Group exploring Major League Soccer franchise for Elk Grove - Sacramento Bee

Then-Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, left, listens to soccer team Toluca's president Valentin Diez Morodo during a 2005 match in Mexico. A Núñez-led group is now exploring a soccer franchise for Elk Grove.

Major League Soccer in Elk Grove?

Well, why not?

A group led by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, who sits on the board of soccer's national governing body, is exploring the possibility of landing an MLS franchise for the suburb.

One of Núñez's partners in the project, Sacramento attorney Dick Hyde, said Tuesday the idea is in its early stages.

"I wouldn't characterize it as a long shot, but it's an endeavor that's in its infancy," said Hyde, who was part of a group that tried to bring the MLS to Sacramento a decade ago. "I think Elk Grove is probably a really good spot for soccer."

Elk Grove officials are ready to at least look into the concept. The City Council tonight is expected to approve a negotiating agreement with Núñez's group, Northern California Soccer LLC.

Landing a team wouldn't come cheap. Based on recent history, an MLS stadium can cost upward of $100 million. And team owners would have to pay the MLS a fee of at least $40 million for an expansion team, said league spokesman Dan Courtemanche.

There are plenty of other hurdles. Elk Grove, saddled with foreclosures and an unfinished mega-mall, hasn't been spared the impact of the region's weak economy. Sacramento is struggling to hold onto the NBA's Kings, and it's unclear whether a region with 11.4 percent unemployment would be capable anytime soon of supporting big-time soccer.

For that matter, putting a team in the Sacramento area isn't high on the MLS' list of priorities. The league just added its 19th team, in Montreal, and would like to have a second team in New York. Beyond that, it isn't focused on additional expansion and doesn't have any teams looking to relocate, Courtemanche said.

Still, he wouldn't rule out expansion several years down the road and said soccer has a solid foundation in the Sacramento area.

"Sacramento is certainly a market that has supported the sport," he said.

Núñez and MLS Commissioner Don Garber sit on the board of U.S. Soccer, the sport's national governing federation. Núñez couldn't be reached for comment, and Courtemanche said he doesn't know whether the former Assembly speaker had contacted Garber about a franchise.

The agreement between Núñez's group and Elk Grove wouldn't commit either side to do anything besides talk, look for a stadium site and see if a financial deal can be worked out, said City Manager Laura Gill. Núñez's group wouldn't talk to anyone but Elk Grove for the next five years.

Asked about the likelihood of getting a team, Gill said, "I don't know, to be frank. But we have an entity that has an interest."

The MLS scouted Sacramento in the mid-1990s, when the league was getting off the ground and looking for markets. The city was passed over.

Then, in 1999, a group including Hyde and former Sacramento Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill was given development rights on a 100-acre parcel of city-owned land near what is now called Power Balance Pavilion.

The group looked at building a baseball stadium but also hosted a delegation from the MLS.

"If we designed on paper a city that would be perfect for our league, Sacramento has exactly what we want," league executive John Ertmann said at the time. But the idea went nowhere, and the city cut ties with the development group.

Hyde said he's more optimistic this time, largely because the MLS has become a success.

The league drew an average of 17,872 fans a game this year, slightly more than the NBA and NHL, according to the Sporting News. The most successful team, the Seattle Sounders, drew an average 38,496 fans per game.

"This potentially has some life to it," said Elk Grove City Councilman Gary Davis.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066. Follow him on Twitter @dakasler.

• Read more articles by Dale Kasler

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.

Major League Soccer next year to shining-Long Beach Press-Telegram

The Galaxy that include Mike Magee, counterclockwise, Landon Donovan and Chris Birchall have the opportunity to fly Los Angeles a headline national achievement that can come from any other L.A. sports team anytime soon. (Stephen Dunn Getty Images)

The best chance for an athletic club based in Los Angeles to win a National Championship anytime soon as occurs today in suburban Carson.

This would be Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, who crowd Favorites, in order to overcome the Houston Dynamo and argue that their first championship Title since 2005.

