According to Sports Business Journal, the Philadelphia Union have sold their waterfront stadium’s naming rights to a local power company called Philadelphia Power & Lights (PPL). The deal will be for 10 years, $20 million.

Not bad at all for the Union considering Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah was for roughly $1-2 million a year for ten years. Also not bad considering Chicago’s Toyota Park deal with Toyota was for roughly $750,000 a year for 10 years to sponsor the Fire’s home.

So far it sounds like a good deal for Union fans. A $1-2 million a year deal isn’t bad at all.

Now the question comes down to whether or not it will be PPL Park, PPL Stadium, PPL Field, etc. The deal is being finalized and should be done by the end of the week.

MLS Insider: Inside the Union Stadium from mlsinsider on Vimeo.

Chester Stadium currently under construction. (Photo via Philadelphia Union)

Editor’s Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVHooligan each week. Today he is back to discuss something that is very close to home, the soon to be expansion Philadelphia Union. Geoff lives just 15 minutes away from the new club. Feel free to leave Geoff your thoughts below.

With just under six months before Major League Soccer’s newest club takes the field in Seattle in the 2010 opener, I thought it be good to give an update on where my local club are in preparation. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, we had the official announcement on February 28th, 2008 in Chester, Pennsylvania. While I haven’t been down in the area all that long, I always had concerns about MLS putting a team in the Delaware Valley. At the time, I thought St. Louis would have been a much more viable option, however, since that point I can safely say I’ve jumped on the bandwagon.

The club’s owners right from the start seemed like they were up against it: economic downturn, trying to sell the idea of re-building a historic, but rundown city by having a team and stadium as it’s crown jewel in a complete redevelopment of the area to the local government and promising to be a success all at the same time. Needless to say they accomplished that first part.

The ownership also had to field questions regarding if they still had enough cash to pull everything off with one of them losing a big chunk of money a year ago when the stock market dropped. The rumors of FC Barcelona even coming in and taking a stake was discussed but nothing came about after the Catalans decided to pull out of the Miami bid. There was also talk of the Montreal Impact coming in 2010 and pushing Philadelphia back to 2011. The panic button could have easily been pushed, but the ownership has stuck to their guns and currently the only news coming out of the club is good news. Sure there has been hurdles to jump over since the planning officially began on February 28, 2008, but careful brainstorming in all aspects while making small tweaks to the big overall picture has shown the group knows exactly what they are doing.

Now the club has taken a look at what the Seattle Sounders have done so far to make them as successful as they’ve been both on the pitch and off it, however, what we must remember in Seattle’s case besides all the right things they have done of marketing the team. The Sounders came in at the best possible time with the local Basketball team being moved to Oklahoma and on top of that, the Mariners and Seahawks both having lousy seasons in 2008 which made the local area sports fans hungry for something positive.

In Philadelphia, it’s almost been the opposite with the Phillies winning the World Series last year, the Eagles making their usual run at the Superbowl and just falling short and the Flyers having as much hype around them as usual, it was always going to be difficult for the Union to get anybody’s attention. What the ownership realized what was very important was that:

• There was already a supporters group who really have set the bar higher then any other group in convincing league headquarters that a their city deserves a club and will have support. The Sons Of Ben have just been tremendous and continue to grow with currently having over 5,000 members so far. The ownership understands their importance in putting this puzzle together by listening to the groups suggestions on an array of things such away supporters sections at Chester Stadium for example.

• Understood that there is a massive youth soccer population in the area and at a very good level. Having watched a number of high school games last year and a few already this year, from first hand I can tell the level is high and the area’s top players going onto top division one colleges like Duke, Wake Forest, and Maryland amongst others shows that.

• Another key point the club has done and this was only recently announced was that they have an official partnership with the Eagles. In this area, the Eagles are king so to have the most popular sports franchise in the area on board with the club is tremendous just as the Sounders and Seahawks have. For so long we’ve seen a lot of MLS originals have no relationship with any other local franchise. We’ve seen in New York that communications between the Red Bulls/MetroStars and the Giants have none whatsoever and same can be said for the Wizards and Chiefs in Kansas City, teams that have shared stadiums in the past. By partnering with the Eagles, not every Eagles season ticket holder will show interest in how the Union are doing, but it certainly can’t hurt the club and will raise more awareness which brings us to the next point: media exposure.

