It's certainly a possibility, but it's something they could have done when the Hanauer's were minority owners, but they didn't do it then. *shrug*
An excellent part of the move is that Seattle -- and their opponents -- will be playing on a good soccer field.
Isn't that atmosphere dependent on the crowd? I don't think it automatically comes with the stadium. If the Reign can match the Sounders crowds, then I'm all for it. That's a big if, however.
Doubtful. That's not cheap. Maybe parts of the lower bowl, but I just don't see them covering all but 10k seats.
Our time to stand together is now. The wave is calling. pic.twitter.com/haCChmWjDo— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) December 15, 2021 San Diego released their crest and team colors. I like it.
https://equalizersoccer.com/2021/12/15/san-diego-wave-crest-colors-sdsu-snapdragon-stadium/ San Diego Wave unveil crest, announce new SDSU stadium as permanent home San Diego Wave FC will play home games at San Diego State University’s new Snapdragon Stadium when the venue opens in September, the club announced. The Wave will play those games with a pink-and-blue crest, the team also unveiled on Wednesday. The 35,000-seat Snapdragaon Stadium is being built in the Mission Valley area of the city. The school’s football team will be the primary tenant, but the stadium was built with soccer in mind for field width and sightlines. “Snapdragon Stadium provides elite facilities for our players and premium amenities for our fans,” Wave FC president Jill Ellis said. “From day one, we set out to deliver an unrivaled gameday experience for fans that matches the energy and quality of soccer on the field.” Wave FC will play at the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium in 2022 — its inaugural season in the National Women’s Soccer League — until Snapdragon Stadium is ready for use.
Wonder if they will use Snapdragon stadium for the 2022 NWSL Final. Says it will open in September of 2022.
Probably too risky to schedule that. Any opening delays could create issues, and they'd have to convince the school to leave a specific weekend open on their football schedule. It's definitely possible, but I would think next year would be much more likely. Who knows when we'll get an NWSL 2022 schedule, nor how deep into the fall the season will run. One think that makes Banc of California Stadium in LA more likely of the two new entrants is the fact that MLS is ending early this year because of the Qatar World Cup.
Makes sense, and Banc Stadium is just as good venue as well. Maybe they use Snapdragon in 2023 Final.
when the whitecaps were marooned in the US during the pandemic and they played at Providence Park, the magic of television projected fans in empty seats and whitecap logos and sponsors throughout the stadium with the flick of a switch.
I nearly forgot about that. Virtual tarp or fans! These days they can put virtual fans just like you see in FIFA games.
Schedule news dropped during the draft: Challenge Cup - Mar.19 to May7 Four groups of three, going to semifinals Regular season will be 22 games instead of 24 Fully balance home-and-away schedule NWSL Championship - weekend of Oct.28 Six-team playoffs again (which I think was expected) Both the Challenge Cup final and NWSL Championship will be on CBS
One would hope so! Especially since championship weekend is being announced a month an a half earlier than it was last year, so there's even more planning time ahead. Oops here, I meant three groups of four; also will be double-round-robin, so minimum of 6 games per team, up to 8 for finalists.
Random trivia tidbit I noticed from Wiki-walking after my draft watching: The joint record for numbers of team a player has scored for is 5: ...and both players have been traded in the past few days to entirely new teams. I fully expect both players to bump the joint record for teams-you've-scored-for up to six this coming season.
Almost no chance. CBS still has SEC football for 2 more years so that's going to get priority during the fall. That particular weekend has multiple marquee matchups, including Florida vs Georgia, so it's likely going to be on where there's a 3:30pm ET game and a 7 or 8pm ET game.
I don't recall CBS running any night games. ESPN/ABC usually gets those. After this year's championships, and the 3:30 SEC game, CBS favored us with its usual evening of reruns.
I forgot they dropped off that late game in the last year or two, but those reruns are bringing in viewership in the range of 2.5 million most weeks, so that's still unlikely to move in favor of NWSL.
You're probably right, and that makes it unlikely the game would be played on the West Coast unless the network and the league ignore the players' wishes.
Friday night, or the late afternoon slot on Sunday after the early NFL games, seem much more likely. The more interesting time will be 2024, when CBS no longer has SEC football at all. I'm assuming they'll try to elevate the Mountain West conference and also get a piece of the Big 10 deal. The Big 12 comes up for a new deal the year after that. NWSL might be able to get a better foothold on a prime time/late afternoon Saturday slot for their championship then.