Recently in Business of Football Category

Carson code enforcement officer Glenn Miller confiscates the food - but not the cart - of a bacon-wrapped hot dog vendor outside last weekend's Chivas USA SuperLiga game. Authorities plan to crack down again tonight.

Daily Breeze photos by Sean Hiller

The tentacles of Los Angeles-based Anshutz Entertainment Group extend throughout not only Southern California pop culture and civic life, but around the globe to include such figures as dead pop icon Michael Jackson and nominal Galaxy midfielder David Beckham.

But AEG, always it seems unnecessarily heavy-handed given their increasingly powerful and visible corporate profile, are now going after bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors at tonight's Gold Cup doubleheader at Home Depot Center.

It's always more about money than astute public relations for AEG who should think about improving the quality of the food and service inside the stadium.

Even better: AEG should try legitimizing some of these carts by providing the required access to running water and restrooms and slapping on an extra 75 cent charge rather than give their (over) paying customers another reason to gripe about bad sports teams, price gouging and plastic public realms like L.A. Live.

Soccer fan Oscar Rodriguez is a bacon-wrapped hot dog devotee.

And so is former Daily Breeze food critic Chris Cognac:

Hollywood Hitmen. Coldplay. Ballack. SuperLiga. Fireworks. Canada. Messi. NBA.

A FourFourTwo magazine spineline stumper? No, today's column.

BTW, more info on the July 4 game at the Coliseum is here.

And here's the official SuperLiga Web site.

The 100 Percent Soccer blog is on hiatus until next weekend and there is no Tuesday column in the print edition either.

I have a couple of posts scheduled to appear and a guest blogger or two may show up, but there will be no news updates from me.

Is it a coincidence this happens during a week when the U.S. opens World Cup qualifying against Mexico at 4 p.m. Wednesday with the game live on ESPN2 HD? I think not.

Enjoy the game.

And here's a sampling of recent 100 Percent Soccer posts for those looking to get caught up:

The failures of David Beckham.

My subsequent interview with The Guardian on the Beckham effect.

The Sol sign the "female Beckham."

Tuesday's Column: Handicapping the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Bids.

Chivas USA Camp Update: Razov Signs Contract, Promptly has Surgery & More.

I need to get down to work writing Tuesday's column, but wanted to note in passing that:

*The transfer rumor of the day had the Galaxy chasing Argentine defender Andrés D'Alessandro, who is currently with Brazilian team Internacional. The club reportedly turned down a $10 million bid from the Galaxy (and yes, that is yet another indication - were one needed - that Landon Donovan is indeed gone).

*Shocker! The steal of the year comes as former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid is set to be announced Tuesday as the new coach of the Seatttle Sounders.

*The deal of the young week so far has U.S. Soccer confirming today what 100 Percent Soccer reported over the weekend; U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage has signed a a new four-year deal.

*From the Haven't We Heard This Before Department? comes word that to play for England David Beckham must play club games.

*Cal State Dominguez Hills senior forward Kyle Holland and Coach Joe Flanagan will appear live between 5 and 7 this evening on Fox Football Fone-In on Fox Soccer Channel to discuss the program's NCAA Division II National Championship.

*In a coup for Women's Professional Soccer during these tough economic times, Puma has stepped up to become the league's "official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier."

"Puma has built up a strong momentum in women's soccer over the past 10 years collaborating closely with pioneering partners that have redefined the game on a global and local stage. Today, we are proud to be one of the founding partners of Women's Professional Soccer in what promises to be a new pioneering chapter for women's soccer," said Puma Chairman & CEO Jochen Zeitz. "The WPS partnership provides Puma with a perfect platform to reinforce the brand's positioning as the most desirable sportlifestyle brand in the world as well as underline our continued commitment to women's sports."

The move makes sense given that Puma also sponsors Brazilian star Marta and is likely to be paying most of her salary if she indeed signs with the Los Angeles Sol.

But I guess that's better than the 5 percent figure that was going to be on the March ballot.

Details here.

A 10 percent ticket tax proposal didn't find enough support on the City Council a couple of weeks ago, but now a 2 percent tax is under consideration tonight.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USA

Plenty of media attention for Juan Pablo Angel and the New York Red Bulls Friday, but is the general public noticing?

I pitched my editor (the news, not sports editor) a front page Robbie Rogers profile on Sunday to coincide with MLS Cup in Carson.

I figured it was a safe bet: a South Bay native, one of the best players on the best team in the league, an Olympian, MLS Goal of the Year finalist, a 21-year-old having a breakout season who was named to the national team for the first time.

Who's going to turn down that story?

He did.

