Crazy thought: would Mr. Edwards rename ALF? I mean there's no baseball ties anymore to it. Bill Edwards Field. BEF. It could stick....
The St. Pete City Council, when they awarded control of the stadium to Bill Edwards, asked that if they were to sell the naming rights of the stadium, that it still keep "Al Lang" in the name somehow (Example: Hard Rock Park at Al Lang Stadium or C1 Bank Stadium at Al Lang Field).
Al Lang is looking nicer and nicer. As a Tampa Bay native now living in NYC, I hope the Rowdies keep growing and growing on and off the pitch. Soccer should be big in Tampa. It's been over a decade and I'm still saddened by the Mutiny folding.
Among the many improvements at Al Lang, the new banners, logos, and other Rowdies branding really foster a festive atmosphere. To me this enhances the game on the field. The inflatable giant green tunnel over on the southwest entrance is another example of this. The "fancam" on the jumbotron is also a touch that welcomes casual fans with kids. Good job Rowdies org on having all these small touches - in addition to the major renovations - ready for opening night!
Al Lang Stadium is being discussed on the Skyscrapercity.com website. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=647092&page=623
Channel 13's, Charley Belcher, did his"Charley's World"segment with the Rowdies this morning. A morning with the Tampa Bay Rowdies http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/28890640/a-morning-with-the-tampa-bay-rowdies
A tour of our beautiful little stadium by, the Rowdies COO, Lee Cohen and Great 38's,Jenn Holloway. Exclusive look inside newly renovated Al Lang Stadium http://www.wfla.com/story/28851397/exclusive-look-inside-newly-renovated-al-lang-stadium
I believe the last corporate naming rights to Al Lang was something like "Progress Energy Park at Al Lang Field" or something like that. Bill wouldn't name the stadium after himself; those days are long gone; he'd sell naming rights. Also his approach appears to be politically savvy: stay on the good side of local politicians, avoid provoking the NIMBYs. This is why it is, IMO, unlikely he'll tear down the existing Al Lang Stadium structure and build an entirely new SSS, even though that route makes the most sense, given the poor orientation of the soccer pitch at Al Lang which makes it impossible to expand on the side bordering Bay Shore Drive. Bill will keep nibbling away: extend his four year deal, get money to "improve" Al Lang from the City and State, expand seating capacity in stages, never tear down the existing Al Lang structure, leave its historical baseball markers in place, but bit by bit Al Lang morphs into an MLS SSS. At no point will the St. Pete voters be asked to approve anything, ie, Bill will never give the NIMBYs an opportunity to demagogue. Remember what happened to the Tomato Patch site. Don't give some blue hair the opportunity to claim "they want to tear down a historical ball park where Babe Ruth played!" Babe never played at Al Lang; he played at a previous ball park which was torn down and which space the parking lot currently occupies; but facts seldom matter when NIMBYs get rolling, so best never give them an opportunity to start rolling at all. So anyway I expect Bill Edwards will play along with the St. Pete City Council, in keeping the Al Lang name in some form.
So right about the NIMBYs, especially in St. Pete, where they can't get anything done about that stupid pier because someone always whines about the design.
I wasn't say he was/would change it. My thought was that he could if he wanted too. I was wrong. But he'll get big money once we get bigger. Al Lang at Publix Field sounds good to me.
They booked a couple events for ALF. Rugby 7s and BMX stuff. http://www.tampabay.com/news/busine...at-al-lang-stadium-will-bolster-local/2244563
Can anyone let me know how many people Al Lang seats since the renovations? I have found online that before them it was 7,200 and stats say that is can currently hold 7,500. However, unless I am mistaken it would seem there are more than 300 seats in the midfield seating area. The numbers just do not seem to add up unless they took out seats when they replaced the old seats with the green and gold. Perhaps I am missing something?
Just looking at pictures, I'm guessing the old seats were a bit more cramped together and the new ones just take up more space? I don't know. Sorry for the late reply. I posted some news in another about a lease extension at Al Lang going to referendum but I will cross post it here. Rowdies Seeking to Extend Al Lang Lease in Lead Up to Proposed Stadium Expansion
I did a rough count the other day down there and I counted 6298 possible spots for humans at ALF. I included the berm in my estimate. I can see 7500 with standing room.
A site has been set up to support extending the lease to Al Lang. Pretty important to get ahead of all the NIMBY nonsense. http://www.supportallang.org/
http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2016/12/al-lang-stadium-renovation-talks-back-at-the-forefront/ Al Lang Stadium Renovation Talks Back at the Forefront December 1, 2016
Sounds like the Mutiny will be playing 2nd division soccer again soon. I wonder if we get a new ownership partner as well?
Wait, what? If they're going to rebrand as the Mutiny...oy. Look, I was a Mutiny fan. I have three Mutiny jerseys in my closet (including the 1996 mutant bat version). I was on board. But they went through a lot to get the Rowdies' name and brand back, and even though whatever they might do in green and yellow wouldn't make them those Rowdies again, it was nice anyway. The Mutiny brand never resonated with anybody. Why you'd go back to it is beyond me.
Yeah where are you getting this? Only way I would accept Mutiny is if it somehow got us into MLS this very next season, lol.
Genuine question: were the Mutiny actually completely folded, like Miami or just made inactive and dispersed? I know they never found an operator-investor which is one reason MLS closed them, but Miami had and operator-investor, so it was a little different. I wasn't into soccer back then, I only went to a couple Mutiny games before they folded, so this is a genuine question to people that might know the answer.
Not sure what the difference in terminology is, but the article in the Times uses the word "folded" in the headline and the article. The players were dispersed in a draft. http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/09/Sports/MLS_folds_Mutiny.shtml I assume the rights to the Mutiny trademarks and whatnot are still with MLS, which means if this crazy rebrand rumor is true we'd be working with them directly to make it happen. That would imply MLS is in the cards if they bothered to do that. I really doubt it though given the success they've had with the Sounders, Timbers, and Whitecaps. Why allow/force us to rebrand?