Silverdome Sells - Site For Soccer Team?

Sorry, but this sounds like some real estate speculator taking a flyer on a ridiculous bargain. I mean, $583,000?! Hell, you could drive ten minutes in any direction but due east from the Silverdome and find houses worth more than that!

If the buyer has deep enough pockets to tear down everything above ground and put grass into it, this could be extremely good news. However, I'm not encouraged by the statement that the buyer "hopes to bring a soccer league to the site." "A" soccer league? With no whisper of any contact with MLS? Even just the lower bowl would be at least three times too big for USL-1 (or, Zeus forbid, TOA).

 

I wouldn't go with the quote verbatim. I'm sure it was a misquote.

 

Well, it was not the buyer who was mentioned as saying that, it was the financial guy from the City of Pontiac. Also, some other sources are now mentioning MLS (and WPS) by name, although still not attributed to the buyer, who is still anonymous.

 

Both the stadium AND 127 acres for less than $600,000? How long until we see the Silverdome implosion on ESPN Classic?

 

There is no way the 'dome will be up in any shape or form if soccer is ever played there. With how cheap they got it, they will probably just tear the sucker down and build whatever they want there.

 

I'm not an expert on etiquette, but if you plan on putting a professional sports team in a city, wouldn't it more polite to let the people in that city know you want to do such a thing? How about the league that team would play in?

I get the feeling it's all hooey. The day after the deal closes, that will be the last we hear of it.

 

And the saga continues to unfold.

The Free Press quickly contacted Dan Duggan on the whole issue. No, he wasn't part of the bid. He was surprised that it sold to a bidder with soccer in mind, and stunned that it sold for so low.

Things are going to get VERY interesting around here.

 

Is there any chance two pro soccer teams could survive in Detroit?

 

Rip off roof and upper deck -- lower level still seats around 42,000. Tearing up end zone seats and corners would probably put seating around 28,000+/-.

However, like others have mentioned the cost to delicately take apart and refurbish could be more than bulldozing and building an intimate soccer facility.

 

This is exactly right.

The only thing that keeps the MLS idea in the realm of possibility is that, it wasn't just the dome that got sold for dirt cheap, but 127 acres of land with easy freeway access. It might be worth some developer's while to put more money into renovating the dome than building from scratch somewhere else if it's to be used as an anchor for a bigger development using the rest of the land.

Of course, some of that land, most of it probably, will be for parking, but that's still a big chunk in what could be a great location.

Another consideration is that there won't be much of a need for infrastructure improvements, which would be required just about anywhere else. That takes a bunch of money and a lot of political maneuvering and such, and has scuttled previous stadium plans elsewhere.

But, I still want to hear the word "soccer" from the new owners before I start to get my hopes up.

 

My feeling on this is that it was a company from Toronto who thought of the Silverdome as a steal (which for the price they were right) and they personally might be thinking, "Wow we could put a soccer stadium here for dirt cheap and make it MLS!". I have a feeling they have very little insight into how to actually apply to be an MLS expansion team and you just don't get in cause you want to.

Now it does give a Detroit bid a lot to bring to the table, I will say that. But unless these people who bought it are soccer experts, and we don't know cause their name hasn't been released yet, I expect Duggan will eventually sit down with them and talk things out. I have no doubt that with the passion Duggan has for doing things carefully and right he will make it work (whatever it may be USL-1/MLS) for Detroit.

 

I can't imagine that they could have thought that they were going to go it alone in MLS. I'm hoping that they look to put together an ownership group with the venue in their hip pocket, and go from there.

 

Allow me to counsel you about the danger of getting your hopes up. We in St. Louis jumped around like idiots for the TV cameras in September 2007, when the Collinsville, IL city council approved funding for an 18,000-seat SSS and surrounding complex. MLS found that stadium deal useful for leveraging better deals in Philadelphia and Portland, but otherwise it went nowhere.

I know it's hard to do, but if at all possible, try not to get excited until a billionaire says he's going to bring MLS to Detroit. You'll save yourself the heartache we've gone through these past two years.

 

I sympathize with you. Don Garber has it in for STL. As for this Detroit "proposal," I have 0.000% expectation that this will ever get off square 1.

 

The upside is, if this doesn't pan out, we can always scream mean, irrational things about the motives of Don Garber and MLS at the top of our lungs all over BigSoccer, just like you St. Louis folks have done ever since. So, we have that going for us.

 

Come on guys - stop it with the MLS in Detroit stuff.

This is NOT going to happen. MLS will NOT be supported in Detroit. There is no way Detroit has the capability to support an MLS team. You would be looking at some of the worst attended games in MLS.

With Dan not having anything to do with this I think it's a fair bet to say the Silverdome will continue to sit unused until it's eventually demolished for residential.

 

I have no real expectations that we will get a MLS team in the next 5-10 years at all. Honestly if we do, I might fall over dead, but until that point I just don't see it happening. What I was trying to say in my last post is that this brings something to the table, but its one of many things needed.

I will be perfectly happy to sing my heart out for a Detroit USL-1 team.

 

Like the Crews' playoff game?

I'd like to know why you think we couldnt support MLS here.

 

Ooooh Nice one on the Crew!

Let me ask you something kiddo, how often do you attend MI Bucks games? How often do you attend anything soccer related in Metro Detroit?

Metro Detroit and MI's economy is in the crapper. It's not expected to recover any time soon. Do you honestly think that people, in this economic climate, are going to shell out additional precious dollars to support a SOCCER team in Detroit?

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/sectio...cript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

Every major league team's attendance is down with the exception of Hockey. Though to be honest, the last few Red Wings games I've gone to there have been a few more empty seats then I was used to seeing.

I find it hard to believe that we could pull 20,000 people per game. Don Garber wants more Torontos and Seattles. Do you honestly think he's going to take a chance on Detroit when there are other towns with far more soccer history and also have ESTABLISHED professional teams? We have the MI Bucks. And as much as I love going to Buck's games, the attendance isn't exactly over flowing.

Now, if you want to discuss Detroit and it's prospects for MLS further, I'm all about it. But stick to Detroit. Stop trying to pull Rivalry crap with the Crew.