Is there a reason why existing football stadiums do not fit the bill? As I stated earlier,I used to see the Cosmos all the time at Giants Stadium and when the World Cup was in the US back in the mid-90's all the games were played in stadiums where football is the main draw.
On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 5:44 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: > > It is expensive, which is the whole "major league" bit. If you want to > be taken seriously as a pro sport, you have to act like one and treat > fans appropriately. That means a good stadium, a good crowd > experience, good teams to play against. The Timbers owner paid a $40 > million franchise fee to get into the MLS and then has shared costs in > renovating the stadium. There was the usual debate back and forth > about whether using city funds to help subsidize this franchise is a > good idea or not, especially since we aren't quite done paying for the > last stadium renovation. I have mixed feelings on the subject as a tax > payer and soccer fan but overall I thought it was fairly responsibly > done. Portland is also the biggest city in the country with only a > single pro sports franchise (NBA), so that factored into the decision > some. > > Judah > > On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Seems like a costly requirement. Even a small 18,000 seat stadium has >> got to be pretty ass-pensive to build. >> >> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 4:24 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> All new MLS teams are required to have soccer specific stadiums as >>> part of the franchise process and existing teams have all been >>> upgrading. One of the things they found as costly mistakes in the >>> early years was that stadiums not designed for soccer just kind of >>> produced a lousy experience. They weren't the right shape, they had >>> too many or too few seats, it just wasn't conducive to enjoying a >>> match and consequently, the teams suffered. When teams started >>> building stadiums that we designed for the sport, they found that fans >>> enjoyed it and showed up. A bright light went off over organizers >>> heads and that became a big point for the MLS. I think that Columbus >>> might have been the first MLS soccer-specific stadium, but I don't >>> recall for sure. >>> >>> In the case of Portland, we're renovating and redesigning an existing >>> facility (PGE Park) and evicting the AAA baseball team. There were >>> plans for the AAA team to play elsewhere in town but that has been >>> caught with some hangups, so their future is uncertain at the moment. >>> The park is pretty old but the upside to that is that it is centrally >>> located, right downtown, so it's got great lightrail service right to >>> the stadium. They are planning on reworking the field layout and add >>> in something like 6,000 more seats. Last I recall, I think they had >>> decided on a regular capacity of about 18,000 and a special game >>> capacity of about 22,000. >>> >>> Judah >>> >>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 1:02 PM, Medic <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> I'm pretty sure BMO field is used exclusively for TFC games. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 3:28 PM, G Money <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 2:23 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> > >>>>> > I guess that Portland is just really a soccer city. We average almost >>>>> > 10,000 per game for our USL team. The Timbers are moving up to the MLS >>>>> > next year and I suspect that they'll be able to sell out the 20,000 >>>>> > seats on a regular basis. >>>>> > >>>>> >>>>> Kansas City is building a soccer-only stadium to house our MLS KC Wizards. >>>>> It's my understanding that they will be the only MLS team to have their >>>>> own >>>>> facility...I think....??? (Unless Portland's arena is soccer-only). >>>>> >>>>> I don't really know if KC is a soccer city or not, but we support the >>>>> Wizards pretty well, and on any given summer evening, our parks are >>>>> littered >>>>> with organized pick-up soccer games. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:322164 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
