Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Murstein aims for Wizards
Jack Bell of the NY Times reports that Andrew Murstein, the NY businessman and president of Medallion Financial Corporation, is negotiating to buy and move the KC Wizards.
I think Bell's story is the first confirmation that Murstein is gunning for the Wizards specifically and not an expansion franchise. Assuming the acquisition goes according to plan, San Antonio is the obvious destination for the team, although Murstein seems to have his heart set on NYC:
I think Bell's story is the first confirmation that Murstein is gunning for the Wizards specifically and not an expansion franchise. Assuming the acquisition goes according to plan, San Antonio is the obvious destination for the team, although Murstein seems to have his heart set on NYC:
Murstein said he would meet with New York City officials this week and would propose building a soccer stadium near Shea Stadium in Queens. He also said he had offered more than $1 million and other incentives to purchase the Cosmos name from Peppe Pinton, who holds the rights to the recognizable team from the North American Soccer League that has not played in more than 20 years. "I like to think I made a realistic offer, but the owner of the trademark has his own idea of what it's worth," Murstein said.MLS' lack of enthusiasm for the project and AEG's grip on the NYC area (they have exclusive rights to a "70-mile radius" around the Big Apple, according to Bell) makes it highly unlikely that anyone will be able to plant a team across the Hudson from the Metrostars in the forseeable future.
