Maryalns Stadium Authority approves feasiblity study, no mention of Crystal Palace Baltimore though http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/blast/bal-sp.soccer20jan20,0,2300777.story
Re: Crystal Palace 2009 -Post Season thread More info in the Baltimore Business Journal. City on the hook for $75,000 CP Baltimore & Pat Turner paying $25,000 Couple of images in the article
Re: Crystal Palace 2009 -Post Season thread http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/01/18/daily28.html this mentions CPB.
Re: Crystal Palace 2009 -Post Season thread Pretty nifty. I'd love for CP Baltimore to get their own stadium downtown, especially if it holds true to the renderings included on here. I wonder if DCU will use this feasibility study to hold the District hostage for a new stadium? Because their influence could be the deciding factor on whether the Crystal Palace stadium is 'approved' this study. If the study only finds that one soccer stadium in the city is feasible (Which it probably will), which would the city approve? The higher-investment, higher-profile MLS stadium or the smaller-risk, smaller-reward NASL stadium? If I were a betting man, I'd say they'd sooner approve a MLS team, which could be trouble for CPB.
Re: Crystal Palace 2009 -Post Season thread Given the stadium efforts of the last several years, I don't think the District will feel any remorse in letting the team go. I think the feasibility study will probably end up favoring the smaller stadium, with the argument that M&T Bank Stadium is sufficient for big soccer matches.
Re: Crystal Palace 2009 -Post Season thread How about 12K with future expansion consideration in design to say 20K
Assuming the study reports a positive net economic impact (Which it most likely will) for building the stadium in Baltimore, when would construction start? This summer? Would the stadium be open in the 2011 or 2012 season?
original stadium projected completion was 2012. don't know if the approval process backs that up or not. several buildings exist on site that would have to be removed before construction would begin. this is why I worry about the stadium authority picking an MLS size stadium for westport instead. the land in westport is cleared and along the light rail line. a facility there could provide a boost for development yet to come and that might figure into the economic impact. on a brighter note the team called and i ordered my season tickets today, 15 game season with three others included which i guess would be either playoffs or exhibitions.
You mean 15 home games? That would indicate a 30-game sked for each team. Hmmm, verrrrrrrrrrrry interesting!
love the renderings. if/when it is built it will probably look different buy any new stadium porn is fine by me. best of luck cpb!
Actually there is one slight problem with pulling DCU to Baltimore. M&T Bank Stadium has artificial turf--which international teams won't play on. Last summer I read a report that it cost something like $350K to sod the field for the AC Milan-Chelsea match. Let's say that DCU does make the move north to Baltimore. They could actually wind up playing the international friendlies at FedEx Field, which has grass, instead of paying for M&T to be sodded. (I guess it would depend on who would be picking up the bill for it.)
I'm not sure if this has been previously posted but here is the 2010 budget for the Maryland stadium Authority. Page 28 highlights the two stadium projects in Baltimore. http://www.mdstad.com/pdf/budget2010.pdf
Crossroads Consulting? Here I thought they did this sort of study in house at MSA. I would picture August or September for study completition even though they mention summer. That would match the time taken for the Prince George's County study for DC United.
Let's just suppose Baltimore gets 2 soccer stadia -- Crystal Palace gets their new home and DC United moves into a new stadium in Westport. Would you support both teams? If so, how much? season tickets for both? If you'll support only one team, which one would it be and why? It would be a very difficult decision for me. I don't think I could afford the emotional investment in supporting both.
I'm beginning to believe that the deciding factor in the choice of a 10K stadium vs. a 20K-25K stadium may hinge more on lacrosse then soccer. With the lacrosse match-ups that are held at M&T, excluding the NCAA Tournament, averaging around 20k per event, the stadium for DC United coming in at 25k might make more financial sense to those doing the review. It would also get the lacrosse events out from under the thumb of the Ravens who receive a significant portion of the proceeds from any event held at M&T and turn that revenue into state money instead.
I just checked the DC United web site. An 8-ticket voucher plan goes for between $184 and $338, depending on the stadium section. I'm not sure what parking costs. Food costs are probably higher than "normal" restaurant prices. So..... one is probably looking at somewhere around $35.00 to $45.00 per game when all is said and done. Contrast that with $25.00 per game for CPB tickets + food and drink. CPB is definitely the more affordable option, but one would expect it to be. DCU season tickets aren't that practical for me, since I wouldn't make the effort to use that many tickets. I bought season tickets to the local PDL team when I lived in North Carolina; but attended only 4 out of 12 home games. I decided against CPB season tickets because I didn't want to be in that position again. It depends on which day of the week you ask me, but more and more I'm wishing that DCU finds a home in the District, leaving Baltimore to CPB. I like the local feel of Crystal Palace, particularly it's novel relationship to the English team.
I think it would be safe to say Crystal Palace may not survive if DC United came here. Maybe it would still be around but a lot of fans would just become fans of the "major league" team and not the "minor league" team. That's not to say that they couldn't both do ok. The Aberdeen Ironbirds, Bowie Baysox and Fredrick Keys do fine in the "O's" territory, but they are a little further away.
I would amend that to say those teams are a LOT further away. Baltimore really can't support two teams, if DC United were to come, which I doubt, Crystal Palace would have to relocate to Towson or somewhere else. I just can't see the city supporting two clubs successfully. The difference with the minor league baseball affiliates listed above is that they're very far from the Orioles and the baseball minor leagues are well-established. MLS and the USL/NASL setup is still young. The Orioles and their affiliates can draw from different fan bases, I doubt the same can be said for soccer in the area.
Anyone have any idea when the Maryland Stadium Authority is supposed to issue its report? IIRC, something was supposed to come out in "the summer". By my reckoning, that's any day real soon now. I'm still a bit confused as to what that report is going to do, regardless of what it says. If anyone can explain that to me, I'd appreciate it. With respect to the stadium itself, I've visited the area vicariously courtesy of Google Earth, and I have to say, the stadium should fit rather well. I'm curious as to how one would get there, and where one would park, but I expect those details will be made public in due course. I am convinced a new SSS, where Crystal Palace can fully promote its own brand identity, will do wonders for attendance.
Baltimore is going slowly, which I think is a good thing. M&T Bank Stadium is hosting Inter Milan vs. Manchester City in July, which will generate more buzz for soccer in the area. Crystal Palace needs to capitalize on that somehow, and I agree with Sherman that a stadium will help them do that. Playing at UMBC just isn't sufficient. If I recall correctly, the stadium report is a feasibility study, to determine things like cost, infrastructure, perceived benefits of each stadium (MLS and/or NASL), etc.