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TexasTerror
December 16th, 2005, 09:42 PM
Houston has now got the MLS team. I've got no clue what to expect.

How many do these teams get in your city for atendance?

Is having a non-soccer specific stadium a good idea? I don't see what the point is if you have just 16-20 games there. I guess you could throw some youth, HS and college games there, but does that do enough justice and make it worth it to have the stadium?

Does your city (home of the MLS) have a beat writer that follows the team? Or do they get stringers for road games? My thinking is that this will be like our WNBA Comets or AHL Aeros where they have a writer for home and a stringer on the road, which to me shows the media does not care.

Anything else you'd like to say?

They said both the WNBA and MLS would fall flat on their faces. Both are still alive, have had plenty of ups and downs, franchises moving, franchises shutting down and franchises opening up. Guess we'll see what happens.

To me, San Jose had a nice following. They had no owner. Houston has no owner. They had no stadium plan. We've been mulling a plan for years, but no plan. I don't see what the difference is and now we have a few months to get the ball rolling...

blackfordpu
December 16th, 2005, 09:43 PM
Nope, couldn't care less! :eyebrow:

Tribefan
December 17th, 2005, 01:15 PM
Soccer specific stadiums are critical to the success of the league. There is nothing worse for the MLS than to have to play on football fields that are in poor condition, still have football hashmarks etc. Also the teams that have their own stadiums have better attendance. It's exactly like having a football team play in a baseball stadium or vice versa.

TexasTerror
December 17th, 2005, 01:51 PM
Soccer specific stadiums are critical to the success of the league. There is nothing worse for the MLS than to have to play on football fields that are in poor condition, still have football hashmarks etc. Also the teams that have their own stadiums have better attendance. It's exactly like having a football team play in a baseball stadium or vice versa.

I know FC Dallas has it incorporated with a huge youth soccer complex. Is this how it is in other MLS cities or is stand alone? Do they have agreements with the local school districts?

Sorry if asking questions, I just don't know how they pull this off...

Tribefan
December 17th, 2005, 05:34 PM
I don't follow MLS real closely, but when I lived near KC for a short time they always had news updates on the Wizards, and when I was in Virginia, the Washington Post always had DC United news. LA has two popular and successful teams. Generally MLS attendance has averaged around 10,000 people and has been trending upwards for most clubs. The more popular teams, and the teams with their own stadiums get more.

The last time I sat down to watch an MLS cup, the game was in Gillette Stadium and it was full. From the little I know about MLS, Lamar Hunt owns the Wizards, Kraft owns the New England Revolution and Phil Anshutz owns much of the rest of the league.

ISUMatt
December 17th, 2005, 05:46 PM
Chicago is getting a new soccer stadium in Bridgeview and they averaged about 15K at Soldier Field