I was really really ashamed of the 'flagship' franchise last Saturday, when maybe 7000 showed up for a game against their Rivals... My God, do those people like anything other than the Mets, Yankees, Knicks, and the Rangers? Soccer has no chance to succeed in New York City, but I think there is definitely a good market in Rochester, where people really love the game. How long will this league absorb the tremendous losses of having a team in the sinkhole New Jersey? Could they possibly draw a crowd of 20,000? I don't think the interest is there, and the MLS should save face and move this team.... I think I will find MANY people feel the way I do, and I do feel for the few people who are metrostar fans....I hope they can still cheer for the team in Rochester.
The Metros have consistantly had one of the highest attendances in the league, even though the team was utter crap for the 1st 3 years with lousy management. It took the defending champs, who are playing some great soccer, half the season to get a crowd higher than 10,000. The Metros attendance is NOT a problem. If a stadium gets built that actually connects to public transportation, then they will be the class of the league by far in attendance numbers. JMac
I am a big supporter of Rochester getting a franchise... but lets face it Rochester is currently getting a little over 10000 per game.... the MetroStars are getting a little over 19000 per game. When Rochester goes MLS I see their numbers being similar to the Rev's.... but I see no reason to kill/move a franchise when they are averaging where the MetroStars are at. And for the record attendence was 13837.... which is nearly double your estimate. Relax man, the sky is not falling.
thats bad for a double header though and don't forget... the yanks red sox always sell out... why not atleast 30000 for revs NY
I'm not sure how the weekend entertainment is in Rochester during the summer months, but people in the New York metropolitan area including the Jerseyites go away for the weekend. And the only thing we're throwing money away on is rent in GS. If we had our own place, we'd be doing just fine.
The problem with the Metros franchise (in this regard) isn't the attendance per se, but the stadium lease. A disaster.
I was at the game. I'm no expert at estimating crowd size, but I thought it was closer to 20K. During the game, I really thought it would have been a good crowd in a 25K seat stadium. It was pretty hot, and I think part of the problem was that many people (at least in my area) were sitting higher up, in the shade, and probably didn't show up on TV. Regarding everyone's love affair with Rochester, I remember a post a long time ago pointing out that when the Rhinos played at the Univ of Rochester, they drew about 4K per game. It was not until they started playing in downtown Rochester that they began drawing crowds of 10K. If and when their stadium gets built, it will be out in the suburbs, so I'm not sure that we can all just assume that they will continue to draw crowds of 10K or higher. It may be that the location of their present stadium is responsible to some extent for the team's ability to draw fans, and they will lose this advantage with the new stadium. If the Rhinos were in MLS and continued to draw around 10K per game, how long would it take for the first "Move the Rhinos" thread to appear?
No disrespect to anyone but MLS needs a franchise in NYC. If the Metrostars were a winning team they would be drawing double the MLS average. No disrespect to anyone but the Revs are not the main rivals of the Metrostars. Shade is a very good alternative on a humid sunny day (Granted it does not look good on TV, but the bottom line is paying customers). NYC-Rochester would be a pretty good rivalry, hopefully it happens.
Re: Re: Rochester MetroStars? The Rhinos averaged 4,500 at the U of R which held about 5,000 bleacher seats. The Rhinos have averaged 11,000 the past 6 years in a 10,800 seat baseball stadium (they add about 1,500 bleacher seats). The Rhinos do not have the ability to draw 40-50,000 for a doubleheader to pad their average. Lets face it, the realistic consistant MLS average without doubleheaders or the 4th is about 13-14,000. The Rhinos can hang in at that level, especially with MLS trying to get into smaller soccer specific stadiums. Rochester's metro popluation is 735,000. Per capita, their average must top any MLS team. Rochester going MLS is not about attendance, it's about whether or not MLS wants a small market city in their league, which i don't think they do. If they really wanted Rochester in MLS, Anshutz would have bought the franchise by now and built a stadium. There is no doubt Rochester would be profitable, but I think MLS wants to maintain a "major league" image. Rochester has no other teams in the 4 major sports and no Division I sports.
I agree. Meadowlands is hard to get to for many who live in the city. I'm not saying move the Metros to NYC. I think MLS needs a team in NYC proper. AND move the Metro to their own stadium. I wish Philly had a team.
prob has somethin to do with about 85 years vs 7 years and both teams usually sucking vs both teams fighting for pennant(and not to mention bucky f*cing dent)
Re: Re: Re: Rochester MetroStars? Rochester should absolutely be the 1st city considered for expansion!
my gosh, my gosh, my gosh, only 10,000 for the MetroStars last night.... Arent' there any more soccer fans than that in NYC??? It's time to consider either moving this team to someplace that wants them like Rochester, or maybe it's time to just shut this league down now... while they still have some dignity.