<span class="titolo">Drew Carey Buys Into MLS Expansion Team</span></p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <span class="sommario">"Price Is Right" star becomes the first celebrity owner in Major League Soccer.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Drew Carey used to host the American version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” And now the comedian and “Price Is Right” presenter has a new line of his own: MLS team owner. The most famous fan of U.S. Soccer is part of the ownership group for the new <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Seattle</st1lace></st1:city> franchise being announced at a press conference today.<o></o></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Major League Soccer suits are in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Seattle</st1lace></st1:city> today to present the league’s latest expansion franchise, as yet unnamed and due to start play in the league in 2009. They will be MLS's 15th team, following on the heels of the return of the San Jose Earthquakes in 2008. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Seattle</st1lace></st1:city> will play at Qwest Field, current home of NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. MLS officials have not said whether a soccer-specific stadium is in the offing, despite their previous insistence that any new expansion club would have to include a stadium deal. <o></o></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="ecapple-style-span">Stadium or not, the ownership group comprises several heavyhitters. The majority stakeholder is Joe Roth, a movie producer whose credits include Major League and Young Guns. He is joined by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of the Seahawks; Adrian Hanauer, owner of the Seattle Sounders, current USL 1st Division champions; and Carey, who rose to fame in his eponymous 1990s sitcom.</span><o></o></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Carey wasn’t known to be part of the package until he mentioned it last night on “Monday Night Football” during a game between the Seahawks and the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">San Francisco</st1lace></st1:city> 49ers. He later told reporters he came onboard after meeting with Roth and agreeing on several conditions. <o></o></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Carey, a big Ronaldinho fan, says the team will be MLS’s first real “club,” with membership and democratic direction, just like at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Barcelona</st1lace></st1:city>. Fans will vote for the general manager every four years. "We're going to let the fans control who the general manager is and whether he is hired for a four-year period," Carey said. "Adrian [Hanauer] is going to be the general manager, and he's one of the owners, but four years from now...they might vote him out."<o></o></p> <p class="MsoNormal">His other demand was that the club have a marching band. No word yet as to whether Carey will play the drum major or not, but suffice it to say, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Seattle</st1lace></st1:city> will be an entertaining team.</p> </div></p>
