Date:         Tue, 8 Jan 2002 12:40:56 EST
Reply-To:     Discussion of Topics for Soccer Referees <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Discussion of Topics for Soccer Referees <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Ed Bazan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      MLS Contraction is Official
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER ANNOUNCES ELIMINATION OF 
TAMPA BAY MUTINY AND MIAMI FUSION FOR 2002 SEASON             
New League Format Will Allow for Greater Revenue Opportunities at the Team 
Level and
Assure Every MLS Team Will Have An Investor-Operator

        NEW YORK (Tuesday, January 8, 2002) - - Major League Soccer 
Commissioner Don Garber announced today that the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the 
Miami Fusion will immediately cease operations.  The decision to close both 
teams was made unanimously by the MLS Board of Governors, after a 
comprehensive strategic review of the League's operations.
 The League also announced that it is in continuing negotiations with several 
entities to invest in MLS and acquire the operating rights of the Dallas Burn 
and San Jose Earthquakes.  An announcement is intended in both markets prior 
to the beginning of the season.
  
Additionally, the League announced that the Anschutz Entertainment Group has 
exercised its option to become the Investor-Operator of D.C. United.  When 
these transactions are completed, the League will for the first time have an 
Investor-Operator for every MLS team.
Finally, the League has made significant changes to its operating 
relationship with its teams.  These adjustments will provide enhanced revenue 
opportunities at the local level by allowing teams to retain a greater share 
of revenue from ticket sales, local sponsorship and television.
These changes follow the announcement on December 6, 2001 that MLS investors 
committed to funding and operating the league for the next five years, 
through the 2006 season.  The six-year old League also announced last week a 
five-year extension of its broadcast agreement with ABC and ESPN to televise 
a significant schedule of MLS games.  At the same time, the League announced 
the formation of a new marketing and production company which purchased the 
rights to the 2002 World Cup, 2003 Women's World Cup and the 2006 World Cup 
and an agreement with ABC and ESPN to broadcast all three of these World Cup 
tournaments in the United States (English language).
        "Our investors have made a number of strategic decisions that will 
better position MLS in the short and long term," Commissioner Garber said.  
"These decisions took many months to finalize and were enormously complex and 
involved, but are necessary to ensure the future success of the League.  
While we are reducing the number of teams by two for now, the long-term 
funding commitment, media commitments, new investment and the fact that all 
teams will have Investor-Operators will make MLS a stronger and more viable 
league going forward."
The MLS Board of Governors has determined that all teams must have an 
Investor-Operator to manage and fund local operations.  The League and Board 
of Governors thoroughly evaluated all teams and markets, based on their 
ability to provide value to the league and the sport overall for the 
long-term.  Factors that were considered in the decision-making process 
included ownership status, past market performance, market potential, and the 
soccer appropriateness of the local stadium.  
"The decision to leave both cities for the 2002 MLS Season was extremely 
difficult," said MLS Commissioner Garber.  "I can assure all of our fans that 
we worked tirelessly to find a plan that would have allowed us to remain in 
both markets.  We simply could not find a solution that was economically 
feasible at this time and we hope to return to the State of Florida when the 
League expands in future years."
Major League Soccer's investors include Philip Anschutz of Denver, the Hunt 
family of Dallas, the Kraft family of Boston, Kenneth Horowitz, Alan 
Rothenberg and the global advertising agency, Dentsu.  The Anschutz 
Entertainment Group (AEG) is the Investor-Operator of the Chicago Fire, 
Colorado Rapids, D.C. United, Los Angeles Galaxy, and the MetroStars.  The 
Hunt family is the Investor-Operator of the Columbus Crew and Kansas City 
Wizards. The Kraft family is the Investor-Operator of the New England 
Revolution.  The additional shareholders are investors in the entire League, 
but do not have operating rights to a specific team.  
The deciding factor for not continuing operations of the Tampa Bay Mutiny is 
the fact that the team has not had an investor-operator since it began play 
in 1996.  The Mutiny have been operated and funded by the League Office since 
its inception.
        In Miami, the MLS Board of Governors, along with Investor-Operator 
Ken Horowitz, who founded the Miami Fusion as an expansion team in 1998, have 
determined that the local market is not capable at this time of providing the 
support necessary to effectively sustain a Major League Soccer team.  Both 
the League and the team worked throughout the 2001 season to bolster the 
team's support from the local community.  Even with an Eastern Conference 
Championship and increases at the gate, the team remained among the lowest in 
League average attendance, corporate support and overall revenues. 
Mr. Horowitz will remain an investor in the League, with a      n option of 
returning as an operator in South Florida or an expansion market.
"There are few owners in professional sports who dedicated themselves to 
their team as Ken Horowitz did the Fusion," said MLS Investor-Operator, Lamar 
Hunt.  "He tried so hard to make it work in South Florida and all of us in 
Major League Soccer greatly appreciate his passion and commitment to the 
game." 
  
