The following quotes are from the Feb. 15 MLS conference call on Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. (AEG) entering into an agreement to become the operator of D.C. United. The guests: Don Garber (MLS Commissioner), Kevin Payne, (D.C. United president and general manager), Bill Peterson (senior vice president, AEG), Bobby Goldwater, (president and executive director, D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission). Commissioner Don Garber’s Opening Comments “We’re happy to announce today that Major League Soccer and the Anschutz Entertainment Group [AEG] have formalized a relationship whereby AEG will become the operator for D.C. United. ôMany of you know that coming out of our recent meetings with our MLS Investor Operators we’ve been successful in making the decision to secure operators for the league operated teams. It is something that we are very excited about. ôThe D.C. market is arguably one of the most important markets for soccer in the United States. ItÆs been the home of for two MLS Cups, World Cup matches, Olympic competition and obviously it’s the home for D.C. United, one of the more popular teams in Major League Soccer. “Now that this relationship has been formalized, AEG will assume the operations for the team, including responsibility for the general management of the team as well as all other local operations. Kevin Payne, who is one of the most successful and well-respected soccer folks here in this country will continue to be the general manager of the team. “We’re excited about AEG’s decision to step up their commitment to Major League Soccer as part of their goal to be one of the preeminent sports and live-entertainment companies in the world.” Bill Peterson’s Opening Comments “We are very excited to assume the role as operator for D.C. United with the option to purchase the team in the future. It is a gem within MLS and a club that we are very excited to be involved with. ôThey have a great fan base in D.C. It is a club that has not only national recognition but international recognition. They have been very competitive throughout the years on the field, and the club has been very well-managed by Kevin Payne and his outstanding staff. ôWe are very excited about the opportunity to have an East Coast presence, to have a team that has performed so well and that is structured to continue growing in the future by developing a great soccer market with MLS. ôI think there are some other opportunities for us as a business with AEG that hopefully we can develop through our contacts and different business involvement’s in the D.C. market. “We’re very excited to have Kevin and his people on board. They’ve done a great job of leading the development of MLS, and they’ll continue to do that. It’s a team that we feel will help us grow as a group within MLS, and we’re going to look to them to assist us in helping develop our other soccer interests.” Kevin Payne’s Opening Comments “On behalf of everybody associated with D.C. United we’re very excited that this day has come. It has obviously been a difficult task the last couple of years as we tried to solidify our ownership situation and map a course for the future. ôFor the first time, I think that we’ll be able to look ahead and know that when good strategic opportunities come our way, the resources will be there for us to take advantage of them. That will give us the opportunity to create an even broader base of support for ourselves here in Washington D.C., the greater Washington market and really the entire middle Atlantic region. We’ve become a team with regional appeal and I think we can actually grow that. “Certainly one factor that becomes much more realistic now is the opportunity to develop a long-term plan for a soccer-specific stadium for D.C. United. We’ve had conversations with Bobby Goldwater and the D.C. Sports Commission about that. I think those conversations have moved forward very nicely and that both sides are excited about the prospects. ôWith the support of AEG and more specifically of Phil Anschutz and his vision and commitment to this sport we can do even greater things in the years to come.” Bobby Goldwater’s Opening Comments “The conversations that Kevin [Payne] and I have been having since I arrived here in November have been enthusiastic and pointed toward the future. I really feel that we’ve already developed a great spirit of partnership and we’re looking forward to building on that. ôSpeaking from the District’s point of view and the Sports Commission’s point of view, we are looking for a long-term relationship and also seeing how we can best satisfy the needs of D.C. United as well as the District in terms of building a soccer-specific stadium. ô[Payne] and I haven’t just been talking about having a stadium, but also about our mutual desire to make whatever we create the best venue in the country for soccer and our region’s wonderful fans.” Payne on United’s plans for a practice facility “Having the support of AEG allows us to make longer term plans. It has been one of the frustrations I’ve experienced. We were not in the position to make long-term commitments in the event that a prospective new owner might have a different idea. We now have a very clear understanding of where we want to go. ôI’ve spent a lot of time talking about these strategic issues with Bill Peterson, Tim Lieweke and Phil Anschutz and I think we all are excited about the opportunities available here, not just with a stadium, but opportunities for a long-term office and training facility that actually can be part of a recreational soccer complex, where D.C. United would take a leadership role in improving the facilities that are available to our youth soccer players in this area. ôI think that you’ll see a lot of things improve with regards to our organization as a result of this arrangement. We think we are the best organization in Major League Soccer. We’re proud that we’ve been able to accomplish that, but now with the resources at AEG that we can go to a whole different level.” Peterson on why AEG didn’t exercise the option to completely purchase the club at this time “We entered into this agreement fully expecting to exercise the purchase option. We just have a lot of different activities going on not only in soccer but outside of soccer. It was a matter of putting this priority on our long-term business plans and timeline. To get the purchase done and to do it the way we wanted to do it today was something we didn’t feel we could accomplish in the fashion we wanted to. ôWe requested from the league that they give us the option to operate the team in the short term with our intention to purchase the team in the near future. As soon as we have some other things completed and we’re ready to address this with all of our focus we will complete the purchase and move forward. Again, it is our intention to purchase the team.” Garber on why AEG didn’t exercise the option to completely purchase the club at this time “It is more of a timing issue than anything. The amount of activity that he and Tim Lieweke and the folks at AEG have on the facility that is