Washington Spirit Virginia
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Flipping a company with negative cash flow makes no sense. Spirit DA with its bloated rosters, costs, and dual duty coaches was in a better financial position than FCV. If St James is interested in making money, and we know they are, Spirit would have been the primary target. The simplest explanation is that FCC was looking for a buyer and the St James guys saw enough value for the low price to make it work. And don’t believe for a second that a large part of the value isn’t to get the affluent parents inside the building at some point soon... |
Anonymous
And FCV was not in debt before the sale? |
Anonymous
They were--that was the counterpoint to the notion that Spirit/St james was looking to flip FCV. They weren't; there's no financial value there, other than the potential revenue streams from the parents. St James seems to think that the subscription revenue PLUS the ancillary services purchased at the St James facility by these families will be worth it. If they were aggressively looking at both Spirit and FCV for this purpose, Spirit would have been the obvious choice from a financial perspective. More families and higher costs for the same service equals a higher bottom line. Not to mention the free fields courtesy GFR partnership vs the lease at Evergreen. Spirit owner was looking to get out of the DA business, and would have gladly taken the money and everyone "wins" in that scenario. The fact that DIDN'T happen suggests there was no bidding war and this is something that was initiated by FCV to get out of a financial hole. Either that or the St James owners aren't as financially savvy as thought. |
Anonymous
The fields are not free, and this is the part of the equation that people can't seem to wrap their head around. The St. James wants bodies in its location period. They want memberships and they want to charge for add on soccer services like strength and conditioning, futsal and any other extra that they can charge for. Had The St. James purchased Spirit the GFR relationship likely would have fizzled. 1. The St. James is for-profit and as a for-profit and their tax status, just like FCV's means that they cannot rent county fields at non-profit rates. Any arrangement would have GFR passing on the field cost to the St. James. So, no, no matter how it played out the fields through Spirit would never be free. And on top of it, GFR is obviously a geographically locked soccer club as its namesake. FCV, assuming the name remains simply is not as locked into geography the way Loudoun, CYA, Herndon etc. Not insignificant. 2. GFR as a non-profit is obviously not for sale and even an affiliation would not generate any revenue for the St. James other than direct GFR field rentals at the St. James since any club membership dues cannot be claimed as profit. 3. Even though their building cannot support the entirety of a soccer club with one field they will certainly want as many teams practicing as much as possible there because they can build that profit into their new club fee structure. They will not be thrilled paying rent at Evergreen for very long as it is money they are essentially spending and not recovering. 4. The St. James will want a player pool closer to its facility in hopes of driving up halo memberships as well. |
Anonymous
1. The County fields are lower cost than Evergreen and that was a point to underscore the bottom lines of Spirit v FCV 2. Although MetroU is still a partner with GFR; at the time this was being assessed, Spirit was the owner of their DA club and GFR would not have been a consideration at all in any competitive sale situation 3. Moving Spirit to St James would have been less of a blow to parents because there are many more who are closer to St James than FCV parents Again, the simplest explanation here is that FCV was the one reaching out for help, not St James shopping clubs and picking FCV. Looks like the rumor of FCV being taken over by Spirit was closer to being the truth vs the converse, which was never going to happen by any credible account. |
Anonymous
| I haven't seen it mentioned here, but STJ struck a deal with Team Durant AAU (basketball) the day before the FCV deal was announced. They have Kevin Durant's step dad on board as part of that agreement. Durant AAU has Nike $; I doubt they we were out shopping themselves. I think this is more a matter of STJ looking for 'premium' programs into their portfolio. |
Anonymous
Were they making money? Because FCV's bad financial situation was known to many people for awhile, except, apparently, you. |
Anonymous
We totally agree on FCV being more vulnerable for sale. We agree on the player pool hit on Spirit regarding proximity to the St. James. FCV was more turnkey in regards to quality and depth of the player pool but the migration to their facility will take much longer in order to maintain that player pool while building a new player pool in support of their venue. If you are a FCV 02 or 03 DA player, this sale has little impact. If you are a 04 there will be some impact. 05, 06 and 07 will begin to see a shift in location an impact. 08 will be severly impacted and 09 will likely be a 80% Springfield based DA by the time they get to that age. Not that it means anything but a point of comparison has the FCV 09 team ranked 38th to GFR's 09s at 2nd. The 09 FCV player pool has dried up with Loudoun and those kids will likely stay at Loudoun now with ECNL for the foreseeable future. So, depending on what age your kid is this sale can range form a nothing burger to a a full fledged hell no I'm not even gonna bother starting at FCV. In 3 years FCV will likely close up shop in Loudoun for good. FCV United may cling to Loudoun in some form but a majority of the DA player pool will ultimately be Springfield based almost exclusively at the 09 age group at the absolute latest. |
Anonymous
There are people who claim to know FCV's financial situation. There are few who actually do. |
Anonymous
Agreed on these points completely. I'd argue the player quality and depth factor very little in this type of transaction, if the StJ owners were wise. In fact, the quality players/families are more likely to know their worth and flee the new arrangement once it's clear they will need to travel to StJ over the next few years. The families of more average players will be more willing to travel to keep their children in the discussion. If the FCV brand were so important to the move, the name surely would have been kept unchanged. At the rate this is going FCV name change --> St James will happen by next fall. |
Anonymous
Sounds like your DD lost a game to FCV this past weekend. |
Anonymous
LMAO. You are still arguing this? The fact CZ sold it for a pittance to StJ speaks volumes about the situation. |
Anonymous
What did he sell it for? |
Anonymous
If FCV was life sustaining profitable after its last sale it is unlikely an owner sells to become an employee. It isn't like FCV ownership decided to take FCV public and become a CEO and spread risk. |
Anonymous
It’s so funny that this is the only argument you can come up with. Poor TSJFCV parents, still struggling to get past the anger you feel about this move. |