My guess is that the stadium is going to have a permanent capacity of around 20K, with the ability to expand another 5-7K when needed. If it has a stage on one end (which I do think is likely), it's not that difficult to design some sort of "fold up" bleachers (similar to Candlestick Park) that can be extended out when needed. As far as the temporary facility is concerned, there have been some subtle hints in the press over the last few months. One of the most promising is what Jerry Smith said when he signed his new contract with Santa Clara. He said that one of the reasons he committed to a long term deal is because of "the plans" for future facilities. I still believe the proximity of the new Quakes location and Santa Clara University is going to result in something pretty nice. Obviously, "temporary" bleachers at Buck Shaw is not an improvement. However, if such a thing were to be done, they might stay in place after the Quakes leave so that the school can demolish the existing grandstands and rebuild them. Also, upgrades to concessions and other public amenities might coincide with the Quakes using (and paying good rent) Buck Shaw for a couple of years. Lew Wolff has already demonstrated that he likes to have deals where both sides theoretically get something from the deal, as opposed to just paying rent for use.
What makes you say that? The final approval if it comes will be signed off no later than March. Shovels can be in the ground the day after they sign off. 2 years is more then enough time to build a stadium.
Ah, you discovered Wolff's little secret. He's hoping this happens as his response to those fans would be, "You should have bought season tickets." Remember, it's not just about butts in the seats, its about consistant buts in the seats in the form of season ticket sales that teams need. That's why Toronto has been so successful. They have 15,000 season ticket holders.
that's a good point about the comments from smith. my buddy reminded me that Buck Shaw has all the seating on just one side, so you could effectively double the size with temporary bleachers on the other pretty easily i guess. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=buck+...21.936837&spn=0.003889,0.007231&t=k&z=17&om=1
If San Jose was ready to sue the county over a competing concert venue, I'm sure they'd not hesitate to stop Lew from doing the same.
Spartan is an ugly stadium im sorry i want something better than that. Yes he does want a 18-20k stadium but he will see how many San Jose fans there are and will be quick to expand it.
My thought is rather than it being just a stage, it could be used as restaurant/pub seating when not needed for game seating. I don't like the idea of having one end zone area not being used.
Alioto has basically admitted to us they have designed in a stage. Hopefully they did a good job with it. Rossetti seems to get better with each iteration and TP was their last effort. Hopefully we'll get better than this. And i don't think the city would have problems with a stage. The city wanted an indoor small concert venue for downtown and the county wanted to build it at the fairgrounds. A stadium stage wouldn't compete in the same market (small drawing acts) with a downtown concert hall. Downtown might get Tori Amos, the Stadium might get Gwen Stefani.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is usually relative. I'm sure you've been to both Spartan and Candlestick. Don't get hung up on a 20K stadium size. Below is the average attendance for leagues around the world in 2005-2006. Soccer worldwide doesn't draw like American football. We don't need, nor do we want big football stadiums. Smallers better, more intimate, more intense. What's important is that the league thinks they have a business model that works even if we average under 20K per game. That's a very good thing. In 25 years when the MLS is more popular than the EPL it will be time to rebuild these stadiums anyway. German Bundesliga – 40,745 England Premiership – 33,864 Span La Liga – 29,029 Italy Serie A – 21,698 France Ligue 1 – 21,576 Dutch Eredivisie – 16,805 Scotland Premier League – 16,147 MLS - 15,108 Portugal Superliga – 10,600 Sweden – 9,760 Denmark – 7,957 Poland – 6,833 Greece Ethniki A – 5,627 Ireland Premier – 1,393
God, I hope you're right. Stanford would an ideal location, lots of shade for tailgating, great new stadium, the whole thing works.
The last time I was at Stanford Stadium (admittedly a while back), there was plenty of beer around. However, during the '84 Olympics, they did enforce a strict "no alcohol" policy for the soccer games played there. I think there was a separated "beer garden" area where you could purchase beer, but you had to drink it there...you could not take it to your seat. The recent rule instigated by the California University system about alcohol does not apply to Stanford (as it is a private school), so if there is a ban, it is something that the school decided.
Right. Every time anyone mentions Stanford, I immediately think of having to throw away four or five cans of excellent Foster's Bitter. If they lift that anti-booze thing they've got going.... Of course, I do realize that young people at private universities don't drink.
I don´t understand this favor of big stadiums or the nostalgic support of Spartan..I mean why? To be honest if I was Wolff I´d max the new stadium at 18k and as for the temporary one, the smaller the better so a renovated Bucks shaw sounds perfect. The future economic benefits of a big stadium is dodgy as MLS more and more are coming to resemble other big leagues where TV-money and Sponsors are the main revenue streams followed by tickets and merchandising. Apart from the fact that bigger stadiums are more costly to build, maintain and staff... And demand for tickets is always a good thing for a team, as for Spartan it´s somewhat imperative that Quakes doesn´t financially support a stadium that will become a major competitor for the new Epicentre, it´s not like Spartan must die so the Epicentre can live but close enough, a derelict Spartan works in our favour. Well, I can be wrong, according to my wife I often am...
The Spartan thing is very simple to understand. Spartan is better than a renovated Buck Shaw. Spartan is the best MLS-type facility in Northern California. For the next two years it would be best for the fans if Wolff just cut a deal with SJSU. Put the egos aside and make it work. Watching a game in Oakland or at Buck Shaw will suck compared to what we had at Spartan.
i agree with above. I would love to see the games at Stanford. I know some have a beer issue but get drunk before the game. Stanford i think is the best stadium and i would love to see it there. If not i wouldn't mind Spartan stadium. Its way better then Buck Shaw im sorry.
It´s just for two years, that´s no time at all...And as fans we really ought to ask us what´s best for the Quakes in the long run. And the long run is starting ten years from now....