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Afternoon Roundup: Blanco joining Santos Laguna on loan and KC Stadium clears hurdle

Cuauhtemoc Blanco (MLS) 

With David Beckham already going on loan to AC Milan, and Landon Donovan's loan to Bayern Munich being finalized, you can apparently add Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the list of MLS stars making short-term moves this winter.

According to multiple reports surfacing on Thursday, the Chicago Fire will loan out Blanco to Mexican side Santos Laguna. The Fire confirmed the loan on Thursday afternoon.

In MLS stadium news, the Kansas City Wizards cleared the last major hurdle in their quest to have a stadium built. The news means the Wizards can start construction on a new 18,500 stadium they are hoping will be ready for the 2010 season.

What do think of these developments? Surprised to see the Fire okay a Blanco loan deal? Do you see the Wizards thriving in a new stadium come 2010, or do you think they will struggle to draw? Will you be able to live without the State Fair-like atmosphere at CommunityAmerica Ballpark once the Wizards move into their new home?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I live in KC and just returned from a trip to Brazil. A couple of comments:

    – Amazed to see how much popularity the MLS has gained in Brazil. Most fans can name a few of the clubs here now. Most important, just this week, two solid players in Rio de Janeiro (Edmundo – Vasco, Fabio Luciano – Flamengo) publicly said they are interested in playing opportunities in the US. The draw is increased league visibility in the world coupled with quality of life.

    – KC has one of the greatest youth participation rates in the country and a good number of Latinos that could form a strong fan base. Having the new stadium will help. Improving the quality of play is also important. I coach youth soccer and I cannot tell you how many times I hear the comment “if only the Wizards played as attractive soccer as our girls’ team…”

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  2. “Yeah, a central location in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen away support in KC.”

    Open your eyes next time then, every game had away support besides maybe RSL or someone out West.

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  3. The KC stadium will be just outside the “city” but it is not in the burbs, it will be in an area that had a mall that failed because its not a very nice area compared to Johnson County on the KS side which is only 2 miles away. Support to fill the stadium will have to come from 2 groups, 1- the large population of latins that live in KCK and KCMO and 2- the players and familys from Johnson County (its like the 2 richest County in the nation or something crazy like that, and has very good youth clubs). KC could have sold out every game this year and still would have been at the bottom for attendence so you cant really compare it that way, its a smaller market and its been slow but it has been increasing, 10 years or whatever at Arrowhead really hurt the team… I got season tickets last year, and know that my dad is now getting season tickets for him and my sister and a couple other parents on the team I coach are doing the same.. In short, its just now getting going because soccer fans finally could get a decent atomsphere at a game w/ that baseball stadium that provided a much better time than 70K Arrowhead..

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  4. The point of the Blanco loan to Santos? They’re going to turn around and loan him to…the Red Bulls. Blanco will be reunited with his former coach who will finally have one of his former Chicago players on his roster as he goes into the MLS Cup this Saturday.

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  5. Whoops, I meant San Luis is Michael Orozco’s team – they will play at Santos de Torreon (Blanco and Edgar Castillo’s team) in the first leg this weekend.

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  6. Just saw the Cuauhtemoc Blanco news on Contacto Deportivo. Blanco’s loan to Santos seems pretty bizarre but I guess the Mexican League allows it.

    Blanco is only being loaned for the “liguilla” or playoffs. Imagine if MLS teams could get reinforcements for the postseason!

    Santos (Michael Orozco’s team) plays regular season league leader San Luis this Sunday in the first leg of their home-and-away series. Blanco’s loan could be over within a week or so or could be almost a month. Barring injury, he should be back for MLS preseason.

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  7. I went to the season opener in Kansas City last year and was pleasantly surprised. It was hard to say if it was a true sellout or not, because I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the empty seats were never on sale to begin with, but there was a good crowd and the Cauldron was as exciting as any fan group. As with every MLS team, the fans that show up are great, now it’s just adding more fans in general.

    To be fair, KC will probably always be below the average for league attendance, but it is also one of the smaller markets in the league. If the stadium etc. can account for that and not look and feel empty, there is a lot of potential there.

    The real problems in this league are not Kansas City and Columbus, they are New York and New England. Two of the teams who should have great attendance and widespread recognition (like LA Galaxy and D.C. United) have absolutely terrible attendance. The Revolution are going to be the last team to ever get a real stadium, and while I credit New York for trying, the population is on Long Island, not Brooklyn. I really hope fans travel all the way over to New Jersey on a consistent basis. New York is going to need a really big-name DP to get that.

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  8. for all the doubters about ability to draw in k.c. dont give up hope as soccer is growing in america adn maybe if st. louis gets a team there will be a great rivalry….

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  9. Happy for KC. They have die hard sports fans Too bad the Royals suck and the Chiefs suck too. The Wizards will own that town in a decade. As for seating size, may be big now but as the league grows it will be perfect. One thing about the economic downturn, the NFL is too expensive and baseball has too many games. Soccer could grow if ticket prices remain low and the SSS situation provides for good time entertainment. If a team is added in St. Louis instant KC/STL rivalry that doesn’t exist in either the NFL or MLB (due to being in different conferences/leagues)

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  10. What’s with all the KC hate? I visited this year for a game in that crappy little baseball field 30 minutes from downtown and they had the place packed with loud fans. Only a handful of MLS teams get decent attendance and from what I saw on my visit KC has the potential to be one of them.

