If Cleveland MLS needed a temporary stadium, where do they play?

[BulaJacket]

There are many college football stadiums and such in the area that I've seen suggested, and they may be some good possibilities.
Then there is Cleveland Browns Stadium.
My vote goes there.

[BulaJacket]

My reasoning:

Wheelock: Sharing Stadiums Served MLS well
FOX Sports World
Oct. 22, 2003 7:15 p.m.

When Major League Soccer was being assembled in 1994 and 1995, one question loomed larger than any other: where to play?

This was not so much about the cities that would be home to the original 10 MLS clubs, but the actual venues that the new American first division would use to house its matches.
The quandary facing MLS executives at the time was either to play the matches at NFL and major college football stadiums, creating a big-time atmosphere, while leaving thousands upon thousands of seats empty on a regular basis, or to play in small venues at city and community colleges and high schools, guaranteeing packed crowds but creating the perception of a minor league.

MLS chose correctly; it did what it had to do. If the new league had played at the Olathe District Activities Center rather than Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, or Mitchell Athletic Field, as WUSA did, instead of Giant Stadium in the New York metropolitan area, MLS would have been dismissed immediately by the regular sporting press as nothing more than a joke.


Better to play in front of 80,000 vacant seats at a stadium perceived as major league, than to host a capacity crowd of 5,500 at a venue that was used for junior varsity high school soccer the night before.

If you think that the mainstream American sports media disrespects soccer presently, and it does, just think back to how it was a decade ago. The term disgraceful comes to mind, and playing in small stadiums would have been just the excuse the media needed to further ridicule the fledgling league.


The A-League is a case in point. Having broadcast a number of matches in the American second division over the past two seasons for FOX Sports World, I've seen first hand how the stadium makes the difference when it comes to coverage by the local media. The clubs that play in a major venue are treated with respect. Those that play at out of the way soccer fields are all but ignored.


Media perception filters down to the general public, which ultimately determines the financial success of the franchise. The hard core fans support soccer wonderfully in the U.S., but the general public needs a bit of a push in the right direction if soccer is to succeed. And like it or not, the media is a major factor in that push being given.


Of course, the ideal for MLS during its inaugural season of 1996 would have been to move immediately into soccer specific stadiums. But the term, which was coined by Lamar Hunt, let alone the facilities, simply didn't exist.


The defunct North American Soccer League of the 70s had put about as much of a premium on building soccer venues as they had on developing young American players; sadly seeing absolutely no importance in either. So there was really no ideal set of stadiums to house the new league, and it was forced into one radical direction or the other.


As MLS nears the conclusion of its eighth season, those stadium choices of nearly a decade ago have proved to be extremely wise, uncannily so. Not only does the league still exist, despite the apocalyptic prophecies of the general sports media, it is financially healthy.


I give much credit to the original stadiums selected as appropriate for MLS for this. Make no mistake, bad decisions in 1994 and 1995 could have doomed the league before it had a chance. The choice of home grounds could have been an unmitigated disaster.


But now look at what is happening: soccer specific venues are being conceived and built throughout the league. Aside from the pioneering Columbus Crew Stadium and the magnificent Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, the Dallas Burn will take occupancy of their new home in 2005.


In addition, soccer stadiums are currently being planned and/or discussed for the MetroStars, Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, and D.C. United. And potential MLS expansion cities such as Toronto, Rochester, and Cleveland have all announced their desire to build a soccer-first venue.


In less than 10 years MLS is getting its wish: stadiums it can to truly call home. This great occurrence has not happened by accident or fate, but rather persistence and vision built upon a very strong initial foundation.

I've been a broadcaster in MLS since day one, and I remember the times when people openly speculated that the league might not return for another season all to well. Had the clubs in that inaugural season been placed in tiny, out of the way, small-time soccer venues, the naysayers might well have been right.

Only by playing in venues such as the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and Giants Stadium, did the league earn instant credibility and a perception of being major-league from the press and general American sporting public.

It is truly ironic how a then-seemingly obscure and insignificant strategy employed a decade ago, that is almost never discussed nor analyzed today, helped lead the way for professional soccer's real emergence in the United States.


Catch Sean Wheelock on the MLS Wrap show every Saturday night on Fox Sports World, or e-mail your comments to MLSWrap@foxsportsworld.com.

