I'm sure the Borough Boys will be supporting any and all soccer they can get to easily and that they identify with the city, whether within the boroughs or not.
Interesting. I just looked up Hempstead and Belmont Park. Looks like Belmont is actually closer to NYC, but still not in it. Some places it isn't an issue (LA, SL) others it is (Dallas, Col).
In NYC it'll be an issue. Too many people in NY rely on public transit exclusively to get around for it not to be an issue. Particularly Hofstra which is an hour and 45 minute trip from Manhattan on public transit.
NO. The MLS stadia do not belong to MLS, they belong to whoever built them. Thus, evil AEG owns the Toolbox in Lost Angeles, Wolff and Fisher will own their stadium in San José, briefly, then they'll give it to the city in order to avoid taxes and "lease" it back. (It's a weird sweetheart deal, don't ask.) Jeld-Wen in Portland belongs to the City of Portland. Red Bull Arena belongs to Red Bull (I think?). And so on. Dick's belongs to the Crapids. CenturyStink Park in Seattle belongs to the Seahawks and I'm not sure who else. Maybe the city owns a slice? But MLS does not own the stadia in which MLS clubs play. - Mark
That's all well and fine. The real question is, can they deliver today? We'll see, but right now, pushing off their first season until the fall games? That looks weak. Maybe not. Maybe the Cosmos will get it together and grow the team over the next several years, get their stadium deal done in Belmont, and be the toast of NASL. They'll get to play against MLS sides in US Open Cup play, and maybe in CCL games? So there's your access to "Top of the Pyramid" soccer. Also, as MLS continues to grow and expand, there's nothing to say that they wouldn't consider adding a very successful Cosmos franchise to the fold, even if it meant three teams in NYJ. How many clubs in London? or Mexico City? The Greater New York area is easily large enough to support three teams, especially given that one is in New Jersey and number 3 (or however you see that) will be in Nassau County. But, right now, in the very short run, the Cosmos need to deliver. They need to put a team on the field, sell tickets, generate a fan base, get some media love, and grow the team. They can do this, but so far, they look a little lackluster. Hope I'm wrong. I'd love to see them become a great, well run, flagship team for NASL. - Mark
napolisoccer, thanks for that link. I hadn't seen it before. They at least sound sensible. Clearly, their target audience is residents of Nassau County, and any old Cosmos fans in NYC who can get to the LIRR easily. And that should be enough. Nassau County has 1.3M people in it. That's plenty to support a soccer team in a 25K seat stadium. Plus, they'll be accessible to people living in Queens and Brooklyn, so a few million more people, yeah? Their plans aren't crazy, the big question is can they pull it off? And the state backing their play has nothing to do with the state backing NYC2 at Flushing. There should easily be enough soccer fans to support both clubs. We aren't talking about 70K stadia here, we're talking 25K. No sweat selling them both out. What we need to see is more action from the NeoCosmos. They need to start signing some players, show us some jerseys (and start selling them!), and put tickets on sale, at least start taking deposits. There are things they can do now, and they should. If they really do have deep pocketed owners, this should be easy. Good luck. - Mark
Unions Back Cosmos Project http://commercialobserver.com/2013/02/unions-back-new-york-cosmos-project/
As someone in the comment section pointed out, this article is confusing the two stadium projects. Ha.
That article is actually the first time I've noticed Populous being attached to the project--but that's probably more on me than on previous reporting. If that's true, I feel a little better about the possibility of this thing actually getting done. Of course, that says nothing about whether it should get done. Populous is a top name in stadium design. They did BBVA Compass for Houston, Sporting Park, Soccer City in Johannesburg, TCF and Target fields in Minnesota, the Emirates, the Etihad, and the new Yankee Stadium. I've said on this thread before that renderings are cheap and a lot easier to make than actual stadiums, but that's not exactly the case with Populous. Either the ownership group actually has the cash to get into bed with the company, or they're foolhardy enough to think they can spend that cash now and get it back later. We'll see which it is.
Don't be too excited. Populous has designed far more stadiums over the years that haven't happened or will never happen as they've designed ones that have actually been built.