With USC ruled from the postseason because of NCAA sanctions, the Nuggets moribund due to the exclusion of the NBA and the Pirates dealt with the SOAP Opera off-the-field, it must be able to attract Southern California Football sports spotlight.

Never before has the sport-and Galaxy-was ready for a year when MLS Cup 2011 starts tonight on ESPN and Galavision.

The last time Major League Soccer Championship game took place in Carson of Home Depot Center barely caused a minor ripple in Southern California.

It helped that the game 2008 began at noon between a modest team from far-off New York and small-market Columbus in the depths of the worst economic crisis since the great depression.

What kind of Party atmosphere is that?

But still, this was MLS Cup, domestic football version of the Super Bowl.

However, the tickets were sold on the secondary market for $ 6, much lower than their nominal value. Sponsors, media and fans were almost invisible. And happy ignorance of you fan casual sport regarding the MLS was endemic.

"Is that an American League?" asked San Pedro residents Matt

Blaskovich honestly when asked if he had heard a few days before MLS game.

But a short three years later, with MLS Cup back in Southern California for the first time since then, the profile of professional football at the local level, and across the country could not be more different.

Contributes, of course, that the Galaxy finally managed to a MLS Cup played in their stadium-where they have resided for at least five times now since 1998-for the first time in the history of the League 16 years.

The game sold out 10 days beforehand, as is the requirement that tickets for unprecedented values in the secondary market, on Friday, tickets face value of $ 75 to $ 325 and power a website.

Cachet of the event at the 27,000 capacity adds exclusivity.

"If this game in the Rose Bowl will have 80,000 people (there)," said Tim Leiweke, President of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is the owner of the Galaxy.

Then, finally, there is a legitimate phone about poster boy David Beckham, who had the best season in the League after five years of trying.

And this applies to the Galaxy in General, too.

Back in 2008, the franchise was a laughingstock of the League, with leading management sad club worst-ever eight wins on the season.

"Our sucked," said Leiweke just on Friday.

However, this year the rebuilt team enjoy the finest year, dominating MLS regular season en route to the title and unbeaten at home throughout the period for the first time.

But more than that.

After the World Cup 2010, which saw the southern Bush all ethnicities and tribes cram into bars and restaurants of phantom figures, MLS benefit, too.

TV ratings, revenue and membership is all about recovery, such as young hipsters discover more and more a sport with a buzz Insider popular via Twitter and blogs.

More media credentials were issued this year and events organized by the League sponsors than in any other MLS Cup game.

Vibe that was almost tangible Thursday during media party at the hip roof in exclusive standard hotel in downtown Los Angeles fog swirled around neighbouring skyscrapers.

Alternative rock band the new giant swing will perform "cough Syrup" before MLS Cup, underlining the gap generations which has the League to the NFL and accouterments rockers stage aging favored in the Super Bowl.

And of loosely organized fan groups largely 20-and 30-somethings will create an atmosphere of stormy tonight more comparable to a midnight crowd in college basketball between the Coors Lite culture of the NFL.

MLS is not fooling myself that the game is some sort of breakout moment when I suddenly program sport in mainstream media.

But the increased interest this year, there is a small somewhere between spontaneity and carefully cultivated marketing gives to sport a visibility that was never before.

In August, MLS and NBC announced a new $ 10 million, three-year agreement that will see games telecast this year about the new network of NBC Sports and parent network. This is an important step for the Fox Soccer Channel which shows little-known today, the majority of MLS games.

And announced Friday it was a 10-year, $ 55million local television rights deal with Time Warner begins next year, most lucrative nation Convention of this type.

These are big jumps for a league broadcast partners actually pays to see the games a few years ago.

"This caps off what is arguably the best year for MLS, Commissioner Don Garber said Friday.

Now the Galaxy must do their part by winning the game week in style, which can be played in a driving rainstorm, but should be more prime rib from Turkey to win fans of sports Southern California are still trying to digest fully MLS a Thanksgiving day.