I just think that, although definately not a good long term solution that this would be good short term in Cleveland.

[Joe Stoker]

BJ, your argument has won me over. I would indeed start the franchise ASAP in Browns Stadium and build from there. The Columbus Crew stadium story is a living example... toughing it out at the Horseshoe (everybody knows the storied OSU stadium) while working towards the stadium of their own.

Although the crowd for the Celtic-Boca match in Cleveburg last summer was not great, the 17,000 or so didn't look bad in the lower bowl. The excellent accoustics nicely enhanced the noise level. Far more noise than the Tribe game just down the street.

(I must always make a disclaimer on that crowd figure. Since Celtic fans seemed to spend as much time at the watering holes as in their seats, there very well could have been in excess of 20,000 in the place that night! Wonderful folks!)

Unfortunately, Bertram Wolstein now holds the letter of intent, and not me. He, IMO, is using it to gain potential income from of the city & county (translated: taxpayers) for his own private cash-cow of a playground (although we already have two taxpayer-productions in Browns Stadium & Jacobs Field... three if you include the Gund). This is not criminal. Now, moral or ethical... another story. Taxpayers to be wrung, or soccer fans hung out to dry.

Petulant Bert says it will be his stadium or nothing.
His way or the highway. It's 1988 all over.

To my limited understanding, Browns Stadium (and the Jake, for that matter) is a public facility. Let's put it to public use. Pro soccer. Now. What worked in Columbus could (and should, IMO) work in Cleveland.

[Crewmudgeon]

Originally posted by Joe Stoker
To my limited understanding, Browns Stadium (and the Jake, for that matter) is a public facility. Let's put it to public use. Pro soccer. Now. What worked in Columbus could (and should, IMO) work in Cleveland.

Yes indead they are public facilities, but they are not controlled by the public. In the case of Browns stadium the lease agreement gives the Browns control over the stadium. As for the Jake it is controlled by the non-profit Gateway Corporation which leases it to the Indians.

What worked in Columbus was that Lamar opened his wallet and built a stadium. Sorry, but I don't see Bert doing this. And the current financial/political situation in Cleveland doesn't bode well for public funding.

[Joe Stoker]

As a taxpayer, let me get this straight: Public facilities... taxpayer financed... that are not controlled by the public. Amazing how the politicos run roughshod over public apathy and ignorance (including my own, I shamefully admit). Amazing what politics has come to in Cleveland. And to drag our beautiful game into it...

How ironic that, in Pittsburgh, there is (was?) an owner willing to build a stadium & soccer complex mostly (if not entirely) out of his own wallet, yet potential neighbors keep hollering "not in MY back yard!" Maybe we should introduce Mr. Heasley & his Riverhounds to Strongsville or North Olmstead or any of the other soccer-mad Cleveland suburbs.
Rechristen them the Bulldogs, get 'em back in the A-League & give us a good product. Pro soccer w/o the politicos and petulence. Pipe-dreaming. Maybe "Cobras" does has significance in Cleveland... we seem snakebit when it comes to pro soccer.

Thanks for sharing the Wheelock article. Really hit the nail about the wasted opportunities during the NASL heydays re: no SSS planning. Never thought about it back then. Makes me angrier nobody else (particulary owners) did, either. But those were the days of the "multipurpose facility" mindset.

[metros11]

I'll admit, it was a good article from Wheelock. He makes some good points. I just hate the fact that the guy never uses the term rookie when commentating.

[Bill Archer]

When this forum has a moderator, he'll warn you about fair-use laws and delete posts like the Wheelock quote.

Use links.

As for Browns Stadium, I would hope someplace better could be found. I rattled around the Shoe enough times to know that 15,000 were simply awallowed up, making the experience less than it might have been.

CSU has a good facility, and there are others like the Rubber Bowl which would work. Mostly though either there's a building committment or there's no team. and I don't think there's much chance a decision would be reached on such short notice that a temporary home would be necessary.

It's a non-issue, IMO.

[BulaJacket]

Originally posted by Bill Archer
When this forum has a moderator, he'll warn you about fair-use laws and delete posts like the Wheelock quote.
Use links.

wow, didn't realize I forgot to post the link...I almost always do, with or without the text....

Above Article:
http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1776108

Wheelock Articles:
http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/Search?contentTypeCode=1&author=Sean%20D.%20Wheelock