Red Bull Arena Just got back. No need to worry about the Arena. It will sell itself. Coming back from old Metrostars/Red Bull games I would find myself on the bus trying to convince myself to come back. No more. Not a single person I saw looked dissatisfied with their experience. It will have great word-of-mouth. Before I could hear an MLS crowd react distantly to the game. Tonight was the first time I could feel an MLS crowd as part of the game. If not already, it will soon become the place that every American player will look forward to playing in, that every American fan will want to see a game at. What Madison Square Garden used to be for basketball, the Arena will be for soccer.
The supporter's groups of TFC officially boycotted this game, may have had something to do with the tazers and pepper spray last year!!
Yeah. I just got back from the HDC. Mostly empty seats in the expensive sideline section. Great turnout overall though.
they banked on the housing bubble and a bunch of people moving to Frisco. No public transport and a stadium out in suburbia with a toll road being the fastest option there, fails to motivate i guess.
We go through the same sad story of FCD and attendance issues every year, but still the owners are making money from the venue regardless how much BS poster are bitching about the low numbers. We're beating a dead horse. There're other worst things in the world to worry about..
I believe the Frisco project has a lot of youth soccer fields and they make money But only 8 K for a game against Houston looks bad on tv, it makes MLS looks like some semi pro league Something needs to be done
Blah blah blah. Do we have to go through this every year? No, "something" does not need "to be done". The league is not going to fold, the apocalypse is not nigh, your wife is not going to leave you, and your dog is not going to die. Well, any of those things MIGHT happen, but it won't be because of the attendance in Dallas. "it makes MLS looks like some semi pro league" -- AARRGGHH. Just stop now, please. Why am I even bothering?
The way Garber has been showing his pimp hand lately (at DC and their stadium issues), maybe he should. Again this is Clark Hunt we are talking about. His dadd-eh was truly committed to the game of soccer. I doubt Clark has the same level. Yes both stadiums are "making money" thanks to concerts and crap. But Garber is the commish of a soccer league, not music tours. If he wants the league to grow (especially looking appealing on TV) proper marketing of these clubs has to happen.
Well I know that Chivas struggled at the gates, and they hired Shawn Hunter, a guy with 20 years of experience selling tickets, and lately they seem to be doing a lot better
Yes, something does need to be done about Dallas. It's not something urgent, but that team's management needs some kind of rescue. A sale to a more dedicated owner would be the best solution, because Clark Hunt doesn't seem like he'll ever bother trying to hire competent people to advertise the team.
Maybe PHP can be the metaphorical traitor's head on a pike as a warning to those with thoughts about building stadia in the burbs down the line.
It's to the point where some supporters have taken action into our OWN hands to spread the word on a grassroots type of level with http://massivecityffc.com/ (as an example, putting stickers and flyers out in town, having events and gatherings at pubs, etc.) And this is us common folk sacrificing out time on limited funds even.
Their ain't no team in Dallas my friends, that team y'all keep on talkin about is in Frisco, Texas... near Dallas but it ain't in it!
Since MLS does not have any working stats the following is fromFoxSoccer boxscores (except for SJ and NYRB where attendance is not listed, I have add those figures from previous posts): Seattle: 36,241 Chivas: 18, 653 Dallas: 8,016 Columbus: 13,536 Kansas City: 10,385 LAG: 21,376 SJ: 10,589* NYRB: 24,572* My quick math gives me an average of 17,921 for the weekend.
This is the second year for the season starting in March and the second year where attendance was (relatively) low for the first week. The fan base doesn't want to come out when it is cold and miserable. I'm sorry that the true believers - who mainly watch European games on TV with coffee in hand from the comfort in their home - wish otherwise, but that's the truth. Which means double kudos to the Sounders fans coming out in the rain.
Particularly the side with the "club" seats. The 21K seems like a more honest than in the past. Although given that, it's hard to put much faith in Chivas's 18k number.
Given the fact that Kansas and San Jose' play in small stadiums and the FC Dallas has a serious problem, IMHO close to 18 K is a very good result
I thought it was interesting at the HDC last night that the upper deck was mostly completely full. They must have changed their ticket selling habits because in the past that wouldn't happen unless most of the lower bowl was sold. Same old thing at Galaxy games, the really overpriced club seats and overpriced cornerish "sideline" seats are the empty ones. Still, this was an improvement over last years home opener and was a good crowd overall. I think the Galaxy should draw pretty good this year. Not sure if we will sell out the superclassico on Thursday night, however.
I think overall that is a very, very good number. It would be fantastic, but unlikely, for MLS to hold that average. Columbus is ok but given the quality of their play you would think they should be adding to their attendance. Dallas - I've been to their stadium. The facilities are excellent (althought a roof would have been great). I don't buy the facility is too far out. I've got to believe its the front offices and how they have reached out or failed to reach out to the Dallas soccer community.
There are 2 ways at looking FCD's low turnout. 1) The FCD fits in 1st division soccer by being those clubs in the various leagues in South America or Europe that pull weak attendance but I see their game highlights on Fox Soccer Channel. 2)It is time to take this team off life support. MLS owners need to fold this club like the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. Pizza Hut Park can still be used for high school football games, concerts, soccer tournaments, or other events. MLS needs to replicate a Seattle Sounders FC\Toronto FC in Dallas from ownership group to stadium location. WA Redskins are thinking about leaving their 10 year old stadium and moving back to RFK. FCD should find a better location for their pad. Dallas has metropolitan area of 6.3 million - the 4th largest metropolitan area in the United States. My Texas high school, Central Catholic Marianist, of 500 students would pack 10,000 people when we played our rival, Holy Cross, in American football.