Rumor: Rapids to Host 2015 All-Star Festivities

Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives tweeted that MLS Commissioner Don Garber will be in Denver on Wednesday (along with the Colorado Rapid’s Josh Kroenke) for “an important announcement.”

Speculation is rife that this will be the announcement that Colorado will be the site of the 2015 All-Star game. It’s also rumored that the potential foe is Tottenham HotSpur. The Spurs, hailing from North London, are among the more popular BPL teams with millions of followers across the States.

Colorado’s fans may have an All-Star game in their future

If true, this would the second All-Star game in Colorado tying Denver with New York as the only sites to have multiple All-Star games. Colorado hosted in 2007 as the All-Stars defeated Celtic 2-0 in the only All-Star match where the home team kept a clean sheet.

An All-Star game in Denver would be welcome news to a club that has had its share of missteps recently.

Shortly after winning the team’s lone cup, the Rapids sacked coach Gary Smith. Smith followed up on a successful cup run by making the playoffs a season later, however he apparently–as the rumor goes–fallen out of favor with one of the team’s marketing directors.

It would soon be forgotten. The team hired Oscar Pareja who, in only his second year, brought the team back into the playoffs. However when a vacancy with FC Dallas, Pareja–a longtime veteran of FC Dallas–made the move. The team eventually handed the reigns to club idol Pablo Mastroeni. Mastroeni started off strong but the team eventually regressed in his first year.

The club’s worst pr move though would be the removal of MLS beat reporter Chris Bianchi. In a tweet late last season, Bianchi stated that the Rapids decline could, in part at least, be directed toward ownership. This was not taken well and it was widely reported that the team worked through the MLS infrastructure to have Bianchi replaced.

Then there’s still that rumor that refuses to die that owner Stan Kroenke–who owns both the St. Louis Rams and is a large shareholder in Arsenal–covets a “L.A. Gunners” outfit. Buying a large piece of property in Los Angeles–possibly to relocate the Rams back to L.A.–Kroenke was alleged to be excited about the idea of marrying Arsenal to the L.A. market. We’ll never know how serious he was about it especially considering MLS is wanting to avoid teams having the same owners.

More from Colorado Rapids

Nonetheless, the L.A. Gunners rumor persisted for awhile despite Kroenke’s already having a team.

With so much noise and precious little single, it’s easy to forget that there is reason for optimism in the Rapids. They still have two of the best, most dynamic players in Dillon Powers and Deshorn Brown. For the first half of last season the Rapids were in line for a playoff spot before succumbing to a 17-game winless streak.

But with Chivas USA removed, the mantle of smallest attendance falls on Colorado. With expansion going so well, some attention paid to a founding club would be attention well spent.