Join NowThis blog is about the finances and other business related matters of MLS and US Soccer. I will post occasionally about other leagues (even US leagues), but mostly about the backroom areas that most fans don't notice until their team can't buy that next player. Thank you for reading, and I hope we have some good discussions.
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Frisco Thanks You, and FC Dallas, for Your Business
Posted 29 Jun 2009 at 11:08 PM by Pack87Man
Tags soccer finance, stadiums
If you ever wondered why so many MLS stadiums get built out in the suburbs, well wonder no more. The Dallas Business Journal has put together a wonderful article about how this northern suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth has put together a wonderful tourism game plan that is centered on minor league sports, plus a crown jewel of Major League Soccer, in the form of FC Dallas and Pizza Hut Park. The real killer part of Pizza Hut Park, though, is not necessarily the stadium itself, but the network of fields around it that hosts a metric ton of youth tournaments. Now, Frisco does not mean to brag, but suburbs around the country look to them as an example.
Although it can get hazy to try and go back five years in our collective memories, Pizza Hut Park was something of a first for MLS. For the first time, a community had decided to take a chance on the league, and partner with a team in order to build a stadium. High School football games were going to be played there, and the aforementioned fields were always part of the plan, but make no mistake, FC Dallas is and always has been the reason of the existence of this facility. The first two MLS stadiums, in order, were a stadium built on the cheap completely with the owner's money (Columbus Crew Stadium) and the centerpiece of a huge Olympic sports complex, complete with tennis complex, stadium included, that hosts a WTA event, a velodrome, and a track and field stadium, along with many other things (Home Depot Center). No, the Pizza Hut Park model, which was the result of a partnership between Hunt Sports Group, the city of Frisco, Collin County, and the Frisco Independent School District, was them taking a chance that professional soccer was here to stay, and that it would work as a centerpiece. The model has since been copied many times, in places such as Bridgeview, IL, Commerce City, CO, Sandy, UT, and Chester, PA, but Frisco and Pizza Hut Park were the first. (Some architectural types would say more than the financing model was copied in these other stadiums, but that really is not my field of interest.) Looking back, the choice seems obvious, and the league was really starting to take off, but at the time, the deal was groundbreaking.
Coming back to the present day, the stadium itself has had time to settle in. The attendance in 2009 has been as uninspiring as the play of its primary tenant, but otherwise, the financial picture is rosy, even during the economic downturn. Hotels are getting booked, both due to fans flocking in to see FC Dallas as well as the youth tournaments getting played at the grounds. Studies that were commissioned by the city shows that the various facilities, which include the AA baseball stadium along with a facility for minor league hockey that also serves as the practice facility for the Dallas Stars, are bringing in money hand over fist. This money is getting pulled primarily from the surrounding area, but that is part of the give and take that happens in large metropolitan areas with many surrounding communities; they all want to be the money destination. In short, all the major players in this particular venture are perfectly happy with the results. Sure, FC Dallas' attendance might be higher if they were playing in downtown Dallas, but the city never seemed to go the extra mile for them while they were there in the Cotton Bowl, so why not go where they are wanted? They probably still make more money (or rather, lose less) with a 10,000 person crowd at Pizza Hut Park than they made with a 20,000 person crowd at the Cotton Bowl.
As for the rest of MLS, obviously the teams that remain without stadiums have a positive example to point to with regard to communities that are happy to have them. Most of the other stadiums in the same situation still need time to mature into their situations, but are making progress. (For example, in addition to the Fire, Toyota Park hosts the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer and the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse.) As much as MLS fans dislike the other events that get played on these fields, they do nothing but add value to the communities where they are situated. The 20 or so dates that a typical MLS team will give these stadiums are not enough on their own to justify the existence. They are a great start, and provide a worthy anchor tenant, but they are not the only thing that gets them built. One other minor worry for these stadiums is that before, between MLS and US Soccer, they were pretty much guaranteed one marquee soccer event per year, whether it was the MLS All-Star Game, a US Soccer home game, or something along those lines. As the number of stadiums increases, these are going to be increasingly rare commodities. The natural compensation already exists, though, and it is the major international friendlies. Those, I believe, will continue to grow as we get more stadiums to put them in.
FC Dallas and Frisco can be proud of what they have accomplished together. As the first of their kind, they took a bit of a leap into the unknown, but as the successful start, they provide a good example to other communities as to what can be done. We can only hope that this story inspires teams like the Revolution to get something done, or maybe shows San Jose that it's time to finish the deal.
