Sullivan | If you build it, will MLS come?

Wayne Estopinal figures a new soccer stadium would cost about $6,200 per seat. If that sounds a bit steep, consider that French dealer Cheska Vallois once paid $27.8 million for a leather armchair that belonged to Yves Saint Laurent.

If you want to run with the big dogs, there’s a price to be paid for participation. If Louisville City FC is to parlay the success of its inaugural season into a home of its own, one that is suitable for expansion to the specifications of Major League Soccer, Phase One would likely run about $60 million.

Think of it as two of those armchairs and one George Clooney wedding. Or about 10 months of Lionel Messi’s salary. Think of it as stadium construction on a relatively disciplined diet.

“I think we’re going to be fairly economical to build,” said Estopinal, the architect owner of Louisville City FC. “We’re not going to be in the top 10 percent of those things. We realize what market we’re in, and we want to keep the tickets at a family price point.”

Swell. Now, who pays for it?

It says here that Louisville’s best shot at major-league professional sports is in soccer. Though the town bleeds basketball, the University of Louisville’s lease at the KFC Yum! Center effectively eliminates an NBA tenant from that building because of U of L’s contractual control of playing dates and revenue streams. Furthermore, Forbes magazine’s 2015 study shows NBA franchise values have tripled in the past five years, to an average of $1.1 billion – a price tag that presumably narrows the field of prospective Bluegrass buyers.

Given its relatively modest television market (No. 49 according to last September’s Nielsen rankings) and its proximity to three NFL franchises and the Cincinnati Reds, Louisville is like a lot of American cities seeking major-league status with few realistic alternatives. With the MLS due to expand to 24 teams by the end of the decade, and eager to annex additional markets (and $100 million franchise fees), the line of potential suitors reads like the tour schedule of the Dave Matthews Band: Austin, El Paso, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Sacramento, St. Louis, San Antonio. And Louisville.

Neil deMause, whose Field of Schemes web site remains the default position for critics of sports subsidies, posted a piece Thursday headlined, “Every city in the U.S. still thinks it can get an MLS franchise, and you know what that means.”

What it meant Monday was Estopinal emerging from a meeting with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer confident, “that in a matter of weeks, we can make a very, very positive announcement about the future of Louisville City and the city of Louisville.” What that sort of statement usually means is to stay tuned for some spiffy artist’s renderings and a pitch for public funding.

If economists agree on anything, it is that subsidizing professional sports facilities is almost invariably a bad deal for the taxpayer; that their purported economic impact and job creation are often overstated and that these public-private partnerships tend to enrich the elite and entertain the corporate customer at the expense of the proletariat.

That doesn’t mean it’s always a bad idea, though, only that it should be viewed more as an expense than an investment. Quality of life is worth something, as are events that bind a community and local teams worth arguing about. Though the trend in major markets is toward more private financing of sports venues, there’s a case to be made for smaller towns giving those projects a push that can raise a city’s profile and give citizens something else to do.

We don’t yet know how much Estopinal and Fischer will be asking – “There’s no (financing) concept at this point,” Estopinal said; a call to the mayor’s office was not immediately returned – but there’s no harm in hearing them out.

“I know there’s been an array of publicity for and against Yum! Center,” Estopinal said. “I’m really not involved. (But) I do honestly say in my perspective I enjoy going there. I enjoy my experiences there. I think it’s been a great catalyst for downtown Louisville and I realize some people don’t support that expense. ...

“I think it’s fantastic. If we don’t have entertainment options like the Yum! Center, we’re not going to keep our really bright, intelligent people in the community. It makes it harder for our corporations and our city to recruit. When we’re working with an international company, they all want to know if we have soccer.”

Though getting in on the ground floor of professional soccer is no guarantee of gaining access to the penthouse, Louisville City FC’s impact has been immediate and impressive. Estopinal’s embryonic operation averaged announced crowds of 6,549 in its 12 home games at Louisville Slugger Field prior to Tuesday’s friendly against Orlando City SC, second only to Sacramento in the 24-team United Soccer League.

Continued growth may require some commitment from your wallet.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com or @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.