Rumors and ruminations about Dynamo Park

Bernardo Fallas over at the Chron yesterday made note of the fact that Dynamo's self-imposed April 1 deadline for a stadium passed without notice and without comment. But you know as a longtime Houstonian who has seen deal after deal done in this city, other than the announcement of the deal itself, I think this is the best possible news.

Make no mistake, I fully expect the deal will be done this month. The main sticking point, I believe, is over the concert usage. When the Rockheads got the city to build the Toyota Center, there was a clause in the deal that all downtown concerts had to there, with the Rockets getting the profit by the way.

Anyhow, that clause runs out in 2010 or 2011 so I believe that AEG is wanting to either (a) get the city to opt out of the clause early somehow or (b) ensure it does not get renewed so concerts can be at Dynamo Park. This is why AEG kept 50 percent of the team instead of selling away control to De La Hoya and Brener. After AEG's interest in the future use of the stadium can be satisfied, the deal will be done. and then after that, I fully expect that AEG will sell a controlling stake to De La Hoya/Brener.

I say this without ever sitting in on any meeting or talking to any principals, just reading between the lines from various sources around here. There is no resistance from the city or county and Dynamo want the deal done, so it's clearly complications beyond the basic "build a stadium for a soccer team to play in" sort of thing.

So while it's easy to be frustrated, basically I'm very optimistic that the deal is imminent.

What do you think?