Chivas/Club America @ Pac Bell 3/12 [R]

That's a pretty impressive turnout! Now if we could just get half of those soccer fans to show up at a... Ah, forget it.

Sounds like San Francisco wasn't the only U.S. city featuring colorful action involving MFL teams. Santos lost to the Rapids 0-2 in Las Vegas yesterday, and some of the 8,000 fans in attendance started throwing bottles. Seems the action of the field included some extra-curriculars as well.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=38343

 

No wonder. I was leaving the City after dinner, going towards 280S and saw lots of people with Chivas jerseys walking along the Embarcadero. The match must have ended around 10pm.

from the SJMerc:

38,710 WATCH CHIVAS, CLUB AMERICA PLAY TO 2-2 TIE


and SFChron:

Pac Bell delivers best 'pitch' in exhibition

 

I know some people that went and I asked if it was full, they said almost. I kind of didn't believe them but that is a good figure. Maybe we should consider having the Guatemala game there...that could help. Just to test the waters. I think the promotions department at the Quakes offices needs to work harder. Wait? Is there even a promotions department?.........

TRANSFORM
MARI

 

Yeah, I was there, with five friends, and wearing a Chivas shirt. Our good friend, Ricardo, was in his usual form: ignoring infractions in the first 30 minutes and trying to crack down the rest of the game. It doesn't work Ricardo, you got to come down on 'em first and fast.
The play was chippy and no doubt about it, both teams were going at it with both barrels.
Considering the rivalry between these two teams, the crowd was pretty good-natured, a lot of razzing going back and forth. There was a bit of fisticuffs and an ejection way down to the right of me. One guy got a drum thrown at him and somebody said it was made out of "goat-skin!"
The only thing disappointing to me was that considering the intensity of the match, and the fact that a cup was to be given. They cut it off at a 2-2 tie. What caused that? Time restrictions? Not sure. Result: both teams get a cup. Horsecr-ap.
The most annoying thing to me watching Mexican ball, and all-in-all, it was pretty good, is the way they play the ball in the back. Really scary at times.
A major highlight was seeing Blanco get tossed.

 

I noticed this press release a couple of days ago.


News: Soccer Match

Caltrain Adding Service for Soccer Match at Pacific Bell Park

Caltrain will augment its regular service March 12 to get fans to the first soccer match ever to be played at Pacific Bell Park.

Caltrain offers many options to get soccer enthusiasts to the ballpark for the 8 p.m. "Super Clasico" match-up between Las Chivas of Guadalajara and Club America.

An extra northbound train will depart the San Jose Diridon Caltrain Station at 5:50 p.m., making all local stops on the way to San Francisco and arriving at 7:28 p.m.

Four other regular trains arrive in San Francisco between 6:30 p.m. and 7:38 p.m. Pacific Bell Park is a two-block walk from the Caltrain station on Fourth and King streets.

In addition to the 10 p.m. southbound train, a special train also will depart San Francisco 20 minutes after the end of the game, making all regular stops to Caltrain's Tamien station.

The last southbound train of the night will leave San Francisco at 11:59 p.m.

For information about fares and times, call the Caltrain Customer Service Center at 1.800.660.4287 (TDD only 650.508.6448).


Just think of how it would impact attendance if you could take Caltrain to see the Earthquakes. Uncle Phil - are you listening? We need a new stadium in a more accessible location - like near Compaq Center or whatever it's called.

 

Not much, I'm afraid. It wasn't because of Caltrain that the match drew 38,000.

Spartan Stadium is quite accessible, and the number of additional butts per game if there were a Caltrain station nearby is minimal IMHO.

 

I would guess that most people either came by car or walked to/from Embarcadero BART station. The Muni light rail shuttles were packed. Those who walked to and from BART had about a mile trek each way.


"Not much, I'm afraid. It wasn't because of Caltrain that the match drew 38,000."

And, there's the rub.

 

The point is that it is *much* easier to get to Pac Bell than Spartan. There are so many non-driving options when it comes to downtown SF, whereas there are none for Spartan. If you don't think public transit makes a difference for games, then just check out the difference in attendance when the Giants moved from the 'Stick to Pac Bell. I think having *any* good public transit available for Quakes games would make a difference, even if only in walkups. But hey, it would still be something.

To me, getting to Spartan is about the same as driving to the 'Stick. I'll do it, but I won't enjoy it.

 

Certainly the more transportation options you've got, the better off you are. Your point is well taken. Attendance for Giants games has increased, and I am sure that some of the people who went to last night's LFM game would not have gone if they didn't have good public transportation available. The question would be, "How many?"

 

After work as my wife headed into the BART station she said loads of Chivas fans all deck out poured out of the train, she said it brought back memories of going to see Chelsea in London.

