Add an NFL franchise to that list as well. They also own the Kansas City Chiefs. I wish they would sell off and concentrate on just one of these entities. That would be a good step.
It does seem like all posts are Dallas bashing of some kind. I hope they increase their attendance. It will only make the league stronger.
OK let's get back to the topic at hand. Can we put a moratorium on the Dallas bashing during a week when they don't even play? If people want to talk about that, they can do it in the Week 1 thread. Predictions anyone? This should be a very good attendance week!!! Certainly no games under 10k, with a good chance for multiple games >20k. Home openers in Houston and DC, the superclassico in LA, and another match in Seattle. I don't have a good feel for what the Rapids attendance is going to be, but I bet it'll be decent.
Current weather forecasts for game-time conditions: Salt Lake @ Houston -- 65-67° F, partly cloudy/clear Chivas USA @ Los Angeles -- 54-56° F, partly cloudy/clear Chicago @ Colorado -- High 59° F, partly cloudy New England @ DC United -- 67-69° F, mostly cloudy New York @ Seattle -- 44-46° F, 60% chance precip The weather likely won't be doing much to dampen the attendance.
Two things that are making me optimistic: 1. The Rapids have gotten the Flobots to perform at halftime and have been pushing that in their promotions. 2. Rumors of 500-700 tickets sold in the new terraces are already circulating. Considering a good game for C-Firm and the other standing supporters last year was getting into triple digits that's already a significant improvement if it occurs.
What the Wizards have now appears to be the perfect siuation. Local owners who are constantly looking for fan feedback, a stadium in the future that will be right up there with the new generation of MLS stadiums, and an FO who seems to understand how to handle the supporters' group. Oh, and don't forget a "sound amplifying roof" in the future.
Sam Pierron said on the front page of Bigsoccer in his blog that the Wizards still have a price perception problem from the days when they ran 5$ tickets. This is not the answer. The answer for them is probably more staff, and lots and lots of it to sell tickets.
Precisely why I chose KC. And no, there's no way a Wizards fan wants HSG back, especially with the new stadium finally on its way. Seattle and Toronto are run by well oiled experts in sports entertainment; as there truly are few organizations so well run, you can't expect every MLS franchise to do so well. We should, however, demand that our teams are run as well as they possibly can with their situations. That's what's great about OnGoal. Can the same be said about FCD? The Crew?
The same can't be said about the FCD and the Crew, although I think FCD has bigger issues than Columbus does in the FO department. I think OnGoal shows existing franchises that an image of a team can be changed. Personally, as someone who's outside the KC bubble, I have a much different view of the Wizards now than I did when HSG were running the show.
Or we could just have the Federal/Provincial/Local government fund 75% of the cost of your stadium like MLSE for for Toronto FC or have a minority interest and already built stadium like Seattle does, with both stadiums in prime transit friendly locations in transit dependent cities. If Seattle's operations were so good, they wouldn't have been a small time operation ran by Adrian Hanauer and with zero capital. And if Canada hadn't got the U-20 WC, TFC probably isn't in the league.
True, but if they just got it last year, they aren't dependent on it. Portland is much more of a transit dependent city than Seattle.
Why do you say that? It takes time to build up a good light rail network, especially when you didn't start early. They have stops at the airport and at the stadium. Seems like a good start to me.
Well, they started off by not allowing park and ride lots, or parking near the light rail stops. TERRIBLE. I've heard the new mayor wants to change that, but that the lots will end up being pay lots. People will just drive downtown.
For about a decade they were hyping themselves, with the help of the American Planning Association as being on the cutting edge of Urban Planning & Design and good transit oriented development. Sadly, much of that as come to be a smokescreen and unfulfilled promise. That being said, there isn't a less transit dependent major MSA in the use than the DFW MSA.
Exactly. You build a transit network and then you discourage and disincentivize people from using it.
I wouldn't call it a fail, just a work in progress. For the longest time Seattle was held back by its "model" bus transit system. So much so that the federal government actively withheld funding from rail transit projects so that it wouldn't endanger the bus transit system. End result was a very late start in the rail transit arena and Seattle basically throwing money at various ideas to see what sticks. Light rail itself got stuck in Seattle's typical analysis paralysis on major projects and ended up being sent way over budget and way over schedule as they modified the route over and over again to satisfy the various constituencies. Now that they've gotten Central Link in place, a lot of the hand wringing is done. University Link is supposed to triple the ridership on the light rail line and thanks to federal grants won't cost the area tax payers more than what they are already paying for Central Link.