Hello all. I was in New Mexico the last 3 days and I decided I might as well do some scouting. Ya know, looking to see if there were any good places for expansion. Well to summarize my discoveries, Santa Fe doesn't look good, but Alburquerque or an area surounding it may be good. The area between ABQ and Santa Fe won't work because many Idian reservations are there. I saw some soccer fields (at schools) and my dad even met a guy who supported the Rapids. Here's why I say expand here (or at least consider it): there is more than enough space to build a staduim and there are no other pro leagues to compete with (aka MLB, NHL, & NFL.) In fact, there are no other sports period to really compete with (except maybe college football and dog racing.) It's not that big of a state (only 2 million) so hopefully, soccer would catch on. Just my .02. Any comments or thoughts?
New Mexico basketball is the biggest in the state as they sellout every home game at about 18,000 per at The Pit. Also, it's the 49th largest TV market according to Nielsen
Here's the thing: I think MLS should at least TRY a smaller market. Example: Naperville doesn't have a pro team and look how much support we've gotten. I believe the last 6 games have been sold out. And although it's a small stadium (15,000), if we keep getting this support screw Soldier Field and build a staduim there. Give smaller cities a chance to really have a team of their own instead of traveling 100 miles to see one.
Yup. That's why the Metros were looking to build in Harrison, NJ, which has only 14,000, compared to 8 million in NYC. And the Galaxy built their home in Carson, which has 90,000, instead of Los Angeles for the same reason.
Re: Re: Alburquerque Hmmm, I always figured it was just because the cost of real estate in the actual cities was prohibitive.
There's a soccer park of sort in Albuquerque as well. It would probably be a logical place to build a larger stadium. They have previously had various minor league teams, but unless things have changed in the last year and a half they don't have anything now. They did have a USL team...New Mexico Chiles? I'm not sure. They also had a minor league baseball team that jumped town for Portland, and a basketball team that went under with the basketball minor leagues. Pretty much the only game in town are the college teams at this point. I don't think that a stadium would get built there with public money. If it was possible, then they wouldn't have lost their baseball team. Real pro sports fans there seem to be the NFL type, and most of them support the Broncos.
New Mexico Chiles were around for a few years and seemed to do OK, then were reincarnated (??) as Albuquerque Geckos and that all went horribly -- team was relocated to Sacramento and it all went kaput in less than a season.
Saw a Chiles game in Albuquerque. The stadium would have been nice, if it wasn't already a school district gridball stadium with essentially Seattle Memorial Stadium dimensions. Less crown, IIRC. They'd need a new ground IMO. Funny you mention baseball- they lost the Dukes to Portland, now they're getting Calgary's team and are calling them the Isotopes (yes, right out of Homer Simpson's hell). The old ballpark is being rebuilt, I believe from a voter-approved levy, no less. Market is smaller than Tulsa, and likely far less wealthy, which is why I don't think much comes of this talk.
To say that the economic climate in Albuequerque is dismal would be almost complimentary. The economic situation for most New Mexicans is terrible and this is the reason you would NEVER see an MLS team there. The reason that the Pit sells out is because of the students. Ordinary every day New Mexicans could not afford MLS tickets - and your average every day college student doesn't like soccer.
Yes, but the alternative was renovate the old stadium or build a new one. The local debate at the time seemed to be that a team might relocate into town with a renovation, but it probably wouldn't be enough to keep them there long. The votes were taken during the time I was on TDY down there a while back. There are many better places in this country to put a team than Albuquerque, including OKC and or Tulsa.
Caught the UNM-Texas Tech game on TV last week... Stadium looked okay... field dimensions looked okay... Was that "plastic grass"?
I'm sorry. Getting my USL experience (different stadium) crossed with the stadium Albuquerque might just tout for MLS. The Nats have played there. Need more examination on this, but I'm not quite sold on the dimensions there. Last I understood, it's grass.
The Nats last played there on 4/30/94 and drew dismally (15,610 in the runup to a WC that the US was hosting). They've had two failed USL franchises as well. Being a former resident of ABQ, I'd love to see a team there, but I'm afraid it would be doomed to failure.
I think that was Milne Stadium. If MLS was to go into ABQ, they'd probably play at UNM's University Stadium, where the Lobos football team plays.
New Mexico is the second poorest state in the Union (behind Mississippi.) The money just isn't there. BTW, ordinary everyday New Mexicans are VERY into the Lobo Basketball team. It is the ONE thing that the people of Albuquerque will beg, borrow, or steal to get a ticket to.
Re: Re: Alburquerque Actually it's split between the Cowboys and Broncos, with slightly more people supporting Dallas, based on my time there.