to expand to three more teams by 2008-2009. It was widely believed that British media company The Milestone Group would buy the Kansas City Wizards and move them to the Philadelphia suburbs, but the timeline ran out, and the team was sold to Kansas City investors for $15 million Aug. 31.

Despite the setback, Rowan University president Dr. Donald Farish is optimistic.

“We feel that we still may be able to negotiate with Milestone on the construction of a stadium that would meet Rowan and Major League Soccer’s needs,” he said.

Even more frustrated than Rowan are the region’s local soccer fans. Ethan Gomberg, creator of the fan-based Web site phillysoccer.com, has received hundreds of messages of support and over 12,000 visitors through his Web site in less than a year.

The site’s goal is solely to “promote professional soccer in the Philadelphia market.” Gomberg is among those disappointed over the Rowan plan, but claims that there may be a silver lining.

“I think Glassboro could work, but it’s not the best situation,” he said. “Rumors [for a possible stadium] have ranged from the Philly Naval Yard, to Bucks County, to West Chester. The more centrally located, the better.”

Many who believe that MLS will thrive in Philadelphia point to the city’s rich soccer history, much of which was played at Veterans Stadium and Franklin Field.

Philadelphia had a first-division club team from 1973-1976 in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the nation’s first top professional league prior to MLS. In their first season, the Philadelphia Atoms actually won the NASL Championship, defeating the Dallas Tornados 2-0. Ironically, Dallas owner Lamar Hunt, who today owns the Kansas City Chiefs and the Columbus Crew, was instrumental in bringing the team to Philadelphia.

After the championship, Philadelphia’s Bob Rigby (who is from Ridley Park) became the first soccer player ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Perhaps Philadelphia’s greatest soccer family has been the Bahrs: Walter, Chris, Matt and Casey. Walter was one of, if not the, greatest American soccer players of all-time. He was a long-time captain of the USMNT, and assisted on the only goal of the Americans’ 1-0 upset over England in the 1950 World Cup – one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports (albeit somewhat unknown in the United States). The Glasgow Daily Mail (Scotland) wrote in 1949 that Walter “is good enough to play for any First Division team in the United Kingdom.”

His sons Matt and Chris were both placekickers in the NFL and professional soccer players in the NASL. Matt set an NFL record with five field goals in the 1991 NFC Championship game, and kicked the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXV for the Giants. He also scored seven points in a victorious Super Bowl XIV for Pittsburgh. Chris was the 1975 NASL Rookie of the Year, setting a record by a native-born American with 11 goals for the Atoms.

Great Philadelphia soccer players have not just been a memory either. There are currently 10 Philadelphia-area soccer players in MLS, including Ben Olsen (DC United) and Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy) of the U.S. National Team. USMNT midfielder Bobby Convey, who plays for Reading FC in the English Premier League, and Albright also went to high school at nearby William Penn Charter.

Some commentators have claimed, despite the history, that the MLS just won’t work here.

“I think that anybody who is skeptical about the MLS succeeding has every right to be, based on past (soccer) history,” said Marc Narducci, a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer who occasionally writes about soccer in addition to his Philadelphia Eagles beat. “Soccer is a great participant sport, but I’m not sure than an MLS team could consistently get the fans out.”

Gomberg disagrees. “Most of those people are not soccer fans, and [they] think no one plays soccer in America. MLS teams have national attendance in the 15,000-20,000 range [and] billionaire investors have a long-term plan to grow the sport and the league,” Gomberg said. “Philly has the population, sports enthusiasm and soccer knowledge levels to support MLS.”

Narducci hopes Gomberg is right. “I hope I’m wrong with my assumption, because I’d like to see a team here. [Major League Soccer] has done surveys that lead them to believe that this is an area that would support a team.”

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has repeatedly stated that, “It’s not a matter of if, but rather when, Philadelphia gets an MLS franchise.”

We shall find out in the upcoming months.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu