It seems the DC United do stil play at RFK and from the looks of it, that stadium does nto seem to be soccer friendly.
http://www.dcunited.com/stadium On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 6:02 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > Earlier, someone had mentioned KC hoping to host games if the World > Cup ever comes to the US again. To be honest, I do not see World Cup > games being played in stadiums that hold so few people. You would need > the large football stadiums. > > I am not sure if the new Meadowlands Stadium was bult with soccer in > mind, but I would be surprised if it wasn't. > > I am pretty sure the DC United play at RFK Stadium in DC. Have not > heard any rumblings is they are looking to build anew place or not. > > On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 5:55 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> They can be used if they are set up right. Seattle plays at QWest >> field, which is also the Seahawks home, but that stadium was also >> built with pro soccer in mind from the start. I believe that the main >> problems are size (NFL stadiums aren't often 50,000 versus 20,000 for >> MLS), the fact that a football field is a crowned field, not flat and >> then grass versus turf. Qwest does some stuff where they basically >> cover part of the stadium for MLS matches so that it is more intimate, >> though they've had to do it less and less. I think the Sounders are up >> over 30,000 in attendance for most games now. I don't know what they >> do about the crown in the field. And they have to bring in natural >> grass for any international competitions. I believe they are >> discussing moving the field to grass full-time as the MLS is >> considering making grass mandatory to match international conditions. >> >> Judah >> >> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 2:48 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> 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:322168 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
