/\Fantastic post! This post needs to be copied and inserted and used as reference from now on. Until we know what MLS will announce for franchises, and why. This information you've provided has all the answers one needs in regards to Vancouver's bid.
Here are the 2008 season ticket counts as reported in the SportsBusiness Journal. Credit also to: http://themlszone.blogspot.com 1. Toronto FC - 16,641 (+34%) 2. Los Angeles Galaxy - 7,915 (-15%) 3. D.C. United - 5,976 (+27%) 4. Real Salt Lake - 4,632 (+5%) 5. Houston Dynamo - 4,116 (+87%) 6. New England Revolution - 4,001 (+14%) 7. San Jose Earthquakes - 3,822 8. Columbus Crew - 3,227 (+1%) 9. New York Red Bulls - 3,170 (+33) 10. FC Dallas - 3,002 (-4%) 11. Colorado Rapids - 2,968 (+59%) 12. Chicago Fire - 2,759 (+8%) 13. Kansas City Wizards - 1,539 (+232%) 14. Chivas USA - 837 (-2%) I was a little bit off with my earlier post, but not significantly so. TFC is at 16,600, and LA is at around 7,900. But let's ignore TFC for a second, as it's a juggernaut that throws off the bell curve. When you look at the remaining 13 teams for a "league average," it works out to around 3,690 season tickets per club. Also, if 3,690 is the average mark, then only 6 teams in the league are selling "above average" (still excluding TFC here), and 7 are missing the mark completely... Only 3,170 in NY/NJ? Only 2,759 in Chicago? Are you frickin' kidding me? These should be MLS flagship markets along with LA and TFC, and they're scarcely selling better than USL clubs with much smaller staff budgets. Either the marketing is flawed, or the planning of this league has been flawed. All the more reason to allocate new or existing teams to proven markets like Vancouver, Montreal and Portland. As for an untested market like St. Louis, I'd expect them to turn in a middle of the table sales effort, but they're not going to outpace any of the top 6. All the more reason Vancouver should get in. Seattle's sold 17,000 seats for next season. More than 30 years of attendance data proves that Vancouver can and will do the same as its Cascadian counterpart. The detractors can cry all they want about Vancouver's deal with BC Place.... parking fees and nacho baskets do not make up for all the empty seats they're going to see if teams go to St. Louis, Atlanta and/or Miami instead.
Just to clarify though, those are the season ticket numbers as of March 3, 2008. Those are not the final season ticket numbers for 2008 nor even the opening day numbers. I know for a fact SJ had well over 4k when the season started.
I like Montreal, Portland and Vancouver. I think Miami and St.Louis would be a disaster for the league.
I think Montreal, Portland and Vancouver would be excellent. Miami and St. Louis would be a very nice addition. Atlanta would be alot more interesting if the stadium issue was clear. Can't make heads or tails of it here on BS. Ottawa, don't they a stadium arguement going on with the CFL wanna be?? Can't imagine that working. We are just looking at a time in league history unlike anything before it. Most these bids would crush any thing previous.
Wow, Chivas' numbers are lower than a handful of the PDL clubs numbers. The Victoria Highlanders I think are targeting 2k for next year.
Chivas' fanbase has always been walkup not season ticket buyers. With them it's more important to look at their average attendance which is decent in the 14k range.
I think those numbers are helpful and interesting. But are those Full Season Equivalents or a combination of all season ticket pacakages?
The Sounders aren't selling partial season ticket packages yet. The (now) 17,500 are all full season tickets.
I know the Quakes number was only full packages, not partials as partials hadn't gone on sale yet on March 3rd. Which is why those numbers while interesting aren't really that useful. What would be more useful would be opening day numbers or the final numbers.
New BC Place renders. The area around this eastern part of False Creek will be served by 4 metro(skytrain) stops. The Olympic Village construction is near the bottom of the photo. You can also see the addition of high rises and other buildings on the station precinct. These help pay for the stadium refurbishment.
The roof design is German but we don't know exactly what will done with other exterior design aspects yet - like if it's similar to Allianz. The lighting in the the photo is 'proposed', but could be something used all the time or possibly limited due to the proximity of residential towers. They would use similar LED technology, which is actually being implemented into the under part of Canada Line guideways in Richmond or the CN Tower for example. Contractors for the first phase are in and will be awarded next week. Construction is to start in Spring when 'final' designs and budgets done.
I've always gotten the feeling that while using BC Place is a good plan for getting an MLS team, Kerfoot has not backed away from the Waterfront Stadium negotiations at all. With an MLS team coming, those Port Authority idiots would be heading down an inevitable loss in this fight. This will be especially true if Portland also comes in and MLS as a whole becomes more lucrative following the CBA negotiations at the end of 2009. Vancouver MLS would gain massive support with the idea of a massive three-way Pacific Northwest rivalry in a major league. That's too much to pass over.
Stadium news. The general contractor has finally been chosen and it will be PCL. Vancouver, Greater Vancouver RD BC NEGOTIATED/PLANS COMPLETE BC Place Stadium - Roof Replacement, 777 Pacific Blvd, V6B 4Y8 $200,000,000 est Start: January, 2009 Note: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO PRE-QUALIFY by the Construction Mgr for the following Sub Trades: Landscaping; Demolition including removal of existing roof; Micropile Installation; Asphalt; Reinforcing Steel; Concrete Formwork; Carbon Fibre Wrap; Masonry; Steel Structure; Misc Metals; Lockstrand Cable; Fixed Roof Fabric; Retractable Tenara Roof Fabric; ETFE Fabric On Facade; Mechanized Retractable Roof System; Sound System (including hoisting); Architectural Cladding; Glass & Glazing; Roofing; Interior Finishes; Mechanical; Electrical; Sprinklers; Building Controls; Acoustic Abatement; Exterior Building Maintenance; Elevator Upgrades; Arena Seating; Traffic Deck Coatings; & Amphitheatre Production Rigging. Tenara website - http://www.tenarafabric.com/gallery.html
Regarding the roof can someone enlighten me as to how strong it is? I have in mind that if it snows it would have to bare an enormous weight - would they retract the roof in these circumstances?
IIRC the existing roof structure is heated so snow melts when it hits the teflon. I would imagine similar technology would be employed with the new one. Vancouver has a very mild climate, so we usually get a few days of snow each year at the most. That said, we've received a highly unusual snow dump over the past few days and I'm sick of the damn stuff.
Thank you - I never thought about the roof being heated, which probably explains why I am not in the construction industry. All helps global warming I suppose.
Here is a new render of the proposed stadium precinct. The oblong building next to the water is the possible new location of the Vancouver Art Gallery but the gallery have yet to confirm if they will move there. There are plans for civic plazas on either side of it. The plan also calls for inclusion of a future tram station. http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/nefc/