The new owners, who take over operations of the club on Friday, promised to keep the Major League Soccer team in the area. Terms of the sale agreement were not disclosed, although Patterson said it was a cash transaction using the owners' personal funds,
The deal was announced Thursday, three days after Overland Park's city council voted to put a $75 million soccer complex on the November ballot. The new ownership group, OneGoal LLC, hopes to have the Wizards' stadium built in that complex.
Even if that doesn't happen, Patterson said at a news conference, he and the other owners are committed to staying in the region.
"It's a done deal," he said. "There are no contingencies. We're entrepreneurs."
Hunt, who has owned the Wizards since the league began play in 1996, said finding a local buyer was a high priority.
"I'm especially pleased to see us consummate this transaction with the end result that the Wizards will stay in Kansas City, in the Kansas City metropolitan area," Hunt said.
Patterson and Illig are co-founders of Cerner, a medical software design company based in North Kansas City, Mo. Patterson is the chairman and chief executive officer, and Illig is the vice chairman.
The Wizards now play in Arrowhead Stadium, also home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt also owns the Chiefs and two other MLS franchises - FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew - through his family's Hunt Sports Group.
Extensive renovations planned for Arrowhead would have forced the Wizards to look for a new home anyway, and MLS also is pushing for its teams to play in soccer-specific stadiums.
The new owners said Thursday that they hoped to have the new stadium open for the 2009 season and would look for an interim home in Johnson County - on the Kansas side of the two-state metropolitan area - until then.
OneGoal takes over with Kansas City in fourth place in MLS' Eastern Conference, headed into the final weeks of the regular season. The Wizards are clinging to the conference's final playoff spot, one point in the standings behind New England and one point ahead of New York.
Wizards forward Josh Wolff, who earlier this season called the drawn-out sale process a "joke" and a distraction, said he was relieved to see a deal reached to keep the team in the Kansas City area.
"I'm certainly one that's doubted this process," Wolff said. "I'm elated for the fans and the players. We certainly deserve it. The last two years have been pretty poor, so to have it end - and to have great new owners - is fantastic."
Despite their onfield success in recent years - winning the MLS Cup in 2000 and reaching the finals again in 2004, the same year they won the U.S. Open Cup - the team's low gate figures have been a concern.
The Wizards' average home attendance is 10,313, the lowest in the 12-team league and almost 5,000 fans below the MLS average.
The fans are there, Patterson said. It's just up to the club to put them in the seats.
"In this community, there is a huge soccer fan contingent and fan base," he said. "We have to make sure we reach out to that group, and we have to reach out to the corporate side of Kansas City. When we build a new stadium, we believe we'll fill it."
MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who attended Thursday's news conference, had said the Wizards would likely be sold and moved - with Philadelphia as the most likely candidate for a new home - if a local buyer could not be found.
"I was trying to manage expectations," he said. "This was something that took a long time to put together, and I'm very pleased that it happened. It took a lot of hard work."
With the league expanding into Toronto next season and hoping to add three more clubs by 2010, Philadelphia is still a leading candidate to get a team, Garber said.
"We're still very bullish about Philly," he said. "It had the potential of being a move team, and now we'll focus our efforts there on the next level of expansion."
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Source: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/wizards/2006-08-31-wizards-sale_x.htm
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