Ok, so now that it's official that the Dallas Burn will be playing in Southlake for at least 1 season, I decided to make the 15 minute trek to the facility and get a good look at the infamous Dragon Stadium. I was fortunate in that there is a soccer tournament being played this weekend, so for a few bucks I was able to waltz right in and take pictures. I ultimately took 50 pics or so, but I've posted 15 on a very quick and dirty website: http://www.geocities.com/gollum1197/DragonStadium This should give you a pretty good idea of what we're dealing with here. And now for some observations: It's VERY easy to get there. I won't give the exact directions here, but trust me. Unfortunately, getting parked once you're there will be tough since the roads within 1/4th of a mile leave a lot to be desired. Parking will be an issue, but not only are there industrial places nearby who could offer parking, but Mustang-Panther Stadium is darn near close to being within walking distance. If they offer shuttles from there then parking would be almost doubled right off the bat. A sellout of 13,000+ will definately swamp concession stands, I'd wager. There are two stations on the home side, and I assume two on the other. I think there are 4 sets of bathrooms as well. There appears to be a souvenir store when you walk into the home side. Start selling Burn gear! The club seats are nice. Comfy seats with great sightlines and lots of leg room. The 2-story press areas looked nice as well, and there was a conference room by the main home entrance. The bleachers aren't so nice, but man do you get close to the field. I almost got hit by the ball a few times, and would almost be afraid to sit that close when the pros hit the field. The coloring on the turf stands out in the pics, but I didn't mind so much watching a match. I can only hope the field goal uprights will be taken out for Burn matches, and the lines can be covered. FieldTurf (or whatever) is really nice. I was able to sneak on the field at halftime and walk on it. It's like lush indoor/outdoor carpet (I mean that in a good way) with black, rubberish chunks all in it. When I set my foot down the turf didn't grab it like AstroTurf does. I could pivot really easily and not feel it in my knees. Watching the game, it played like grass. Extra stands could definately be added in front of the training rooms, but one problem I noticed was how close the foundation was to the field. The concrete is very close to the goal line, and there was even an attacker who couldn't stop and fell on her butt once her cleats hit the cement. This place could rock if packed with screaming fans. All in all, I was impressed. With added bleachers and no football markings, you wouldn't know it was a high school stadium. It'd even look great on tv. Just visiting the stadium made me feel better about the move, and I look forward to sitting up close for a match (although not TOO close). Oh, well.....just my $0.02 worth........
Thanks for taking all the photos! To me, the one thing that stands out is that there really isn't a lot of space to put in those temporary bleachers other than near the endzone areas. The Burn should have no trouble selling out the 7,500 in permanent seating for most every game. But selling 4,500 in bleacher seating in the endzones may be a challenge, particularly in the summer when those aluminum bleachers tend to get uncomfortably warm.
good work man!!! i think that puting more seats in there could not be impossible, i think that the end zones are prefect for that, and besides, the sidezones are good for that too
Southlake I was certainly dissappointed to hear about this move. As a Burn season ticket holder, I am very concerned. However, if we pack the stands and people on the Fort Worth side of town show up as well as the fans from Dallas, then this could be good. I have to say that when Naperville is sold-out it looks good on TV--other than the field markings of course. Hopefully, we'll get Earnie Stewart and I will then be more at ease to the idea of driving 30-40 minutes out to Fort Worth to see the game when the Cotton Bowl is only 10 minutes from my house. Go Burn!!
it only looks like there will be enough room for bleachers on the side of the field without the scoreboard. Will all of the supporters groups be behind the goal there?
Great pictures. It looks like there is plent of room to put in extra stands. Although not a great long term solution. Having this stadium packed will look better on tv then a larger crowd at the Cotton. Also it's an opprotunity to attract fans from a different area.
So they are only going to have 12,000 seats available? If so this really bad. What kind of image on tv will that give. Even if it is packed people will be able to tell that the stadium is smaller than their backyard. There are high school football teams that pack out stadiums bigger than that. Horrible
football lines. just f***in great. Anyone know if they're permanent? I imagine they are since it's f***in field turf. I'm so tired of it. I really don't like having these places on TV. The only saviour of Fire Matches are when the barnburners and crew are loud. The field looks terrible on TV in Naperville and it will likely here as well. I know beggars can't be choosers. LA stadium and Columbus are progress. So, as a fan who just wants what MLS deserves, I'll let it go. Rochester is to break ground in spring from what I've heard. That's another piece to the American soccer puzzle. I'm definitely glad to have a small size venue again. 12,000 packed is far better than 20,000 in a 60,000 seater. So, this is an improvement in ways. Good luck Burn and fans in 2003.
I wouldn't worry about how the lines look on t.v. Remember, we are Dallas. We only have one game on ESPN this year and it is in L.A. I bet if we win the cup this year, we will get 2 away games on ESPN the following year!