Of course the NASL commish likes it. Doesn't mean he'll ever get it. I like a giant seaside mansion, doesn't mean I'll ever get it.
Yeah, you have to cross the street. Belmont stop on the LIR is only on race days and the times are based around the races. However, Queens Village is a regular stop and it's about 3/4 mile to the parking lot where they want to build the stadium. The walking distance from Hofstra to the nearest stop is at least twice that.
[quote="markmcf8, post: 27199363, member: 5915]... We aren't talking about 70K stadia here, we're talking 25K. No sweat selling them both out. [/quote] Tell that to the original Cosmos (pre-Giants stadium), the Centaurs, the Rough Riders, the MetroStars, the Red Bulls, or FCNY, none of which came close to averaging 25K per game. Trust me on this, getting 25k consistently for professional soccer anytime in the near future will not be easy, even in a market the size of the NYC metro area. This is the deal as I see it. Belmont is a better location than Hofstra, but Flushing Meadows Corona Park is a better location than Belmont. FMCP is not only accessible by subway and commuter rail, but is set within a densely populated area and is not too far from Manhattan. Belmont is outside of NYC (albeit only by the width of the Cross Island Parkway) and, despite what you may hear or read, is not particularly accessible by mass transit. There is a rail spur (commuter rail, not the NYC subway) that goes there, and trains do run there for racing now, but there are only a few trains that go there per day when the horses are running and there is no reason to think that the LIRR will schedule additional trains to accomodate Cosmos' crowds (3 years in and we're still waiting for PATH to run extra trains to and from Red Bull Arena on game days). Queens Village station is too far for most people to walk, and taking a bus to Belmont is not going to be a realistic option for most people. Belmont is not a bad location if you are driving there. It's pretty accessible by car from all of Nassau and Queens Counties and from good portions of Brooklyn and Suffolk, and that encompasses a few million people. It's not even a bad drive from Manhattan, the Bronx or Staten Island if you don't have to make the trip during rush hour. But, personally, I think the more central location and the much better mass transit access make FMCP the better option. Of course, in FMCP there may be more local opposition to building the stadium given that it entails taking public parkland to do so. With Belmont, the state seems to be looking for someone to build something there; there seems to be less chance of significant local oppostion. Personally, I believe that a well run team could succeed on either the NASL or MLS level relying primarily on Nassau and Queens counties as it's fanbase (meaning at Belmont Park). The population is there, the wealth (both corporate and personal) is there, and the number of people with an interest in soccer (youth players, immigrants and descendants of recent immigrants, etc.) are there. But success is not guaranteed just by showing up and playing, and the chances of such a team succeeding are greater if the team is at FMCP, which is more accessible to a much greater number of potential fans than Belmont, is actually within NYC and is closer to Manhattan.
You're on site and I'm not, so I won't argue the logistics with you. But this shouldn't be an either or situation. My point about these not being 70K stadia is that it's a major deal to sell out such a stadium. 25K is much easier, even if you don't sell it out. I don't know what it's going to take to complete the Flushing Meadows deal, but the Belmont deal sounds like it's halfway in the bag already. (Provided the NeoCosmos can come up with the necessary cash.) There is more than enough soccer loving population in the area to make both teams successful. Also, I more than half expect that any NeoCosmos stadium would be built in stages, and predicated on their attendance at Hofstra. So maybe they start at 10K. Heck 6K is good attendance in NASL. So let's say they average around 8K (being generous here), they might feel that they want to build a 10K stadium, with room and plans to expand. I can see the NeoCosmos getting their stadium going before the Corona Park stadium is done, but there's no reason we can't have both. The NeoCosmos should start play in the clausura this year. That will give them a leg up on fan building, so that even should MLS plonk a team down in Flushing Meadows, the NeoCosmos should survive. How tough is it to get to Belmont if you live in Nassau County? Getting the LIRR to run trains on NeoCosmos game days may be tough, but I'm sure that local government getting bent out of shape over traffic jams could apply some pressure there. So I'm being hopeful here, and I hope not foolishly so. - Mark