Downtown Detroit MLS Stadium Site Moves Forward

Discussion in 'Detroit' started by Kavok, Jul 31, 2017.

  1. antnee7898

    antnee7898 Member

    Oct 19, 2007
    South Houston, TX
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In this video, the place looks cavernous
     
  2. Footsatt

    Footsatt Member+

    Apr 8, 2008
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did you watch the video or look at the still?

    Most of the TV angles show people in the stands... the TV angles for example barely show the upper deck.
     
  3. antnee7898

    antnee7898 Member

    Oct 19, 2007
    South Houston, TX
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched the video. Looks like a poorly attended match. Might not have looked that way in a smaller venue. How many people were at that game?
     
  4. RedRover

    RedRover BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 15, 2007
    About 28,000.
     
  5. Ian McCracken

    Ian McCracken Member

    May 28, 1999
    USA
    Club:
    SS Lazio Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Wow, that is a horrible view. What's the point of going to a soccer game if you can't see if the ball went in the net? A goal is basically a rumor at this seat.

    Detroit's Ford Field seating pitch produces a fan sightline slope of 17 degrees in the lower level—among the best for current MLS multi-use stadiums, according to the proposal. I searched for the slope degrees in Atlanta's stadium but could not find it online.
     
    Footsatt repped this.
  6. Datderfranny

    Datderfranny Member

    Apr 1, 2015
    Detroit, MI
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Might be a bit tinfoil hat of me, but I think Gilbert is trying to sabotage the bid just enough to put us out of the running by ditching the SSS on the jail site and striking a deal to use Ford Field. I don't think Gilbert has ever really cared about getting a franchise and was mainly just concerned with getting the jail site. He didn't want the jail to go there, because he didn't want it to have a negative impact on all of the properties he has in the area. Rumor has it that he is going to get the jail site now regardless, so this lessens the necessity of a Soccer Franchise.


    I really thought we were going to get a team this expansion window but now I am skeptical, and I am very disappointed by the Ford Field news. Say what you want about DCFC, but you have to admit that they have a fun, intimate, atmosphere. Playing in a 65,000 seat NFL stadium is about as far away as you can get from a the atmosphere that DCFC provides. The original plans for the Soccer Specific stadium would have came closer to replicating that. I see us being well behind Sacramento, Nashville, and Cincinnati. I doubt we edge out 2 of those 3 for the first two expansion announcements. This puts us in a spot vying for the final two to be announced later on, with expansion fees potentially going up, and any of the other 8 cities having the opportunity of sniping us with a better bid. Hope I'm wrong, though. I've wanted a team so badly for a long time now.
     
  7. Footsatt

    Footsatt Member+

    Apr 8, 2008
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #57 Footsatt, Nov 9, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2017
    The flip side is MLS has recent history with 2 teams doing what Detroit is planning. NYCFC made a deal with NY Yankees for their stadium, and Atlanta is using a multi-use stadium.

    Garber also stated recently that he is happy that Atlanta and Seattle can fill such large stadiums. You would think he, and the league would jump at the chance to possibly add a 3rd.
     
  8. Datderfranny

    Datderfranny Member

    Apr 1, 2015
    Detroit, MI
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have high hopes for a soccer franchise in Detroit, and I think soccer is very popular here, but do you think we could fill a 65,000 seat stadium? I'm skeptical.
     
  9. Footsatt

    Footsatt Member+

    Apr 8, 2008
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe not at first, but there are options in Ford field were they can close of sections to make the stadium smaller, and tarp off areas. They do this in Seattle sometimes.

    For example in this image they closed off the upper deck...
    [​IMG]

    and in this one they closed off just part of the upper deck...
    [​IMG]
     
  10. RaisedEverywhere

    Mexico
    Aug 9, 2017
    Detroit

    I could not agree more. As a new Detroit area resident, I was super pumped at the prospect of possibly getting a team. NO WAY will we get one now. I know it sounds dumb, but I feel duped by Gilbert. I really like what he's doing to the vitality of the city, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed by this turn of events.
    I think you're spot on when you say that he used the team as the carrot to getting the jail site....Now that he's got it, he could not care any less about MLS. I also agree with you that he hopes this fails. His 180 degree turn on the stadium indicate that.
    We are out this round, and unless another investor with another stadium plan comes around for the next round, we will be out for that one as well. We will be the largest market left without an MLS team. By that time, cities like San Diego, St Louis, phoenix, etc will have their act together and will easily beat us.
    I still can't get over the bait and switch Gilbert pulled.
    At the end of the day, I like what he's doing in helping the city turn around, but this leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
     
    Datderfranny repped this.
  11. Datderfranny

    Datderfranny Member

    Apr 1, 2015
    Detroit, MI
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Looks like I was right about Gilbert sabotaging the bid. It appears as if the two MLS expansion cities will come from either Sacramento, Nashville, or Cincinnati, per reports.
     
