AEG’s Quakes Move to Houston

California’s San Jose Earthquakes – which is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group – may have the chance for a new soccer stadium in Houston, where the team is moving.

AEG hopes to form a partnership with a school district or public entity that would share the costs of building a $65 million to $80 million stadium in Houston. If a deal goes though, the company would share the 20,000- to 25,000-seat venue with high school athletes, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said AEG was attracted to the idea of a new stadium and an ethnically diverse, soccer-loving population in Houston.

The new team, which has yet to be named, will reportedly play for several years at the 30,000-seat Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston.

San Jose officials worked hard to keep the team from leaving, and even considered subsidizing a stadium. The Earthquakes played at Spartan Stadium at San Jose State University, where there were reportedly unhappy conditions.

“It is with great regret that we were unable to find a solution to our facility issues in San Jose,” AEG President Tim Leiweke said in a statement. “It was not for lack of effort.”

Meanwhile, San Jose will keep the Earthquakes team name, logo, colors and records. The city has already signed a letter of intent on a deal that would give the city an expansion team in 2007.

According to The San Jose Mercury News, the deal, which is subject to approval by voters, would cost the city $80 million, including $36 million toward a new stadium.