Obscure athlete playing for an obscure team in an obscure league for an obscure championship, he said.

Instead, he said, why don't you write a story about how many people locally know whether a national championship of a supposedly major league is being played here?

So I did, figuring if that sort of story was going to get written (yet again) at least it will be by someone (who thinks) he knows something about the game and not some ignorant soccer bashing reporter.

I'm of the P.T. Barnum mindset when it comes to soccer: there is no such thing as bad publicity.

And the story duly landed on the front page, at least publicizing the game (and this blog).

There was no other mention of the game in the entire newspaper this morning. Soccer still has a way to go whether fans like it or not.

I usually don't print e-mails sent to me privately, but I thought I'd share the following one below that appeared in my inbox before I'd even staggered out of bed this morning:

Just read your article on MLS Cup.

Here's my take on the event.

First off, it's time to get rid of the myth that Americans love to play not watch soccer.

Ratings for major Soccer events (World Cup, Euro Cup, English Premier League) have been increasing at a rapid upward pace for a number of years.

As far as MLS. The relevant metric for a 12-year old-league, which unlike other American leagues exists in a worldwide environment, is hard core fans put into the seats on a weekly basis.

By that standard MLS is doing quite well, averaging more that 16,000 fans per game, in a terrible economic climate especially for families (i.e. the non-corporate crowd) who make up the core of the MLS' fan base.

I wonder where the NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. were in their 13th year?

Are fans into the MLS Cup in New York? Not really the right question. Hard core fans of the Red Bulls like me will and given time the "gospel" will spread to the masses, just as it happened in football, baseball etc.

Perry
Flushing, New York.

Amen, Perry.

Thanks for writing.

Of course, even the soccer-hating guy mentioned in the article watches World Cup soccer so there's a tremendous difference between MLS viewership and how many people watch the World Cup.

And as the Commish pointed out Thursday in his speech at USC, ratings for the Galaxy are higher than for the Kings, but ratings are higher nationally for the NHL than for MLS.

Fans going to the game tomorrow should be aware that:
*The Red Cross will collect donations for victims of the recent wildfires outside the entrances to the stadium.

*The Los Angeles Sol, the new Women's Professional Soccer franchise, kicks off a toy drive Sunday with defender Kendall Fletcher signing autographs for all donors who drop off a toy at the Sol booth before the game. In addition, any fan donating an unwrapped toy worth $3 or more will receive a voucher for one free ticket with the purchase of a full-price ticket to any Sol home game in 2009. The Team LA store at Home Depot Center also has a collection box.

Also, earlier this week I blogged here about some of my favorite South Bay bars, eateries, etc., for those of you visiting the area from out of town (or locals who live under a rock).

MLS Cup is not the only soccer game at the HDC this weekend, BTW.

At 7 tonight Cal State Dominnguez Hills plays hosts Midwestern State at the Track & Field Stadium with a place at the Division II NCAA final four at stake Dec. 4 in Tampa, Fla.

MLS officials are concerned about the quality of the U.S. Men's National Team and how that could reflect on the league, Commissioner Don Garber told more than 200 students, faculty and guests Thursday at the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute.

"Our national team is struggling," he said flatly. "We looked great last night - last night we beat Guatemala. ... All of those players on that field were playing Major League Soccer or played in Major League Soccer. Many of them came up through the youth system, many of them played in the U.S. Soccer Academy down in Florida and they were pretty good - they beat Guatemala pretty handily.

"You take that team and play them against England's - maybe not England's, but Germany's or Italy's first team - and boy, we've got a long way to go. ... Let's not believe our own press and think that we're OK because we're beating each other. Let's think about how we're competing against the world - and against the world, we're worried.

"I'm really worried about how we're going to do," (in 2010 is what it sounded like he was going to say here), before he quickly added "I hope there's no media people here, they'll get me in trouble for this," (too late, Don).

"We're going through qualifying pretty well, we're one of the best teams in our region. But when we get out we have to compete against world powers who have been doing this for 100 years. It's not the same game - and that's a big concern of ours."

That's because, Garber observed, the league's number one goal is to raise the respect and credibility of the league domestically and internationally in the eyes of an "increasingly more sophisticated soccer consumer."

"We think we could be as big as the NFL," said Garber, former head of NFL International.

But the quality of the product is the key to that.

"We have to have value, we have to have a product people care about," he said. "We've got to show our fans and players the game matters."

One way is to have more than a cursory knowledge of it.

So here's a little "Are Your Smarter Then Don Garber When it Comes to Soccer?" quiz.

