https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...-some-most-memorable-moments-seatgeek-stadium The good old days.....
I should feel bad or at least nostalgic about the Fire leaving Bridgeview. Sadly, I do not. I wish I had a greater number of positive memories, but I do not. Bridgeview was never the problem. It was a problem (pain to get there, bad lot, not a great atmosphere), but not the problem. It was however a symptom of the problems with the Fire. It is a symbol of Hauptman's mismanagement of the team and, like the other symbols, it has to be excised. Unless Manseuto has a grand vision for a new Chicago stadium, we may regret this decision. Unless the Fire average 25,000+, the Stadium will feel empty and hollow. However, for now, I guess it is necessary. Personally, I prefer Soldier Field as I can walk from work or park in my garage and bike there. I want to miss Bridgeview, that the Fire had a home, and the first two years, it felt that way. The last 10, it was not a home, it was a chore. Thank you, Bridgeview, for taking a chance on the Fire. I am sorry it did not work out.
There is no version of a first-class MLS organization in Chicago that wouldn't easily, hugely exceed that sort of attendance figure. The goal should not be a Sporting KC little engine that can. It shouldn't be 20,000 cheerful hipsters occupying an out-of-the-way niche of the sports consciousness of the city. The goal should be something on a scale not previously seen in MLS. Atlanta United 2.0, whatever that might entail. Push the sport in this country forward. Bridgeview could have hosted a winning MLS team in 2019. It should have. But it was totally incompatible with a paradigm shift to the future. Make no little plans.
"Make no plans"-Andrew Hauptmsn "Make only little plans, aka Trust the Process."-Nelson Rodriguez "?"-Joe Manseuto I really hope you are correct.
Ultimately, the best sign is how much money Mansueto has sunk into this project. If this doesn't go pretty big, he's gonna lose a ton of money. Whereas Hauptman was bought into the SUM gravy train for peanuts. The one thing that has been true throughout MLS history is that for any expansion/rebrand/etc, the only success there has ever been is instant success.
100% agree , anything less than 50,000 should be viewed as failure. Chicago not ********ing Atlanta should be the benchmark for MLS fan culture.
Well, get ready to fail. The Fire's highest attendance ever was 1998 at 17,887. Have averaged 15,637 in their history (not including 2019) Seattle is averaging under 40k this year. High 20s to low 30s is achievable (with 3-5 years) and would be a huge success. (Both LA and NYC are at 23K or below)
Again: 1. The only success there has ever been in MLS is instant success. Year 1 following whatever the big moment was is the attendance peak for virtually everyone in the league. (I actually kind of agree with your sense that there could be a continuous build here, but the facts are the facts. If this flops in 2020 the project, and maybe the club, is in massive trouble.) 2. Whatever has happened in Seattle and/or Atlanta is achievable in Chicago, by definition. We are a bigger soccer market than they are.
Joe is thinking big, so maybe we will see big crowds in 2020. With that said, it can't/won't happen if NRod and Pauno are running the team.
Agreed, and much more besides. The reintroduction to the market needs to be on a pretty big scale to have a chance of working, IMO. The Pauno/NRod thing is about the maybe 5-8k people who were the marginal Bridgeview crowd, who know and engage with the team already but feel burned. That's not nothing, and you need those people at Solider Field, but ultimately you need to be reaching a lot of people who have no idea who Pauno and NRod are.
I actually do feel bad. Bridgeview, like soccer in general, is very blue collar. That is what I love about this sport. I loved old Comisky Park. I loved the old Chicago Stadium. I do not much care for suburban mall like atmospheres. I have been to soccer matches in Portland. A hell of an authentic experience! I have been to a match in Seattle, nice people, but really a sterile environment. Very NFL like. I am one of the few that will greatly miss tailgating in a gravel parking lot with folks similar to me. I know that the new focus is on the young high income urban professionals.That is not me. I know that I am Fire fan 1.0. Had a damm good time while it lasted!!!!
I get what you mean, but it's still funny to have this attitude about 1. Leaving the suburbs 2. To move within a stone's throw of Comiskey Park 3. Back to the facility where it all started for the club
Why not? Atlanta pulls 50k+ the NY and LA clubs pull combined 50k + for their cities. A centrally located , high profile MLS club should be matching if not exceeding that in Chicago. People need to stop acting like league Soccer doesn't belong at Soldier field or at the top of the news . People keep using that Burnham quote , but do they actually believe in it ?
why? Just the distance to SF? do you think the complaining about Hauptman was just convenient for folks who, for totally different reasons, don’t want to engage with the team anymore? I mean, it happens. People get married, have kids, the focus changes.
Not sure why they aren't, I believe it is the distance and convenience. These people drive. For me being in the northwest suburbs it is about the same distance and I can park in the north garage which is closest to the stadium. I wonder if they will change their minds if the Fire start winning.
That was very good at the time. Our peak attendance was 36,444. We sold out Toyota Park (~22k) in less than a week.
That's the second lowest peak attendance in the league, ahead of only Dallas. Dallas, Chicago, Colorado and Columbus are the only four never to cross 20K for a season. Those are also the bottom four in attendance for 2019. Columbus is a small market. Dallas is a tough soccer market. Colorado should be doing much better, but is a relatively small market itself. Chicago has absolutely no business on that list. New York and LA, two other dense, traffic-nightmare metropolises with saturated sports markets and lots of other world-class options for entertainment dollars, each support two teams over 20k (or at least intermittently so in the case of NYRB).
Inb4 the first "Well the move was a failure" posts when the first couple games are played in Chicago winter sleet in March.
The fire averaged 12k this year, if they average 17k I'd consider that a huge success. (42% increase would be huge). 15k would be a success (25% improvement)