Red Bulls should move to Shea Stadium

[encierroNYC]

There is a lot of discussion about the paltry attendance figure for Sunday's game.

I think the Red Bulls should have been playing in Shea Stadium. Imagine if they had been Flushing's team for the last 10 years. Queens is now like 50% foreign born. Jackson Heights looks like a terminal at JFK airport it is the most diverse neighborhood in America, I'm sure.

A lot of foreign-born people who love soccer would find MLS more palatable if it was in their backyard. Going out to New Jersey to see a mediocre team is asking too much for people who work very hard and are new to the metropolitan area.

A lot of New Yorkers don't own cars. MLS has to realize that NYC-area car owners are less likely to be soccer fans than those who typically take public transportation.

Twice I took a bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal to Giants Stadium for soccer games. Both times a bus broke down. Not fun. I'm lucky the rest of the times have been in my friends cars.

A Saturday evening game at Shea Stadium would be rocking and very international in flavor. It would be more representative of Brooklyn/Queens than the typical Mets game filled with Ozzies and Harriets from Long Island.

White, suburban families in New Jersey do not go to Giants Stadium to see the Red Bulls. Instead, they sit at home in their La-Z-Boy chair and watch the Yankees on YES.

The new stadium in Harrison, NJ will be a failure too. After the inital peak, you'll see attendance fall back to numbers similar to that of Sunday.

Also, over the last ten years the Yankees and Mets have completely filled the NY sports scene. They make the back pages of the tabloids even during the winter. The Rangers and Knicks used to get a lot of attention (even when they were bad) but no more. The Devils, Nets and Islanders have become irrelevant. The Post, Daily News and WFAN only want to talk about the Yankees and Mets every day of the year. It's impossible for the Red Bulls to gain any traction in terms of coverage.

MLS should have remembered its mission was to give a league, nation-wide, to those immigrants marginalized and neglected by the four major sports. Putting the Red Bulls (MetroStars) in Shea Stadium, in the middle of NYC, 12 years ago would have been a powerful message to the immigrant community.

MLS could have struck a deal with the city - the Mets were inept then (Doubleday-Wilpon ownership feud) and didn't have much clout.

[Michael K.]

MLS should have remembered its mission was to give a league, nation-wide, to those immigrants marginalized and neglected by the four major sports.

Only, it wasn't.

[tommymcb]

The bulls will draw people in. Give it time. They are working to improve the product. I doubt that they expect to make a profit in the next 3 or 4 years. Look at the big picture.

[MasterShake29]

I think the Red Bulls should have been playing in Shea Stadium. Imagine if they had been Flushing's team for the last 10 years. Queens is now like 50% foreign born. Jackson Heights looks like a terminal at JFK airport it is the most diverse neighborhood in America, I'm sure.

A lot of foreign-born people who love soccer would find MLS more palatable if it was in their backyard. Going out to New Jersey to see a mediocre team is asking too much for people who work very hard and are new to the metropolitan area.

A lot of New Yorkers don't own cars. MLS has to realize that NYC-area car owners are less likely to be soccer fans than those who typically take public transportation.

You know, if only MLS would have put a team in the most crowded state in the country, they could draw fans.

Twice I took a bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal to Giants Stadium for soccer games. Both times a bus broke down. Not fun. I'm lucky the rest of the times have been in my friends cars.

Sorry about that.

A Saturday evening game at Shea Stadium would be rocking and very international in flavor. It would be more representative of Brooklyn/Queens than the typical Mets game filled with Ozzies and Harriets from Long Island.

White, suburban families in New Jersey do not go to Giants Stadium to see the Red Bulls. Instead, they sit at home in their La-Z-Boy chair and watch the Yankees on YES.

The new stadium in Harrison, NJ will be a failure too. After the inital peak, you'll see attendance fall back to numbers similar to that of Sunday.

