I've been to US games in many parts of the country and I thought it would be interesting to rank where every feels brings the best atmosphere. Seattle What else is there to say? 40,000 fans, all loud, most standing, very little club politics. Portland A tough choice between #2 and 3. Timbers army brought some serious noise and organization against one of the weakest opponents ever played. The rest of the crowd of roughly 20k was loud and into it all game as well. Only downside was a bit too much timbers pride showing through some fans. Kansas City Before Seattle came along I thought Kansas City was the best the US had to offer. The stadium is gorgeous, the crowd is loud, passionate and put on one of the best visual displays I've ever seen vs Guatemala. Columbus I love Columbus. Again tough to pick between the above two but I give the slight edge to KC and Portland for their impressive visuals. Crowd is loud and passionate and picking between the above three is very tough. Denver Denver rocked their last qualifier, even in spite of Mother Nature. This was great to see since the last qualifier there was abysmal. The only downside is logistics. Dicks sporting goods park is essentially in Kansas, it's so far out of town. RFK This place is a dump, but it's our dump. It's like our own third world stadium, reminding me of some lower league Eastern European stadiums I've been to. That said, it's loud, proud and really fun when the floor starts shaking. Tampa Tampa has hosted two US games this decade and frankly they have done really well each time. They've brought 25 thousand passionate US fans to a minnow game vs Antigua, and against panama there was a spirited but fun atmosphere vs panama. The only downside is that 25k looks like nothing in an nfl stadium. If Florida can ever get a soccer specific stadium, I'd look for Orlando or Tampa to join the upper echelon. Salt Lake City Everyone probably knows what I think of Salt Lake. They brought 20k fans vs Honduras and all were pro US. In the last that was enough, but their tepid noise level means they've fallen behind the others. I'd love to see the US in the Bay Area at the quakes new grounds, see what Philly could bring, ditto Houston's new digs and am stoked to see if Hartford can bring it this week.
I am really looking forward to that proposed MLS sized stadium in Orlando. I think it could be very useful for Pro-USA Hex Matches and Gold Cup matches.
What i liked most about Seattle is the proximity to bars/hotels/restaurants. Thats a nice plus for me.
Living in Tampa, I'd love to see a stadium here, but I just don't see it happening. The Mutiny failed and, in my opinion, Tampa has some terrible sports fans. Bucs games never sell out and the Rays consistently have one of the worst three average attendances in MLB. Yeah, that would be great. Orlando City is averaging close to 10k fans for USL pro games. OC in MLS would be great I think and I think, like you said, it would be good for the national team.
I loved the actual game in Seattle, but despised the city. Seemed like a dirty version of Minneapolis to me. Everything closed early. Couldn't even eat in a bar/grill if you were under 21. That being said, the game was totally worth the trip.
philly brought 40K to the 2010 sendoff match vs Turkey. the now (or soon to be ) defunct Lingerie Football League may have played a role in Philly not getting a match this summer
Anyone at the match this evening? North Texas seemed to have more USA fans than I thought there would be (at least that is how it appeared on television). Any first hand experiences fans would like to share?
Let's see if the proposed new stadium gives us a better experience: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...5cb0-f4af-11e2-9434-60440856fadf_gallery.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-efforts-to-finalize-stadium-plan-with-city/
Cities I've visited for USMNT matches are Columbus, East Hartford, DC, Sandy/Salt Lake City, Chicago, Cleveland, Carson/Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. I live in Columbus, and Cleveland is just a suburb of here, so I won't rank those. Top three would be 1) DC, 2) Chicago and 3) Salt Lake City. I love the feeling I get traveling to our nation's capital to watch our nation's soccer team. It's easy to get around town and to the stadium via metro, and the Screaming Eagles/AODC tailgate is second-to-none for out-of-towners. Chicago is special, too, but unless the match is at Soldier Field, it loses some of the big game feel. The '09 WCQ versus Honduras there was spectacular in terms of experience, but it was largely attended by Honduran fans. I like SLC because it is not all that different than Columbus. Easy to get around town due to the smaller population, and the city really embraces USMNT games. RioTinto Stadium is a site to see.
It's amazing what eight years will do... I was in Seattle in 2005 for a couple of Gold Cup matches...Vs Cuba and vs Canada... ...and the atmosphere absolutely stunk. I mean it reeked. The place was maybe...at best...a quarter full and stadium security was actually threatening to have the Supporters Section removed because...we were standing. Nice to see things have changed...
How far can we go to rival a full raucous Azteca? I mean having a big stadium filled with overwhelmingly pro US fans? Seattle is good. Any other places? Maaaaaaaaayybbbe D.C., we don't have a huge El Tri contingent here (better turnout for Hondouras IMHO). New York would be a gamble, everyone lives there. I mean I feel bad for all the peeps down in L.A. and Dallas and wherever. More to the point, if it's a home match shouldn't USSF make like the colleges and ensure that tickets primarily go to the home side? Or do they do things differently.
Seattle is the only NFL stadium I can see being an Azteca type of stadium. The other football stadiums just don't seem to have the electricity of a smaller venue that is made specifically with soccer as a priority.
I wrote a long piece on why I love RFK Stadium for the Washington City Paper: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/...tadium-is-a-national-treasure-cracks-and-all/