@RWBreakers Not sure if you're still around, but I was browsing the Breakers' site today and noticed how slowly the images load. I took a look at them and they are 600 KB+ PNGs. You might want to look in to making them JPEGs, or at least changing the site to have the "Article Box" wait for the images to finish loading before going to the next item. You can see a screen capture, of what I'm talking about here: http://gfycat.com/IndelibleClutteredHellbender
Emailed the office with questions about season ticket packages on 12/31. Reply from Assistant GM on Friday 1/9 presumably when they caught up after the holidays, which wasn't a reply but an accidental forward of an internal email, followed by an apology. All good, have been there myself way too often. Reply from Sales Director same day, restating what I already knew, not answering my questions. Replied to Sales Director Monday 1/12, restating my questions that weren't answered. It is now 1/25, no answer yet. They must be doing so well that they can afford to blow off a customer interested in purchasing 4 Category 1 season tickets. At best, sloppy and unprofessional.
Link for ticket info on menu bar would be nice add too. As it is now you can only get to Tickets by returning to home page and scrolling down.
Sorry guys. Haven't checked in here for a week. Thanks for the heads up about the website and the images loading slowly. We can certainly add ticket info to the dropdown menus at the top. Also, regarding the ticket issue, we're looking into it. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll try to get an answer.
Looks like the Breakers will be playing their home games on the small field behind Harvard Stadium this season. Temp seats expected #NWSL— Dan Lauletta (@TheDanLauletta) January 29, 2015
That will be huge and will be the first time in my life time to watch the Breakers playing a home game on a pitch without gridiron lines
I am curious what kind of capacity they will have there. 2014 showed they aren't getting the 4k averages at Harvard Stadium they got during WPS days. (And I do wonder why that was the case -- though they did have some bad timing on some games and attendance actually was highest when they were eliminated from the playoffs). I certainly think it will help game atmosphere.
At least there will be plenty of room for expansion, unlike at Dilboy... According to this article, they were able to expand it to 5600 back in 1994. Whether they expand that much though, I don't know. If they were just to use the 1000 extra seats that they had at Dilboy and never really got to use, I think that would bring it to 2500 (I can't find any confirmation that it is 1500 right now, other than the Wikipedia page, but I'll assume that it's somewhat accurate).
Another advantage will be a wider pitch. Which I think will be beneficial to the younger players and Brazilians they've signed. And not having to fear that players are going to run into those concrete walls all the time will be a nice relief for fans.
Depends if the "Small field behind Harvard Stadium" is Ohiri (the one expanded to 5400 in 1994) or Soldiers Field, opened in 2010 or 2011. Soldiers was used for a WPS playoff match, and a Revolution USOC match. Soldiers is on the same parcel as the Stadium, Ohiri is across the street. Soldiers seats 1000 and can be expanded to about 2500 IIRC.
Great news if correct. I don't quite understand why this move wasn't done earlier. The Harvard men's and women's soccer teams moved from Ohiri Field to the newer Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium in 2010, meaning Ohiri has been mostly vacant for four years. It makes far more sense to bring in some extra seating and have an intimate, packed atmosphere for ~3,000 fans than a smattering of fans inside cavernous Harvard Stadium, doesn't it? Anyway, better late than never. Two unknowns...does Ohiri have lights for night games and/or a press box? Edit: if the venue is SFSS, it does appear to have both lights and a press box. They'd have to coordinate around the Harvard teams' schedules for September.
I assumed it was Ohiri Field because of the use of the word field, rather than Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium. I guess it could've been meant to be Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium, though. Maybe @Lee Billiard could clarify for us...
No to both. They can probably install a prefab/modular press box along with expanded seating pretty easily. They could even add temporary suits/luxury seating, if they were interested. As for lights, they could get temporary lighting, or just play all games during the day (hey the Cubs used to do that up until 1988...).
I don't know if it was expanded to 5400 so much as it had 5200 fans at a single game (presumably largely college students). I've seen where the seating is 1500 currently.
I think the reality is that the Breakers didn't think they would average the same attendance as they did at Dilboy. I'm sure they were thinking more along the lines of WPS, when they were over 4k every season when they played at Harvard. Depending on the seating setup, they will look at more like the 2500 to 3000 they seem to be capable of. Of course, watch demand for tickets go off the charts. Attendance for the 1st post-WC game in 2011 was over 6600. It helps the match featured Marta, Sinclair and Morgan on WNY. You can't blame them for thinking they were going to be more in the past range at Harvard.
According to the article I posted, they had installed temporary seating for 5600. That is of course bleacher seating and might've been over-estimating the number that could comfortably fit on one bench, but clearly there is the possibility of expanding Ohiri far beyond the current capacity. I think that's really the only advantage of Ohiri, as SFSS has less easily used space for temporary expansion. In all other infrastructure aspects, SFSS is ahead.
Official stadium announcement: CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT: Breakers move to Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium for 2015 #NWSL season http://t.co/Ugjyg4khUa pic.twitter.com/mBDlCBoSfC— Boston Breakers (@BostonBreakers) February 5, 2015 Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium, which has a field that measures 116x74 yards, currently has a capacity of up to 2,500 (seating and standing room combined) However, the soccer-specific stadium is undergoing a massive renovation project both on and off the field for the upcoming NWSL season. In addition to the new state-of-the-art Field Turf surface that was replaced (enhanced) last summer, seating capacity will increase by 2,500, bringing seated capacity to 4,000. Bleachers will be added to locations behind each goal to accommodate the extra seating, and there will be additional space for standing room only, from 500 to 700. There also is room for 100 pitch side seats.
New England Soccer Today article: http://nesoccertoday.com/?p=31446 “It is in a good location on the map for fans to get to, and we want to start building a consistent location after moving these past two years. I am excited to see the stadium full with 4,000-plus fans attending to watch some of the world’s best soccer players and teams in action.” “This has been a project we have invested a lot funding into, and something we have been working on for a while now,” Billiard said. Not seeing a downside at this point. And sounds like it may be more than just a temporary arrangement.
Any idea why this stadium wasn't in the plans from the get go? I mean it can't be worse than Dilboy can it
Dilboy was the cheap option, especially in WPSL Elite, and they thought they had the okay to expand it to 3k for the 2013 season. Only recently has the Soldiers Field stadium been expanded to seat more than 1500. At the main Harvard Stadium, the team expected to average at least the number they had at WPS (4,444 in 2011 with a high over 6600) and probably more. Considering they were coming off a pretty decent season attendance wise, it didn't make sense to take a dip in attendance revenue for a more expensive facility.