Fox Soccer posted on Facebook asking if the Us should build a national soccer stadium: http://www.facebook.com/foxsoccer/posts/10150231068612946 The responses there were useless and only rooted for it being in their home city, I hoped we could dig a little deeper here. I had hoped this would be part of our world cup bid last year. I don't see the fact that we almost always play to "away" crowds changing soon with our current format. Having a venue with season ticket holders could change that, travel for fans would be rough but it could be a pilgrimage. Finances would be an issue, sure, but this is a hypothetical and why it should be part of a world cup bid if it ever happens. Anyways, have at it....
Main Problems: 1. Location and Game Times We don't know where most USMNT fans are located. People are still always going to be limited by their work/life schedule. 2. The only way we could artificially insure a Pro-US crowd with a stadium like that would be to limit ticket sales to all or mostly US supporter's groups and member of USSoccer. There would be a big media backlash over that. In the end, any stadium is going to sell their tickets to those willing to pay for them. We have to increase fan support at these games naturally.
I think we should have a National Stadium for big games against the likes of Mexico and any Central American country in a place where we have a greater chance of having the majority crowd. I know we will never have the majority crowd anywhere but playing games in Texas, Florida, and California is just giving any Central American opponent the 12th man. So no to a National Stadium in the true sense but yes to a Stadium for games where we need to ensure we have a greater chance of being the 12th man.
What a unique idea that has never been discussed on BigSoccer before. I think the reality is our stupid local governments have built too many stadiums for their stupid NFL teams, so it's really just unneccessary. I understand many of them are too narrow and have astroturf, and the USSF should be more discriminating when selecting stadiums to prevent that.
Having a National Stadium sounds great to me, but I do not know enough about the demographics of the us and our fans to make an educated guess. Since I don't know much, I'll say St. Louis would be a great place to build a stadium for our National Team!!!! Not only would I be able to attend games frequently, but St. Louis has a rich soccer tradition, and strong ties to the '50 world cup team we treasure so much. Historically speaking that would be something to build off of?!? If the stadium were here it would fill a missing void in an area craving top soccer competition. With no mls team to support the area would feed off of this. Also it is centrally located, this might be important for fans and easier to travel instead of going coast to coast.
my vote goes to the midwest, so that way everybody can go withought traveling across the country. any small all american city in the middle of the country would do it for me
Other than when USSF gets dumb/greedy and schedules Honduras at Soldier Field, the USA doesn't really play "road" matches that matter (outside the Gold Cup, which USSF doesn't control). There might not be a venue that gives an Azteca/Saprissa-type home field advantage, but that's in part because we don't have any stadiums on smoggy mountaintops in the jungle. The US will continue to be bluntly obvious about moneygrab friendlies (Poland in Chicago, Argentina/Brazil in NYC, etc), and I have no problem with that. If USSF start being dumb/greedy and play home qualifiers in football stadiums outside of the Southeast (and they love 'Merica down there), I'll be concerned. Until then, it makes sense to spread the wealth for fans across the land and utilize advantages where they can (Columbus in February, etc.)
this is a good point. El Salvador playing in DC brings what? 80,000 people? how much money is that? money doesnt hurt.
Chicago Big City, Soccer is getting very popular here and 2 major airports so fans from across the nation can fly in no problem. Also playing Central American team here in Feburary. Ill be suprised if they even get off the bus
you will never outnumber mexicans in chicago. you are right about the weather, I will go to El Salvadors game in Chicago but I dont think I will ever live there (unless my job would send me there),too cold, even california is cold for Salvadorans
What they really need to do is just tear down RFK already and build a new stadium elsewhere. Love the stadium and all the memories it holds, but it's a dump now. But considering the DC Council can't even build a new stadium for DC United, a national stadium in DC would be all but out of the question, although it would be great here.
Here's a genius idea. Why don't we build the Redskins, DC United, AND the national team a new stadium...and make it the same one.
Um the Redskins already have a little 92,000 seater stadium called FedEX Field. And considering they paid 250 million to build it i doubt they are gonna be interested. http://www.redskins.com/fedexfield/index.html Then there is the fact that gridiron football absolutely ruins soccer pitches. Its' bad enough when they use those crappy sod tiles. NFL tears up the ground.
