Looks like Raley is a lot more soccer friendly. Capacity is only 11k, but even established teams have trouble getting that much for US Open Cup games and filling that would be a great accomplishment in a city 2 hours from the team's hometown.
The Quakes belong to San Jose. Period. I hope they will play as close to the core fan base as possible in the transition years. Sacramento is a good market for another MLS team eventually. Sac is professional sports starved. The WNBA Monarchs, and even the professional tennis team the Capitols, get first page (often above the fold) spots in the Sac Bee sports section. There are no good soccer venues in Sac however. The UCD stadium has fake grass and seats only 9 to 11K. Davis is considered far to many in Sac. Raley Field is great for baseball but terrible for soccer in my opinion. Again, it only seats about 11k or so. Hornet stadium is decent in terms of seating capacity and grass surface but I don't know if Sac State is easier to work with than SJ State. Support for using public money to replace Arco Arena for a team as popular as the Kings is also not there.
As much as I'd love to see Sacramento fans out at the Quakes matches, I seriously doubt there would be many or even 500 fans from that the central valley coming to San Jose for home games. As long as I've supported soccer I can't ever remember ever seeing or meeting any one fan from out there. Since 1974, the fan base has been from the south bay.
You must be one of the 500 along with Tracy's own alfalfa rancher Troy Dayak! Oh yeah and also Bernie Lilavois of the...... http://www.californiacougars.net/staff/index.php?zone=staff&staff_id=35
And that's what they're trying to change. The south bay alone won't be enough. We need people from SF, Sac, Oakland etc... to come to games as well. And the only way for them to get interested in the product it to see it. And 500 may seem small, but 500 come and enjoy themselves and tell 500... etc... etc....
UCD might be better in the future when additional seating is added, which will probably happen soon, but the local paper had an article yesterday claiming the new artificial field is 30 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature, and it was 104 yesterday. Yikes!
If I remember correctly, the first year of MLS there was somewhere around 500 folks coming from the central valley to Clash games. I knew at least 10 personally, most of whom didn't renew the next season because the quality on the field wasn't high enough to overcome the drive. I was a sucker for real, live matches and continued to come down. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Do the Sharks get a lot of out of towners? It seems like they have a solid fan base within San Jose and the South Bay
I have several friends in SF and on the peninsula that are Sharks season ticket holders so I think they come from all over the bay. They are the only hockey team in town.
The San Jose Sharks does have a solid fan base within San José and the South Bay, but I do know of many Sharks season-ticket holders from SF and the Peninsula, and even a sizable amount from Oakland and the East Bay. I'm not surprised at all, considering that the Sharks advertise/market/promote very well throughout the Bay Area and has worked with Caltrain and (I think) Amtrak to make attending Sharks games as easy as possible from all around the Bay Area (including shuttle service), much like the SF Giants has done for games at AT&T Park. The San Jose Earthquakes will have to be at least as accommodating if not moreso, particularly when The [Corporate name] Epicenter at San José opens in 2010. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Also, the Sharks started at the Cow Palace and retained many of those fans when the team moved to SJ.
So if you don't get to see all the games, your not going to buy any? This is only for one maybe two seasons. I see your point though, I just don't think it is a majority position.
That and he's making a big assumption that any of the game in Sacramento are going to be season ticket or even in-season games. I find it much more likely they'll be exhibitions or tournament games. No season games.
Well no, he's reacting to a suggestion I made that the Sac games could also be regular season games, 1 or 2 a month (4 or 5 games in a 15 game season). I think they could do that for the first, second or both seasons before a permanent home is built. (In addition to the exhibitions or tournament games) Put together an ACE train pass with a season ticket package and you might have something people going to a Sac game may be attracted to after the 'Quakes settle in next the SJC.
They'd have to do something radical on the ace train - as it only goes to Stockton. Stockton to Sac is a pretty long walk!
Why not drill hole thru the mountains? It would only take 1/2 housr if that were the case and easier than going up and over or all the way around...
I'm saying that if they make the season tickets less attractive, they will sell fewer of them. Additionally, if season tickets do not include a full home schedule, they will cost less and thus bring in less revenue for those that they do sell. Why start off badly? You think a majority of season-ticket holders want there to be 1/3 of the home schedule in Sacramento?
What if the Quakes end up in Sacramento? Not all that far fetched...there have been "A's to Sac" rumors for years.