Also, over the last ten years the Yankees and Mets have completely filled the NY sports scene. They make the back pages of the tabloids even during the winter. The Rangers and Knicks used to get a lot of attention (even when they were bad) but no more. The Devils, Nets and Islanders have become irrelevant. The Post, Daily News and WFAN only want to talk about the Yankees and Mets every day of the year. It's impossible for the Red Bulls to gain any traction in terms of coverage.

MLS should have remembered its mission was to give a league, nation-wide, to those immigrants marginalized and neglected by the four major sports. Putting the Red Bulls (MetroStars) in Shea Stadium, in the middle of NYC, 12 years ago would have been a powerful message to the immigrant community.

MLS could have struck a deal with the city - the Mets were inept then (Doubleday-Wilpon ownership feud) and didn't have much clout.

So the Mets and Yankees dominate coverage, how exactly would the Red Bulls draw coverage by playing at Shea? It's not like they play in a high school stadium in the boondocks now. The Jets and Giants are really popular, it doesn't help the Red Bulls. Playing at a different stadium that houses a popular team wouldn't help either.

It saddens me to see all this region hate going on here lately.

[Roehl Sybing]

Considering that dump they call a baseball field will be turned into a parking lot in a few years time, I doubt a move to Shea is likely.

[sakenu16]

I doubt the Red Bulls will move to Shea Stadium. But I did hear that one point MLS was thinking of expanding the league and adding a new team in NY. One that might be based in NY. In a way I think that could benefit the Red Bulls too because that would make a nice rivalry other than DC. Have there been many games in Shea anyhow? Wonder how it would look for a soccer game.

Maybe when the MLS adds another team to NY it can be called the Cosmos.

[MasterShake29]

I doubt the Red Bulls will move to Shea Stadium. But I did hear that one point MLS was thinking of expanding the league and adding a new team in NY. One that might be based in NY. In a way I think that could benefit the Red Bulls too because that would make a nice rivalry other than DC. Have there been many games in Shea anyhow? Wonder how it would look for a soccer game.

Maybe when the MLS adds another team to NY it can be called the Cosmos.

Shea Stadium won't exist in a couple years.

The Red Bulls are building a new stadium in Harrison, NJ, so they're not moving to Shea or anywhere else but there.

The Cosmos in their glory years were based in... the same spot the Red Bulls are now.

MLS will surely add a 2nd New York Region team, once an investor and a stadium plan are in place. Right now I don't think they are anywhere close to either one.

Besides, the region has a team, support that one. They're even moving to a brand new stadium accessible from mass transit in a couple years, just to make things easier for everyone (and make more money).

[jbeall]

Having been out to Shea to see the Mets play, I have to say it's just as time-consuming to get out there as it is to get to Giants Stadium. Playing there wouldn't solve any problems.

[sublicon]

Twice I took a bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal to Giants Stadium for soccer games. Both times a bus broke down. Not fun. I'm lucky the rest of the times have been in my friends cars.

Dude, what is up with these bizarre bus stories?? Tales of bus breakdowns, men with horns wreaking havoc on the ride to the stadium . . I've taken the bus numerous times and have never experienced this.

I think people are making this shite up because think they are too good to actually take a bus anywhere....

"*gasp* No SUBWAY? Hah! I will not travel on cushioned seats on public roadways! I need hard plastic under my ass and I must be subterranean! Forget it, let us go back to our Setanta and our FSC, where all the real soccer fans in New York spend their weekends."

:cool:

[MetroFever]

A lot of foreign-born people who love soccer would find MLS more palatable if it was in their backyard. Going out to New Jersey to see a mediocre team is asking too much for people who work very hard and are new to the metropolitan area.

A lot of New Yorkers don't own cars. MLS has to realize that NYC-area car owners are less likely to be soccer fans than those who typically take public transportation.

Yes, but most most New Yorkers do own cars.

The same goes for NJ fans who go to watch the Yankees and Mets and have to spend over two hours in traffic to cross the George Washington Bridge. You don't hear anyone from Jersey saying they should move the teams here.