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  11. Regarding players going out on loan, I think this speaks to the need for the MLS to adjust its fixture schedule. If they continue to dance around the NFL schedule we will continue to see foreign leagues have an easier time picking off players on transfer or on loan.

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  12. It depends Danny, sometimes loans are associated with a modest upfront fee (though this is rare-in my own knowledge I know that Liverpool received a small fee for Cisse in his season at Marseilles, for Carson at Villa last year, and for Voronin who at Wolfsburg this season). Liverpool also paid MSI/West Ham to loan Mascherano initially and Manure is paying to loan Tevez.

    The club taking on the player, also usually pay for their salary (saving the team loaning them out on their overall payroll). The exception to this is when the larger clubs loan out their youth players to get loan experience.

    I’d hope that MLS was astute enough to get compensation, as a major injury to either Donovan, Beckham, or Blanco (the league’s three most valuable commonities), could mean a significant loss of revenue…

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  13. This stinks. They neede to move this team while they had the chance. Great we’ll have a new stadium with 5 people in it counting the cracker jack vendor.

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  14. if this stadium situation is anything like the rapids it will be fairly lame. i went to a rapids match this year and while the stadium was nice, it was literally in the middle of nowhere. we couldn’t even see the denver skyline. with mls talking and talking about “the keys to success” in sss (ie put it IN the teams namesake city) why are these still being built outside city limits (st louis, i’m looking at you now). it seems really, really near sighted.

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  15. Could someone clarify something for me? Do loans bring in revenue to the loaning team? I know MLS gets money when they sell a player, but do they make some money on a loan fee too?

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  16. kpugs, I’m a NY fan myself, so I’m not bashing rbny…but a rbny fan making fun of another franchise for drawing poor attendance is throwing stones in a glass house

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  17. “Good central location for fans from all over to travel to.”

    Yeah, a central location in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen away support in KC.

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  18. I think it’s great news for KC. Now let’s make that venue the permanent home of the US Cup Final in honor of Lamar Hunt. Good central location for fans from all over to travel to.

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  19. I’m from KC and it was HORRIBLE when we played at arrowhead, just like any soccer team trying to play in a NFL stadium. The SSS will be a little south of KC but right on a major highway.

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  20. KC Haters, whatever. Well our Boys N’ Blue are not moving and we’re getting a stadium so deal with it. You’re going to be even more jealous when you learn the details of our stadium. It’s no Red Bull Arena but it’ll make most of the current stadiums look 2nd rate. Come visit in 2010.

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  21. the loan is dumb.. blanco was slow enough already , he will get no rest and really suck it up next year as hamlett with start and play him every game no matter how bad he plays

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  22. Yea, I’m gonna have to go and disagree with a lotta my fellow posters here. I think KC has the potential to have a great atmosphere given the environment that they have provided in the ballpark stadium this year.

    I envision them continuing their party-like groups and expand as time goes on–kinda like Columbus did this year, which looked and sounded great.

    I can see KC attracting more of the locals and the 18K stadium is a perfect fit for them

    Where exactly is this thing gonna get built anyway? In the city itself? Or nearby?

    I’m very excited for the city of KC. Cheers.

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  23. Awesome! They can play in front of nobody in a nice stadium from now on. But seriously, if KC is going to stay then I’d rather they build something even smaller like 13 or 14 thousand. This is going to be worse than Colorado and will never change the fact that people don’t give a rat’s a$$ about soccer in KC.

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  24. @gerald, I believe he refers to the rumors or reports that the NE leadership is planning for a SSS for 2011 or 2012. Would be great.

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  25. @HDfan, you have a good point and idea. MLS should consider taking loans of players from say 2nd division teams in England/Spain or from 1st division leagues like say Belgium, Turkey, Scandinavia. It could work, i’m sure. They could come over and adjust and up our game and flow and head back to their teams if they succeed/fail.

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  26. 18,500 is a good size for a stadium in a medium cize city like KC. Should be able to fill up at least 70% each game if not more. Could also make for a sweet venue for a US qualifying match or friendly for Midwest fans.

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  27. I was hoping KC would move. They will be another Colorado or Dallas with a new, empty stadium. I’m sure the stadium will be nice but what good is it when it is half full every game.

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  28. Happy for Kansas City. I don’t have anything against MLS loaning players out if it makes sense in principle, as long as it won’t make them weary. I just wish that it would happen the other way around more. MLS needs to integrate themselves into the international market more and get players here on loan.

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  29. Impressive. I wonder if KC will consider a DP around the time of the stadium opening to draw in more of the audience/supporters.

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  30. Great for KC. Should be ready by at least late summer 2010. Houston, DC, New England and San Jose are all looking to have their own stadiums done by mid or late 2010 i believe. So hopefully come 2011 every team will have their own SSS. hallejuhah

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