There are talks of the NASL possibly making a move into Orange County and playing at Cal State Fullerton (where the Blues used to play) and possibly making a move to Santa Ana Stadium after footing the bill for renovations. This new development makes a new Stadium deal very important to the survival of the OC Blues. All the eggs seem to be in the Great Park basket as there are next to no other viable options (at least not on grass). Cal State Fullerton is a great stadium but the location is not ideal for a large portion of the County and was too large for the current level of the club. Barry Venison made a statement to the Telegraph about a 6,000 seat stadium awaiting approval at the Great Park. The city says that is not the case and that a 2,500 seat stadium with an overflow Grass berm is currently in the works and will be built. The question is how big is this grass berm and will it hold enough to meet USL stadium requirements. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stadium-684729-park-soccer.html It depends on finances of the owner and what the rumored new investor is bringing to the club but it seems like it would be advantageous to offer to build the stadium themselves in return for a long term lease. Similiar to the five point communities deal where they agreed to build a large section of the park in exchange for building more houses on the land around the park. The Great Park has been a political nightmare and finding outside money to invest in the park seems like it could be beneficial to the city.
Looks like Great Park Stadium won't be finished until October 2016 at the earliest. We will be plying our trade at UCI at least another season. No word leaked on how lease negotiations are developing though. Club still trains at Great Park so hopefully the relationship is good.
Does UCI not meet minimum standards? Because it doesn't seem like this planned 2500 seat stadium is much bigger than the current Irvine stadium.
Hoping this will be our new home. Rumor of us building elsewhere in Irvine if we don't get the deal at Great Park. http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/10/05/65362/sports-complex-in-oc-s-great-park-to-open-early-20/
In order to get to the D2 capacity requirement there will need to be temp bleachers put on at least one endline. Much like Sacramento. They'll need to add 2500 seats. Grass berm seating doesn't count toward the capacity requirements.
Assuming DII is a concern, or that they don't just get a waiver. God knows they don't need that kind of capacity historically.
New owner has big aspirations, hopes, and dreams. The location is better but he'll need to put a lot of $ into marketing if he wants to see the stadium get over 2500 attendance consistently.
Well the stadium is done, and it looks great. I can't wait to see a game there. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Went to a game there yesterday. Probably less than 1,000 folks, mainly AYSO kids. It actually looks like the stadium renderings above. Huge beautiful grass field. Per the Irvine police officers on duty, the stadium was built by and owned by the City of Irvine, so OCSC is their prime tenant. NO food at the game yesterday, only drinks/beer. Some tents with popcorn, churros. Could not find the answer why. My guess is still work to be done. They had some portable generator lights going in the corners, some cables running around. Great little location with nice entry plaza with palm trees, art museum and restored airplane hanger with 2 planes inside for the history of the airbase this is all being built on. Must be a dozen lighted soccer fields, multiple sand volleyball courts, including one with stadium seating. Also saw a sign for hockey arena and looks like a baseball/softball stadium too. Kind of like Stubb Hubb Center south.
I think LAFC made a smart move to affiliate with OCSC rather than doing LAFC-2. LAG-2 draws poorly, although they still like the direct control. I usually think of OC as LAG territory, but this way LAFC kind of now has a presence there. I think given time to market and promote, OCSC will be ok.
I've been to two matches at the Great Park Stadium now (LAG preseason and OC-PHX). It's a great little stadium for OC. There are real sides along both touchlines, temporary bleachers along the north endline, and a grass area on the south endline. They have regular concessions (including beer) as well as food trucks on the south side. There's also a large video board in the southeast corner. Parking was free for both matches and it was fairly easy to get in and out. The only issue I have with the stadium is that there is very little cover. That's not a huge deal right now but in the hotter months it could be fairly miserable.
============= What would cause an issue between LAG and OCSC ? They were not partners as LAG has a separate team LAG2 At least the city sees it as an issue between soccer teams, not the city. Now if its a higher level issue say league vs. league , thats different.
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