The local media has been both good and bad. You have your usual haters who say everything they can to take the sport down and singing the same old tune. John Gonzalez from the Philadelphia Inquirer a while ago on his daily “You Talkin’ To me?” Piece on page two of sports once said that he’s sure all seven soccer fans in the area would care about how the Union would do. Then you got your usual narrow minded sports talk radio hosts who will bash everything to do with our beautiful sport but that’s the same in almost every city across this country. However, the overall reaction and press has been mostly positive. It will take time to build the name and brand, but everything that has been done so far has been good. Whenever the club has been in the local news it has been positive whether it be partnering with youth organizations, helping out the Chester community, and finding new partnerships with local businesses and sponsorships.

Overall, the outlook is very good. The season tickets have been growing slowly and certainly if the club can reach it’s target of 15,000 then it will be a success. Currently, the club has just over 9,000. Of course if they exceed expectations, the stadium will be expandable from what I’ve been told. The kits have yet to be released but it’s pretty obvious that they will be dark or navy blue and gold combination by looking at the web site and the club badge. Some time closer to the end of the year we should expect to see the first images and hopefully a shirt sponsorship with any luck. Before we know it, the expansion draft will take place, then the Super Draft and eventually the 2010 season will kick off in March. These next few months are even more critical for the club to find the right pieces on the playing side, coaching and scouting to assist Peter Nowak, and the rest of the front office. So far at least, so good.

Dilly Duka may be a guy we need to start getting use to seeing with the national team. (Getty Images)

Every once in a while people I usually disagree with get something right. I’m sure it happens with some of you where you hardly ever agree with me but I write something that is absolute truth for once. I know, it happens both ways. Anyways today was just that as Greg Lalas posted a story on SI.com about the U-20 National team loss to Germany over the weekend.

He said to not over react about the 3-0 loss to the German side. Why? No need to go crazy over a bunch of college kids getting beat in this tournament. First of all the US is in the group of death really and getting out of it alive will be nothing short of impressive from my viewpoint. Second of all he’s dead on, most of these kids aren’t playing against professional players all the time like the majority if not all of the German squad. They’re college kids with the exception of a handfull.

While the US doesn’t have any stand out players in this group that is in Egypt it does however have plenty of potential to be special. Most of you probably haven’t seen guys like Dilly Duka play at Rutgers or Gale Agbossoumonde play at USL-1′s Miami FC. Speaking of Agbossoumonde, how he hasn’t been picked up by a MLS squad yet is kind of sad if you ask me. Maybe next year he will be in a Philly uniform or a DC one (whoever in MLS were to sign him they’d have to transfer him since he signed a three-year deal with Miami).

Point is even should this group not succeed like the one prior to it in 2007 that went to the quarter-finals it won’t be the worst thing in the world. Its all about good experience for this bunch which will really only make the next crop stronger in my mind…not to mention make this strong as well. I just see the next group building even more so off whatever this group does.

So don’t freak out when you see that 3-0 scoreline. Germany was clearly the better side and don’t be shocked if Cameroon gives the US just as big of a test as the Germans did. ——————————————————————-

Time For Youth Transfer Fees?

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Want a reason for youth players to get some transfer fees added on to a transfer from one of our MLS academies to the main MLS club to say a large European club? Some folks are wanting to see that start to happen. We all know that MLS clubs get transfer fees when a player goes on overseas usually but what about the youth team that brought him up? I like the idea of the youth team/program getting a little slice of the pie since they were the ones that really got the ball rolling on the kid to begin with. There’s more to it than that I’m sure but this is a great read.

