FedExField is a decent option Actually that's not true. On December 18 two Metro Stations within walking distance of FedEx Field will open up: Morgan Blvd and Largo Town Center http://www.wmata.com/about/MET_NEWS/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=497 And I don't know that sharing FedEx Field for three years with the Redskins would be a worse choice than sharing RFK with boreball. Neither is an ideal situation. If United isn't at least holding Byrd and FedEx in their pocket as leverage with the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission then they're fools. I seem to recall seeing Women's World Cup games at FedExField and not having a bad time or recalling that the field is too small for soccer. Now for those of you complaining about football lines on soccer fields, I guarantee that the soccer lines on football fields look just as bad. United could do worse than to play at FedExField until a soccer specific stadium is built. And the easiest way to sort out the football/soccer conflict is to run the soccer season so IT ENDS BEFORE FOOTBALL. The NASL hit its attendance peak in the last year it ended its season in August. When the NASL moved to end its season in October it was bankrupt 4 years later. I know its a tough concept, but an MLS Cup on Labor Day weekend will capture the attention of the casual fan who is not worrying about the middle of the NFL season or baseball playoffs or the start of the NBA season. Starting the MLS season in February will not only garner soccer more media coverage but it will also will reduce baseball related conflicts at RFK or football conflicts at FedEx. And the real name of the Warlock of Landover is Daniel Snyder.
Now what is the deal for after the Expos' season fails and DC United's is continuing to go on? Even if both teams failed to make the playoffs, there would still be a couple of weeks where DC United would have games. This would obviously be lengthened further if DC continues to participate in the playoffs. The stadium, in theory, could be shifted back completely to it's normal setting in this time, as well as sod put down instead of FieldTurf for the infield, correct?
Keep in mind that at Giants Stadium, before they put the natural grass pitch in, that they used to have a tray system in place in which they would move a grass pitch in and off the artificial turf in a day or so.
Yeah, and that should be how it is done during the season. My question though is that once the baseball season is done, won't they be able to put down sod to match the regular grass of what is the infield and outfield? If it definitely the preferred alternative to the tray surface that can be used during the overlapping seasons. I guess what I'm asking is that if DC gets to the playoffs next year, couldn't the stadium be pretty much back to normal?
Re: FedExField is a decent option 3 rows of seating were added to the front of the stands since the WWC. It was narrow but reasonable then. It's a postage stamp now.
Had to post, since the largest topic in preparation is being somewhat ignored here- TIME. The Washington Post released the "Pending" schedules of both the Baltimore Orioles as well as the Expos, to prove the point about them not having "home and home" conflicts. What they didn't mention was how MLB screwed MLS in their agreement to share the space at a rate of 2 weekend home games per month. During the months of June and September, IIRC, the Expos have no less than 3 weekend homestands planned, and in no month during their season do they have less than 2. Switching those field trays as well as the seating arrangements will take at least a full 24 hours, so I see no accomadation being made here with respect to scheduling, barring a full flight into some Jetson-age type mechanical solutions. In that case, they could hold day/night soccer/baseball double headers. Is that the price soccer fans are expected to pay in exchange for improved media access/ammenities as well as better staffed(numbers) service on concessions, and maybe- just maybe- a break on parking rates? You be the judge.
Do you think DCSEC really care about soccer fans? Puh-leez. That's why I think FedExField should be given some serious consideration. Wanna know what it's like for soccer and baseball to share the same pitch? Ask a Rochester Rhinos fan.
I'm not sold on any advantage of going to Fed Ex. Look at the crap attendance numbers at NE, NY/NJ, KC, in their HUGE stadiums built for football. I'd rather deal with the obstacles at RFK then have to deal with the freakin cavernous Fed Ex.
Kevin Payne had some DC Council bigwigs and other people associated with the SSS in his box saturday night. I hope the show both teams and the fans put on impressesed them. How could it not?
Baseball tends to play 3 game series, with some 4 game sets thrown in as well. So, worst case, if the baseball team's last game is Thursday, they've got all day Friday, and some of Saturday to prepare for a United match, and all day Sunday and some of Monday to get it back for baseball. I also expect to see a lot more Wednesday night games. Or three home games in 10 days.
Look, if we're talking baseball scheduling, getaway days occur twice a week- either after Sunday's game on Sunday or Monday, and after Wednesday or Thursday's game, Wed night til Friday day, depending on where their next opponent's located. My point in the last post, was to point out the most obvious concession to start with, is for both teams to regulate their schedule on weekends to 2 homestands a month, roughly.Where one team exceeds the total one month, it gives up a weekend in another month. Where baseball is concerned, there is NO splitting of a Weekend- whether it's a 3 or 4 game series, no team gets away on a Sunday without having played first( barring of course, a rainout.) For whatever reason, thus far, the Expos are exceeding that quota by at least 2 weeks, and that's not looking at games occurring on Wednesday's, etc. Expos' tentative schedule can be found here: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/dcbaseball_2005schedule_tentative.jsp Oops- I stand corrected, they did what I predicted, I guess- Expos schedule for Saturdays month #H-A april 2-2 may 1-3 june 3-1 july 1-4 aug 2-2 sept 3-1 oct 1-0 Anyways,- Projecting this year's schedule pattern onto next years calendar,(just subtract 1 day from the date) brings up 5 home and home conflicts,all Saturdays with one exception- 5/14, 5/18*,6/11,9/3 and 9/10. With baseball's season including 162 games, it's a much smaller ratio compared with MLS's 30. Now the mid-week conflict on 5/18 ought to be easy enough to resolve any week where the Expos are away. Being that United played all but 3 of their regular season matches on a Saturday, this is where attention towards accomadation should be focused. Oh, BTW, yeah, I think being the sole long term tenant at RFK (there for the past 8 years, they are the lone one's left from over that period) should merit something in the way of consideration from the DCSEC, especially since MLS's presence also afforded them the opportunity to continue hosting international matches. Remember, World Cup '94 came to DC before the Redskins were moved to Ral-Jon, and RFK had yet to be vacated. With that in mind, United along with Bruce Arena have kept the spotlight on RFK being the far and away clear favored US site for international matches, being the largest SSS(yes, SSS! by default- no other sport played at RFK for the past several years) in the country, before LA's HomeDepot, and long after the Skins had departed. As of this season, the pitch was not regulated by either football nor baseball, neither by the dimensions nor being subjected to the added wear and tear. I've been glad to have been going to United matches since the 99 season, and witness interiorwise,(bouncing stands, fans in said stands, the pitch and the play upon it) the jewel to soccer RFK has become. I think soccer folks nationwide would do well to voice their support especially with the influx of baseball, in maintaining it as long as it's feasible, and especially given it's exceptional ability at providing the utmost in atmosphere, as we all witnessed in the Eastern Conference Final this past Saturday. I thus respectfully submit my .02. Thank you.
Re: FedExField is a decent option Ummm... a football field has a line that goes accross the field every 5 yards, plus a wide approx. 3 foot line at the sideline. There are 22 football lines, plus 200+ hashmarks and wide 3 foot white sidelines... all on the soccer playing surface. The soccer field causes only three lines to actually intrude on the football field, plus the penalty area lines. Generally, the soccer lines are done in yellow, and easier to remove. The two are not even close to being comparable.
If THAT didn't sell people on this sport and what an SSS could mean, I don't guess anything will. Hell, I had goose bumps and I was watching at home.....on tape.....a day later.
Of course, those people could look at the crowd and say "Hey, these people are perfectly happy here, why would they need a new place"