I worry about this as well, but what specifically should they do differently? I know I could search the forum and find 1,000,000 different things they could do, but they're in 1,000,000 different threads and I don't want to lol
I started a thread about this since KC is very similar to us in that they were... -Founded in 1996. -Owned by the Hunts at one time -Played in an NFL sized stadium -Played in a High School sized stadium -Have changed their identity. -Have a shiny new stadium they can all their own. https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/wiz-burn-a-comparison-of-transformations.1810163/
Which Google Maps says is a straight-shot twenty minute drive out of the heart of downtown Kansas City, and not on a toll road.
A twenty minute drive from downtown? Having read "FCD's should've built in downtown Dallas!!!111eleven" countless times from people who occasionally should know better, I'm not going to let you sneak that one under the radar.
Anyone know how long it takes from downtown Dallas to Frisco Stadium when there is no traffic? Maybe the KC one is closer but it is in an area that was undeveloped fiveish years ago and in Kansas not Missouri where the main bulk of Kansas City is. I still say the comparison is valid if not exact.
Downtown Dallas isn't a population center like most cities. Plus, I don't think an extra 5-10 minute drive compared to KC is what separates us in attendance. It's the ********ing DFW metroplex, you drive at least 20 minutes for everything. Plus everyone in North Dallas is use to all the toll roads at this point, and pretty much everyone has a toll tag. I hated paying the bill too, just saying.
Yeah, but that's the wrong question to ask. The question to be asked is "How long does it take to get to FCD Stadium from where people live?" People always use downtown Dallas in that question when many, many times more people live in Plano than in downtown Dallas.
I'm not sneaking anything under the radar. A twenty minute straight shot in Kansas City, from a downtown area which I know to be pretty happenin', sounds like a walk in the park compared to getting to Frisco from anywhere. I don't know if FCD should have "built" in downtown Dallas, but they'd have been better off continuing to rent there or building in a more central location. I haven't been to Livestrong (I once attended a Wizards game at Arrowhead), so for all I know the traffic out that way could be murder. But I do know that Frisco ain't no 20-minute straight shot from anywhere, in any traffic conditions (I've lived in Fort Worth, Irving, and University Park, but the best commute I ever had to FCD games was from Sherman, where I went to college.) There's nothing I'm trying to be sneaky about; Livestrong seems to be in a much better location, and I think that's the biggest difference between their successful rebranding and our failed one. As to your Plano point above, I suspect that people from Plano made up a minority of attendees to Burn games, and we know they aren't attending FCD games in droves, so you can forget about Plano.
Worth re-reading. Many thought KC might be a new stadium bump. So far that doesn't appear the case and they may even be getting stronger. Remarkable really. I grew up 20 minutes from there and there was absolutely zero soccer at the time. Moved here and the Tornado was playing and there was high school soccer. Nothing like now but way, way ahead of KC.
[ElJefe remembers back to 2002] Since your idea is pretty much synonymous with the contraction of the Burn back in 2002 instead of the Fusion, my only response would be "LOLNO." First of all, a lot more people came to the Cotton Bowl for Burn games from the northern suburbs than you think... and a lot of them bitched and moaned constantly how far they had to drive for it. (Sound familiar?) Second, people are attending FCD games in bigger "droves" than they did in the Cotton Bowl days, so it's pretty safe to say that people from the city with 250,000 people that's right next to Frisco might have something to do with it.
If the league would have shut us down for declining to pursue a SSS in the peripheral 'burbs over a rented location in the increasingly transit-connected center, that would have been the league's mistake. We can go over it and over it, but it's been done. You like to spin Frisco's potential positives (if being next to Plano is a positive), and I like the recognize the fact that Frisco is almost incomparably difficult to access compared to other MLS stadia (except, possibly, from locations within Colin County, whose growing population you hope will one day rocket us into the lofty ranks of league-average attendance numbers.)
I would agree from the perspective of a Burn fan. Going to the Cotton Bowl for games beats the hell out of what the fans in Miami and Tampa got. But neither of us were writing huge checks to cover the losses that the team was sustaining by paying rent to the City of Dallas and getting none of the concessions revenues. C'mon, you know what the deal was in 2002: Get your own stadium, stop paying ridiculous rent, and worry about the details later. Whatever. As a former Collin County resident, I just find the implication odious that people who come to games from Collin County are somehow less desirable than those who come from other parts of the Metroplex. No, Plano is not anywhere close to my idea of Nirvana, but a lot of people live there. A lot of people also live in Frisco and Allen and McKinney and Richardson and other northern Dallas suburbs. But in these discussions, they invariably don't count. Everyone cries for folks who live inside Northwest Hwy, but all the folks who live outside of LBJ? The hell with them. They can suffer in traffic, apparently.
Except no one lives in downtown Kansas City (nor downtown Dallas for that matter). I believe most KC fans lived 10-20 minutes south of downtown which makes that trip at least 30+ minutes. But heck, PHP is still a 20+minute drive from Plano and a lot further away for most "Metroplexians" (e.g. 55 mile drive for me; toss in rush hour, bumper-to-bumper stopngo on toll roads and it's h*ll to get to a weekday game).
I'm thinking of some bet like the brothers in Trading Places. Randolph (Randy like in the Jackson 5) and Mortimer Duke. Of course the bet is for $1.
Ok, enough already with this crap about "PHP is not 20 minutes from anything!!1111" I lived in Addison for 2 years and it was a 10 minute drive for me. There is a huge population in that area/West Plano/Far North Dallas. I'll admit, it's not an ideal location, especially for you Ft. Worth peeps. However, 121 on a Saturday isn't that horrible of a drive. It will take you longer than 20 minutes but I drive from my girlfriend's parents place in Ft. Worth to Frisco on occasion and it's a 45 minute drive. Would it be any different if you were going to see the Mavericks/Stars? I hate to sound like a dick, but if you live in Ft. Worth and you want to see a Dallas team (that's not the Cowboys), you're going to drive. How is PHP a 20+ minute drive from Plano? Even East Plano isn't that bad. My point is, DFW is a huge metroplex. You can't please everyone. With the addition of the new 121 and further expansion of the Turnpike, getting around is a lot easier.
Yeah, I'd drive to the TRE station and then hop off the train right in front of the AAC. I did that on multiple occasions back when I lived in Fort Worth.
Over 1,000,000 within 15 miles of PHP and growing. I can buy location being a reason for the frustrating crowd demographic(i.e. Families over young adults), but as a reason that they can't get 15,000 people to go to 15 home games a year? Sorry, not buying it.