The Knicks haven't been selling out their games and they're located in midtown. Should they be moved to a better location as a result?



White, suburban families in New Jersey do not go to Giants Stadium to see the Red Bulls. Instead, they sit at home in their La-Z-Boy chair and watch the Yankees on YES.

While that may be true about white families, this applies to other races as well.



MLS should have remembered its mission was to give a league, nation-wide, to those immigrants marginalized and neglected by the four major sports.

Specifically which sport is leaving out the immigrants? Just like many here, I come from a family of immigrants and I don't need anyone begging me to buy a ticket to an NBA game or any other sport.

[Chupacabra]

Hey EncierroNYC - was the bus driver Carlos Ruiz?

You know, there are hundreds of thousands of "immigrants" in NJ, many of them living within a five mile radius of Giants Stadium. Drive around Fort Lee, North Bergen or Cliffside Park on a weekend and you'll see a lot of them in the parks playing soccer. It's not like none of them know about MLS either - several store fronts in these towns have old signs for Metrostars ticket sales, so there obviously was a previous (and failed) attempt to reach out to these people. Most of them have cars, too, but they come don't come to watch MLS games.

They do, however, turn up in thousands for games like Colombia v. Ecuador (a friendly, held on a week night even) and last year's Barcelona friendly. They didn't even mind the inflated ticket and parking prices, which could buy them three or four tickets to Red Bulls matches. At the Colombia/Ecuador match, most didn't even bother coming in early to see Red Bulls/Dallas, preferring to hang out in the parking lot instead.

If people really care about a sport or event, they'll make the effort to be there. The problem is not the location of the stadium, but the level of interest amongst potential fans. Throughout the entire history of MLS, most "immigrants" haven't been interested enough.

[GIO17]

There is a lot of discussion about the paltry attendance figure for Sunday's game.

I think the Red Bulls should have been playing in Shea Stadium. Imagine if they had been Flushing's team for the last 10 years. Queens is now like 50% foreign born. Jackson Heights looks like a terminal at JFK airport it is the most diverse neighborhood in America, I'm sure.

A lot of foreign-born people who love soccer would find MLS more palatable if it was in their backyard. Going out to New Jersey to see a mediocre team is asking too much for people who work very hard and are new to the metropolitan area.

A lot of New Yorkers don't own cars. MLS has to realize that NYC-area car owners are less likely to be soccer fans than those who typically take public transportation.

Twice I took a bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal to Giants Stadium for soccer games. Both times a bus broke down. Not fun. I'm lucky the rest of the times have been in my friends cars.

A Saturday evening game at Shea Stadium would be rocking and very international in flavor. It would be more representative of Brooklyn/Queens than the typical Mets game filled with Ozzies and Harriets from Long Island.

White, suburban families in New Jersey do not go to Giants Stadium to see the Red Bulls. Instead, they sit at home in their La-Z-Boy chair and watch the Yankees on YES.

The new stadium in Harrison, NJ will be a failure too. After the inital peak, you'll see attendance fall back to numbers similar to that of Sunday.

Also, over the last ten years the Yankees and Mets have completely filled the NY sports scene. They make the back pages of the tabloids even during the winter. The Rangers and Knicks used to get a lot of attention (even when they were bad) but no more. The Devils, Nets and Islanders have become irrelevant. The Post, Daily News and WFAN only want to talk about the Yankees and Mets every day of the year. It's impossible for the Red Bulls to gain any traction in terms of coverage.

MLS should have remembered its mission was to give a league, nation-wide, to those immigrants marginalized and neglected by the four major sports. Putting the Red Bulls (MetroStars) in Shea Stadium, in the middle of NYC, 12 years ago would have been a powerful message to the immigrant community.

MLS could have struck a deal with the city - the Mets were inept then (Doubleday-Wilpon ownership feud) and didn't have much clout.

