Recent developments in both Ottawa and Montreal have churned up the Major League Soccer expansion pecking order once again.
There was a time when neither city had a chance. Then Montreal seemed like a slam dunk for a while before spiraling into oblivion. Then Ottawa, led by the dynamic and forceful Eugene Melnyk jumped into the fray. But announcements in each city in the past week have tossed things into the mixer once again ... all this against the backdrop of uneasiness in both Portland and Philadelphia.
First, Wednesday's vote by Ottawa city council to back a Lansdowne Park renovation plan which may or may not include a stadium seems to have killed Melnyk's Kanata proposal -- at least for now. The group, which won the city hall showdown, has 60 days to put together a development plan. After that, more public debate, more votes and more arguments. Within Melnyk's surrender statement was an interesting aside: He agrees to take a step back during the 60-day period and not keep working towards his goal. In other words, this is not a surrender at all. Let's call it a truce.
On to Montreal where it finally dawned on the Saputo group that taxpayers' money is the way to go. You wonder why it took so long. Actually, he has a point. In making a public request for $25 million to renovate and expand Saputo Stadium to get it up to MLS standards, Saputo is only following the CFL. Since the Alouettes were able to get millions to upgrade and expand McGill Stadium for CFL football, why not the same for his project? If the government granted the football team what they wanted, then surely they have to do the same for soccer.
But why is Saputo suddenly interested?
There are several factors here. Their Champions League success last year and early this year is a double-edged sword: 50,000 fans at Olympic Stadium and a rising national profile is all good news. But with it comes expectations of more success and playing in a higher league. Season ticket sales for the Impact have stalled somewhat. Fans there want into the big show, if you can call MLS that.
Saputo needs the MLS and the MLS needs him. They saw the full house at the Big O as well. Saputo simply needs to repair his personal relationship with commissioner Don Garber after last autumn's falling out. If we're on the right track here, and sources tell me this is indeed the case, then Montreal is at the front of the line once again.
Maybe even more so when you consider the following: Portland and Philadelphia have already been granted franchises, but there have always been rumblings about the financial viability of the Philly project. The league suits will continue to say all is well there. But last time I checked, shares of Istar Financial -- which is run by that franchise's chief money man -- were trading at less than $3.50, and the company was losing millions. It has rallied in recent weeks, however.
And in Portland, despite getting the franchise, there has always been a $15-million shortfall in the project funding. Word is Montreal will step into the void if either group can't get it together.
The betting here is that despite Montreal's deep, sudden and acrimonious fall from grace six months ago, they are back in the hunt bigger than ever, and could very well be joining the league sometime sooner rather than later.
