All of the sideline seats, including the upper deck will be individual molded seats. Only the corners and endline will be bench stile seats.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v704/dominionroc/ Enter the above website to view over 60 new photos of PAETEC Park taken ...Friday, April 29,2005. The last section of heavy steel is now going up on the westside of the stadium. This section will be the largest ...it will be a double decker....with room for corporate suites sandwiched in between. The second deck will be built above the corporate suites. When viewing the photos realize that the heavy steel has yet to be assembled for the second deck. So visualize a very high profile western stands with great views of the pitch. Individual molded seats will be placed on all sideline seats. Only the north endzone and corner stands will have bleacher seats...all with backs. The views from all the stands are FANTASTIC!!! ...excellent site lines and very close to the field. Great visability of the large video scoreboard (which will be built on the south side of the stadium) and the downtown skyline. Remember the main asset of PAETEC Park...it is "the only soccer specific stadium in America built in a downtown district". Entertainment district and hotels are a few blocks from the stadium. Construction of PAETEC Park is on schedule...with a completion date sometime in August.
I like what I'm seeing so far. I really hope Rochester find a way to get into MLS. It would be a waste of a good stadium.
Wow this is more exciting as it gets more and more real! I hope we can host some playoff games there this season!
I wouldn't be quite so confident of that. MLS can move in any time they're willing to be a little flexible on the terms. At some point that may be a more attractove prospect than looking at the ridiculous spectacle in Foxboro, for example. One thing for sure, and it's a REALLY strong thing: an MLS team that is now losing money every time they play a game can instantly - INSTANTLY - go to, at worst, a revenue neutral position (and probably become immediately profitable, albeit modestly) simply by loading up a moving van and hitting the NYS Thruway. Simple as that. Sell DuRoss & Co. a 51% share and agree to carry the financing, stock the fan shop and open the box office. Like I said, at some point - and that point may not be as far off as it may look at the moment - the league could well decide that stopping the bleeding is more important than getting the full gouge.
F the Naysayers 'cause they don't mean a thing. This new stadium will be one of the best in the country even if it has FieldTurf. And if Rochester doesn't get an MLS team, they'll still have a better organization than 75% of the MLS.
Why must you USL people ALWAYS take cheapshots at MLS to pump up the USL? Are you that insecure or have that much of an inferiority complex? REAL american soccer fans respect and root for ALL levels of American soccer...not just ones that satisfy you. Grow the hell up.
They are not going to use astroturf. They will use one of the new artificial surfaces. The growing season is too short and there will be lacrosse as well as other activities on the field.
What's the matter? Did a USL club beat the Rapids in a USOC final or something? Oh yeah, the Rhinos did! Silly me! Isn't it about time you got over it though?
I was really hoping that you would be smart enough to get my post...but it's blatantly clear that you aren't. Cut the crap with this ridiculous "MLS sucks/USL is better" crap and GROW THE HELL UP. Are you a fan of american soccer...or not??
The origanal quote you referred to was saying that Rochester has a better organization than 75% of MLS teams. This was not saying the USL is better than MLS. It was only pumping up Rochester and a well run organization that is making money and will have one of the best SSS in the country shortly. It is not that Rochester has an inferiority complex. It is that they don't feel that they deserve to be shunned by MLS when they could bring good things to MLS. As far as talent...MLS is it. I question MLS's sanity if they don't at least put a relocated team in Rochester.
Word to that. You get me man. I was just boosting my team that's all and I was attacked. I enjoy the MLS and really do want the Rhinos there. I could've railed on the Rapids attendence the other night but they are one of the good organizations. Thank You RhinosFan and Kudos to you.
Okay. Well let me be the first to offer you my hand of apology. I just get quickly ticked off because there are many USL fans that come into the MLS boards (specifically Seattle and Portland fans), who have to diss the quality, business plan, and everything else MLS to support their USL franchises and it's bloody annoying. I hate that. I don't have a USL team here (I'm in Denver), but I actively and 100% support USL clubs because I support all levels of American soccer. Eventually I want to see promotion/relegation as well as some damn cooperation between the two to further strengthen the sport here. As far as Rochester I'd love for you guys to have an MLS team...but it does seem that DuRoss may not have the financial backing to pull it off...and that's the only thing that concerns me. We'll see. Again, my apologies.
Well, there you have it. The problem in a nutshell. You get people coming in attacking MLS from a profit and business standpoint, and we get people coming in and attacking the Rhinos for playing surface and overall ability to afford MLS. Sucks for both sides, I say.
