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Evening Ticker: Rockets owner looking to purchase Dynamo, Wynalda leaves Atlanta and more

BBVA Compass Stadium (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Houston Dynamo may have a brand new owner to go along with their brand new stadium.

According to a FOX report, Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander is currently in negotiations to purchase the Dynamo from the three parties that currently own the club. Alexander would also get control of BBVA Compass Stadium if the deal was to come to fruition.

MLS commisioner Don Garber has said in the past that he would like to see a local ownership group take charge of the Dynamo, who are currently owned by Anschutz Entermaint Group, retired boxer Oscar de la Hoya and Los Angeles businessman Gabriel Brener. The latter two own 25 percent of the club apiece while Anschutz Entertainment Group, which also owns the Los Angeles Galaxy, controls the other 50 percent.

Here are more stories to help close out your Thursday:

WYNALDA DEPARTS SILVERBACKS POST

Just over a month after surprisingly being appointed interim head coach of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Eric Wynalda is leaving the NASL club.

Wynalda is departing from Atlanta after being hired on July 2 because of his duties with FOX Soccer, where things are expected to pick up now that the European season is about to get underway. The Silverbacks stated in their press releases that they wanted to keep Wynalda for longer, but that it proved too difficult to do so given his other responsibilities. 

Wynalda will remain as a team advisor and will make periodic visits to Atlanta. The Silverbacks went 3-3-1 since Wynalda had been appointed head coach, but they still remain in last place in the NASL standings. Brian Haynes is the club's new head coach.

RED BULLS SIGN SAM

The New York Red Bulls have added more depth to a team that many consider the deepest in MLS. The Red Bulls have signed midfielder Lloyd Sam, who had been trialing with the club during the last week-and-a-half. The 27-year-old Sam, who most recently played for Notts County on loan from Leed United, will add width to the Red Bulls. Per club and league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BARTON TO GO ON SEASON-LONG LOAN WITH MARSEILLE

Joey Barton and his controversial ways are well documented, and that may be the reason Queens Park Rangers are loaning him out for the entirety of the upcoming campaign. QPR are reportedly sending the midfielder on a season-long loan to Olympique Marseille of Ligue 1, and in return the English club will get Stephane Mbia. The 29-year-old Barton will miss the first 12 games of the season for the French heavyweights, as he has to serve a suspension for his violent conduct and red card in the final match of the last campaign against Manchester City.

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What do you make of the Dynamo possibly getting a new owner? Think Wynalda should have stayed on longer with Atlanta? Expecting Sam to fit in well in MLS?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ligue 1 is turning into a very physical league. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more French vets coming to play in the states.

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  2. With the more attractive style of play and the new stadium, Houston is in position to make a blockbuster signing that would catapult them to the top of American soccer.

    Why would you want to sell them???

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  3. Thats why they shouldve built a retractible roof stadium

    Thats the problem with MLS, cheap owners and not considering how big this league will be.

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  4. Actually, I thought Ives had previously reported that the Job would only last until August. I think Atlanta knew all along that Wynalda had plenty of other things on his plate… like killing off various shows on Fox Soccer ala Fox Football Fone-In.

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  5. The Rockets owners, The Alexanders, are not model citizens. They have funded SHAC, a violent animal rights group that uses death threats, carbombings, and physical attacks and has been listed as a domestic terrorist group by the FBI!
    Additionally, he is on the board of The Humane Society of the United States, which uses their name (wrongly assumed by people to be the Humane Society that runs animal shelters but is in fact not related) to raise lots of money from unsuspecting people. Six Congressmen have called for an investigation of how their money is funneled into various private accounts and charity watchdog groups have warned less than 1% of donations goes to anything charitable.
    His wife is widely believed to be the one responsible for the NBA switching to completely manmade basketballs, which was an utter failure.

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  6. I’m sorry, we Rapids fans couldn’t hear you over the sound of the polishing of our MLS Cup trophy, those things get dirty after two years. Can you give us instructions on how to care for it after 5 long years?
    I know our stadium is five years older than the brand new one in Houston, but you have to make sacrifices for the team you love. Of course maybe we could bring in an overweight former Mexican National Team player to help sell some tickets.

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  7. Now maybe Joey can pretend to have read Voltaire instead of pretending to read Nietzsche. Surely they make cliff notes for Voltaire, right?

    Plus, i don’t think France has too many McDonalds so civilians will be able to avoid his rage-attacks, let’s just hope his teamates survive as well.

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  8. You know that stadium wasn’t free? I’d call that kind of investment a splash, a pretty strong ripple at least. Build the infrastructure, then you can support the kind of payroll LA enjoys. Also Dom has been pretty resistant to signing DPs it seems.

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  9. Wynalda is a weasel for pulling that move on Atlanta. How you going to accept a job with a team damn well knowing the European season starts mid August.

