mellon raises some good points. To extend on that a little, keep in mind that we are actually trying to build the stadium in the city we come from. The same can't be said for the Bridgeview Fire, Carson Galaxy, Frisco FC Dallas, or the Commerce City Rapids. Now, I'm not trying to say this is a bad thing that these teams have chosen to go outside their city lines as many professional sports teams do it, but let's not kid ourselves and realize that it is significantly harder to get it done inside the city limits than outside. Of course, with how populated this entire area is, it's tough to get it done anywhere, but the point remains regardless.
And I can almost guarantee you that those seats will usually be the last to be sold. The view from seats that low generally sucks. I know this from the whole Dragon Stadium experience.
The Home Depot Center is 27,000 seats and Crew Stadium is 23,000 seats. I've been to both and Crew Stadium feels like a high school stadium - both its design and its scale. The Home Depot Center felt darn near perfect. Unless there is a cheap and easy way to expand the stadium, I think it should be a little bit bigger. If DC's stadium is that small, I'm gonna be pissed.
And dont forget the bouncy seats that are an absolute necesity at a dc sss. I'd make a dc stadium 22k because that is about as many fans we get for the big games. eastern conf. final drew about that, and freddy's first game was the only one that drew more than that if i remember correctly.
Re. 20k, how many games were reported at more than that many this past year, including playoffs? Offhand, I recall the first game "selling out" at 24k, the final playoff game v. NE selling over 21k, but after that I'm unsure. One way to think about it would be to calculate lost ticket revenue and then use that as a benchmark. Even if DC lost 15k or so fans every year due to capacity, the $$ they'd net from not having to pay the rent for RFK and all the other SSS benefits would probably compensate for the lost revenue.
All other things being equal, attendance ought to increase somewhat simply because the more casual fan simply enjoys experiencing the conveniences of a new stadium in and of itself -- probably the ones who are tethered to kids. From what I saw, the Ravens attendance increased substantially when they moved from Memorial Stadium to PSInet/Ravens/M&T Bank-whatchamacallit stadium before they began to sell out consistently after winning the Super Bowl. In spite of the challenged posed by baseball's competition for the local spectator sports dollar, I still wonder whether the proposed SSS shouldn't have a couple thousand more seating capacity so it's regular seating capacity is about the same size as the Tool Box as opposed to that of the Crew's stadium. Not that I begrudge DCU's FO the opportunity to profit from the theory of supply and demand, of course.
When the new Durham Bulls Athletic Park was built in 1994-5 it had one of the larger cantilevered roofs around. It really is a thing of beauty.
I still get this sinking feeling that when the Nationals move to their newly completed park on the Anacostia we will once again become the sole occupants of RFK w/ no stadium in sight. Sorry to be such a downer...
This is probably going to be the biggest loss as MLS teams transition into their own stadiums. I hope you get them, but I'm pretty sure that the combination of engineering expense and lawyers will make it unlikely. Best of luck, though.
Did the Ravens ever play at Memorial Stadium? I thought they moved into PSI/Ravens/M&T along with the move from to Baltimore from Cleveland.
I'm inclined to agree with you. I also think we'll live through the trauma. The atmosphere at RFK is much more to do with the people than the stands. Yeah, we'll miss 'em. But we'll survive without them.
Looking at the stadium, I think each of the "end-zones" could easily be expanded in Chicago. The one where there are already seats could easily have another deck put up above it, and I'm sure that the end with the stage could get some temporary seating placed onto it if the demand is there.
...and the atmosphere was terrific! I had seats in the end zone on Memorial's version of the bouncy stands.
Seems to me that the best way to finance our stadium is to sell Adidas the naming rights. I would much rather have Adidas' name on our ground than the name of some other product. Their big soccer push in the US is perfectly timed for DC United to take advantage of a great opportunity.
You'll almost certainly have to build it outside the district then. Dollars to donuts is that any stadium built within the confines of Washington DC will fall under some level of "control" however minor of the DC city government, and therefore be forced by Congress to be named something like the "Ronald W. Reagan Soccer Stadium". Last I heard they were trying have RFK renamed after Reagan. Eventually, I suspect they'll just change it from Washington, District of Columbia to Reaganville, District of Ronaldness.
They didn't seem to have any problems with the MCI Center I don't think I could go to United games if they were at Regan Stadium.
That's true. I forgot about that. Let's hope they leave well enough alone. Last time I was in DC, I drove by the Poplar (Point/Park?) - I think that would be a great location.
I suspect that the 20,000 - 24,000 size is a product of marketing analysis and construction costs. MLS teams average something in the high teens for attendance -- 15,000 to 18,000 a game. I can't imagine a huge increase any time soon. Most of the teams would think that they had died and gone to heaven if they could sell 20,000 to 24,000 tickets on a regular basis and keep the ticket, parking, and concession money. Aiming for 30,000 a game, I suspect, seems way too ambitious. I also suspect that building significantly more than 24,000 seats increases the construction costs dramatically -- a second deck or whatever. I rather like Crew Stadium -- a little plain perhaps, but good sight lines from everywhere, good concessions, and decent parking. With a roof and seats rather than benches, it would be about perfect. I hope that the DC stadium includes both seats and a roof over most of the seats.