I fought the "must have a roof to be a soccer stadium" argument for many years (partly because I'm Crew supporter and we don't have one). Having now been to some newer stadiums with roofs, I can attest they make a noticeable difference. In europe they mostly serve to help with weather since they play through winter, but it makes it more intimate and the supportes groups seem so much louder. Crew stadium now just seems like a big highschool stadium. I was at USA v Jamaica and it was surely loud, but I can't help wonder what it would have sounded like if the noise was contained and not escaping into the C-bus air.
Good Grief! They are building a 3k multi purpose stadium, that just so happens will be the primary home to a 3rd division pro soccer team. And it's all privately funded. It is for all purposes a high school stadium that will be able to sell beer. But it's their own high school staidum and it provides the a great opprotunity to grow their support in the region. They aren't buidling the second Wembley or a new Old Trafford. They are buidling a minor league soccer stadium and again doing it without public funds and on a lower budget. And this whole roof thing. Do you know why they have them in England and the rest of Europe and why it's important. Becasue they play during primarily rainy and snowy seasons of the year. In England it rains a lot in the fall, winter and spring. That's why you have a roof over the stands. It's not to improve the sound of the crowd.
Yeah, all of this is true. However, it would be good to have a roof. Now maybe they can't afford to do a roof right now. The press reports say that they can expand the stadium later if necessary, so maybe they can add a roof later if they think it would help. And as fans, we all want the coolest possible stadium, especially if we aren't paying for it! I think this is a great little stadium, the location is excellent, and for a D3 team, this is completely awesome. Still, a roof would be nice, but I'm not sure what the weather is like in Pittsburgh during the USLPro season. Heck, there are some places in the USA where you want a roof to protect your fans from the sun. In any case, rockin' good stadium for the Riverhounds. I hope they fill it up on a regular basis. - Mark
I dont know how many of you guys have been to games recently but we rarely have rain. I can only think of 2 maybe 3 games in the last two seasons where it rained. Most of our games are at night so the sun wont be too much of an issue either. The original plan was to have a roof. The stadium is no where near completion and after the Penguins Pond event is over more construction will commence, including dressing rooms, the bistro, roof top SRO section and the roof, along with a lot of netting so balls wont destroy those pesky trains that come by. Its not going to be some massive roof, it will cover probably the last few rows in the middle part of the stadium. Lets not worry about a roof at this point. Lets worry about filling up the supporters ection and making every other team in the league crap their pants in intimidation when they visit our beautiful new grounds. sincerely Your VP of the Steel Army
zebraskyPRFC, All the pictures I've seen of your new stadium look fantastic. I'm almost jealous. I don't live in Pittsburgh, or anywhere nearby, and it's not likely I'll ever get to your stadium, but I'm psyched to see it going up. I want to see the beautiful game grow in the USA, so seeing clubs put really money into lower division sides has to be a good sign. Good luck to you and your team. I hope you fill the stands often. - Mark
markmcf8 Thanks man! We have never been more excited for the Hounds then we are right now! They have wanted this for a long time and we have wanted this since the first game in 99'. So needless to say its been a long time coming. I'm confident in saying we have one of the nicest SSS in the country, MLS included. We (The Steel Army) are working our asses off to make this year huge and grow our supporters group. We want to have the best in the league and I don't think we are far off. If anyone if unaware of us and is from Pittsburgh please check us out and make sure you make it out to a game and sing your ass off with us! www.facebook.com/SteelArmy
So they need to teach the ball boys to avoid trains and how to swim when chasing the balls on the river side of the stadium.
msilverstein47, thanks for the link. That's a great story, and I'm really shocked, and pleased to see that a D3 team could pull this off. Sweet looking stadium too! This is the sort of thing that gives me hope for professional soccer in the USA! I loved this bit too: Yeah! Good facilities will attract better players. My team - The San José Earthquakes - are still working on that, and we're MLS. Better facilities, improvements to existing grounds, more media coverage, more sponsors (and cash from those sponsors). That's what we need and Highmark Stadium is a HUGE step in the right direction. Wow, good on ya! - Mark
Really impressive, what a cool location. Another SJ Earthquakes fan here... what are the ambitions of these guys? Will they aim for NASL or MLS or are they happy where they are? If they fill the 3.5k seats do they have plans for stadium expansion, and how would that work with a road on one side and train tracks and a river on the other?
Expansion would not be that hard, if needed. Add a second deck on the main seating area or expand the seating on the east side and on top of the building. The main building could even be replaced with a larger seating/building if needed.
I was skeptical about the stadium when it was first announced. I have to admit that that is the nicest minor league stadium other than the Charleston Battery's Blackbaud Stadium.
I've heard the Hounds already have renderings going up to 18,000. I imagine it would be mostly a vertical expansion. Kutney, the CEO, has said he wants to aim for MLS within 10 years. I think that's a little lofty but we'll see how this season goes.
As much as I'd love to see Pittsburgh in MLS I don't see how that plot of land holds an MLS stadium. To get to MLS wouldn't your ownership basically have to build another stadium somewhere else?
That's basically what I was asking... maybe the road and train tracks can go under the stadium in tunnel,s that would certainly be a unique design!
They've said they want to leave the track side open to the city in any future expansion. The big reason for building where they are is for the view. It definitely would be tight, and would be on the bottom end of seating capacity, but I think it's probably doable. Main thing is to go vertical. If you take the existing main stands and stack another one on top you're at 6,000. If they square it off instead of how it is now probably more like 7,000 - 7,500. There is a lot of space on the east side where the supporters are and if you build that back and up you could probably get 2,500 - 3,000. Connect those two sides so it forms and L and you're looking at around 11,000 total. The team building just has an open deck on top right now. Convert that all into stands could add a thousand or two. So, on the high we'd be looking at like 13,000 before I run out of ideas. If they can squeeze out another 2-3k somewhere then we’re good. I think the bigger problem for an MLS sized stadium is the infrastructure in that area is not there for something of that capacity. Nowhere near enough parking, let alone the roads wouldn’t be able to handle it. At the end of the day that’s so far down the line and pie in the sky it doesn’t really matter. I’m thrilled with what we have!
from what I understand from other sources the Riverhounds announced that individual tickets and 3-game packs are now on sale. The home opener is nearly sold out with a little over 150 tix still left. They anticipate announcing a complete sell-out very shortly for the opener (on Sat. 4/13) vs. Harrisburg!
This is very exciting stuff! I was stunned to hear that the Riverhounds wanted to build a stadium of their own, in Pittsburgh, and then even more stunned (in a totally good way) to see them pull it off! Woo hoo! So a sell out for the home opener would be excellent. I hope to see many more sellouts during the season, but heck, they drew less than a 1,000 fans per game last season. If they can average even 2,000 fans a game (which is a modest goal), it will be a big uptick for the Riverhounds and for the league. Anything beyond that would be seriously excellent. This is very cool indeed. Good luck to you fans in Pittsburgh! - Mark
According to a piece in the Trib today (local paper) roughly 60% of tickets for the entire season are already sold. Really exciting news!
This is so huge for the city. We unfortunately moved from Pittsburgh a few years ago. Can't wait to go back and go to a game.