I live in Omaha and I would DIE, just DIE to get a succesful NASL, USL, whatever team here. We would support it, no doubt. I attend about one or two Creighton soccer games per season and they are a blast. The stadium is amazing, with great seating and a real soccer feel to it. Maybe add a roof over the East terrace and you are set!! If only I had some millions to throw around... ... ...
I wonder with the new UFL football team playing out of Rosenblatt if that helps or hurts the pro soccer movement for Omaha? http://www.ufl-football.com/omaha
I think it helps to be honest. I actually just applied for a media relations position with the new UFL team here in Omaha. Personally, I don't know why those who invested in the UFL wouldn't have just invested in a soccer team, I mean has any league been successful going up against the NFL??? Plus, a wonderful stadium is already in place in Morrison Stadium.
Does anyone know the NASL expansion fee? or how one would go about getting a team in that league? Also what about a PDL team? i mean that expansion fee is like 50k that opens up a lot more people in terms of ownership I'd think.
Just a quick question (and by the way, I hear USL expansion fees - MUCH less than $750k) because it has been asked in other threads with a similar theme. Can you serve alcohol at a collegiate stadium. Because without that, it might put a spanner in those works. If you CAN (or at least BYOB) then I know at least two investors who'd be happy to step in.
If the stadium lease says you can serve booze, you can do it. Depends on the school. Creighton, Catholic school right? Should be booze friendly
Anyone on these Boards part of the Omaha soccer community? If so, ping me on here or at lbjraines@yahoo.com
Yah i'm almost positive you could serve beer there. I have heard a few years ago that there is a bar on their campus actually. I don't know if that's still the case or not. They serve beer at the Creighton basketball games and we draw 17,000 for those so I imagine beer would have an impact for soccer as well.
It is a very nice stadium. I keep hoping that they move the lacrosse tournament there instead of tranquility. Don't get me wrong, tranquility is a nice soccer park, but it is nothing compared to Morrison. Plus,turf is super for lax. Either way, it would be nice to see a D2 soccer team in Omaha. But it would be even better if we got one in Des Moines at the same time... And for the record, it is Kum & Go - with a K.
I think it would be great if they could ge ownership groups for both Omaha and Des Moines. If they can keep St. Louis alive, my dream division would be; Minnesota, Milwaukee, Des Moines, Omaha and St. Louis.
That would be tight. Imagine this - a challenge trophy with the winner of those five vs the winner of Chicago & KC. Like take the previous year's winner of the USL/NASL clubs vs the previous year's MLS club for an opening season match at the lower division's stadium. Call it the "Heartland Cup" or something. By winner, I mean overall number 1 of the group based on head-to-head record.
or move the Lions to USL2. that would be a good division. potential other cities would be KC, Topeka, Tulsa, OKC, Wichita USL2 "Heartland Division" for 2011 or 2012?
Kind of unrelated, but do any of the Omaha guys know why the UFL team is playing at Rosenblatt rather than Morrison or another football venue? Baseball stadiums suck for long field sports like soccer, football, and lax.
My guess is that Rosenblatt has the best location and seats. I read somewhere that UN-Omaha told them no or something. And Morrison was just too small.
We now have an indoor soccer team called the Omaha Vipers. It's owned by a local Mexican-American family restaurant chain here. I just wish they would've invested in a NASL club or something!!! Indoor soccer is crap!! I wish them success, but if I had their money to play with, I would've at least tried to get a Des Moines Menace level club to play at Morrison Stadium. The UFL franchise here is doing immensely well. However, I'm not a fan of going to football games, so i am not renewing our Nighthawk season tickets ... not family friendly and horrible rudeness about the crowd. I think i'm in the minority on that belief though.
An Omaha PDL team would be sweet. It would be a natural rivalry with us and the KC Brass. We could have our own little travelling rivalry like Seattle-Vancouver-Portland... But as long as Omaha fails to get a PDL franchise, we'll gladly continue to bring in Creighton players! Probably getting a lot of Council Bluffs people then... We planned on making a few games, but our schedule was chaotic. If the atmosphere is that bad, we probably won't even bother. Plus I'm not thrilled about football (either kind) in a baseball stadium. The sightlines seem like they would be terrible based on the website.
Agree with everything you said. I wouldn't bother going to a UFL Nighthawks game unless you really like bad seats with absolutely smashed people around you. Drinking is okay, but not when people start falling onto the field & getting arrested. Outdoor professional (real soccer) for Omaha!!! It would work. A PDL team would be fun.
Omaha expansion? http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Efforts-In-Play-To-Bring-Pro-Soccer-To-Omaha-279732502.html ""I would say the chances are 85% of bringing in a team within the next four years," said Jame Bilodeau, President Omaha Pro Soccer Project in an interview with WOWT 6 News. "We have 390 people who have signed in as interested supporters.""
Come on Prime . It's a small market; give em a shot. They may surprise us. I don't knopw a thing about National Sports Services, but at least they are using an entity that "specializes" in minor league franchises (whatever that means)
Omaha drew 22,000 per game at Rosenblatt for the United Football League in 2010, and 15,000 at TD Ameritrade in 2011. (I don't care about 2012, since nobody cared about 2012.) I'm shocked there isn't some sort of minor-league team in Omaha by now, not even PDL or NPSL. The last one was a PDL team in 1998.