Question: How many teams are in InterLiga, the competition played in the U.S. (including Home Depot Center) that qualifies two Mexican teams to enter Copa Libatadores?
Answer: Garber wondered aloud whether the answer was 10. If you said eight, you're smarter than Don Garber.

Question: Does Mexico have relegation and promotion?
Answer: Don said "no" they have the same system the U.S. does. Not so. If you said Mexico does have relegation, again, you're smarter than Don Garber. (The system is based on a formula over three years designed to ensure the richer/bigger clubs are unlikely to go down and lose out on the revenues from the top league).

Still, he conceded about relegation, "Our fans are screaming for it. Our coaches are screaming for it," while adding, "We're not structured for it."

Meaning rich dudes paying $40 million for a franchise plus the cost of building a soccer-specific stadium don't want to entertain the prospect of playing in the USL.

Finally, Garber noted that although MLS has the cheapest average ticket price of any major sport ($21) "the sports business is not immune from the economic crisis we're living through." He said he didn't feel "as good" as he did six months ago about the league's financial prospects.

Join the club, Don.

Not much of a surprise there.

BTW, Carson shelved the idea of a Home Depot Center ticket tax - for now.

A thick pall of smoke is mostly blotting out the sun in Torrance this morning, miles from the worst of the wildfires in Orange County where hundreds have lost their homes.

A layer of gray ash is coating cars, sidewalks and everything else.

And there's a muffled, slightly subdued quality to the light and sound of this Sunday Southern California morning, lending an unreal edge to what has been a surreal last few days.

Welcome to Los Angeles in November.

Hopefully, things will have improved a week from now otherwise the air quality at Carson's Home Depot Center will surely affect MLS Cup.

And just a week ahead of the second biggest event of the year at the stadium (the X Games are the biggest), the city of Carson is again contemplating a ticket tax at Home Depot Center.

If I recall correctly legal experts have differed in the past over the legality of such a tax being imposed (the HDC sits on California State University property, which didn't, for instance, need any sort of planning permission from the city when the sports complex was built), but apparently it is now more than a possibility.

On one hand you can't blame the city of Carson, which lacks much of a sales tax base, for eying the revenue stream. The HDC hasn't done much to spur economic revitilization around the stadium (cleaning up graffiti on a KFC across the street appears the extent of it, sadly) yet makes planty of money for Anschutz Entertainment Group.

AEG, naturally, opposes the tax as the story points out:

Rod O'Connor, the general manager of the Home Depot Center, said that a 10 percent tax on tickets would be the highest in the Los Angeles area. He warned that one of the stadium's two professional soccer teams - Chivas U.S.A. - has already been exploring getting its own venue and that any additional taxes might prompt event promoters to take their business elsewhere.

"This puts us at a disadvantage," O'Connor said. "We feel strongly that the solution ought to be a fair solution that asks everyone to contribute a little bit, not something that is targeted at one business in our community."

It's an argument that might be a little more convincing if greedy AEG was more inclined to share the wealth themselves or at least give patrons a break from the likes of those crushing $20 parking fees.

And Chivas USA, struggling to broaden their fan base, is unlikely in this economic climate to make any move that would cost the club even more money, anyway.

Still, overall, the proposal feels more than a little like fiddling while Rome burns at this particular time, so perhaps that calls for an appropriately dark song to remind us of what's really important:

Updated 1 p.m. Sunday
UCLA has just issued this press release:

"Due to several fires in Southern California resulting in poor air quality, Sunday's NCAA Second Round match between top-seeded UCLA and San Diego has been postponed. The match has been rescheduled for Monday at 6:00 p.m. (PST).

The winner of Monday's match will advance to face fourth-seeded USC in the round of 16."

No blogging today since I spent the day at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. for the 11th annual Hollywood Symposium (the precursor to Tuesday's Honda Player of the Year announcement).

A mostly tedious event was saved (in part - the muffins helped, too) by the presence of a rumpled and relaxed-looking Alexi Lalas who I chatted with for Tuesday's column about the shaky performance of the Mexican National Team (ever-politic Justino Compeán, president of the Mexican Football Federation, was one of the three speakers) so far in World Cup qualifying. (The FIFA guy droned on in Spanish for over an hour reading - I kid you not - from slides he was displaying. You could actually feel the audience tense up when a slide was particularly wordy).

Column done (check back for that Tuesday morning), let's catch-up on the news of the day:

*Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz is reportedly in the running to buy troubled Newcastle United of the EPL. That would fit Anschutz' bottom-feeder mentality, excuse me, shrewd strategy of buying undervalued properties, and might actually give the Galaxy its first partnership producing tangible results in terms of player loans and the like (no, we don't want Joey Barton). DuNord has a comprehensive round-up of which (mostly) English newspapers are saying what here (you have to scroll down to England news).

