If you're getting the tell-tale signs of nats games and other such things then MLS shouldn't be that far behind. When I was looking up the relative media market statistics I was surprised to see how high Phoenix is. I can't see MLS overlooking Phoenix much past 2012 at this point. Especially if they worked out a bitchin' deal at that pretty new NFL stadium.
Unless MLS explodes in popularity or the people trying to get the team change, there's no way a Phoenix team will use the UPS. It's great for big matches, but way to big and out of reach for most of the city for a sport that would have popularity problems to begin with.
Arizona has more soccer going than, St Louis, Portland, Atlanta right? We have soccer fields everywhere....so imagen if we get a team here the kids all of us that are tired of watching games on tv, now we get a chance to go to the stadium.... I will be one of the first ones....with my lil boy there supporting the team...
I don't know about St. Louis or PDX as they are HUGE soccer towns. I recently heard that Seattle has the third biggest youth soccer population in the US, so I cannot think that Portland is very far behind. Also, everything I've heard is that STL is right there with us. I think UPS, with the advantages of the unique tray system, would be killer for MLS. By 2012 we'll have another WC qualifier under our belt and be on the way to another Euro tourney. I don't think this is unrealistic that MLS could grow quite a lot in five years. Getting 30,000 in UPS for normal games and then filling it for Beckham-like games would be what I could foresee. Or you could just use Sun Devil Stadium. Problem here is you might run into the same problems as the Home Depot Center as it is on ASU's campus, no?
Regarding the size of UPS, have you seen the renderings of Qwest with a giant tarpaulin enclosing the entire upper deck? Interesting. Don't know if it could be done, but I suspect with a bit of engineering creativity... I do agree however that UPS's location for the market wouldn't be ideal. The problem of course is that amongst the expansion candidate cities, Phoenix (and Vegas) must have a domed stadium so long as the league plays Apr-Nov and not Aug-May. That means an extra $50m(?) for any prospective ownership group(vs other cities) for adding the roof to the stadium. As for the popularity issue, I wonder(and don't know) what would happen if Club America or Boca Juniors decided to follow in Chivas footsteps and invest in US futbol? Would the team have an instant fan base?
Sun Devil Stadium will be a good start but summer time willl be a killer unless the games are at night when the temp goes to 90'sF.... Phoenix has a big challenge about MLS but not impossible either.. We can use the University of Phoenix Stadium too for a while....=) After all we paid for that stadium with our taxes...
Boca Fans will always follow Boca =) like me...... even though they are base in a different city I will go for Boca... but I wouldn't like to see another MLS team with a team from another league... Chivas USA....please...... Chivas is a nick name for Guadalajara team in mexico..... their real name is not even chivas..... I think they should call it..... Los Angeles FC nickname Chivas.....but the name with all your respect is lil dumb! Boca's fans are call Xeneizes.... Imagen Xeneize USA...duh! Aguilas USA for club america? hahaha.... We need more original names for new teams...
I wasn't even thinking of the 'name' of the team as much as the affiliation and whether that would be enough for fans of the 'parent' to support the sister club based in the US. As for team names, I agree with teams using whatever name they choose.
When is this team going to happen? Is it a dream or reality? I would love to see Phoenix Rising in the MLS!!! Can't Wait! We have lacross for crying out loud? Phx has every other Major Sport let's get the MLS here!! http://www.mlsphoenixrising.com/
Earliest I see it will be 2012. With this announcement about Seattle on the MLS website, the 16th team would seem to be destined for the Eastern conference. On that front, Philadelphia and St Louis appear to be the frontrunners. Here is an article I found on the Philly situation.
I was in the same situation, I was about to cancel cox and switch to direct tv just because they had goltv. I didn't switch because when I added up the direct tv bill it was just way much more than cox. Then like a week later I woke up and walla goltv . I agree on some points, but me being a Mexico NT fan supporter will still support a phoenix mls team. Of course chivas of mexico is my number 1 team, but would love to have a mls team here in phoenix to support. I already do watch some mls and support chivas usa. Copa Panamericana? lol dude NOBODY that I knew who are both mex and usa nat supporters even knew about this tourney. Their was NO promotion or anything, nothing on public tv just very poorly promoted and advertised. Although I did see some minimal commercials on fox sports en espanol but it was like a week before the actualy tourney. Not to mention that this was the first time uofp had a small soccer tourney, most fans knew it was all for the $. It's not like it was a copa libertadores match or had any real meaning to it. Theirs no way you can say that their won't be success for a soccer team here just by basing it from the copa panamericana attendance results. I went to one of the games, and I at first only knew about it from an e-mail I received from ticketmaster. I also ran into phoenix rising at the panamerican games , it was this black dude with a dc united jersey, he was like hey man, you like soccer? futbol? you know when you kick the ball? i was like yeah man thats why im here. He was like right on bro! sign up for phoenix rising so we can get a team here! I was like cool man and signed up with my e-mail. lol jk about the part where he asked me if I liked soccer .
I know this may sound a little ignorant as I don't really know how hot it gets in Phoenix. However, assuming the stadium with the retractable roof does in fact get built (& don't get me wrong because I'm all for it 100%) where would the club train? I mean no team trains where their games are played so how can a team train in 100+ degree (outdoor) heat in the middle of a hot Arizona summer? I mean will their training ground also be built with air conditioned retractable roofs? Don't mean to be offensive to the city their fans or anyone in particular, I'm just curious.
Honestly, training in Phoenix would be no worse than training in Houston, Dallas, DC, or KC in the summer. Sometimes, you can probably throw Chicago and NY into that mix, too. DC trains in the morning 9-noonish. I wouldn't see that as a problem for the most part.
This is true. I guess I never thought of this. I know of pro teams that train in the afternoon. Most teams are done training by 11AM -1130AM ......There are no 5-6 hour or two a days as there are in American footballl. Also, there are some days where they hit the gym and so its not always an outdoor thing.
You know what I realized, the huge area at 91st ave and northern would be a great place for a soccer stadium. Close to westgate, right off the 101, right by my house...
funny, I was thinking the same thing about Mesa CC main campus and Fiesta Mall area. Right off of rte 60, 1/2 mile to the 101 and right by my house ...
I love the points in this post... make you case over in the Expansion league FORUM https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=14292943#post14292943
Hey Phoenix Rising guys, I sent payment for a shirt over a week ago but haven't received. No complaints. But... I would like to wear the shirt to tonight's Sounders-Sahuaro showdown. Any chance I could pick it up from you guys at the game since you are selling them?
which retractable roof would u be referring to? If you mean the potential Pachuca C.F. venture into USL-1 in Phoenix, then this is the thread to read to keep track.