Re: Qwest Field Photo Thread [Merged] Actually I live in the U district 9 months out of the year, and I'm likely staying for the summer too, but I'd still rather go to the burbs for my games. Qwest is an awesome venue, and the "pub scene" is nice, although I'm not yet 21... I personally would go out of my way to get the awesome atmosphere I've seen at Toyota park and HDC (on a good day). Of course, when the time comes I will gladly eat my own words if Qwest works out. Just means we can spend an extra 100 million on some players all my eurosnob friends will give the time of day, because they're sooo much better than what we've got here.
PDX still possible / Free rent at Qwest? From the SportsBusiness Journal, 10/8: MLS will expand to the Pacific Northwest in 2009, adding a team in Seattle that will be owned by Hollywood executive Joe Roth, USL Seattle Sounders managing partner Adrian Hanauer and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital. League and team sources said MLS’s board has conditionally approved the expansion group. An announcement of the expansion is expected before the MLS playoffs begin in late October. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...earch.perform_search&keyword=seattle+sounders I don't have a subscription so I can't access the whole article, which according to the Oregonian (see other post) suggests that Seattle MLS will get 'free rent' at Qwest.
Re: PDX still possible / Free rent at Qwest? 10/11 http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1191986725187180.xml&coll=7 Coverage of Portland MLS news, with how it interacts with Seattle MLS. Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen would become a third member of that investor group in exchange for allowing the team to play rent-free at Seattle's Qwest Field, home of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, according to a report Monday by SportsBusiness Journal. "If by chance we do finalize an agreement to bring a team to Seattle, that would not preclude us from bringing a team to Portland," said Dan Courtemanche, an MLS senior vice president. The league has seen increased interest since Garber's spring visit to Portland. Factors that have sparked expansion talk in a dozen different U.S. markets include soccer icon David Beckham joining the Los Angeles Galaxy; new TV and sponsorship deals; and sellouts at each home game in Toronto this season, the first for the league's 13th franchise.
Re: PDX still possible / Free rent at Qwest? blogged by Earthquake fans... http://blog.soccersiliconvalley.com/archives/2007/10/even_if_seattle.html
Re: PDX still possible / Free rent at Qwest? The SportsBusiness Journal article listed above says this is the Seattle MLS ownership breakdown: 50% Joe Roth 25% Adrian Hanauer 25% Paul Allen A very nice mix of mainly soccer-interests (Roth, Hanauer) and stadium power (Allen).
Re: Qwest Field Photo Thread [Merged] Ah, okay. I get ya. Sorry about the presumption. I'm not sure how many atmosphere-producing hardcores would actually go to the suburbs to watch a game. BTW, one benefit of bringing in the high-profile Euro players is that it gives our great American players a chance to school them in front of all our American eurosnob fans. - Paul
Re: Qwest Field Photo Thread [Merged] Hardcore might be the wrong word. If you aren't willing to drive a little doesn't that make them kind of on the soft side? Locals might be a better term.
First Anti Qwest myth BUSTED!!!! Ok, so one down. Several BS posters refused to believe that Seattle MLS would get a reasonable rent at Qwest. BUSTED!!!! Not only is it reasonable........ IT'S FREE!!!! So I just wonder how many of them will nut up and say they were wrong. Immediately the shift went to the surface. Who would believe that the Seattle ownership group would actually have THOUGHT about these issues?
Re: First Anti Qwest myth BUSTED!!!! The Oregonian printed it in todays paper. If you aren't aware that's the major news publication for Portland, SW Washington and all of Oregon. I actually find the irony hilarious.
Re: First Anti Qwest myth BUSTED!!!! My bird reads the Oregonian daily. He's usually shitting on it while he reads.... but hey.... he likes it. I thougth it was interesting the the Oregonian broke this too!
Re: First Anti Qwest myth BUSTED!!!! Umm...to be clear. The Oregonian merely repeated what the Sports Business Journal broke.
Re: First Anti Qwest myth BUSTED!!!! Oh, absolutely not. I just want the SBJ to get credit where credit is due.
FWIW, I'm watching Pumas and Tigres play right now on Univision at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, and you can plainly see the remnants of the American Football lines on the soccer field from their American football team, Pumas Dorados de la UNAM. Is there an equivalent thread on the Mexican boards with a uproar about the lines on the field?
Cool it gives folks a chance to kind of experience what it is like to sit inside the stadium. Thanks for posting!
Re: Qwest Field Photo Thread [Merged] i'll be honest. My absolute first thought when I heard they were getting a team was, "hey this article had nothing about a future stadium." I think you're spot on . Because empty stadiums don't make for a great tv product. I think this will be one of the teams biggest issues. You can put 40k in a 60k+ seater and it it can still look sparse. But we'll see how it plays out. But artificial turf, gridlines, and a 60k+ seat stadium. Almost like a newer Giants stadium.
Re: Qwest Field Photo Thread [Merged] i've never seen a game in person at that field. i did see the real madrid game and thought it was a beautiful view of the city. I thought it looked ok when it had lot's of people. Giants stadium looked ok when they had 60k+ for Beckham. The problem is it looks like crap on tv when they only get 18K. Another interesting comment i heard was a foriegn guy was watching the mls cup and commented on how sad it was that they couldn't sell out the cup final. now they got a good crowd for that game and anyone that's watch mls understands but in that field in DC it doesn't look too great when there are gaps of empty seats. To the person who is watching on tv it looks bad and i don't think you can just say well 40K is good so the viewer shouldn't care. I think it's a issue that the league needs to be very mindful of because major sports in this country run off tv money. I hope they do well though.
hey i understand. just to be clear it could be great to watch a game. I was more thinking about how it looks on tv. like spartan stadium wasn't too bad a place to watch games (by no means perfect) but you're pretty close to the field. But on tv it didn't look great, with light poles in the way and you can't see the near touchline. again i know what an influence tv money has on growing a league. The epl had a massive influx of cash from tv money. and that whole flap about the nfl moving games to the nfl network is really about the nfl saying, "we want a piece of some of that advertising money too."