The NCAA announced its women's Division 1 and men's Division II post-season tournament match-ups late this afternnoon.

UCLA (18-0-2) hosts Fresno State (11-8-2) 5:30 p.m. Friday at Drake Stadium and Long Beach State (14-4-4) plays the University of San Diego (14-4-2) at the same site in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance with the two victors meeting Sunday. USD beat Long Beach State in October so revenge is a factor here.

USC (15-4-1) plays Boston University (15-5-1) in Utah Thursday.

For the fourth consecutive year the No. 4 Cal State Domnguez Hills men will host the NCAA Far West Regional in Carson beginning Thursday. Action begins with CCAA Champion Sonoma State facing Cal State L.A. at 4:00 pm followed by CSUDH-Notre Dame de Namur in the Track and Field Stadium at Home Depot Center.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women play San Francisco State Friday in Bellingham, Wash., in the NCAA Far West Regional.

The Galaxy's Tristan Bowen of Van Nuys and Chivas USA's Jorge Flores of Anaheim were named to the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team Roster for a eight-day training camp in Spain that begins Saturday.

Finally, the Galaxy Under-16's beat their Chivas USA counterparts 1-0 last weekend, while the Galaxy Under-18's downed Chivas USA 3-0.

Great story in The Salt Lake City Tribune today about the life and death struggles Real Salt Lake striker Yura Movsisyan endured as a child growing up in war-torn Azerbaijan before his family emigrated to Pasadena. His proud parents will be watching their son from the Home Depot Center stands at Saturday's playoff decider against Chivas USA.

Read the story here.

U.S. Soccer began accepting nominations today for its seventh annual end of year awards for best blog, soccer bar, store and video. Details here.

Finally, one of the best executives in MLS got his just reward today: the Galaxy's Tom Payne was named president of business operations by Anschutz Entertainment Group.

From the (edited) press release:

Payne will oversee all of the Galaxy's business operations, including corporate partnerships, ticket sales, marketing, programming, communications, broadcasting, operations and community development. Payne, who has been with the organization for six seasons, will report directly to AEG President Tim Leiweke.

"From the start, there was no doubt that Tom was the ideal person to take on this new position within the Galaxy," said Leiweke. "With his vast knowledge of soccer and MLS, Tom has the respect of the staff, the players and the fans and will now play an even bigger role in helping this club to grow and become more successful. Despite our struggles on the field, Tom has done an outstanding job on the business side and together with (Coach) Bruce (Arena), we are confident that with their leadership, next year will be a positive one for us."

Payne, 44, carries with him an extensive background in the sports and entertainment industry. He has worked for the Galaxy since 2003 and previously served as the club's Assistant General Manager (2006-08) and Vice President of Programming and Business Development (2003-05). He was instrumental in opening a number of additional revenue streams for the club, including negotiating international exhibitions against teams such as Yokohama F. Marinos, the Korean National Team, Real Madrid and Chelsea F.C. Payne has also been instrumental in helping the Galaxy lead MLS in attendance in all six of his years with the club, including an MLS-best average of 26,009 fans per game in 2008, which is the second highest single season average attendance in MLS history.

Arena, you'll recall, is GM on the soccer side of things for the Galaxy. And in case you were wondering, yes, Payne is the brother of D.C. United GM Kevin Payne.

It isn't, at least not yet, as this Associated Press story points out.

As soccer's popularity grows in the U.S. we'll see a similar situation here - the would-be owners of MLS clubs willing to plunk down a $40 million expansion fee are counting on it. And of course, this story doesn't mention it, but ESPN has long been rumored to be interested in securing the rights to EPL games in the U.S.

GENEVA (AP) If one sport can survive the global financial crisis, it's the world's favorite game: soccer.

Yes, individual clubs will certainly suffer - some losing sponsors or investors and perhaps players who become too pricey. But cash flowing into the top end of the market, from television deals and multinational backers, is unlikely to dry up.

If anything, soccer at its highest level is poised to become an even stronger TV draw in
hard times when people want cheap entertainment.

Look at the numbers.

The 2010 World Cup is already sold, and FIFA expects to bank $3.2 billion before
kickoff.

UEFA earned a net profit approaching $400 million from this year's European
Championship, and the Champions League will pull in $1.115 billion this season.

Also, television deals for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons are already done in
the main markets, where prices are reportedly up 10 percent, and rights to show the
English Premier League - where huge revenues help explain overseas interest in clubs
- will soon be sold for the 2010-13 seasons.

