"Goalie bracing for storm" "Time not on Quakes' side" "Aspiring Owner: Goal is global respect for U.S." GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Some very sobering articles about Mr. Amanpour and the challenges he faces in putting together an ownership group for the team. Can he back up the passionate and ambitious talk? I'm really rooting for him. On the flip side, I suspect AEG doesn't have any good alternatives at this point.
No kidding. He sounds like a real scrapper. But I figured that his own business was more developed and successful. It's difficult for me to see this all coming off for the long term. My hopeful prediction is that the team stay in SJ for next season under the guise of TA's buyout, but that AEG finally hooks a single deep pocketed investor, and Tony puts some money in for a small stake and is given a job by the club.
Everyone should definitely read these articles. I've said before that I'm concerned we don't know how deep his pockets are. MLS still needs ownership capable of covering losses for at least the next few years. I think his intentions are great, but he seems to have too many "moving parts" in his group and I'm concerned that things aren't settle so late. The earlier missed deadline was blown off, but should it have been? The SF/Santa Clara projects sound promising (great to have a little competition, that'll get things done quicker). I hope things get settled soon. Unfortunately, MLS sitting out the Bay Area for a few years would probably go poorly, so if they're gone, tradition will be lost. Good luck by Friday. I don't want to sound too negative, but "First Portfolio" seems to have recent struggles. Maybe he did well the last few years, but it sounds like he won't fund this all himself. Seems like a great guy, but be wary cause Horowitz in Miami probably seemed great too.
the timing is perfect.... seems like we had turned the corner, that all of this talk was behind us, Tony visited the tailgate, he was on ESPN, Quakes were running the pitch.... now this... to echo,
OK, this is a bit scary but sounds like things will most likely proceed as planned as long as Amanpour's group comes through with the $2.5 million deposit. Our hope is that Tony can come to the table with the money first because we'd love to be able to keep the team in San Jose,'' Blackmun said. ... If Amanpour's investment group can come up with a $2.5 million letter of credit by Friday and passes a background check, the group would co-manage the team with AEG next season, with AEG having final say on decisions. Games would be played next season at different Bay Area locations while the group works on its plan toward building a state-of-the-art stadium in San Francisco or Santa Clara and raises capital to buy the team outright. There are some things in the article that might foster FUD but they might not be as worrisome as it seems on the surface. - He's involved in some litigation over rent. It's a relatively small amount and even Blackmun says it's not uncommon and doesn't disqualify him. - He's shutting down his office at the Pruneyard and "retooling" his business. OK, this is fairly worrisome, but, as quoted in the article, he never said he's going to fund the whole thing himself. As far as retooling the business, and wanting to base it more on the internet, he may be doing the smart thing. I'm sure this business has changed considerably over the last 5 years. - He has some former employees who do not say entirely positive things about the way he ran the business. As Amanpour says, these people stayed with the company for years, so there must have been positives as well. And at least one former partner suggests that Amanpour seeks to be responsive to change and build teams, pretty good qualities for a CEO. And he certainly projects a visionary outlook in his statements. Let's just hope he has enough follow-through on detailes to make his vision for the Quakes a reality. Amanpour's former business partner, Dan Lawson, who left First Portfolio in 1998, said much of it boiled down to employees' reluctance to deal with change. Amanpour himself said loan officers prefer to operate on their own rather than as part of a team.
The out-of-towners who replied positively to this thread wouldn't realize that in the print edition, the SJ Merc printed the Tony Amanpour article on the front of the sports section, following with a prominent layout and a large picture inside. It was presented more like an expose. So when I read the paper this morning, I felt the articles implied "SHAM" -- a man with a fading business, little formal education, possibly no money of his own, and whose only hope to buy the Earthquakes is to line up other investors. None of these other investors have yet been named. A Persian financial planning friend of mine says that the way Persians do biz, they will only allow someone to lead if that person has more money than they do. Which if true would mean that Tony has none of the deep-pocketed Silicon Valley Persians behind him (my friend says there is a bunch of them) . Also, I always ignore non-software people who say they are starting or converting to a software business. Never happens. It's usually another way of saying that you don't have a job or business prospects. This is very sad news.
If he struggles to find 2.5 million or 10 million, how is he going to get the 20 milliion to cover losses the next three years? Do potential investors know about this? Will they be asked to make cash calls, or will their % of the team just decrease as others eat up costs? Deep pockets exist will all MLS owners (not sure about Checketts). Most are billionaires. So it's a little concerning. Will MLS realy (despite what Blackmun says) want to sell to a "new Horowitz". Not saying that's the case. But there is a lot we don't know here. Things have been a little "too quiet" the last month. I hope for the best. The 29th we should know about next year. From then on it'll be up to SF/Santa Clara.
