MLS PREVIEW: CAUSE OF OPTIMISM IN MLS'S 11TH SEASON PLUSES INCLUDE RED BULL, NEW STADIUMS.Byline: Scott French Staff Writer The tenor of talk is no longer about survival as Major League Soccer heads into its 11th season. Increasing foreign investment, affiliations with top clubs from Europe and Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , a continued boom in stadium construction and plans for expansion have league officials giddy that their time appears near. Red Bull GmbH Red Bull GmbH is the maker of Red Bull, an energy drink that originated in Thailand and, in a version adapted to Austrian tastes, is now popular throughout the world. Almost 1 billion of the slim 250 ml cans were sold in 2000 in over 100 countries, 260 million of them in the , the Austrian makers of the energy drink with the same name, spent a reported $50 million this month to purchase the MetroStars - renamed the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Red Bulls - and naming rights to the stadium under construction in Harrison, N.Y., a deal one U.S. Soccer official called ``the most important event'' in league history. It follows deals last year with Mexican billionaire Jorge Vergara, who carved Chivas USA from his Club Deportivo Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara, also known as Guadalajara and usually referred to by its nickname Chivas (Goats), also referred to as the All Mexican Team is a Mexican sports club. , and with Maple Leaf maple leaf of Canada. [Flower Symbolism: Jobes, 283] See : Flower Or Plant, National Sports and Entertainment - owner of the NHL's Maple Leafs and NBA's Raptors - to bring a team to Toronto in 2008. An alliance between the Galaxy and English Premier League champion Chelsea - the world's richest club - was announced Wednesday, and the London-based club is in talks with MLS See multilevel security. to play in the league's all-star game this summer in Chicago. ``Now it is time for us to get with the second phase of growth for this league ...,'' commissioner Don Garber said at a Home Depot Center gathering last week. ``We have our own buildings, we've got national (television) contracts, we've got players that are starring for our national team. We have the kind of importance in the community that gives us the sense of ability and stability - and excitement for the future.'' The Red Bull deal provides the most excitement. Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, whose growing empire includes a top soccer club in Austria and Formula One and NASCAR racing teams, is investing heavily in the Red Bulls and promising to make a positive impact on the league's culture. ``Pardon the expression Pardon The Expression! was an ITV sitcom that ran from 2 June 1965 to 27 June 1966. The sitcom was the only spin-off from the highly popular soap opera Coronation Street – not counting The Brothers McGregor , but Red Bull has energized the entire league,'' Red Bulls president Alexi Lalas said. ``It knows a good deal when they see it, and they jumped all over this one. I'm finding out every day this is a very different kind of company. Red Bull will be on the cutting edge, pushing the envelope for positive change for the league on and off the field. At times, we'll have some people kicking and screaming, but we'll plug along.'' Lalas could return to AEG AEG Aeger (Latin: Sick) AEG Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (Common Electricity Company) AEG Aircraft Evaluation Group AEG Association of Engineering Geologists AEG Air Expeditionary Group - he was in charge at San Jose before taking over the MetroStars - if Mateschitz brings in former German star Franz Beckenbauer to run the team. Beckenbauer, a Mateschitz adviser who played a role in negotiations with MLS, heads Germany's World Cup organizing committee. He played in New Jersey with the Cosmos in the 1970s. The Red Bulls' stadium is slated to open in time for next season, facilities are taking shape in Denver, Salt Lake City and Toronto, and Houston and D.C. United are pursuing plans to construct new homes. Chicago will move in June into its new Bridgeview Stadium, the fourth soccer-specific stadium the league has built. The sale of the MetroStars leaves Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. The company owns or operates several major entertainment/sporting venues, including Staples Center and The Home Depot Center and beginning in with four of 12 teams - the Galaxy, D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo - and the company would like to sell at least two more teams as the league grows to 16 clubs in the next five years. Attempts to sell the San Jose Earthquakes
Toronto, with a mostly Canadian roster, will be followed in 2008 by a team in the Midwest - Milwaukee or St. Louis appears likely. The league has reached agreement with a group from southern New Jersey for a team in 2009 and would like to place a new team in the Bay Area once stadium issues can be resolved. ``Right now, we feel great about MLS, where it is today and where it's headed,'' said Shawn Hunter, president of AEG Sports. ``I don't think we've ever been on more solid ground. We're making big steps. It's a marathon, but we like where we're headed.'' Matt Zimmerman contributed. Scott French, (818) 713-3627 scott.french(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: Former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and U.S. U-20 star Marvell Wynne, left, makes his Major League Soccer debut Sunday for the New York Red Bulls against D.C. United at RFK RFK Robert F. Kennedy RFK Robotfindskitten (game) RFK Razorfen Kraul (World of Warcraft) RFK Ride For Kids RFK Request for Knowledge RFK Raum Funktionales Konzept Stadium. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images Box: (1) WESTERN CONFERENCE (2) EASTERN CONFERENCE - Scott French (3) BIG DATES |
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