Major League Soccer in Milwaukee
Peter Wilt, the former General Manager of the Chicago Fire is attempting to bring a Major League Soccer expansion team (or relocate an existing team) to Milwaukee for the 2009 season due to the popularity of the Wave and the city's growing Hispanic population. As of July 2007, Milwaukee MLS lead organizer and Milwaukee sports lawyer, Marty Greenberg, announced his last-ditch effort proposal, one that involves transforming a portion of the Milwaukee Mile grandstand and infield into a soccer stadium utilizing a moveable field and additional seating sections, allowing the venue to be convertible for auto racing and soccer. According to Peter Wilt, the stadium/field would not be in the middle of the infield (except on race days). On game days, the field would be flush against the main grandstand with 10k additional seats surrounding the field, which would move in and out to allow racing similar to the Arizona Cardinals University of Phoenix Stadium. In addition, the fence separating the main grandstand and the track would come down and the field would be elevated above the track, it would also have a canopy roof over most of the main sideline seats, 20+ luxury suites, a field view stadium club, center entrance player tunnel, new permanent hospitality, concession, restroom and merchandise and locker room facilities. Regarding the priority usage, the Milwaukee Mile currently only hosts three major races a year. Regarding the economics, the construction costs would be a fraction of building a stadium from scratch (roughly $40 million), there are no real estate taxes on state property, there is more than enough parking and there are other economic incentives involved that would not include any new taxes, regarding location, the site borders the city of Milwaukee’s west side, is two miles west of Miller Park, six miles west of downtown, about two miles east of the geographic center of the metropolitan market, is accessible by public transportation, is on the busiest interstate highway section in the state and has two highway exits within half a mile, regarding quality of stadium, as stated above, it will feel more intimate than Toyota Park or BMO Field. The Milwaukee Mile would benefit from usage of suites, club seats and other hospitality areas for its events and potentially a rental fee that would be less than the Fire pays the VOB. Team would benefit economically from retention of stadium sponsorship, parking, merchandise and concessions from its events and other revenue streams that can’t be disclosed at this time.
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