Ppl Park

According to a source within the Big East Conference, Villanova's board of trustees will not hold an anticipated Tuesday vote on whether to move up to Division I-A and join the Big East for football because the conference's football members are not ready to sign off on the Wildcats' plans. The chief sticking point, according to the source, is Villanova's plan to use PPL Park in Chester, the 18,500-seat home of the Philadelphia Union, as its primary venue. PPL Park would be the smallest stadium in the league.

When PPL Park was being built, Philadelphia Union fans imagined what it could become: a grand soccer locus that routinely hosted large crowds. That came to be. Now fans may need to envision the year-old stadium in a new way: bigger. Union officials are developing long-term plans to expand the arena, contemplating a three-phase process, the first to increase seating from 18,500 to 20,000. If all goes well, that construction could start in 2014, according to team chief executive officer Nick Sakiewicz.

The Philadelphia Union is getting hitched to Bimbo. No, the team has not signed a promiscuous, dull-witted semi-celebrity to play midfield. The soccer club is poised to announce a major sponsorship deal that will stamp the routinely mispronounced name of the giant Mexico-based baker onto the front of the team jersey. The four-year, roughly $12 million agreement with the U.S. arm of Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. represents a victory for the Union, which has labored to sign a shirt sponsor that is iconic, well-financed, and regionally based.

NEW YORK — For the next week and a half, PPL Park, Chester and the city of Philadelphia will become a soccer mecca. Starting with Wednesday night's match against English Premier League foe Aston Villa, the region will host a full slate of matches and events, culminating with the league's best taking on Chelsea, the reigning club champion of Europe, when PPL Park welcomes the MLS All-Star Game next Wednesday. On Tuesday, MLS released its full slate of events leading up to the match, beginning with the launch of its Giant Ball Tour on Friday at 2 p.m. on the steps of the Art Museum, featuring MLS commissioner Don Garber and Mayor Nutter.

NBC SPORTS and USA Sevens officials see big things for the future of the Collegiate Rugby Championship, and they say that begins with the stability provided by a multiyear agreement with PPL Park. Over the weekend, officials announced an agreement to extend the tournament's stay on the Chester waterfront through 2014. PPL Park, home of the Union, has hosted the event for the last 2 years after the inaugural event was held at Columbus (Ohio) Crew Stadium. "When there is year-to-year uncertainty you are enjoying it, but you're not invested in planning for the long term," tournament director Dan Lyle said.

It is interesting that two sides that wanted a split need to be working together. When the Union visit the Chicago Fire on Saturday for a Major League Soccer game, it's likely that Bakary Soumare will play center back in only his second start for the Union since being acquired last year. The first start was forgettable. Soumare was not moving well after a knee injury last season, and the Union lost to the Fire, 3-1, at PPL Park on Aug. 12. Soumare showed in that game that he wasn't ready to hit the field.

THE UNION dropped its season opener, 3-1, to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at PPL Park. Forward Sebastien Le Toux put the Union ahead in the 17th minute. Le Toux, who returned to the Union in the offseason, is the team's all-time leading goal scorer. "I'm glad he scored a goal in his first game back, but the fact is that this is a team sport and, from our perspective, it's unacceptable to play at PPL Park and lose the way that we did," Union manager John Hackworth said. Le Toux said: "It is good for my confidence as a forward, for the past year now I've played a lot on the side and I know I can do it, but I prefer to play forward, so scoring this goal was huge for me but I am just disappointed in the result, so I am not really thinking about my goal today.

SOMETIMES we Philadelphians take for granted the area sports scene and venues. Not only are we anticipating the U.S. Open, at Merion Golf Club, in June, but the city also recently hosted the early rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Women's Atlantic 10 Tournament and hosts annually arguably the best track-and-field event (Penn Relays) in one of the most historic stadiums (Franklin Field) in America. The Dad Vail Regatta is two weeks away, followed by the Stotesbury Regatta the following week.

To put in perspective how long this Major League Soccer season has been, the Union opened the regular season on March 19 while the Phillies were in Clearwater, Fla., for spring training. The Phillies' season has ended and the Union's postseason is just beginning. After earning a bye for the MLS Cup wild-card round, the Union will open the first of a two-game Eastern Conference semifinal aggregate-goal series with the Houston Dynamo on Sunday at PPL Park in Chester. Game time will either be 4 or 5 p.m., an MLS official said Monday.

When: Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Where: Livestrong Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kan. TV: The Comcast Network. Records: Union, 10-16-6, 36 points; Kansas City, 17-7-9, 60 points. Coaches: Union, John Hackworth (8-9-4); Kansas City, Peter Vermes (44-35-30). Union on the road: 3-9-4. Kansas City at home: 9-3-4. Previous meetings: The Union won, 4-0, at PPL Park on June 23 in MLS action. On July 11, Kansas City won, 2-0, in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup at PPL Park.