So your saying that RBNY should've been in the situation then as DC is in now. You sound like a big whiner in this post. This is why MLS is still growing and when the NEW Stadium in Harrison is built you can take the PATH Train over.

Quit being a whiner and have a backbone to support this club.

[Metrogo]

First off encierro, it was not the "mission" of MLS to provide entertainment for new immigrants.

Having said that, I've always liked the idea of a team for people who live in NYC, and one that included some type of immigrant flavor. As much as a metrostars fan I was, I always felt like my loyalty might be torn over this. Now, I have no such conflict and would love to see an "Alianza NYC" play the team from New Jersey. Good fun.

however, maybe someone can comment who knows more but it seems to me that Chivas USA has not been exactly a stunning success. It makes me wonder just how a LAtino oriented NYC team would do.

[metroflip73]

It makes me wonder just how a LAtino oriented NYC team would do.

It would have to be a brand that's more massive than "Chivas"

[obie]

It's been a while since I've taken it, but I would say that about 15-20% of the time that I took the bus from GS to NYC after a game, the driver missed a turn or got lost. Most of them got on the Turnpike North, requiring a u-turn at the Vince Lombardi park & ride. A couple got on 3 West instead of 3 East. One did both the turnpike and 3 West, which ended up being something like a 90-minute excursion.

Never underestimate the navigational prowess of the average NJ Transit Saturday night shift bus driver.

[bukie2k]

Putting the Red Bulls (MetroStars) in Shea Stadium, in the middle of NYC, 12 years ago would have been a powerful message to the immigrant community.


What about the immigrant community in North Jersey that has largely ignored the team since day one? Are they any different from the communities in Queens?

MLS shot itself in the foot 11 years ago by going the gimmick route instead of taking a more traditional approach to the game. A lot of people tuned out right at the beginning and have no intrest in returning.

Look on the bright side, all these youth teams that get freebies to every game have to grow up into wage earning adults sometime. :D

[Metrogo]

It would have to be a brand that's more massive than "Chivas"

Doesn't get much more massive than Chivas though, right?

[lakaix15]

ok

truely its not that hard to get to GS

You can take the

BUS
CAR
A BIKE
YOUR TWO OWN FEET

if you were a true rbny fan you wouldnt be bitching, I CANT COME BC I HAVE NO TRANSPORT

and plus you can car pool or rent out a 15 person van from CC RENTAl there cheap

so dont post i cant make it, or lets put a stadium here post, get off your lazy ass and come to the game

i would like to see games be played at Downing Stadium, Randall's Island
and my ass from nj wouldnt care if they played at DS i would still come

so stop being lazy and dont cry that there is no subway to GS

[PCFC]

Dude...i think ur the only person who's making sense. The team should have be in New York City. Shea would have been a great place for the metrostars inception. I think most people on this board aren't from NYC or own cars in NYC. For the people like us...we will never go to a game after work because its too much of a hassle and cost a lot, it sucks.

The new stadium will have access to the PATH so thats not to bad...but i don't think anyone who organized the team was actually a New Yorker.

[njzorrooo]

It's not the location (Giant Stadium is a pain for some to get to, a breeze for others), it's not the name of the team, it's not the colors the team wears, it's not the number of immigrants in one location versus the other, it's not that the team is called "NY" but plays in "NJ", it's not that games are played on Wednesdays or Saturdayss or Mothers Day... everyone of these situations is bad for some people, fine for many others. In a metropolitian area with more than 30 million people within an hour's drive from the stadium, there should enough soccer people showing up even if the game was played at midnight on December 24.

The problem, the only problem, the real problem, the whole problem with the NY Red Bulls and their attendance is.... the quality of the soccer is poor! and has been for many, many years. Fix the quality of the product (and I don't mean just slightly better than Columbus!) and all the planets will realign themselves in our favor. It won't be easy, it won't happen overnight, but that is what needs to be done. Everything else is window dressing.