Alan Rothenberg, chairman of the dear and departed World Cup, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
“I do.”
In searching for a meaningful life after Bebeto, we wondered about soccer in Chicago. The World Cup opened here, yet there are no plans for a team here in the new professional league of which you’re commissioner.
“Not so fast. It was dormant for a while. But it’s alive again. In fact, I’m flying to Chicago this week to meet with some people.”
Some people?
“Well, Jay Pritzker is one. He was wonderful on the host committee in Chicago, as was Mayor Daley. We’d need money, we’d need a facility. We’ve got seven franchises in, starting next April, including New York and Los Angeles. We’d love to have Chicago. How could we not want Chicago?”
What about Lee Stern, former owner of the Sting? Or has he suffered enough?
“I don’t know that Lee would want to be in, but I don’t think he wants to be out.”
Stern says it would be a serious mistake to put a soccer franchise in Soldier Field because he’s been there, when most of the 60,000 seats are empty.
“We’re going into this realistically. We have RFK Stadium in Washington, the Meadowlands in New Jersey, the Coliseum in Los Angeles. If we average 12,000 or 15,000 our first year or two, that’s not going to change our long-term outlook. Which is, where are we going to be in 10 years?”
In the last expansion, baseball teams went for $95 million each. Why would anybody invest in soccer, which has failed before in the United States?
“First of all, we’ll be able to do our entire league for $95 million. To put a team on the field in Major League Soccer, it will cost between $5 million and $10 million, depending on the size of the market. As for the past, things got a bit out of control economically. And as for soccer, this is a different era.”
Because of the World Cup?
“In part. Soccer is the No. 2 participation sport in this country, behind basketball. The players are out there, the fans are out there. And the World Cup provided a forum. Our U.S. National team has been invited to play in Great Britain and Brazil, something that would never have happened before. The rest of the world has seen how well soccer is received here.”
But how will that help a professional league survive?
“Foreign players would give their eye-teeth to play over here, but our idea is not to spend wildly on imports. The talent is here, and we want our players to be part of the community, to interact with fans. We can’t afford to have spoiled athletes, the average fan will be able to afford our tickets and going to a game will be more than just going to a game.”
Explain.
“It will be more than 90 minutes of game, then go home. For instance, we’ll have booths and tents for kids around each stadium. If we can make things half as festive as they were during the World Cup, we’ll be delighted.”
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The reviews of the World Cup, particularly from a skeptical press overseas, were outstanding.
“Two instances stand out. We had four teams and their fans in Orlando, early on. We feared it might be a powderkeg, until we learned everybody got together from all countries, partied and sang songs well into the morning. We really are a melting pot. The other great memory, the volunteers, 20,000 of them. The committee from France, for World ’98, couldn’t believe it. All those people pitching in to make it work. This country of ours has great spirit.”
But, Brazil vs. Italy ends in shootout.
“Disappointing. We’re not going to reinvent soccer in our league, but we will look at ways to add some excitement. The final game, Brazil and Italy, in my opinion would have been better to go to a sudden death.”
And professional soccer will live next spring?
“Yes, the time has come. In America. Hopefully, in Chicago.”