    WEAK SAUCE

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  10. Still, one month and you quit. I’m sure that teaches you players jack sh!t. They probably looked up to him and now he just roll bounces. Dark Side Points

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  11. Wynalda will be back in the NASL in 2013 as Head Coach Of the NY Cosmos , it’s the Job he really wants, and he only took the Astlanta job to get an idea on the talent he can sign next year !

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  12. It’s not that AEG has failed at getting legit DPs to come to Houston. They just didn’t give it enough financial backing. I guess back to back MLS Cups wasn’t enough. It has less to do with weather and almost everything to do with money. Plus, there are DPs in Central America and South America that aren’t so fragile.

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  13. Man – I am not a fan of the Rockets owner and his PETA loving wife imposing her world view on the fans at half-time. I don’t have a good feeling about him or his intentions. Just my 2 cents.

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  14. You can’t help it if DPs don’t want to go play in the sweltering heat and live in Houston.
    It’s a tough call….L.A. or Houston?
    Sorry

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  15. The French need someone to bump the under-age-prostitution story off the front pages. Barton is just the man for such a distraction.

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  16. This deal is very close to being done. As a Dynamo fan, I’m cautiously optimistic. While we have always wanted local ownership, you have to thank AEG for gifting us a team (much to the dismay of the San Jose fans) and then building a beautiful park in an amazing location. However, the point about Colorado is well taken. In regards to AEG not paying for mega-star DPs, I don’t really buy it. Very few pampered millionaires are interested in sweating their balls off in the Houston summer. I’m content with finding blue collar guys who play with heart and play for each other and win championships.

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  17. Just “not splashed” the DP bucks lol. That’s awesome. LAG probably have the 1st or 2nd highest payroll vs HOU having the lowest in the league, yet they have the same owner. That ain’t just a splash brotha. AEG hasn’t done much to deserve our favor. Hence our phrase: “In Dom We Trust”

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  18. Dynamo ownership needs someone who loves soccer, interested in soccer here in America, and is business saavy regarding the inner workings of MLS. AEG is interested loves soccer and is interested in it in American and elsewhere, but their attention is usually towards Los Angeles. It’s true, basketball and soccer are both sports but what does someone who only follows basketball really know about soccer? Obviously they want to make money and capitalize on the “coolness” of it now that David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and other DP’s have entered the league. The Houston Rockets paid a retarded amount of money for Jeremy Lin only to sell tickets, not to win a Championship. What if he pays a retarded amount of money for some popular soccer player in order to boost ticket sales but ruins the culture that Dominic Kinnear has put together?

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  19. I say just let the new owner get 75% and the other 25%, to who ever wants it more. But what if this new owner just wants to ride the ship, buy the team since it has a new stadium and control the concerts and events there, just like at Rockets Arena. Every new owner and current should be given a protocol from the SKC ownership, in order to make MLS top ten in the world. For example, Fc Dallas needs a roof cover, Crew need a new stadium, New England is a walking disaster, DC has barely woken from the dead, Rapids are left behind like the annoying drunk friend and list goes on……….. TFC deserve love at this point.

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  20. Just because AEG has not splashed the DP bucks Houston’s way does not mean they have been bad owners. Not sure how you can sit in that bitchen stadium, admiring a relatively well-stocked trophy case after six years, and complain about your ownership. Maybe you should hang out with DC, New England and Chivas fans more often.

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  21. Like this in general. Dynamo would benefit from local ownership, just hope Les Alexander has some actual interest in soccer and not just the latest shiny jewel downtown (near the Toyota Center).
    The Dynamo need some investment in their training facilities and the academy. Both have started to take shape, but need to be better.

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  22. It was the same when your Dynamo were my Quakes. LA was always the favored franchise, but Dom always put a good group out there. Things seem to be working out for both of us now though, huh?

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  23. Great news as de la Hoya et al have been nonexistant owners. I can count on my left hand the times any of them have been to an actual Dynamo game. Just keep Daryl Morey out of the Dynamo FO and we’ll be fine.

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  24. Dynamo fans have been praying to not be owned by AEG from day one. Brenner and De la Hoya have had little impact other than Oscar showing for a few games IMO. This would be a great move to have a single local owner actually willing to invest in the club, which AEG has been so reluctant to do when compared to LA. Our success has more to do with Dom Kinnear than our ownership.

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  25. hopefully the rockets ownership is better than the rapids ownership which also owns the Nuggets among other teams.. just saying local but still negligent.

    Barton for MBia! i would take M’Bia any day over Barton! good deal for QPR, especially after their original idea was to loan him to some lower div English team.

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  26. I’m guessing they’re more likely to sell the crew before they sell Dallas. Of course, if we’re lucky maybe the crew will get bought by a local group like Sporting KC

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  27. This is really good news.

    Now those of us who have wanted one team per ownership group since before MLS started just need the Hunts to sell the Crew (or FC Dallas).

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  28. Jeez, that’s tough since AEG and the other two owners have clearly been solid as owners considering the Dynamo’s success over the years. But it IS an understandable stance by Garber.

    What do Dynamo fans think about this?

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