Panic FC says New Orleans for expansion

[panicfc]

Okay,

First off I'm from New Orleans, transplanted to Connecticut.

The Negatives:

1) The New Orleans Saints: Sure they suck, sure they drain nearly every penny in town. But they suck, and it will catch up to them.

2) The Hornets: This won't matter much. Tickets too expensive for average joe to attend.

3) Heat - its so damn hot and will melt most people.

The Positives:

1) Tad Gormley Stadium: 26,500 seats - but it lacks suites and the like, and it has a track surrounding the field.

The field is spectacular.

2) Huge Honduran and Latin population.Send them Pineda-Chacon and Milton Nunez and the crowds will be all over the place.

3) Soccer community isn't great, but will support if given another opportunity

What needs to happen?

Powerball

[snowfx2]

Originally posted by panicfc
The Positives:

1) Tad Gormley Stadium: 26,500 seats - but it lacks suites and the like, and it has a track surrounding the field.

The field is spectacular.



http://www.yatcom.com/gamblers/gamb_stadium.html

[panicfc]

Originally posted by snowfx2


http://www.yatcom.com/gamblers/gamb_stadium.html

From the good ole' days with stern john.

They changed the surface to grass a few years ago.

Another positive about New Orleans: Road trips for all the away fans will be the best drunken stupor events in the away teams history.

Food: Best food in the country, and despite the heat, selling boiled crawfish in the stands could bring new meaning to the cheer "Hey goalie - YOU SUCK HEADS!"

[Dr. Wankler]

Originally posted by snowfx2


http://www.yatcom.com/gamblers/gamb_stadium.html

"yatcom." That's good.

what happened to the "Riverboat Gamblers?" What kind of attendance did they get?

Oh, yeah: The heat actually isn't bad, it's the humidity that would make for some terrible soccer. And mosquitos that would make for some terrible watching of soccer.

But the thought of fans pelting Tony Meola with sucked crawfish heads is helping to bring me around to the idea.

[panicfc]

Originally posted by Dr. Wankler


"yatcom." That's good.

what happened to the "Riverboat Gamblers?" What kind of attendance did they get?

Oh, yeah: The heat actually isn't bad, it's the humidity that would make for some terrible soccer. And mosquitos that would make for some terrible watching of soccer.

But the thought of fans pelting Tony Meola with sucked crawfish heads is helping to bring me around to the idea.

Attendance topped out around 2,000 but they spent NO MONEY on advertising.

Heat is bad - 95 is still 95, humidity - ugly.

Mosquitos and don't forget the termites. One night game we were infested with termites - scary, like a Hitchcock movie.

Even better, throw the unsucked heads at Meola and yell "Near-post, SUCK THIS HEAD!"

[Dr. Wankler]

That 2000 figure is more than I would've thought. I never lived in NOLA, but I have an MA from LSU. While I was there in the mid-80s, Red Stick hosted the National Olympic Sports Festival, and I recall watching about 35 minutes of really solid soccer. Alas, that was over 3 nights. So my lasting impression is that the heat really kills off games. How did the Gambler's matches look?

the one good thing about South Louisiana heat(and humidity) is that it is VERY predictable. I had an easy time acclimating to summers in Baton Rouge, whereas Chicago was, in many ways, a lot tougher on me. So I'm thinking a New Orleans MLS team would have one bitchin' home field advantage.

[pething101]

Is there a lot of disposable income in New Orleans?

The heat would be a bitch but night games would not be too bad.

What sort of towns are within a two hour drive of NO? Anything of decent size?

[panicfc]

Originally posted by Dr. Wankler
That 2000 figure is more than I would've thought. I never lived in NOLA, but I have an MA from LSU. While I was there in the mid-80s, Red Stick hosted the National Olympic Sports Festival, and I recall watching about 35 minutes of really solid soccer. Alas, that was over 3 nights. So my lasting impression is that the heat really kills off games. How did the Gambler's matches look?

the one good thing about South Louisiana heat(and humidity) is that it is VERY predictable. I had an easy time acclimating to summers in Baton Rouge, whereas Chicago was, in many ways, a lot tougher on me. So I'm thinking a New Orleans MLS team would have one bitchin' home field advantage.

Heat can kill - simple as that. If the New Orleans Party signed the right players, they would draw well. Plus Jason Kreis played for New Orleans one year. Bring back Sterno add Chacon - 15K should be easy.

Home field advantage: Like playing the Bears in the Winter, playing the Party in the Summer would be like signing your own death wish.

[panicfc]

Originally posted by pething101
Is there a lot of disposable income in New Orleans?

The heat would be a bitch but night games would not be too bad.

What sort of towns are within a two hour drive of NO? Anything of decent size?

Disposable income: The suburbs are loaded, and the stadium is in a good part of New Orleans.

I think 1.5 million within 50 miles, Baton Rouge is 70 miles, Golden Gulf Coast is 50 miles away, Lafayette - 90 mins.

[pething101]

Minor league baseball to compete with in the summer?

[Dr. Wankler]

Originally posted by panicfc
Baton Rouge is 70 miles,

That's about 45 minutes on the I-10 speedway... errr, expressway.

[snowfx2]

Originally posted by pething101
Minor league baseball to compete with in the summer?

Triple A team called the Zephyrs I believe

[SeattleFan]

Didn't the Gamblers share a stadium with the Zephyrs for a while? Or maybe I'm thinking of the N.O. Storm...

[jwinters]

Originally posted by panicfc


Disposable income: The suburbs are loaded, and the stadium is in a good part of New Orleans.

I think 1.5 million within 50 miles, Baton Rouge is 70 miles, Golden Gulf Coast is 50 miles away, Lafayette - 90 mins. Loaded is a relative term, I imagine. My (admittedly somewhat out-of-date) Places Rated Almanac puts the New Orleans median income at or below that of other metro regions its size.

[anderson]

Interesting stadium. Gotta love the WPA.

Were the Zyphyrs owners also the owners of the A-League team (R'boat Gamblers? Storm?) that played in Nawlins?

[panicfc]

Originally posted by pething101
Minor league baseball to compete with in the summer?

Zephyrs- AAA Houston

[panicfc]

Originally posted by Dr. Wankler


That's about 45 minutes on the I-10 speedway... errr, expressway.

Speedway is accurate. 80 is the norm, so that should only take 50 minutes.

[panicfc]

Originally posted by SeattleFan
Didn't the Gamblers share a stadium with the Zephyrs for a while? Or maybe I'm thinking of the N.O. Storm...

Gamblers played a US Open Cup match at Zephyr Field. Crowd was over 6,500 on a rainy Wednesday night.
the Jacknut baseball guy then bought the team, and when everything seemed to be going well - fired the soccer staff.

A year later the team was gone.

[panicfc]

Originally posted by jwinters
Loaded is a relative term, I imagine. My (admittedly somewhat out-of-date) Places Rated Almanac puts the New Orleans median income at or below that of other metro regions its size.

Okay you have to remember that inner city New Orleans is incredibly poor. The suburbs are where the money is - and lots of it.

Most of the money is in East Jefferson and Mandeville.
Lots of hospitals with rich doctors, lawyers, indian chiefs, gambling money, and lots of good ol' boys.

--------
The local youth programs in New Orleans have about 15,000 registered players, plus two good size men's league (20 teams) a womens league (8) and coed (24).

The Gamblers had a great volunteer staff, and in fact turned out Mike Jeffries (Dallas Burn), Daryl Shore (Fire) and a decent D3 GM :D

[Sachin]

Are there any investors?

Can't have expansion w/o investors.

Sachin