MLS ideally wants large tv markets, with committed fan bases and a SSS. For me personally, two out of three aint bad and Rochester has a committed fan base and a SSS. MLS has struggled to build fan bases with commitment and passion, and to create a good atmosphere at the venue. I really think that Rochester would excel on these dimensions, and the league would be better for it. It may not be a huge tv market, but not every team has to be. To me, the real barrier is the ownership groups financial resources are supposedly not adequate. If MLS could solve the Metrostar stadium situation, maybe DuRoss's pockets are suddenly deep enough? It doesn't seem like he really wants to bring in a deeper pocketed partner and that he's willing to stay in the A-league until the price of poker for MLS comes down.
The "Large TV Market" theme was one of the founding myths of MLS. It was perpetrated, and perpetuated, by the clowns who MLS hire to operate the league. They all have shiny new "Sports Marketing" degrees and have been taught to think of all sports as essentially the same thing, to be packaged, marketed and sold in the same way whether it's NASCAR, WWE or Soccer. They use the same old stale models built by Pete Rozelle when he invented modern American sports in the 1960's. Does being in a "major TV market" help make the Metros profitable? Has MLS made a single dime in TV revenue anywhere at all, nationally or locally? When you're pulling numbers that don't even register on the Neilson scale, it doesn't particularly matter whether you're playing in Tucumcari or Portland Maine. Up until the opening of the HDC the only MLS team that had even come close to making a profit, as near as anyone can tell, was Columbus Ohio, the smallest "TV market" in the league. Last I looked it was 35th nationally. MLS had a plan. It sucked. They fired the head idiot and got a new plan. To their credit they have evolved and changed their thinking based on the realities they encountered (although they continue with the "Hispanic market" myth as well as the "youth soccer scene" arithmetic which has continuously failed them despite thier almost mystical belief in the mantra "eighy-eight billion american kids playing soccer every staurday equals five bazillion dollars in profit potential for MLS". But myths die hard) But one thing that HAS fallen by the wayside is the "Major TV market" formula. The money just isn't there because the numbers aren't there to justify the ad expense which would provide the money in the first place. Stadium, ticket sales, pay-per-view and the rest are where the scaled-back MLS is at. And Rochester works just fine. The biggest drawback is perceptual: "BIG BIG BIG" major sports don't locate in Rochester New York. But the league got over it in Columbus, and they'll get over it in Upstate New York.
Reminds me of an old joke. The blond was getting an examination from her doctor. He put the stethoscope on her chest and said "OK, big breaths" She smiled and said "Yeth, and a nith ath too" Sorry. I would hate for this to deteriorate into just another in the seemingly endless string of anti-Chivas threads. That topic ranks right up there with "How Old is Freddy Adu", "Fire Bruce Arena" and "Greg Andrulis wears ladies underwear" as the most overworked topics ever. Well OK, so I made the last one up. In a really small nutshell, my point about Hispanic fans is that they're not "soccer" fans, where you can put out a sign that says "Hey, we gotcher soccer right here" and everyone comes running. They are fans of Mexican League soccer. Mexican league. I can start a baseball team in Italy and call it the New York Yankees but Americans living in Rome will suspect the difference when the first baeman's name is Guido and they play a weekend series in Naples instead of Boston. If I move to Berlin, I'm going to follow the Cleveland Browns from there, not chuck them overboard for the Frankfurt Knights.
FYI not all Hispanics are big fans of the Mexican league. Do Salvadorans take a special interest in the MFL? No. Do Guatemalans? No. Do Hondurans? No. etc, etc
Apologies accepted. Also keep in mind that DuRoss and company will now have a 30-40 million dollar stadium with only about 6 million of there own invested. That is a lot of free an clear asset for collateral. They recieved 15 million from the state for free and the 15 acres land in a downtown location for a dollar per year. Also I bet they will soon get another 9 million from the state for phase II. They would then be sitting on a 40 million stadium for less than 10 million of their own money. I believe some of that money of their own is coming in from the naming rights they sold for millions for 10 years. This guy is a serious self made business man.
I agree with everything you said. I've got no "small time" issue with Rochester. If Green Bay can support the Packers, obviously, Rochester can support a MLS team, be a huge success, and benefit the league. Yeah, it's nice to plan for some long-term tv bonanza, but we could all be dead by then. And the Adidas sponsorship deal seems like a pretty lucrative substitute. But, I personally hope the scaled back business plan you are talking about can make a compelling investment case for new owners. I personally worry that this business plan isn't really capable of justifying the stadium investment dollars that make it fly.