It's fair criticism but it doesn't explain Aaronson being signed by the team. He's a player that plenty of teams would be happy to have. Same with Navarro as a DP who now has some attacking talent around him. Improving the stadium sounds simple but it never is as you have to have the community and the politicians behind the changes.
Are you lost? When you say something matters, people assume you mean it matters to a wider context than to the 5 people in this thread.
Personally I think American DPs are a bit of a ripoff. If Aaronson had the same skillset and played for Denmark he wouldn't be a DP.
He was highly rated coming out of the Union academy, went to Germany and got minutes. He's been on the fringe of the USMNT roster and still just 22. He's exactly the type of player I wish more MLS teams would try and maintain instead of leaving for Europe.
Seems like it's been nothing but problems since they built the stadium. Philadelphia and Dallas had the same situation as Colorado with stadiums outside the city but they both have invested in the surrounding area in different ways. Chicago actually paid to get out of their stadium to move back to the city and finally got approval to build a new stadium. Losing the Bears might have moved that along but who knows? I do know that if anything changes, revenue will be needed from somewhere. If nothing else they can lay down the money for heating under the field..... Maybe.
C'mon dude. You know damn well the development around Subaru Park has been an extremely long process. Also, it needs to be noted that what has been developed was not part of the original plan when Subaru Park was first conceived. The Academy, sportsplex and overall campus were not part of that plan until Ernst Tanner became Sporting Director.
Right, they were going to build something completely different but then the crash happened. Sugarman took a beating during that time and there was thoughts they might not even get the stadium. I also wouldn't give Tanner as much credit as Tim McDermott. The point is they pivoted and still invested in Chester. Even in 2024 they have explored expanding the stadium but if that happens and it's increased to 27,000, how do you get people to the stadium? https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/philadelphia-union-subaru-park-expansion-20240419.html
I just want to point out the positive of this but people don’t appreciate what they have, is like when people are desperate to get married and they create high expectations and when they finally marry they just point out the negative of the husband or wife but is nothing wrong with them, the problem is your high expectations, the same thing with a soccer team in your Market your expectations is to be like Miami but not all the markets can support that kind of spending.
At this point just shut up instead of making the hole bigger. That's not a single long-term Rapids fan that "expects to be like Miami" and anyone who knows anything about the club knows that. We just want a club that's valued higher than the expansion fee and beats a MLS team in a knockout competition more than once a decade.
Of the top 8 teams in that attendance chart you posted, only 2 have not had Messiami at home this season: Atlanta and Seattle. In other words, I wouldn't base very much on that list except for the fact that Atlanta and Seattle typically are near the top of the attendance charts on a regular basis, regardless of who comes to town. (For the record, I'm not saying Charlotte isn't usually strong as well).
I think expectations are maybe a comfortable stadium in a range of weathers and an team to occasionally get excited about. They had a couple of freak seasons in 2016, when Zack McMath (17 games, 13 GA, 44 saves), turned into Tim Howard (17 games, 19 GA, 53 saves) and 2021, which was so messed up that a baseball team won MLS Cup.
It was Tanner's idea to have the entire operation down in Chester, as it would streamline everything. The Academy, second and first teams all being in the same building.
Once upon a time back in the early 2000s, the Rapids were one of the top teams in the league for average attendance. Of course, this didn't really tell the whole story because the numbers were skewed by an outlier, which was the 4th of July game where they'd pack the place with between 40k to 60k people. Other games outside of that ranged from pedestrian to bleak. Median attendance is a better indicator than average because it helps correct for outliers. Same applies in 2026 for the Messi game as it did in 2003 for 4th of July.
https://www.inquirer.com/philly/spo...-mcdermott-union-fans-town-hall-20181018.html Tim McDetrmott stated on more than one occasion that he got the idea from taking his kids to play in different sporting events throughout the region. This article is from a fan town hall where he first talks about it but nothing had been decided at that point. .
Jay Sugarman literally said at a Town Hall in 2024 that the idea of having the entire campus in Chester came from Tanner. It gives the Union an advantage over the rest of the league for now having the academy and all teams training together in Chester. Along with having the in door training facility.
That article is before Tanner was hired. I also think we are talking about two different things. I'm talking about the sports plex that generates revenue with different sports, tournaments and not just the Union itself. The idea was to invest in the community and that's what they are trying to do by making it a 365 complex that brings people to Chester.
30306 is lowest, non-covid announced attendance in #ATLUTD history for an #MLS match— Soccer with Doug, by Doug Roberson (@SoccerwithDoug) April 23, 2026
MLS Attendances for Matchday 9 April 22, 2026 New York City (vs. Cincinnati) 7,099 New York Red Bulls (vs. DC United) 13,309 Toronto (vs. Philadelphia) 15,461 Atlanta (vs. New England) 30,306 Orlando (vs. Charlotte) 16,089 Columbus (vs. Los Angeles Galaxy) Not Reported Houston (vs. San Diego) 15,838 Dallas (vs. Minnesota) 11,004 Salt Lake City (vs. Miami) 21,512 Los Angeles FC (vs. Colorado) 22,132 San Jose (vs. Austin) Not Reported TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 152,750 AVERAGE: 16,972 (9 Matches, So Far)
Unless the New York teams actually counted butts in seats, those numbers reflect pretty low season ticket sales.
The fans probably love the team but their patience is running thin. This is probably the third bad season in a row for Atlanta at this point.
The attendance boom in Seattle's early seasons eventually faded, so it's not surprising that the same thing could be happening in Atlanta.
Columbus and San Jose have provided their midweek numbers for Matchday 9. Columbus (vs. Los Angeles Galaxy) 19,049 San Jose (vs. Austin) 12,276 MIDWEEK TOTAL: 184,075 AVERAGE: 16,734 (11 Matches)