Oscar De La Hoya Looking To Buy...A Soccer Team?

The Dynamo are in a quandry. On the heels of winning their second consecutive MLS Cup, they're at the center of a dispute with the MLS. The Orange are owned by AEG, an entertainment conglomerate owned by Phil Anschutz. AEG used to own close to half of the teams in MLS, but are now down to just our all-conquering hometown boys, and the pretty boy-signing LA Galaxy. The MLS is ready for AEG to shed itself of one team to diversify the ownership of the league.

Since AEG has a more marketable product in the Galaxy (along with the majority of their payroll tied up in one player), it looks like the Dynamo will be sold off. One potential buyer has already emerged, and it's another one of the sports world's "beautiful people". Boxer Oscar De La Hoya, famous for being really, really ridiculously good looking and a Olympic gold medalist, is interested in purchasing the team through his Golden Boy Productions company. (Golden Boy Productions? Seriously? We know it's his boxing nickname and everything, but given this whole fiasco, the name ends up sounding like a male escort service.)

Anyway, the Dynamo's proposed downtown stadium situation will likely be unresolved until new ownership is in place. AEG's ownership of the team has been a sticking point in negotiations with the city, since the soccer pitch could serve double duty as a concert venue, cutting into arena show revenue that's currently the exclusive domain of the Toyota Center. As a concert promotion company, AEG would be a serious threat to the Toyota Center's monopoly on those type of shows. With Golden Boy (snicker) in charge of the Dynamo and the presumed stadium, the pressure would be reduced and the likelihood of the stadium being approved by City Hall increases.

Nothing has been finalized between AEG and De La Hoya yet, but the team is definitely on the market regardless. Once something is finalized, Houstonist will evaluate for you how this will affect the possible downtown stadium.

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photo: flickr user blackdog8200