The Fusion continued to struggle both on and off the field for the next two years. After years of disagreement, the commissioner "reassigned" Carlos Valderrama back to Tampa Bay in 1999, and the team replaced head coach Ivo Wortmann with Ray Hudson mid-season in 2000. The team made a dramatic improvement in the 2001 season, winning the Supporters' Shield with the best regular season performance, taking the Eastern Conference, and advancing to the league semifinals. Attendance improved as well, but remained fourth worst in the league with an average of 11,177. In the front office, owner Ken Horowitz struggled with finances. He, along with Robert Kraft of the New England Revolution and Stuart Subotnick of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, formed a faction among MLS owners who wanted to keep spending down, as opposed to Lamar Hunt and Philip Anschutz who wished to invest in long-term development. Despite the team's improvements, by the end of the 2001 season they had the league's lowest season ticket sales and the lowest revenues from sponsors.