being put together in Los Angeles is just an absolutely massive commitment of resources. Not necessarily just financial, but also with people time and strategic development time. ôWe wanted to get this deal done quickly and not wait again for what is required to go through the process of the purchase. There is no real impact on the league at all between operation and purchasing. It [the purchase] is only a matter of time.” Peterson on a more specific timeline on when the purchase might be completed “It’s our intention to purchase the team in approximately a year. It could be sooner, but the timing on this really has to do with projects unrelated to D.C. United. We’d really like to complete this purchase within a year, but that’s hard for us to say today. We are going to do it as soon as we can.” Garber on where the league stands with regards to finding investor operators for Tampa Bay and Dallas “We are making progress and in discussions with both Tampa and Dallas. We hope to be able to announce a deal in Tampa Bay shortly and we hope to be able to have something done with Dallas in the next 12 months.” Peterson on the difference between operating and purchasing United “I think there is a little bit more work that needs to be done for us to complete the transaction. We have a lot of activities going on with soccer, the Los Angeles project, and other non-soccer business. To put the resources on completing the purchase wasn’t something we had to do right now. “It would be best served to delay the sale. There is a slight difference between operating and owning. This was more of an internal decision on our part to address it down the line.” Peterson on pursuing a new soccer stadium plan “Kevin [Payne] and Bobby [Goldwater] are already entering into the discussions and that will continue for a few more weeks. Sometime later this month we will transition those talks back to our real estate people. We are going to go through an evaluation process. You can say we are working in it from day one. ôWe would like to have a permanent home for each of our teams and D.C. is no different. I think we share a vision with the D.C. Sports Commission to supply a soccer stadium and we are going to work with them to help that become a reality.” Payne on how in-depth the conversations about a soccer stadium have been “We’ve been talking with the D.C. Sports Commission since 1997 about our desire for a soccer-specific stadium. Particularly since John Richardson became the chairman of the commission, that conversation has broadened so that each of us has expressed a desire for a soccer-specific stadium in the district. ôNow that Bobby [Goldwater] is on board, it has given real focus to the Sports Commission’s efforts to do more than just manage RFK Stadium. [Goldwater] brings a great deal of experience in the management of these sort of facilities. “Our talks have been philosophical to date. We have not gotten into any specifics on financing or anything. What we first needed to do was establish some common ground and timetables. That’s what we are trying to accomplish now. The next step will be to talk more specifically about what will occur.” Goldwater on the soccer-specific stadium idea “Part of what we were doing was waiting for today’s announcement. This adds a whole positive dimension to the discussion of the soccer specific stadium. We are in agreement that it is the best thing for D.C. United and the soccer fans. By extension, a stadium is the best thing for Washington, D.C. ôThe goal that we have is to have the fans and team enjoy the best soccer facility in the country. Hopefully, we’ll be getting down to more of the details and substance, now that we know the direction we can head in.ö Garber on the profile of D.C. United overseas “There is no specific plan as part of this deal to market D.C. United or any of our other teams overseas. The marketing is being done for us. The Los Angeles Galaxy as the Champions Cup champs, qualifying for the World Club Championships is just an example of how are teams are increasing their exposure internationally. We are garnering some of the respect that many of us here feel U.S. soccer has deserved.” Payne on how the AEG deal affected his player movement “The decisions that we made with regard to player movement had nothing to do with this transaction. Phil Anschutz and Bill Peterson trust us to make those decisions as we’ve done in the past for D.C. United. ôWhile we’ve tried to create enough room to say if Ben Olsen is transferred abroad, then we would have enough room to add a player of significance to our team. That has nothing to do with AEG’s involvement, that is the normal course of business.” Garber on having AEG operate four MLS clubs “Everyone who has been fan of this league has seen that we have not had one single conflict in the history of this league amongst teams that share an operator. In AEG’s case, there is a president and general manager in place for each team, and they operate as separate entities. They are separate companies that happen to be owned by the same individuals. “I can assure you that Phil Anschutz, who is one of the busiest people I have ever met, does not spend his time thinking about how one team or the other is performing on or off the field. Instead, he is thinking about the investment in soccer and how that can be enhanced. ôFrom the competition standpoint, all of the checks and balances are in place. To the general public, fans are used to one owner for football, baseball and basketball. To those fans, I say to them that we are in a different stage and we need to have those people involved at this level. “In the last number of years, there have been many single entities that have had single or joint ownership that American fans have accepted readily. Take the XFL. People are either fans of the league because of what it is or isn’t, but they don’t base that decision on the fact that the WWF and GE own the teams. The same thing goes for the WNBA, which is owned entirely by the WNBA office in New York.” Garber on Phil Anschutz staying out of the public eye “We tend to spend a great deal of time talking about the business of the sport and not enough time talking about the excitement of the sport and things like our Spring Training and the World Club Championships. ôWe also have all of the national team stuff, our fans care about the World Cup qualifier coming up in Columbus. Our fans don’t care about the individual owners, they care about what is taking place on the field.” Peterson on his role with D.C. as compared to the other AEG teams “My role is more a corporate one, trying to find ways for the individual teams to increase their market, team value and ticket sales. My role has little to do with the on-the-field stuff. Each team has a GM and a coach. We are lucky that we have someone with Kevin [Payne’s] track record managing the team both on and off the field. ôI would suspect that I will have very little involvement in what happens day-to-day at D.C. United. What I hope to do, is get in a position to help [Payne] with some of his initiatives. United will run the same way they have been.”