New owners spread wealth

A few years ago, Major League Soccer's investor group was limited to Philip Anschutz, a reclusive visionary, plus the Hunt and Kraft families. Now the league is spreading itself out on the map and the ownership group is becoming more visible.

In recent weeks, comedian Drew Carey and Microsoft's Paul Allen (Seattle) and boxing idol Oscar De La Hoya (Houston) have joined the MLS club, which already includes Will Chang and Victor MacFarlane (D.C. United), Dave Checketts (Real Salt Lake), Harvard Business School graduate Andrew Hauptman (Chicago), Cliff Illig and Neal Patterson (Kansas City), Stan Kroenke (Colorado), Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz (New York), Jorge Vergara (Chivas USA), Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff (San Jose), plus Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Toronto). Jay Sugarman (Philadelphia) has put up a $30 million franchise fee, and plans have been made for a stadium in Chester, Pa., to open in 2010.

Besides adding credibility and deep pockets, the new owners bring a different attitude than their predecessors, who were mostly hands-off delegators. Vergara, who controls CD Guadalajara, the most popular club team in Mexico, and partner Antonio Cue' have improved Chivas with their south-of-the-border contacts, surpassing the David Beckham/Landon Donovan-led Los Angeles Galaxy. Wolff has assigned A's general manager Billy Beane to devise strategies for the San Jose Earthquakes. Mateschitz shelled out for two designated players (Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna), plus a stadium to be built in Harrson, N.J. The DP (also known as the Beckham Rule, allowing each team to sign one player for more than the MLS maximum of about $400,000), a visible way for investors to express their intentions, has been utilized by Hauptman's Andell Holdings with Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chicago's answer to Beckham and the drawing card for Toyota Park; OnGoal LLC with Claudio Lopez to Kansas City; and D.C. United Holdings with Marcelo Gallardo.

When Seattle starts play next year, Carey plans to challenge the MLS central planning model by allowing supporters to have a say in team affairs. If the fans are dissatisfied with the team's progress, they would be able to vote out the general manager. Carey's plan to emulate the European club system might not catch on, but the fact he can propose it shows MLS is progressing beyond the central planning that has dominated the league's mind-set since 1996.

But the old-time owners are not going away. Lamar Hunt started the soccer-specific facility trend with Crew Stadium (1999), evolving to the Pizza Hut Park set in Frisco, Texas, a complex of fields surrounding a showpiece stadium, commercial and residential enterprises filling in. On the field, Anschutz's Dynamo and the Krafts' Revolution continue to set standards; they have met in the last two MLS Cup finals and are among the favorites.