I know Drew carey looked into it pretty good. He was planning to team up with Wolstein. He paid a bunch of number crunchers to crunch the numbers, the risk is way to big. They were planning on tearing down Randall Park mall and building a soccer stadium and partnering with St eds and Ignatius (they would play there home games there also. Like houston is doing for there SSS). Seattle did a good job because they didnt market to the soccer moms, they marketed to the 18-34 age to make the games more wild, and intense and harsh. The whole MLS is starting to do that now. Gte rid of the families, and make it all rowdy.
I agree with those who don't think there's enough soccer fans in NE Ohio. Cleveland is a blue collar, beer/hot dog/burger, football/baseball kinda town. Case in point: the Cleveland Force. I know what you're thinking. The Force sold out the old Richfield Coliseum with SRO crowds of 22,000+. The fans were crammed in like sardines. The city loved the Force! Yeah, 'cuz the Indians and Browns sucked. Now, I was a young teenager at the time, so I'm going by old memories. But my recollection is that in the Force's final year, the Indians went on a run of good form. The Force immediately became an afterthought. Here was this team that had played to standing-room crowds. At last, they'd made the finals, and now they weren't selling out. (I got caught up in "Indians Fever" and stopped paying attention to the Force myself, something I've never really forgiven myself for.) The Browns and Indians rule Cleveland. There will be room for a soccer team in the city's heart only so long as both those clubs stink. The moment either the Browns or the Tribe go on a run, the soccer team might as well not exist. But hey, any plan that involves tearing down Randall Park Mall, I'm totally behind. ------RM
Sad to say, but I really believe Cleveland is now too small to have representatives in all of the Big Three sports. The only reason the Cavs are still here is LeBron. When or if he goes, say so long to them. The Browns were only brought back to the city because the NFL felt sorry for us. Only in true Cleveland fashion, it has actually been worse to deal with this new team than to deal with no team at all. The Indians won't have another '90s-like run in my lifetime. The fan base has grayed considerably since then and the ownership has no intent on spending the way Dick Jacobs did. It's only a matter of time before these enterprises start to fade. As for soccer, as long as Northeast Ohio does not have a vital youth community, you can forget about it being a bigtime player.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/attendance?year=2008 For a 4-12 team. Cleveland is and always has been a football town. Modell moved the team for his own reasons, but it wasn't because Baltimore was a better football town than Cleveland or because they had better support there. He was a greedy bastard. You realize that what is today called the NFL originated in something called the Ohio League? In 1920 they joined up with some other teams and formed the American Professional Football Association, three of the ten teams were in the Cleveland area. Two years later they changed the name to the NFL. As for your comments about the Cavs and the Indians that's just speculation. Hell, if you ever went to Indians games in the '80s at Muni, well, if the team survived that, they'll be fine in the future. Not only that, but the Cleveland area is still the 18th largest media market by population. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TV_markets_and_major_sports_teams So, yeah, we may be the smallest with teams in the big three but there are only three cities above us. Seattle is lacking basketball, gee what happened there. And so is SD, I can't see bball doing well in SD, I lived there for a couple of years. At least I don't think they'd be better than Cleveland without LeBron. The other city is LA without NFL. And the league has its own reasons for that. So, where exactly would you suggest that these teams go to? And even smaller market than Cleveland?
Well, Cleveland is on the even shorter list now for the WC bid. Maybe they are considering expanding the playing field: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...-trims-list-of-possible-world-cup-venues.html http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Federation-Services/2009/08/27-Cities-Chosen-For-World-Cup-Bid.aspx Discussion here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1142436 https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1068904
The playing field does not need to be expanded. Browns stadium was built to host international soccer. Or at least that's what the Browns website says.
Ummm... don't you remember the conversation we had in this very thread? It was only a week ago. Go read the previous few posts. As it is, the field is too small for World Cup matches.
I found the dimensions, it looks like it's 1 yard off. Not sure, maybe the field is wider than it says. But I would be surprised if the field weren't the correct size. I don't know why Browns Stadium would even be considered then. I don't see RL reducing the size of the stadium.
It's more than one yard off. Dude, we already had this discussion. Go back and read post #20 in this thread. So, they must be considering widening the playing area in order to host a match. And the measurements they have listed on the Browns site are correct. Somebody in a different thread went to Google maps and measured it.
I think that most of you, if you already do not, should just start making the trip down to Columbus for crew games. I wish that soccer could be in Cleveland as bad as you all do but right not it is a lost cause. Myself and a few other guys just bought a half season this year and the games are really well spread out and it makes for a fun weekend road trip. The more people the better!
Soccer is in Cleveland and nobody is saying it's a lost cause. I like the Crew, but I would much rather spend the majority of my time support my hometown team. I go to Crew matches when I can, but I wouldn't choose to go to a Crew game over a City Stars game. But that's just me.
Agree with you completely. Why drive 2 hours when we have fun soccer to watch here. I just wish it was less family oriented...
Because the team doesn't suck ass, the stadium's enjoyable to watch soccer in, the atmosphere is much better... Sorry, just playing Devil's Advocate. I've been to seven CCS games this year, and no Crew games. But I can see the appeal. ------RM
So how do you create atmosphere when the people who want an atmosphere don't go to the games because they think there's no atmosphere? God that was phrased poorly, but there's no way to create an atmosphere at a game unless people who want an atmosphere go to the game.
Well I have been to the games and while I love soccer and cleveland, going to watch a pro soccer game in a high school football stadium where all the supports act British and sing with British accents just isn't my deal and its not fun. I have to say that some major chamges need to take place. As a matter of fact if the games where still downtown I would probobly go to every home game because it felt more like a pro soccer game and being downtown is better than Bedford. Here is some advice for the future. STOP SINGING WITH BRITISH ACCENTS! WE ARE AMERICAN!
Really, "all" the supports "act British"? Just how are we acting British? Do we have bad teeth? Did we greet you with "Cheerio, Guv'nor." I admit some of the guys sing with English accents but that's because they learned the songs from Englishmen. So, what games did you go to? Btw, one of the guys that went to nearly every game early this season was actually English. Are you going to accuse him of acting British and that he should speak like an American when he's here? And if you went to the July 3rd game, well, we were practically invaded by about 30 guys from AIS. The majority of them were from England, Scotland, and Ireland.
New article in the PD. Apparently the sale of the league has given us some more time to find a buyer. And I guess two out of the three groups want to keep the team in Cleveland, though it sounds like none of them are local.
Also, City Dave hit the nail on the head about the British thing. C-Bus20, I think we would all love for you to come to the last game on Saturday. You too Wolfff. Let's get rowdy get a home win.
Ya ill be at the game for sure. And I didn't mean to piss anyone off with the British comment but I am just saying what I saw and that I felt it was a little ridiculous.
1 of the buyers is looking to move the team if they purchase it. I just hope it isnt balitmore. I would hate to lose 2 Cleveland footballs teams to Baltimore!! But it sounded like the canadien buyer would move it north....They will prolly be a aprt of the new break away league the Rochester, Minnesota and carolina is talking about forming....this whole thing is a mess.
Agreed, I'm a huge fan of both City and The MASSIVE, but I am a Clevelander and, thus, my ultimate loyalties lie with the Cleveland club.
This is really out there, and I hope it does not come to this, but if the group looking to move the team buys it, is either of the other groups sufficiently interested in owning a team in Cleveland to consider buying an expansion team (either USL-1 or 2) and putting it here?