No one said he is "struggling to find" 2.5 million or even 10 million, though it's possible that he is. Other statements he's made suggest he isn't. But we've yet to see the proof. As far as "knowing about" covering losses, I'm confident his group is aware of the short to medium term financial picture.
As someone who deals with loan officers on a daily basis, Tony's comments on loan officers in general are dead on. At the same time however, I wondered from the start how an indepedent mortgage company could be the bankroll for the Quakes. The mortgage industry has been on a three year historic run, with somewhat dimming short-term future outlook. It's very cyclical and this upturn has been going on for a long time, so I would be shocked if his company wasn't cutting back now. Pretty much everyone in the industry is. That said, Tony did an amazing job of injecting optimism that the Quakes might stay. Let's hope he can finish the job.
I wish the guy well as much as anybody. I do not want to lose my quakes. But... He has been talking big money (I don't need public money to build a stadium) and it seems that he doesn't got it. Hate to abmit it but ... Tony could be a phony. Which is really sad cause he's all we got.
While things could still work out, there is now way to not see this as bad news. One possibility did occur to me: If he can come up with the investors to make the deposit and have joint operations with AEG next year AND the San Francisco stadium/hotel/entertainment complex gets traction, it would be just the sort of thing that AEG would want to stay involved in. Deep pockets would no longer be an issue. Now I prefer the team stay in the South Bay (despite my 100 mile round trip commute) but obviously, SF is better than Houston.
When TA says he is giving investors an opportunity to get in on the stock investment at the ground floor, I read between the lines.....I've failed in efforts to circle commitments for the full $50-100mm required and am dramatically lowering my goals. Let's come up with $2-10 mm to get started. I doubt AEG will take TA's money to tie up the franchise. I predict a "non-exclusive trial period" next season with him as TA co-operator, but no exclusive right to buy.
But that would be fine IF an attractive stadium deal comes out of this. Like I said above, the SF complex idea and maybe even Santa Clara might convince AEG to stay.
I guess we'll have to take that leap of faith, if we want the Quakes to stay. But it seems like Mike Hewitt's didn't see the business world the same, although Hewie worked for Amanpour for something like 13 years. When all this stuff was piled into one article, it really makes Amanpour look like someone who'd be a candidate for Agnews State Hospital if it were still in operation. Just read some of the quotes from Amanpour in the article: So he's 200% human? Sounds like something that a rambling loon at a bus stop would say to you. Also wasn't wild about his lack of accountability: Everybody likes to work for CEOs who say things like this. Now let's throw in his problems with his own company, and the difficulty he has apparently had raising the initial $2.5M downpayment. Okay, I'm being intentionally harsh, and Pollak seems to have gone out of his way to raise some question about Amanpour. But Lalas says some scary stuff: Ouch. Not to mention his statement that it's "of great concern" that Amanpour and AEG haven't been able to do business yet. Regardless of whatever happened, I'd like to restate my appreciation of all the efforts of the SSV folks. Without you, we wouldn't even be hanging on by this thread of hope.
agree if the new SSS's are promising AEG will want to give it another year. it's getting late for them anyway. but i'm still deeply concerned.
Question: Will winning the MLS Cup again make it too embarrassing to the league to fold or move the Quakes this year? It might make it a little more difficult to pull the plug at least.
I think that the timing of these stories is suspicious at best - just when the Quakes got a few shots of badly needed optomism and confidence (with the news of staying in '05 and the win over KC), here comes some bad news... I am not normally one who subscribes to conspiracy theories, but who IS that who keeps giving interviews from that grassy knoll...
Cup Half Empty: During the Santa Clara City council meeting in September, I got a weird vibe when Tony spoke. He was definitely positive and up beat, but seemed a little evasive when asked directly about finance and investment partners. He seemed to say, “Well, if we have a brand new stadium, I don’t see how we cannot raise $100 million!” He never answered the direct questions, though. Then, when I read he was going to buy 4,000 tickets (I still have the article) and this did not happen, I was worried. This is the most space our Quakes have gotten in the Merc and I’m bummed that so much of it seems negative. Cup Half Full: SSV was born from this whole mess and they have absolutely inspired me and countless others to become INVOLVED in issues, not just sit around and complain about them. I thank them for this. The Rally was absolutely awesome because it brought so many like-minded folks together, raised awareness of our issue and bought us some time (and I go to talk with Paul Child, Johnny, et al!)! I am putting my full support and energies behind Tony A. and SSV and will fight till’ the end! I also plan on being at the HDC come November cheering on the magnificent San Jose Earthquakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think MLS and AEG (same thing isn't it) want to look as good as they can while folding the team or leaving town. I can almost imagine something like a suspension of the franchise while they work out a future location. Also, I think this "tour of bay area stadiums" idea is an attendance loser.