I was in attendance Thursday night for my first visit inside BBVA. That is a nice stadium design and what appears to be a vibrant downtown location. I tend to compare it in placement to Dallas' Deep Ellum, and the scene to something more like Design District. I was shocked to see a train stop in front of the stadium (free train ride w/ game day tickets!) I was a bit surprised to see the amount of people around the stadium, but later realized it was equal portions MLS game and people attending a benefit for Beto for Congress. I commuted to the game from Tomball and, ironically, my route was almost exactly the same distance as my home in Lake Highlands is from Toyota Stadium. It took me a bit longer to get down there (45-50 vs 30-35 minutes) but wasn't prohibitive and was relieved I didn't get stuck in traffic. For all the insistence that Frisco is the biggest cause of poor attendance, BBVA truly is the counter argument for that. A bespoke soccer stadium, in the most Millennial/GenZ heavy area and a 8pm start - and yet this Texas Derby was maybe half full. In related news, other than just outside the stadium, I witnessed zero marketing about the team or that game in my four days in and about the Houston area. Meanwhile, FCD simply looks like a team that is trying to fit in three new pieces, mid-season. Badji looks the most out of place, Perdoroso the most acclimatized and Pedro somewhere in-between. Maybe they'll figure it out in time for a MLS Cup run, but I'm still convinced their consistently horrid finishing will haunt them. I was sitting amongst Houston STH's, solo, but when Colman missed the sitter - I burst forth with a guffaw of laughter that even caught me by surprise, startled those around me and earned a collection of weird looks. Dude, if you still think there's hope for that guy....
Great points, Pete. There really is no excuse for the lack of attendance at BBVA besides them sucking and their lack of marketing. Great location, great stadium (although it looks cheap up close), and easy public access.
Great counter argument for a downtown stadium and compared to KC's it should be completely de-bunked. It's almost completely a front office problem or solution. I will add that many MLS teams had NFL or college stadiums in or near downtowns when they started but they were cavernous hulks and MLS 2.0 moved on to much smaller soccer specific stadiums but now MLS 3.0 has NFL sized stadiums in Seattle and Atlanta as being show cases. If any FO executives are paying real attention now.
Visit the Houston forum for a while. Their excuse is that their management is inept, not just with marketing, but also player acquisition and running their academy.
To be honest, it is a valid excuse. When they were owned by AEG, they got good crowds at the absolute dump that was Robertson Stadium. AEG, for whatever, their faults, know how to get fans into the house. Almost every team that was owned by AEG and is no longer owned by AEG -- Houston, Chicago, DC United, Colorado -- has taken a significant step back under new ownership. Only the Red Bulls seem to be the exception to the rule. The one team that AEG has held onto -- the Galaxy -- are still averaging bigger crowds than the capacity of the home stadium of MLS' hottest new team in downtown LA.
When I saw that missed header, I assumed that Colman saw an offside flag come up or was goofing around after the whistle had been blown. Obviously, neither had happened. I gave him a scornful laugh too. I’ll always be impressed with Colman’s hustle but the poor guy panics every time he’s in the box.