Glenn mentioned this on his radio show and I just came across a brief article on foxsportsworld.com: Rapids vs. RSL What the hell is Dyees Stadium? I hope they mean Dyer stadium. I could walk to that place.
The MLS site shows a Rapids x RSL pre-season game scheduled in Las Vegas on Mar. 19, but doesn't provide the stadium name. Dunno.
Last I read, there have been problems getting a venue in Vegas so they were considering moving the match to another city.
did a search on dyees stadium on google and this is 1 of only 3 websites that google could find... http://www.mlsexhibitions2005.com/ pretty good indication that the game's in houston, but still no local media coverage besides glenn's mention on radio show...
Thanks for the link. I've never heard of that stadium either. It doesn't appear to be on TexasBob's site or on the Chron's high school stadium list. I know there's no stadium of that name at Rice and I don't think it's at UH or TSU.
There is a place in NW Houston called Dyess Park that hosts youth games. I could not imagine it being out there. http://www.timberlinesoccer.com/FieldMaps/Dyess.html
I finally listened to Glenn's show from last week on the KPFT archives. I think he's right in suggesting that having this exhibition in Houston right now could be a net negative. He argues that this game needs to be in a small venue - like a park facility - and promoted as just a pre-season exhibition. If you put in a large venue like Robertson and don't manage expectations about the level of play, which players will be there, and the expected crowd, then it would look like a bust. I guess we'll see how it shakes out, if at all.
I was able to listen to Glenn's show yesterday for the first time in a long time. He didn't mention the exhibition. On another note, he said the World Cup trophy was going to be at the Houston Museum of Natural Science starting tomorrow for a few days. He said you could get your picture taken with it. No idea what the charge is if any.
The Rapids x RSL exhibition on March 19 is apparently set for La Porte HS. (http://www.mlsexhibitions2005.com) That's probably an appropriate sort of venue.
Shoot. I normally work in La Porte, but I might be working up in Decatur, Texas, on that day, and unable to make it to the game. It'd sure be nice to see Jason Kreis, Superstar, once again!
Tickets for the MLS exhibition range in price from $15 to $35 and can be purchased at ticketweb.com or by calling 866-468-7630. Tickets are also available at Fiesta locations starting Monday. I also received information that Kicks indoor soccer center is selling them: www.kicksindoor.com
Yeah, that's the stadium. It's on the campus of La Porte High School. If anyone does need directions, PM me. Anyone else coming to this game?
I'll be there. Hopefully the weather holds up. Did anyone managed to get tickets from Fiesta? They though we were crazy when we tried to get tickets there.
$35 for a "good seat" at an MLS exhibition in a high school stadium on what I presume to be a narrow field!! What the hell are they thinking? I was able to see the finals (2 games) of the Interliga (good teams in a serious competition) in the comfort of Reliant stadium for $25. $25 also got me a double header with Santos Laguna - KC wizards and Guatemala-el Salvador NTs. Savy consumers will probably avoid this game. They should make it at most $15 general admission, sit where you like.
I believe this game is a going to be a PR disaster. $35 for an exhibition game??? Give me a break. No one is going to pay that kind of money for an exhibition MLS game that nobody has any ties to. They had 1,300 fans last Friday at a Klein High School soccer game. They will be lucky to get to this number for this one.
Don't forget there are $15 seats, which isn't bad at all. The $35 just includes the parking and stuff. When I talked to the lady at the soccer shop I got my tickets from, she said they had already sold all 100 of the general admission seats and most of the VIP seats they were given. I just hope the weather holds out.
Don't get me wrong, I hope it suceeds and I hope you guys in South Houston come out in droves. I just think the MLS did not think this one through very good.
It was a small crowd, but I couldn't really tell you how small. The stadium has two main stands and only one was being used. It felt a lot like the size of crowds we get at Rice for women's soccer, which is usually in the low hundreds. Given the weather conditions (cold for Houston, plus thunderstorm and hail advisories all day) and the way out of the way location for most people, it was probaby about all you could expect. I think the venue was generally appropriate in terms of size for the event, but La Porte is way out there. I don't mean to sound like a snobby Inner-Looper, but if we had bothered to find out just how long it took to get out there, I'm not sure we would've done it. Maybe one of the HISD high school stadiums would be a better idea. Dunno. Anyway, the quality of play was better than I expected and we saw some good goals. RSL's white uni's are pretty cool. Oh yeah, and getting tickets needs to be made a little easier. I also tried Fiesta and had that what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about experience. Fortunately, the Fiesta had an attendant who at least called around to find out where to get tickets. She said there was only one Fiesta in town that had them. We ended up just getting tickets at the stadium box office, but it wound up being $20 for general admission. That's not an outrageous price, but the promoters really need to work on the ticketing process if they do something here again.
We almost stayed home because of the weather. It really did look like we were going to have a thunderstorm durning the game.
Very sad marketing by the MLS. MLS wants to promote the game to future expansion cities like this? Horrible display. A high school stadium out in the middle of nowhere with no promotion. The MLS should be ashamed of themselves.