  12. RaisedEverywhere

    Mexico
    Aug 9, 2017
    Detroit

    Where'd you hear or read this? I don't doubt it....Makes perfect sense. Just curious. I still cannot wrap my mind around the abruptness and change of direction Gilbert made with the Detroit bid. Pretty sad.
     
  13. Ian McCracken

    Ian McCracken Member

    May 28, 1999
    USA
    Club:
    SS Lazio Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
     
    RaisedEverywhere repped this.
  14. RedRover

    RedRover BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 15, 2007
    Way to go Gilbert and Gores. You gave really high hopes for Detroit soccer fans for an MLS side, and then you played bait and switch with them with the Ford Field announcement. You went from being assured of a franchise to never, ever seeing one in the Motor City. And don't give me this crap about Ford Field being a suitable MLS venue. It was designed for NFL football first and foremost. Not with soccer in mind. Are you proud of yourselves for securing that land and not doing anything about it because a jail site depreciated the value of the land you own around you?

    Hell awaits the two of you! :devilish:
     
  15. Ian McCracken

    Ian McCracken Member

    May 28, 1999
    USA
    Club:
    SS Lazio Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    I'm starting to wonder if Gilbert pulled the plug on the new SSS due to the US getting knocked out of the World Cup. He may have been banking on a surge of excitement for MLS after the World Cup, leading into the start of the Detroit franchise in 2020. But, it all came tumbling down with the US failure and he figured the investment in a new stadium wasn't going to be fruitful without the promotional benefit of the World Cup, and so he opted to pull in Ford Field as a cost-saving measure.
     
  16. Rick O'Shea

    Rick O'Shea Member

    Aug 19, 2008
    I think some of you guys are being too pessimistic, as I reckon Ford Field could be a good idea. The game change has been Atlanta, if Detroit can be even half as successful, they would probably be in a better position than starting from scratch with a new stadium that might not turn out to be big enough in the long run. Also they can get up and running far quicker. Who knows they might do even better than Atlanta!
     
  17. RaisedEverywhere

    Mexico
    Aug 9, 2017
    Detroit
    I don't mind your optimism but might as well put a nail in the coffin of our bid. All the "insider" reports are indicating that MLS does not have Detroit in the running anymore.....can't really blame them. Couple these reports with MLS's response after Gilbert announced Ford Field and it's a done deal. No way we get a team. In their response they specifically stated they want a SSS. I Honestly don't know why Gilbert didn't just pull the bid himself, he knew what the requirements were and went totally against them.
    Whatever, it's his money, just hard to swallow. After MLS expands to 28, we are going to be the largest market left out of the team.
     
  18. VBCity72

    VBCity72 Member+

    Aug 17, 2014
    Sunny San Diego
    Club:
    Plymouth Argyle FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Atlanta is the exception, not the rule.
     
  19. thekorean

    thekorean Member

    Jan 10, 2017
    Club:
    New York City FC
    There is also Seattle and New England. Not to mention Vancouver.
     
  20. VBCity72

    VBCity72 Member+

    Aug 17, 2014
    Sunny San Diego
    Club:
    Plymouth Argyle FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Both Seattle and Vancouver stadiums were built with the Sounders and Whitecaps in mind in addition to the Seahawks and the Lions. The Sounders fill their stadium and were the largest average before Atlanta. Vancouver uses curtains like Atlanta. New England is the worst example you can use because they can't get anywhere close to filling that stadium.

    Fun Fact: The first event ever in BC Place was a Whitecaps/ Sounders game in '83.
     
  21. thekorean

    thekorean Member

    Jan 10, 2017
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Why can't Fords make an adjustment to Ford Field to accomodate an MLS team?
     
  22. The Franchise

    The Franchise Member+

    Nov 13, 2014
    Bakersfield, CA
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How do you mean? They plan to curtain or tarp significant sections, and the field was designed to be large enough for USMNT and exhibition matches.
     
  23. Bradford 10

    Bradford 10 Member

    Feb 5, 2013
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Footsatt repped this.
  24. RaisedEverywhere

    Mexico
    Aug 9, 2017
    Detroit
    They are gone. The only reason we are a "finalist" is because cities 5-12 that initially applied for expansion are dead. Their Bids died many months ago and the expansion groups haven't pursued it once they knew they were out.

    Our bid is essentially "dead". The reason it's not officially dead is because Gilbert and Company want to make it seem like they tried, when in reality (as evidenced by switching to Ford Field) they never really wanted a team, just wanted the land.
    Mark my words, Detroit will NOT get a team this round, and by the time the next round rolls around, cities like San Diego, St. Louis, and Phoenix will have all their ducks in a row with a SSS (That Detroit still won't have) and will blow past us again.
    I've said it before, we're going to be the largest market in the country left without an MLS team
     
  25. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    back from the dead...

    March 7, 2018
    Detroit Land Deal Clears Path for Potential Pro Soccer Stadium

    The swap, announced March 7, would give Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures LLC the 15 acres of prime city property the company proposed turning into a $1.46 billion stadium, office, and residential complex.
     

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