Although it can get hazy to try and go back five years in our collective memories, Pizza Hut Park was something of a first for MLS. For the first time, a community had decided to take a chance on the league, and partner with a team in order to build a stadium. High School football games were going to be played there, and the aforementioned fields were always part of the plan, but make no mistake, FC Dallas is and always has been the reason of the existence of this facility. The first two MLS stadiums, in order, were a stadium built on the cheap completely with the owner's money (Columbus Crew Stadium) and the centerpiece of a huge Olympic sports complex, complete with tennis complex, stadium included, that hosts a WTA event, a velodrome, and a track and field stadium, along with many other things (Home Depot Center). No, the Pizza Hut Park model, which was the result of a partnership between Hunt Sports Group, the city of Frisco, Collin County, and the Frisco Independent School District, was them taking a chance that professional soccer was here to stay, and that it would work as a centerpiece. The model has since been copied many times, in places such as Bridgeview, IL, Commerce City, CO, Sandy, UT, and Chester, PA, but Frisco and Pizza Hut Park were the first. (Some architectural types would say more than the financing model was copied in these other stadiums, but that really is not my field of interest.) Looking back, the choice seems obvious, and the league was really starting to take off, but at the time, the deal was groundbreaking.
Coming back to the present day, the stadium itself has had time to settle in. The attendance in 2009 has been as uninspiring as the play of its primary tenant, but otherwise, the financial picture is rosy, even during the economic downturn. Hotels are getting booked, both due to fans flocking in to see FC Dallas as well as the youth tournaments getting played at the grounds. Studies that were commissioned by the city shows that the various facilities, which include the AA baseball stadium along with a facility for minor league hockey that also serves as the practice facility for the Dallas Stars, are bringing in money hand over fist. This money is getting pulled primarily from the surrounding area, but that is part of the give and take that happens in large metropolitan areas with many surrounding communities; they all want to be the money destination. In short, all the major players in this particular venture are perfectly happy with the results. Sure, FC Dallas' attendance might be higher if they were playing in downtown Dallas, but the city never seemed to go the extra mile for them while they were there in the Cotton Bowl, so why not go where they are wanted? They probably still make more money (or rather, lose less) with a 10,000 person crowd at Pizza Hut Park than they made with a 20,000 person crowd at the Cotton Bowl.
As for the rest of MLS, obviously the teams that remain without stadiums have a positive example to point to with regard to communities that are happy to have them. Most of the other stadiums in the same situation still need time to mature into their situations, but are making progress. (For example, in addition to the Fire, Toyota Park hosts the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer and the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse.) As much as MLS fans dislike the other events that get played on these fields, they do nothing but add value to the communities where they are situated. The 20 or so dates that a typical MLS team will give these stadiums are not enough on their own to justify the existence. They are a great start, and provide a worthy anchor tenant, but they are not the only thing that gets them built. One other minor worry for these stadiums is that before, between MLS and US Soccer, they were pretty much guaranteed one marquee soccer event per year, whether it was the MLS All-Star Game, a US Soccer home game, or something along those lines. As the number of stadiums increases, these are going to be increasingly rare commodities. The natural compensation already exists, though, and it is the major international friendlies. Those, I believe, will continue to grow as we get more stadiums to put them in.
FC Dallas and Frisco can be proud of what they have accomplished together. As the first of their kind, they took a bit of a leap into the unknown, but as the successful start, they provide a good example to other communities as to what can be done. We can only hope that this story inspires teams like the Revolution to get something done, or maybe shows San Jose that it's time to finish the deal.
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Thanks for the article. I chose to move to Frisco once I left Chicago for this very reason (well, I was going to be somewhere in DFW, but this area shows the most promise by far). The team is going to be here forever and, at the rate the area is growing, the fans will eventually come. Everyone knows this except people who have never been here.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 12:01 AM by FriscoAndy 
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Yep. To be able to rob taxpayers and give the money to a billionaire for his hobby...Quote:FC Dallas and Frisco can be proud of what they have accomplished together.
...and not become a victim of the torches and pitchforks crowd is a remarkable achievement.
Public funding of sports stadiums is a con game that I wish would stop.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 12:48 AM by voros
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Voros, my man, your sentiment may be populist, but you are TOTALLY misinformed on this one.
