Has MLS ever considered holding the final matches in large state of the art stadiums like the massive one in Phoenix? The match there this year between the US and Mexico was one of the best atmospheres I have ever seen. Could they sell-out an MLS Cup final game there? Would MLS ever hold a final in a non-MLS market?
that is a kick ass idea! i would love to see that stadium filled with passionate MLS fans; it would really tell a lot about the league being outside an MLS market and youre right that US-MEXICO looked and sounded amazing, hopefully this idea reaches the commish if it hasn't already
I believe they played an All-Star game in San Diego. I doubt they'd play a final or an All-Star game in a non-MLS city for the next few years since they'll have a lot of new stadiums to show off, BMO, PHP (no ASG yet), then the next set of parks should be ready Red Bull Park, RSL stadium, then the wave after that Poplar Point in DC (hopefully), and San Jose. After all those, and assuming no new parks are completing the following year, then there might be a chance for Phoenix or another city without an MLS team.
First, we have to make the playoffs. Inuries may take us out of contention this year. Second, I'm not sure that would be a good idea until the team is better established. MLS sides often have playoff attendance numbers that are worse than their regular season numbers. TFC's hardcore fans would come out for the playoffs but there might not be enough time before the first playoff game to market the remaining 6000 non-season-ticket-holder seats to other people. Or maybe there would but not enough beyond that to warrant a move to a 50 000 seat venue. I'd hate to lose the home field advantage of cozy BMO by trying to make noise in a half empty dome.
A better idea (which is used by other leagues) would be to schedule preseason games or even one regular season game in a city that was under consideration for an expansion spot. The league is considering Philadelphia? Bring in New York and DC for a game. The league is considering Vancouver? Bring in TFC and LA.
Slightly off topic, I think Arizona's massive Mexican-American population warrants serious consideration for an MLS club. How come we rarely hear much about Phoenix as a potential future MLS club?
1) It's WAY too hot down there in the summer 2) They don't support the teams they already have: Cardinals (NFL): 63,603 (26th out of 32) Diamondbacks (MLB): 25,821 (24th out of 30) Suns (NBA): 18,422 (10th out of 30) - only exception Coyotes (NHL): 14,988 (24th out of 30) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY 3) No one owner has stepped up
Aside from the fact that points one and two are most likely the greatest impediment to expansion talks- Something tells me that if you ran a correlation between the place they finished in the league and the attendance ranking that there would be strong one evident, the Suns being the only team that wins. Also, you should probably factor in that the Suns are the only time with a lick of history in that town - the Cardinals moved in 1988, the Jets moved there in 1996 and became the Coyotes, and the Diamondbacks were an expansion franchise in 1998. The Suns have been around since 1968.
I just found this. This shows us one of the important factors the league is considering when deciding where to set up new teams: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:New_2000_hispanic_percent.gif Looking at this map, is it any surprise that San Jose is the next MLS city? And that Houston was the last city? And that Seattle will probably follow? And that Las Vegas is actually being seriously considered? And that Arizona was mentioned by the Boca people this week? And that there's talk of going back to Florida? People in places like Minneapolis and Rochester may be dying for an MLS club, but if this map is any indicator of where MLS will go, it won't be any places like that for a long time.
Yeah, although it's still extremely hot and humid at night in the summer in Houston. I like it as a fan, but it's probably not ideal for the players, who are soaking in their own sweat after about 10 or 15 minutes. I guess you can become more accustomed to it, though.
They are talking about building an sss with a retractable roof in Phoenix. So that would take care of the heat part. The market will support soccer and it makes sense because of it's demographics and proximity to Mexico. Forget about expanding to all of these Northeastern markets. MLS needs to be in U.S. latin markets like Phoenix, San Diego, San Antonio, and Miami. These markets could support a team much better than teams that are already in MLS like KC, New York, and Columbus. WTF...Yeah let's add another team in the market that has by itself held this league back, New York.
Miami has already proven it can't support a team. Plus, the Hispanics in Miami are mostly Cuban and other Caribbean islanders. For them, baseball is way more popular than soccer. woodlands, do you know where Seattle is? That map shows that there are not many Hispanics in Seattle, which is in the northwestern part of the state, not the center that has a few spots of high concentration in that image.
They are..or they were...allegedly that's changing? Mexican-Americans moving in where the Cuban-Americans used to be? I knew someone would jump on that. I looked at the map about half a dozen times before I decided to mention Seattle and, yes I do know where the Puget Sound is, and I've been to Spokane as well as Seattle. Mapquest tells me that it's a 2 hour 14 minute drive from Yakima to Seattle. And I better stop there before I exceed my limited knowledge. Maybe someone from Washington state could tell us whether Seattle makes sense because of Hispanics in that region.