Why does this thread not exist? Or if it does, please point me there. What are the best stadia for soccer in the USA? Not the best stadia that have soccer, the best stadia for soccer. Not your favorite stadia for soccer, the best stadia for soccer. Any size, any league. Make your own criteria. My criteria will become instantly obvious. My favorites: Providence Park, Portland OR: Applejack Stadium, Manchester VT: Breese Stevens Field, Madison WI: Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA
MLS 2.0 stadiums are generally boring bare-bones stadiums. The best of the bunch is probably LA Galaxy's home field (whatever it's called today). MLS 3.0 (after Chivas folded and until Covid) is probably Minnesota's. The latest wave (roughly since Covid when you saw Columbus (2nd stadium), Nashville, Austin, St. Louis, Cincy, and future stadiums planned in NYC, SD, etc) are MLS 4.0 and from 'looks' I'd say St. Louis looks the best and includes location. My criteria on eras MLS 1.0 is the entire time from 1996 through Historic Crew Stadium being completed. Playing at NFL stadiums or collegiate stadiums. MLS 2.0 is the bare bones stadiums, usually built far from the city center and sometimes part of larger sports complexes (Colorado and FC Dallas are prime examples) MLS 3.0 is the new wave of expansion teams starting with Orlando that got built nicer, better stadiums on the backs of tremendous support early on. MLS 4.0 is the wave of stadiums being built closer to city centers, built as MLS is a major league sport, much bigger capacity, many with full roofs over fans, etc. A lot kinda look the same, though. Columbus, STL, Nashville, etc look an awful lot alike. But man are they nice. Only Nashville location sucks at the fairgrounds. FCC's TQL Stadium looks great, etc. Honestly, I think MLS 4.0 will exist as long as stadiums are in the 20-30k capacity when built. We're seeing some need for larger stadiums. Seattle's high regular capacity at an NFL venue being competed with by Atlanta, Charlotte, and these one-off games at Rose Bowl, Stanford, etc... I think MLS 5.0 will be when we start seeing 40-50k stadiums built for MLS teams as the primary/sole tenants and actually need them. LA Galaxy is on deck for a new stadium now, and I think they're going to be the first of the 5.0 era. Maybe NE Revolution as the incentive to finally leave Gillette Stadium. The need for a bigger venue when closer to downtown Boston. Not sure how/when it will happen. But that is the next wave. And it's probably going to happen sooner than we think.
If demand ever grows to this level, I think what's more likely is that new stadiums will be combined NFL/MLS venues, with the seating bowls constructed in a way that the upper deck can be inconspicuously concealed for regular-demand MLS matches. Think Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta. This is perfect. It's a bloody gorgeous stadium, the upper deck is wonderfully concealed to create that intimate atmosphere MLS stadiums are known for, without the ugliness of visible empty seats. Plus, you can open up the upper deck for high-demand matches such as derbies or playoff games. A much more cost-effective option compared to building an entirely separate stadium twice the size of the average current MLS venue. But obviously you would have to make sure the team would have sufficient fan support to fill the lower bowl of an NFL stadium. So far I'd say Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, Portland, Austin, St. Louis, LAFC, and Cincinnati are currently capable of doing that, or just over 1/4 of the league.
Ugh. Of course taste is personal but IMO that's not in my top 100 stadia in the country for soccer. Half the seats are intentionally vacant, there's artificial turf, it's probably situated along an interstate, and it's not built for soccer. I'm sure it's wonderful for football. But IMO the platonic ideal is supposed to look like this:
I haven’t posted here for very long but I want to say this is probably the best post I’ve read on this site, thank you for it. I’m just not a fan of NFL and MLS teams sharing a stadium. There should be some pride associated with having a stadium of your own. Watching the USMNT and St Kits & Nevis match from St Louis I came away very impressed with how that stadium looked.
Miami's stadium is quite lame. It's sad to see the great Messi having to play in it. It's an elevate high school stadium. Ok maybe that's a bit much. It's basically a USL stadium with added shade awnings. How does the worst team in the MLS with the worst stadium get the best player in the world???
Miami has always intended that stadium to be temporary. If you've been there, you can tell most of it is really simple build. Their goal has always been to build a new stadium. And I'd bet signing Messi is to help accomplish the goal of a stadium in Miami (or at least much much closer than Fort Lauderdale).