Industry experts believe the domestic deal for Britain will beat the current 3-year cost of
$2.94 billion paid by subscription broadcasters Sky and Setanta. Global television and
new media rights will earn English league clubs another $1.73 billion in that time.

Philipp Grothe has traded football media rights for two decades. Last week, his
Swiss-based Kentaro agency struck a six-year deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation to
distribute national team matches.

He believes that when money is tight, football is a reliable commodity.

"Only the big live events in sport, i.e. football, generate the mass audience," Grothe said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "They are the ones delivering to
sponsors and broadcasters the big audience numbers."

The World Cup is one of the globe's most-watched sporting events, and FIFA claims the
2006 tournament in Germany had an accumulated television audience of 26.3 billion
viewers on 376 different channels.

FIFA, which relies on the World Cup for 90 percent of its revenue, has budgeted to get
$3.2 billion from television and marketing rights to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

"FIFA believes that this is a realistic forecast," FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said in
an e-mail. "Certain contracts are secured with bank guarantees. All TV partners have
fulfilled their contractual obligations."

The Zurich-based body has six commercial partners for the World Cup.

One, Coca-Cola, is signed until 2022. The Emirates airline paid $195 million to sign through the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

UEFA, which declined to discuss marketing strategy, had revenue of roughly $2 billion for its three-week tournament in Austria and Switzerland, but has not started selling Euro 2012, scheduled for Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA's club football commitments seem solidly grounded. It has signed four commercial partners - Ford, Heineken, MasterCard and Sony - out of six intended for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons.

The competition's playing format has been copied around the world, though not its riches.

European champion Manchester United earned $67 million in prize money and television shares last season.

Critics say the Champions League has created a self-perpetuating elite, leaving other
clubs unable to bridge the gap. UEFA president Michel Platini, however, wants the power to ban indebted clubs from the competition.

His words were widely interpreted as an attack on the English teams that now dominate
the Champions League.

Chelsea, last season's runner-up, owes more than $1 billion, though its interest-free loans from Russian owner Roman Abramovich are not yet vulnerable.

Manchester United, valued at $1.8 billion by Forbes Magazine, has big debts, but it also
has a global brand.

When shirt sponsor AIG received a bailout from the U.S. government last month, there
was speculation the insurance firm might pull out of its 4-year, nearly $100 million deal.

That might seem like a financial nightmare, but Grothe said it would be a win-win scenario for the club.

"Man United would get a hefty signoff fee to release (AIG) and the day after they could
close a deal which is even bigger," he said.

An important test of soccer's prospects will come next month, when domestic television
rights are offered in Germany to broadcast the Bundesliga.

Public broadcaster ARD and subscription service Premiere are favored to win the deal,
with the price is expected to be more than $544 million a season.

This is an excellent SI article that while not specifically about MLS (in fact the article doesn't even mention soccer) has resonance for Galaxy fans.

This season especially has seen many of these, um, symptoms appear in Carson.

Beatlemania like screams every time David Beckham touches the ball. Flash bulbs exploding around Home Depot Center like so many LSD flashbacks. And generally uneducated fans who don't appear to appreciate they are watching a godawful team.

Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane once complained about the lack of atmosphere at Old Trafford caused by a surfeit of the prawn sandwich eating crowd - read ignorant corporate types - sitting on their hands rather than supporting their team.

I don't mind rich guys subsidizing the masses (thanks Uncle Phil). I just don't want them taking over to the extent a sporting event becomes like a night at the opera. (It's depressing when fans tell me the nitwits behind them complain about them standing up - after a Galaxy goal has been scored!).

Of course, the Galaxy has been so abysmal this season there's been precious little to shout about, although the likes of the Riot Squad are doing their utmost (thanks guys).

But in the main it's a stadium full of people so thrilled to watch a global superduper star like Becks they can't see beyond to the quality of football on display. Which has, generally speaking, been crap.

Nevertheless, the Galaxy have increased their ticket prices each year despite missing the playoffs three years in a row (there's a prediction in there).

Season ticket holders reportedly dropped 15 percent this season. And are likely to fall again in the coming one. I'm getting more and more anecdotal reports via e-mail, on this blog and in person of fans who say to me: "I can't bring myself to watch this lot anymore. It's a waste of money."

That's telling me the knowledgeable fans who understand the game know what product they are seeing: a bland corporate one unlikely to get the most ardent soccer fans to return. They'll sit home and watch Stoke City play Hull City (no disrespect to Hull, unexpectedly lighting up the EPL this season so far) rather than support MLS.

The game is being undermined by the suits.That's not what the sport is about. The casual fan - such as families - who understand the democracy of soccer are endangered.

And if that's the case, so is the authenticity of the game itself.