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Playoff Odds

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If you are a fan of Columbus, San Jose or New York, just ignore this article over at Soccernet by Ives. We know Columbus is in and that New York has been eliminated from playoff contention since June, and San Jose is pretty dead in the water despite the win over DC this past weekend. Now Ives brings you each club’s odds to get into the playoffs. How he came to these numbers I do not now but they are fairly interesting enough to comment about. I’d honestly put KC and Dallas’ odds a bit higher than 30-1 and 40-1 respectively.

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Philly Stadium Update

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Wanna know why the Philly Stadium is just barely getting off the ground in its construction? Apparently it was a rainy summer up there. That slowed things down. Plus something about the economy being bad? All kidding aside, this article has an interesting interview with Philly CEO Nick Sakiewicz who wouldn’t give a definite figure on how much behind the stadium is right now.

Another interesting fact that I guess I hadn’t read before until today was their home opener will have a seating capacity of 37,000. I guess Union are taking after the Seattle mold in playing a game in a NFL stadium by possibly covering up some seats in the upper decks of the Linc? Sounds like a game plan to me.

Good to hear the club is closing in on a 10k season ticket number too. Just makes me wish that the ticket sales here in Dallas could even get to that number again!

Chester Stadium currently under construction. (Photo via Philadelphia Union)

Lots of attention lately has been given to the start of next season for each club. It mainly seems to boil down to two clubs that are causing the league to redo the start of the season schedule every other day.

Both Toronto and 2010 expansion club Philadelphia seem to have their own issues going on. Philly is trying to figure out where to play their first game (or two) while their new stadium is finished getting built. Toronto on the other hand is looking at the very likely chance of finally getting a grass field at BMO Field.

Yes grass. Something nearly every fan, player, writer, etc. has called for since BMO Field opened in 2007.

According to Soccer America, the new grass field is set to be voted on by the city of Toronto very soon which is causing the league to hold off plans of announcing their First Kick schedule for next year.

Back to Philly though and their opening slate for their first season. It could end up being a thing just like Toronto a couple years ago where they begin their season (reportedly in Seattle) on the road for a couple games until their new stadium in Chester is complete. That should also help the club to not have to play in a NFL stadium for a game or two.

Putting Philly on the road for a game or three wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you ask me. Remember nearly all previous SSS owners had to begin their first seasons in their new stadiums on the road. Columbus was on the road for seven straight in 1999, LA was on the road for eight in 2003 and I believe Chicago saw nine road games in a row while Toyota Park was getting its final touches done a couple seasons ago.

Williams Proving He Deserves A Real Job

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Most of you know by now that I am a big Richie Williams supporter. And you all know by now that New York more than likely will drop the ball yet again on hiring a good coach by not removing the interim tag from Williams’ title at the end of the season. Sure you could say that New York is currently playing the role of spoiler but they are also playing for Williams’ future…and not just potentially with New York.

I think a decent run and possible an actual result on the road by the Red Bulls in three out of the last four games left for the Red Bulls could help Williams land a job somewhere in MLS. There are still a couple coaches on hot seats at the moment and we could see a change or two at the end of the year. Williams should definitely be at the top of most club’s lists if there are changes made.

Something tells me DC could be in line to hire their former midfielder.

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Refs Stinking Up Place In MLS

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A lot of talk this morning was on this piece by Ives. All I can say is what took him so long to finally come out and say how bad the refs really are in MLS? I don’t exactly read his stuff every day and he may have said something similar before but I don’t believe a full post was done on the matter. Still worth a read if you haven’t already. We’ve had far too many head scratches this seasons by officials who seems to want to take the game in their hands and not let the players just play.

Philadelphia’s front office are keeping their options open as to the site of the first kick in 2010. Right now the likely destination for the first Union game will be at a NFL venue, Lincoln Financial Field.

This stadium hosted both Gold Cup and international friendlies this summer and is no stranger to soccer. Sure its disappointing to hear that Union won’t be in their new stadium at the start of next year but if they can pack in a good chunk of fans at this venue like Seattle did to open their expansion season this year it could be a good thing.

Word has it the opening kick schedule for next season could be out in a couple weeks too. Steve Goff reported this morning that it has undergone a couple different revisions as of late.

(Each photos via Philadelphia Union)