"Ken Horowitz contributed so much to the League and the sport in South 
Florida," added MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "I know the pain and sorrow he 
feels to no longer be associated with the Fusion.  He gave every effort over 
the past years to create a team that represented the community with pride, 
personality and public service."
MLS will feature a 10-team, two conference alignment for the 2002 season.  
The Eastern Conference will consist of the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. 
United, the MetroStars and the New England Revolution.  The Western 
Conference makeup will consist of the Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas 
City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy and defending MLS Cup champion San Jose 
Earthquakes.  
MLS Will Conduct Allocation/Dispersal Drafts of all Tampa and Miami Players 
In conjunction with this announcement, MLS will conduct a Dispersal Draft of 
the Tampa Bay and Miami rosters on Friday, January, 11.  All former Fusion 
and Mutiny players will be placed into a Dispersal Draft pool, along with all 
first round picks in the 2002 SuperDraft held by Miami and Tampa Bay.  All 
lower 2002 SuperDraft picks held by these teams (other than picks they may 
have previously traded away) will be eliminated, including any picks for 
which the teams had traded.
Immediately prior to the Dispersal Draft, teams due allocations for the 2002 
season will participate in an Allocation Draft and may select any one 
player/pick on the Dispersal Draft list per allocation. 
The MLS Competition Committee has approved the allocations and selection 
order for those allocations as follows: Colorado (failure to make the 2001 
MLS Cup Playoffs); New England (failure to make the MLS Playoffs); DC United 
(failure to make the MLS Playoffs); Colorado (Unused 2001 allocation); New 
England (loss of Leonel Alvarez and Mauricio Wright); New England (loss of 
William Sunsing); Dallas (retirement of Lubos Kubik); Los Angeles (loss of 
Luis Hernandez); and San Jose (unused 2001 allocation). 
2002 MLS Dispersal Draft Timeline 
Friday, January 11, 2002                        Allocation Draft         
Dispersal Draft 
Tuesday, January 15, 2002               MLS Waiver Date - All teams in 
compliance with roster rules 
Thursday, January 17, 2002              MLS Waiver Draft 
Immediately following the Allocation Draft, the League will conduct the 
Dispersal Draft.  The draft order is based on the natural SuperDraft order 
based on final 2001 standings:
1.      Colorado Rapids                 6.      MetroStars 
2.      New England Revolution          7.      Columbus Crew   
3.      D.C. United                     8.      Chicago Fire 
4.      Kansas City Wizards             9.      Los Angeles Galaxy 
5.      Dallas Burn                     10.     San Jose Earthquakes 
Further details of the Allocation/Dispersal Draft and the 2002 Rules of 
Competition will be released later this week. 
Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer features many top stars 
from the United States and around the world, and is America's only Division I 
men's outdoor professional soccer league.  For the latest headlines and 
official information on MLS, log onto www.MLSnet.com.