Broker Aspires to Be Soccer Team Owner

San Jose Earthquakes deal still a possibility for Tony Amanpour

November 19, 2004

By PATRICK CROWLEY

Even the team believed Amanpour was out of the running.

“He is not involved in buying the team,” team spokesman Seth Burton recently told MortgageDaily.com. “In the end it came down to a number of issues…but I’m not really sure what happened. But the team is still for sale.”

Now Amanpour is telling MortgageDaily.com that a deal may still be in the works — just not “in a public fashion.”

“We are following up on our homework and monitoring the situation from a distance,” Amanpour said. “If we would prevail with the Earthquakes is yet to be seen. We’re following the situation and evaluating our opportunities.”

Amanpour said he believes the team — which won the MLS title last season — could be purchased for about $10 million. But he backed away because his offer was contingent on a new stadium being built by a city or other local government.

A stadium deal in northern California has yet to be offered by any municipality, Amanpour said.

So Amanpour and his group may try to buy the Earthquakes and move them to another city, or even invest in another team elsewhere in professional soccer.

He would not give any additional specifics but said his group is focusing on two other cities.

“We are not biased to any certain market,” he said. “We are deploying this vision to other channels to see where it will lead.”

Meanwhile, Amanpour is converting his company — First Portfolio Mortgage Planners and Bankers — from a retail mortgage brokerage to a company that will sell franchises. Those companies will be set up to assist the buyers in starting their own mortgage operations.

The company will sell software and services that will help startup mortgage brokerages and real estate agencies, said Amanpour, 46, a native of Iran who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years.

“In the refinance market of the past three years loan officers have become trusted advisers,” he said. “If we become a franchisor of First Portfolio Mortgage we can show you how to become a loan officer and obtain new…mortgage, real estate or even the construction business.

“Then, you can outsource it or have it in house,” he said.

“First Portfolio was the branding of retail (mortgages),” he said. “Now I’m looking for other options and a different brand.”