NBA owners set to invest in D.C. United - report
09 Jul 2012
Major League Soccer (MLS) team D.C. United is set to secure new co-owners with ESPN.com reporting that Erick Thohir and Jason Levien, minority owners of National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Philadelphia 76ers, are set to invest in the club.
ESPN, citing NBA sources, reports Thohir and Levien, pending MLS approval, will become partners this week with long-time D.C. United owner Will Chang, who also serves on the board of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.
Thohir is an Indonesian media magnate who became the first Asian owner in NBA history, while Levien worked as an NBA player agent before a stint in the Sacramento Kings’ front office that preceded his involvement with the 76ers.
ESPN said that the duo will make the development of a new soccer-specific stadium for D.C. United their top priority. Speaking in May, MLS commissioner Don Garber said that United’s stadium situation must change. The Washington team has long sought a home of its own, but currently plays at RFK Stadium – an arrangement that Garber said is “untenable” due to high operating costs. “That market and those players and that club deserve progress,” he had said. “We have to work hard to try to figure it out.”