First off, the late Lamar Hunt and his family, long-time owners of the Crew and FC Dallas/Burn, have spent MILLIONS over the last 40 YEARS trying to get soccer off the ground in this country. If you yourself are even remotely interested in the league's survival, you (and the rest of us) should bow down in respect to the handful of people like Hunt who kept the faith (and opened their wallets) when all seemed lost.
The Hunt family spent their own cash to build Crew Stadium, the first of its kind and capacity in America. This man and his family are not interested in some "hobby," as you call it. FC Dallas now breaks even I bet, because of a good deal, not some hand out.
Secondly, did you even read the above blog or know anything about the town of Frisco? The local govt clearly saw itself as a community on the rise and made the decision to INVEST in itself, building a destination point that is benefitting local businesses, concession providers, hotels, and youth and adult athletic organizations, very important in a country filled with fat and out of shape kids and parents who need recreation options. People are moving there, increasing tax revenues that build roads and pay for essentials.
Frisco was once a sleepy burg out in nowhere's ville and is growing, a result of their vision for the future. The people with the torches and pitchforks are the ones who are enjoying this success.
Perhaps more people who live out there can chime in, since my perspective is from the East Coast. But I know the folks in Harrision, NJ are looking for a similar benefit from the new Red Bull Arena, whose main construction costs of over a Hundred Million will be paid for largley by the club, in a public-private partnership.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 10:19 AM by Chris '66
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Just to explain how this kind of financing works...
Property taxes are frozen. Any increase in property taxes go to pay for infrastructure improvements of the project, such as roads, sidewalks, sewers, and, in the case of a stadium, a stadium. And more accurately, those taxes go to pay off bonds or loans used to fund the up-front cost of construction.
After a period of time -- likely 20 years -- the taxes start going back to the town, county and school district. In Texas, this mechanism is often used for big housing projects. It also, by the way, was used to fund construction of high rises around the AA Arena (like the W hotel) because Dallas was too stupid to understand what they were agreeing to. Yep, billionaires paid for office buildings with tax dollars in anti-government Dallas.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 01:38 PM by SCBozeman
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I guess I come down on the other side of the fence from you, voros. It seems to me that the city of Frisco is very happy with the investment that they have made, and that they seem to believe that it has paid off handsomely. Yes, FC Dallas got some coin as well, but they had a product that Frisco wanted. I'm not for holding a city over a barrel, but on the other hand, many, many private businesses get subsidies and tax breaks and the like, and they don't get nearly the attention sports teams do.Quote:Originally Posted by voros
Yep. To be able to rob taxpayers and give the money to a billionaire for his hobby...
...and not become a victim of the torches and pitchforks crowd is a remarkable achievement.
Public funding of sports stadiums is a con game that I wish would stop.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 07:01 PM by Pack87Man
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Chris '66, the one big difference is that Harrison is relatively easy to get to by public transit. You don't even need commuter rail. From what I hear, that isn't the case in Frisco.
As much as FC Dallas seems to benefit from staying in Frisco, it would be nice to see more fans at some of these games. Of course scheduling all games at night (after 8 PM local time) between May and September might help.Posted 30 Jun 2009 at 10:56 PM by Q Exp
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I live in Frisco...
I also have played in Pizza Hut Park in my high school days, and it is a fantastic stadium. However, attendance is abysmal at best, with the club announcing "7000" fans at some games, when its clear that we have 5000 at best.
Frisco has done a great job of marketing itself as a "destination" city, with plenty of sports oriented attactions, however, I think it was a mistake for FC Dallas to build its stadium almost 25 miles north of Dallas. There is no rail system to Pizza Hut Park, nor is there a public bus system in Frisco (the measure has been voted down repeatedly). The main route to get to the stadium is via the Toll Road, and until the past two years, there wasn't much to do around the stadium (Frisco has now built many restaurants).
Going to games in Toronto, I think the model for new soccer specific stadiums (SSS) should be nearer to downtown areas, with accessible public transportation and many restaurants/other public places nearby to enhance the "gameday" experience. FC Dallas left a large part of their fanbase in southern Dallas, and the attendance numbers show that the suburbs aren't too enthralled with them.
It's only gonna get worse when Kenny Cooper leaves.Posted 02 Jul 2009 at 01:55 PM by Theta16
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FC Dallas hasn't capitalized enough on Cooper to lose much when he leaves. Because the team has not marketed him, and has not put together an appealing product around him, it's unlikely he's selling tickets for them. When you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose.Posted 03 Jul 2009 at 01:43 PM by Stan Collins
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