Down by the river, a possible MLS home

Philadelphia may not be buying Beckham, but $47 million in state funding might be the golden goal in the contest to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the City of Brotherly Love.

Last Thursday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell formally committed money from state grants and loans to aid a Chester project which would include a $115 million stadium, a 200,000-square-foot convention center, retail space and apartments along the Delaware River.

MLS has not indicated whether Philadelphia or St. Louis, the other finalist city, will get the expansion team. But with a stadium deal in place, the cheesesteak capital seems to be the frontrunner.

"Everyone is quite optimistic that Philadelphia will have, in fact, the 16th [MLS] franchise," said Larry Needle, executive director for the Philadelphia Sports Congress.

Needle added that a team in Chester would "immediately have one of the stronger franchises in the league, just based on the market."

Delaware County will put forth $30 million to add to the $80 million from local investors, which include the Swarthmore Group and Buccini/Pollin Group.

Overall, phase one is expected to cost $414 million. There is no price tag on the second phase, which includes additional apartments and more retail and office space.

Organizations have been active in vocalizing a collective desire for professional soccer in Philadelphia - indeed, Sons of Ben has over 1,000 fans supporting a not-yet-existent team - but state support might have finally tipped the scale.

"The commonwealth has done all it can to make its position known," Chuck Ardo, Rendell's press secretary, said. "It's now up to the MLS to bring the franchise."

The first of two expansion teams landed in Seattle. Should the second wind up in Philly, it would play in an 18,500-seat riverfront stadium filled with just a fraction of a very enthusiastic fan base.

"The greater Philadelphia area is a huge soccer hotbed. There's a great potential following there," head coach of Penn Men's Soccer Rudy Fuller said.

"An MLS team in Philadelphia is long overdue."

Fuller noted that many would benefit from watching higher-level soccer, from his own Quakers squad to younger players from the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association.

There would also be an economic benefit, as the state tries to revitalize dilapidated Chester.

Rendell estimated that the project would create 2,600 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs in addition to $19 million in annual tax revenue, the majority of which would go to the state.

"The economic impact of a project like this on the city of Chester is immeasurable," Ardo said.

Should the plan go through, Philadelphians would have one more potential champion - and one more potential heartbreak - to look forward to every year.

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