FC Orlando, of course, plans to spend $50 million on their southwest Orlando soccer complex. The plan for the stadium itself is $20 million for a 20,000-seat facility. The question is: What exactly does $20 million get these days? A better question is, why do people need to spend $500 million, or even $100 million?
In this economic climate, I have to wonder if you'd end up getting more for your money. As far as the mega-mega-bucks stadiums, I don't get it. Having spent my baseball fanatic years going to games at Wrigley Field, including two playoff games during the ill-fated 2003 season, I learned one very important thing: it's all about the game. What makes Wrigley so great is there aren't any distractions. You're there for a baseball game. The same goes for a soccer match. While having a nice big video screen and a beautifully designed club shop is great (and practically necessary in this day and age), what else does a stadium really need? I'd really like to know what makes New Yankee Stadium so special. As far as great football stadiums, I'll let know you this summer. I'm visiting either Stamford Bridge or The Emirates this June, possibly both. I might even be able to sneak in Craven Cottage, but I don't think they do summer tours.
Why can't somebody just spend $10 million per 10,000 capacity on a stadium that essentially has a place to sit, food, and a shop? PS: Go to Molineux and Old Trafford.
Your right, it should be all about the game. Certain places require certain amenities, roofs and A/C for Phoenix, Miami and Seattle ballparks for example, but everything else is a bonus. I'm there for the game. Give me a comfortable seat, a semi-clean bathroom and some food/drink to buy and I'm all set. Down here Lockhart Stadium isn't exactly the Cadillac of sports facilities, but it's ambience and history make it a quality venue, even with a far less than capacity crowd as on this past Saturday. For a rough comparison to what Orlando is planning, about 5 minutes from my house, the city of Lauderhill spent $70 million on a large park complex including soccer/cricket fields, basketball/netball courts, a kids water park and the centerpiece 5,000 seat cricket stadium: I'd say for $20 million, a 20,000 seat stadium will be VERY bare bones. Think about it, most MLS SSS are around that size, and they usually cost upwards of $100 million. So basically think MLS stadium minus $80 million dollars of work. And unless Orlando plans to go full force in pursuing MLS in the near future, 20K seems a bit large. It'd make more sense to me to build a nicer, but smaller, stadium for the same amount of money.
Perhaps 10,000 seats, with a future capacity for expansion. And I've wanted to see that cricket stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
My guess is the 20k is to allow for international friendlies, World Cup Qualifiers, Gold Cup matches and the like. Crew Stadium is around 20k, as are the rest of the US SSS.
It would seem that the exorbinant prices, considering the relative light development of cricket in the U.S., may be causing the dearth of events.