San Jose Earthquakes Stadium - Build it NOW! (a whine-free thread)

Nice to know you use your superpowers for good. But you should have got us a great a-mid also.

 

There will be no excuse if the Quakes can't draw comparable numbers as SKC (of course, that depends upon the final # of seats in the new stadium). SKC has to compete with the Chiefs & Royals in a smaller market and had the same run of bad promotion and poor management of resources as the Quakes before their new ownership came in.

 

You have to look at the differences in the two markets.

We aren't KC. Quick look at the KC-Star shows they have 6 sports entities.
MLB, NFL, Colleges (KU, KSU, MU) and the MLS

We have 11 - MLB1, MLB2, NFL1, NFL2, NHL, NBA, Colleges (SU,CAL,SCU, SJSU,...), MLS

They have one new stadium - LSP

We will have 5 by 2015.

We have new stadiums just build or being built for the 49ers, A's, Stanford, Quakes and even Cal. New Stadium burn-out? Good thing we'll be first, but you can't ount on a big lasting bump from the shinny new stadium aura.

Stanford, a top 5 team this season, would have sold out every game in KC, couldn't do it in PA.

Likewise look at the Raiders. When was the last time a Chief's game was blacked out.

We're a tough sports market.

 

The colors are a matter of personal taste, but the capacity, the suites, the roof........sooner or later, would have become reality. My feeling is if that is the case, then it's probably better to incorporate them into the initial build, if possible, rather than potentially having the stadium appear to be in a constant state of reconstruction over the next several years.

 

No, we're not a tough sports market.

And by we, I mean San Jose, not necessarily the rest of the Bay Area.

San Jose will support a nominally major league team playing in a major league facility, as evidenced by the Sharks, the most successful warm-weather franchise in the NHL. (The NHL failed in Kansas City, by the way, just as it did in Oakland and San Francisco.)

 

This.
No excuses for the Quakes not being able to sell out the new Epicenter when it is up and running. None. Proper marketing, a new stadium, add a marquee player with the new revenue...no more excuses.

 

The KC metro area has a population of 2 million.

The Bay Area has 8 million.

Add to that surrounding areas like Sacramento and the rest of N.CA and the central valley, that's several million more.

The Earthquakes market is larger than most MLS teams. People will flock to the club when the new stadium is built.

 

Yes, and it's a market that the Raiders, A's, Stanford and SJSU all struggle in.

It's a tough market.

 

The difference being, those teams all have competition within their sport, the Earthquakes don't have another soccer team to compete with.

 

Not really Quake related, but A's stadium related -

"Stand Up for San Jose" (the Giants' astroturf group) is suing the City of San Jose regarding the A's stadium. The group alleges that City “abused their powers and ran roughshod over their legal duties, including their duties to protect the public’s right to vote and to comply with laws designed to protect the environment, prior to committing to sell public lands for a Ballpark Project."

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19460218

 

It'll get thrown out in short order since the land deal is being put to a vote anyway if they decide to exercise the option. The city does not need to consult the electorate about options to buy land.

Also the title of that article should read, "San Francisco Giants sue San Jose" since Stand for San Jose is nothing but a San Jose Giants front group, with the SJ Giants being a majority owned subsidiary of the SF Giants. Which also means if the courts don't throw this out, Bud Selig will. He won't allow one team to sue another in this manner lest they want to surrender their franchise.

 

Raiders have sold out all their home games this season. Winning has it's advantages.

 

Speaking of the A's ballpark. Both Jeffery Loria (Marlins owner), and Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox owner) have come out publicly supporting a move to San Jose. Jerry in fact wasn't too nice to Oakland in his comments essentially saying the city was past it's time and that baseball needed to move on. But the big point is that now 4 owners have come out publicly in support of the SJ move. And Jerry is a biggie being a 30 year owner. He's got almost as much, if not more, clout as Selig himself. If they two of them pair up on something it usually has happened.

 

now you jinxed them

 

PLANNING DIRECTOR’S HEARING AGENDA

3rd item on the agenda.

 

The stadium (and every issue on the agenda) is on the consent calendar and will not be even be brought up for discussion unless someone at the meeting objects. A routine approval process.

 

SQR news today. Oakland has proposed a plan they feel would be a counter to the A's to San Jose. They're proposing a new arena, football stadium, and ballpark at the Coliseum site (a site the A's and MLB have already rejected). However no word on who they expect will pay for this 2 billion+ venture and no EIRs or the like have been started. This is the plan rendering picture they're sending to Bud Selig along with a year and a half old letter.



Trying to find the ballpark in this pic is like reading Where's Waldo?

 

Looks like a soccer field. Is Quan trying to revive the Stompers?
Is the ballpark behind the highrise?

It looks pretty good, too good considering this is the same view today.


BTW - I think they forgot parking.

 

I take it you did find the ballpark, for those that are still having trouble...

The ball park is north of the pointy ball bowl, just on the other side, from the image point of view, of the the tall curved building.

I'm guessing they are going for parking structures rather than sprawled asphalt.

 

Yeah I found it in a better rendering that was released later...



Looks like the whole project, new arena, ballpark and stadium would cost over 2+ billion dollars if they do go for it. They expect they'll be able to cobble that together form public sources and private investment too...

 

Hopefully not. Spending a billion dollars on a second NFL stadium is insane. Better that the Raiders just move to Santa Clara with the Niners.

As for the Warriors given the two options, waterfront in San Francisco or the Coliseum site it's pretty obvious which is the preferable site, and besides they'd just be returning home since the Warriors in California were originally based in SF. And then there's the A's. The A's who have been treated like crap by Oakland for a decade and a half. After all that THIS is what they offer the team to counter the beautiful downtown ballpark in San Jose. They counter with the same Coliseum site the A's and MLB have told them explicitly is unacceptable. Oakland made their bed a long time ago when they eschewed the A's for the Raiders, and now they're going to have to live with it. Big plus being that while the city of Oakland may lose all 3 of it's teams, the region won't have to suffer and will continue to get to enjoy them.