I thought that was the new stadium. They'd better get building. Most of the MLS stadiums are quite nice. I'd say the only two I don't like are the one that uses a baseball stadium (NYCFC the only one?) and Inter Miami.
https://www.intermiamicf.com/club/facilities/miami-freedom-park I realize that you don't follow MLS closely. DRV PNK Stadium is the temporary home for Inter Miami, while they gained approval for Miami Freedom Park. Construction should begin soon on their new home in Miami. DRV PNK will then become the permanent home for Inter Miami 2 after being downsized. It will also continue to host local events, high school sports, etc.
Also, isn't DRV PNK Stadium supposed to be the training facility for Inter Miami even after the move to Miami? Or are they building another facility elsewhere? I know the stadium was going in Miami but thought that was all that was being built there.
They already have a training/academy facility adjacent to DRV PNK. https://www.intermiamicf.com/club/facilities/training-center
That’s a natural reaction based on a first impression. I had thought that THAT was the new stadium they were going to stick with. But as others had noted, it’s a stopgap. NYCFC still has the worst stadium situation in MLS at the moment. But I remember Dallas playing at Dragon Stadium back in 1999 I believe.
View attachment 241504 Yeah I think we were confused because they demolished a stadium on the same site, Lockhart Stadium, to build this new stadium DRV PNK Stadium. So it is logical to assume THIS was the new stadium. But as you said it is indeed a stopgap, a $60 million dollar stop gap. BTW why don't they just play in the Miami Dolphin stadium? It actually looks like a soccer stadium, ironically enough. And is it even being used right now? Probably sitting idle.
Tell me Messi should not be playing here C'mon Are the powers that be really not able to use common sense I'm not exactly for dual-use stadiums (ie baseball/soccer or football/soccer), but in this case it actually would make a lot of sense. I mean AT LEAST as a stop gap. Would be a much better stop gap than PRK. Who wants to pay $1000 to see Messi at PRK, that's just kind of whack. The experience would be much better at Hard Rock Stadium. Prices could come down a bit since more supply of seats and they could probably still fill it with Messi being there. Yes the cost would be higher but the ticket sales would be very high, maybe 40k-60k per home game? And the setting would look much better on TV.
Really? Steven Ross is reason #'s 1-10 for starters. Seeing as he has taken EVERY opportunity to crap all over MLS, and tried to hijack the games development here in the states with his money losing ICC tourney from the pre-covid era. Now that Daniel Snyder is out of the NFL Owners club, Ross is likely taking up his mantle of least liked of the group. After that it's the fact that Inter Miami wouldn't control any of the revenue if they played at Hard Rock Stadium either, and would likely LOSE money in the long run. Not to mention that in less then a month.... The Dolphins and Hurricanes, and other CFB games will be calling the venue home.... And these are the tip of the iceberg of reasons why Inter Miami doesn't play any games at Hard Rock.... There's a better chance (extremely slim as it may be) of Inter Miami playing a game at the Marlins Stadium then ever playing at Hard Rock Stadium.
Get the mayors and governor involved and all of the other shareholders (ie celebrities like Serena Williams WHO was at the Messi game last week so clearly she is a fan and is part owner of the Miami Dolphins. Just takes some creative thinking. But I guess most people don't have that) It wouldn't have made sense prior to Messi since the team and attendance were bad. But it would have made a lot of sense to have the first few Messi games there at least. PNK stadium does not have enough seats to meet demand.
WHY? How does moving games to Hard Rock benefit Inter Miami? They own DRV PNK Stadium, the attached Team Store, and all of the adjacent parking lots..... They have ZERO stake in Hard Rock Stadium or any of its' associated lots.....They'd have to pay rent, as well as pay for security, etc... They wouldn't get nearly as good of a cut of concessions and retail sales... So why again would moving a game or games to Hard Rock be in Inter Miami's BEST interest?
Because they would sell 50,000 tickets instead of 18,000. That's a lot more revenue. Plus would be better for TV image and hence ad revenue. Just picture Messi in the stadium and it makes sense. Best player in the world demands a great stadium and one already exists that is idle, so it makes sense. Oh well, first world problems I guess.
Revenue for who? They control 100% of ALL of the revenue from the ~20K seats they have at DRV PNK. They'd have significantly LESS control over additional revenue holding games at Hard Rock, plus their costs would also be significantly increased as well. The TV Money and add money from said TV deal are already in the bin......