What about college level soccer specific stadiums? Or the lower division soccer league stadiums in USL?
I do not know about USL stadiums, but I was referring to college level soccer specific stadiums. I do not know of any that would provide the kind of amenities that professional sport team fans would or should expect.
So you don't think that any school facilities are attractive enough for that expand/improve thing I suggested? I would imagine that a one-time investment in adding appropriate amenities to an existing facility would be cheaper than either building from the ground up or years of rent elsewhere.
I guess it really depends on what they think their attendance will be. If they are thinking in terms of at least 7,000 average attendance at the beginning, then they will need a facility that can handle that many fans with rest rooms, food and drink options, various types of seating, team stores, and so on. Of the college facilities I have been to, I do not recall seeing any that would lend themselves to that kind of conversion. I am saying this because I have interpreted what I have seen as saying they intend to provide a very high level professional sports experience to their fans. In other words, they are intending what they present to be towards the high end rather than the low end of what the current NWSL teams provide.
The "celebrity power ownership" may help make a big initial splash, but it won't affect long-term attendance numbers. More important is how well the team can energize their target demographic(s). SoCal is a WoSo hotbed, but the two MLS teams have shown that the SoCal populace can be a fickle one. The organization needs to A) foster a good, attractive culture around game day and around other activities, B) assemble a team that can win. Utah numbers are entirely within reach, IMO, if they can hit one of those two very well and/or both of those two moderately well; hit both of those two very well and settling in the 15-20k zone is possible. Simply fail on one of the two, and you're looking at 5-8k.
Off the top of my head, the old Drake Stadium at UCLA seats 10,000 max and has multiple public restroom facilities, snack bar areas, etc. I just hate it because it's more of a track and field stadium than a soccer specific stadium. Our SSS is the Annenberg one that is still a work in progress, it has no locker room, no public restrooms(just those porta potties) and seats max 2,000 I believe. USC field is pretty much the same problem.
Think besides having well known players in the new team but have celebrities attend the games as well, so win win for both fans and celebrities. It be like celebrities attending Lakers games.
Los Angeles is where we'll play.Tomorrow, we'll welcome you to 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. #WeAreAngelCity pic.twitter.com/kiyLvFvxq4— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) November 19, 2020 Stadium announcement tomorrow. Any clue where they will be playing?
Banc under normal circumstances. Probably smaller or temporary until they can have fans. With possible vaccine news popping up, could be Banc by next year.
Along with announcing the stadium, it was also announced that Heineken is ACFC's first major sponsor. (Interesting how that might work with Budweiser being a league sponsor.) Also, 10% of sponsorship funds will go to the local LGBTQ+ community. I was definitely curious when the video they put out yesterday featured someone in a West Hollywood SC shirt; really glad to see the team coming out swinging for LGBTQ+ representation and support. =EDIT= Correction: the Heineken/Bud thing is a non-issue, as I've been reminded that the Orlando Pride also have Heineken as a team sponsor.
📍: The heart of Los Angeles¡Bienvenidos a nuestra casa!Official stadium announcement release → https://t.co/z2KegpTOSR pic.twitter.com/zqAAyM4mO2— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) November 19, 2020
Love the sponsorship deal, I'm sad they couldn't get Angel City Brewery as a possible sponsor but I'm not complaining!
By my count, Angel City now has three kit sponsors, all seven- or eight-figure sums: DoorDash (front) Birdies (sleeves) Sprouts Farmers Markets (back) Angel City is going to be able to throw around allocation money like it's nothing, and have a rather large staff to help with player development and well-being. Heck, with the amount they're bringing in, I wouldn't be shocked if they look to building something specifically for themselves like a training facility. I mean, I'm sure rent at LAFC's place isn't cheap either, so this money can certainly help there, but even the money they're bringing in probably isn't enough to build their own 12k-seat stadium or anything that ambitious. (Other possibility: they look into forming a professional reserves side?)
Eni Aluko named first-ever sporting director of National Women's Soccer League side Angel City https://www.skysports.com/football/...national-womens-soccer-league-side-angel-city This is going to be an interesting development to watch. I loved Eni while she played for St. Louis back in WPS, and she continued doing fairly well after that. She only has a year of executive experience under her belt, though, and I hadn't followed Aston Villa much over the past two years, so no clue if this will pan out or not. Villa did get promoted during her first few months on the job, but they had only dropped 2pts from nearly a dozen matches when she started there, and much of the latter half of that season was cancelled by COVID.
I’m guessing the Bud deal isn’t exclusive. The Thorns have sponsorship deals with Widmer’s, Modelo, Coors lite, and Pelican Brewing. The Slide Tackle IPA from Pelican is pretty good! this doesn’t include the Wild Roots Spirits , Two Towns Ciderhouse, or the Social CBD shirt sponsorship. don’t worry, you can sober up with some Dutch Brothers coffee.
Angel City's new crest: Stand up, Los Angeles!Ha llegado el momento de volar a nuevas alturas. #MakeHistoryWithUs pic.twitter.com/WUt3GDsLwD— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) June 30, 2021 For @TheAthleticSCCR: here's @weareangelcity's brand new crest, and all the details that went into making it #NWSL https://t.co/ufT8DRoARw pic.twitter.com/ddLGRERqar— Steph Yang | Horrible Soccer Goose (@thrace) June 30, 2021
I like it, it needs to grow on me a little because I'm not sure how I feel about the angel head. If they removed the angel head, it might have also looked good.
Agreed, the head definitely looks a bit awkward to me compared to the rest of the crest. Would definitely be interested to see a version of the logo where the head (and chest) are simplified down to just a circle for the head, or eliminated altogether.