If you know anything about Dan Snyder, you would know he hates FedEx field. Namely, because it's a piece of crap that he inherited. Houston Dynamo is sharing with a football team, I don't see why DC United could not either.
I agree that getting a pro-U.S. crowd would require a drastic measure like putting the game in Columbus. Let's face it, we'll always have the problem about being outnumbered outside of the low-population states. Even then, we would just be minimizing the problem. Also consider that many of those European countries that have national stadiums are the sizes of some of our states. Accessibility to games is an issue. Also consider that the USSF would be better off conceding some home-field advantage if it brings in more money...to a point (hence, Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium for WCQs). They're not exactly reaping in Google-like riches. Like Mr. Warmth said, it's dumb to build a stadium just for the national soccer teams. A more plausible idea would be to designate one of the soccer-specific stadiums in MLS as the home site. Put it in a location that minimizes away fan attendance. I like the current state though. The USMNT still does relatively well at home during WCQs and Gold Cup matches in spite of the away fans. I loved going to Chicago and Salt Lake City for WCQs last cycle. The variety of locales is nice.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder would want it to seat at least 90,000-100,000+ as FedEx Field already seats around 92,000. This would be far too big for MLS, although I suppose they could just open the lower bowl for the United games. Also, unfortunately the Skins don't plan on leaving FedEx Field until their lease runs out in 2027. This DC Councilman has different plans, however, although I don't know how much he could actually do to make this a reality. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2010/11/dc_councilman_jack_evans_wants.html http://www.csnphilly.com/11/30/10/R...ng_word_fball.html?blockID=363768&feedID=4684
Agreed on it being a crap stadium, but Snyder is putting in these new "party decks" at FedEx this offseason, along with new jumbotrons just put in last year. In other words, the Redskins aren't leaving FedEx anytime soon.
If I had to choose a US "National Stadium", I'd give it to Nashville, Tennessee. LP Field. Seriously. It's close enough to the Eastern Seaboard so that Euros could still make it, and Nashville naturally pulls about 10,000 Pro-US locals. The stadium itself is beyond accessible. As long as you have a hotel room downtown, you can walk to the game. Yeah, I am with the Midwest for accessibility, but Nashville is a good choice for both Crowd, Euro travel, and facilities. Plus, LP Field is wide for a football stadium. Now that said, I do like the fact that the US doesn't have a centralized stadium. One of the nice things about the US is the fact that the USSF can make a lot of cash and make the US play "Road games" at home. I know some people hate that, but I think that constantly playing in adverse conditions adds to our inherent mental toughness. Bob Bradley may not be able to coach, but rarely do crowds get under the US skin.
Just a little question from an foreigner. I don't see the advantage of building a national stadium in which all national team matches would be played. In my country (Switzerland, which is a very small country) the different cities always compete to get a national team match and there's quite a lot of rotation. But that makes sure, that all parts of Switzerland are involved in the national team. It really surprises me that a huge country like the US has the idea of building a resident national stadium which would exclude other states and a lot of fans in participating with the national team.
Make no mistake, the US does not have the idea this thread has posted, it is a simple "what if" idea. Truth is a national stadium sounds great in theory but would be terrible and never work most likely in the USA. The US is far too big a country to simply have 1 spot where the US team plays. We have way too many modern stadiums that countries across the globe would die to have. We simply are a nation of immigrants with too many close connections with the countries of our parents, grandparents, etc. So just about ANY game played in the US has a large number of people supporting the visiting team and in some cases, depending on the city and location, it simply overwhelms the US fans in numbers because not enough bleed red, white and blue. With the US team playing like headless chickens, with the lack of any decent strikers worth watching, the US has lost its fan base in many ways. THIS IS WHY WE NEED CHANGE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!
With regards to making sure you get a pro-US crowd, how does for instance Germany do it when they play Turkey at home? I'm pretty sure the crowds have always been majority pro-Germany. Same for The Netherlands. You just need to make sure that members of the national soccer federation get first glance on the tickets. If things go according to plan, all tickets will be scooped up by 'US' fans during that first phase. Remaining tickets are released on game day at the stadium.