 

While I agree that improved public transit would help, I doubt very strongly that it would jack up attendence. As for the Giants, the reason their attendence increased was because they got a BRAND NEW STADIUM. If we could get an SSS, I suspect our numbers would rise a bit, too. Remember though, the honeymoon at Pac Bell would end pretty quick if the Giants had as many consecutive losing seasons as the Quakes had.

 

This is getting way OT, but...

In my opinion,

improved transportation access BART, Caltrain, CHSR (Cal High Speed Rail), etc.

+

a modern SSS (comparable to HDC, new Metros/Burn stadia) with improved facilities, more lucrative corporate amenities, etc.

+

solid local management backed up with $$, committed to growing the season ticket base and media coverage

+

good players and coaching staff

=

really good chance to improve attendance by 5,000/game or more, making SJ's attendance much more respectable. Right now we're not exactly mister popular, if you know what I mean. With the opening of the HDC this year, we're going to be looking like the red-headed step child of the West Coast, folks.

It seems pretty clear that SJ is way down on the AEG list for stadium development (behind Metros and DC - maybe even behind Chicago and Colorado). When they bought the Quakes they seemed to review the stadium situation and decided that they could afford to maintain the status quo for the time being. But, after the DC and NJ situations are taken care of, it would be really nice to see San Jose make it to the top of the list of teams with a need for stadium improvements.

Anyways, it's not too early to dream about what the future could hold, is it? The SF Giants pulled off their new ballpark after a lot of time and effort - it's not like AEG/MLS couldn't do the same in San Jose.

 

This thread about the game has some info about the promoters - including a certain Peter Bridgewater, and the attendance.

For the record I think PacBell's capacity in a baseball configuration is closer to 41, 500, but I could be wrong.

 

I found figures of 40,800 and 40,930, so say that PacBell's capacity is 41,000.

The club area sure has better johns than Spartan. Who is it that's always complaining about the johns?

 

Re: This is getting way OT, but...

It's kinda hard for AEG to start developing stadium plans for us if they just acquired us less than a year ago (less than 6 months?). There are greater issues for the Quakes to tackle than a SSS. It'll come with time. One assumption I'm going to make is that finding affordable real estate in a optimal location is easier to find than in San Jose, especially since those other teams have been looking while San Jose has not been looking.

Official capacity for soccer at PacBell is 36k. Anything more than that and you get seats that don't have decent views of the pitch. That's what the PacBell administration stated.

 

Hey, as long as the Quakes remain in SJ, I don't care how long it takes. Spartan is awesome, you are right on top of the play......it's very intimate and our beer and food selection is tops. In fact, the only drawback is the pitch size, and that's not that horrible. I like the walls, i think they echo the cheering and small crowds sound larger. The SSS advantage is $$$.....thats when the $$$ starts rolling in.....when and if that happens I will miss soccer at Spartan.

 

That was the match...

The atmosphere looked more like what you would see in London or Tokyo, but with footballers.

Spartan is fine if some kind of a deal could be worked out with Caltrain, but that's wishful thinking, especially with weekend construction still going on for at least this year.

Ideally, if you could put that type of athmosphere in downtown San Jose just before an Earthquakes game, that would make for good PR.

After the success of that match, there is talk of trying to stage another towards the end of the year with some more international clubs (America/River Plate et al). Maybe, have the US National Team play at Pac Bell/SBC.

Cheers!

 

Re: That was the match...

Negoesco! Only two blocks away!

 

You are right on top of the play and the walls echo the cheering, but the walls also mean whenever play goes to the corners, half the crowd can't see what's happening.

It's very intimate, but that also means there's barely a gnat's ass worth of room between fans when you try to sit down. And when you do sit down, it's on crummy old benches with chipped wood, and whenever your feet slip they end up in a dirt clod.

The beer selection is tops; the food stinks.

The pitch size is indeed horrible.

Spartan Stadium is a dump. It's our dump, it has a lot of memories, so we like it, but it's still a dump.

I spent 40 years of my life attending Giants games at Candlestick Park. It was my park just the way true classics like Wrigley Field are THE park for Cubs fans. I loved Candlestick; I didn't care that it was a dump. And after the last game was played there, I felt great sadness ... I knew I would miss the place terribly.

And that feeling lasted until about 14 seconds after I sat in my Pac Bell Park seats for the first time. I haven't missed Candlestick since.

If the Quakes ever get a real soccer venue, our nostalgia for Spartan will last about 14 seconds into the first match.

 

True, masoo. However, let me point out the other side of the coin. Season tickets that cost $10 per game at Spartan Stadium cost about $20-25 per game at the new Home Depot Center.

I've been to Crew Stadium, and yes, it's very cool. Would I love to have something like that in San Jose? Definitely. Would I still prefer it over Spartan if my season ticket were to cost twice as much? Uh, not so sure.