The Kansas City Comets finished last season atop the Major Arena Soccer Leagues Central Division, boasting a squad that included the indoor-soccer leagues Rookie of the Year (Stephen Paterson) and a First-Team All-League Defender (John Sosa).

Off the field, though, things havent been so rosy.

A year ago, Comets co-owner Brian Budzinski filed suit against fellow Comets co-owners Chris, Brad, and Greg Likens, alleging they breached the Comets operating agreement by excluding him from decision making. What followed was a rather public dispute in which emails were leaked to the press that appeared to show the Likens making sexually demeaning remarks about female players on FC Kansas City, the local womens soccer team (which is owned by the same group as the Comets). The Likens responded by saying the emails were faked and merely a tactic Budzinski was using to wrest control of the Comets.

The lawsuit was settled out of court in June. According to Jeff Husted, who handles communications for both the Comets and the MASL, Budzinski emerged from the suit as owner of the Comets brand, and the Likens are no longer affiliated with the team. But due to what Husted calls increased league standards for ownership, Budzinski must now find partners who can help shoulder the load of owning a MASL team if the Comets are to continue on in the league.

In the past, there wasnt much in the way of standards as far as owner stability, Husted tells The Pitch. We even had a few situations where a team dropped out of the league mid-season because they couldnt make it work financially. But over the last few years, weve brought in a new commissioner who has tightened those standards and helped develop the game.

Husted declined to comment in specifics about what those standards entail, saying only that they were financial in nature.

You have to be able to prove you can run a team financially and keep it viable for years, Husted says.

Because Budzinski and the Comets have been as yet unable to find capital investors who can meet those standards, Comets players under contract with the team were recently told they are essentially free agents meaning they can negotiate new contracts with any other team in the MASL, or hold out and negotiate if/when the Comets find new ownership.

The MASL season historically starts in October, and the schedule is set in September, meaning there isnt much time for a Comets ownership group to coalesce. Husted says hes confident that will happen soon, though.

The process is moving along well, and at this point I would bet on there being a Comets season in 2017, he says. We have a couple of potential investors were currently in talks with, but I cant say any more than that right now.

Local investors, or out-of-town investors?

Some are local, some are not, Husted says.

Todd Mitchell, general manager at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, where the Comets have been playing home games, says all he knows is the league is working with a couple of prospects and were just waiting to hear what comes of it. He adds: We certainly want to have the team back for this upcoming season.

The Comets have a great history in Kansas City and great community involvement, Husted says. We just want to make sure we have investors who want to be a part of that and help grow the brand and keep this piece of KC history here for the long haul.

Continued here:

The future of the Kansas City Comets is up in the air - Pitch Weekly (blog)