A packed 50,000 seat stadium, with half US fans and half other squad fans...or a 25,000 seat stadium with all US fans?
I would rather the 25k with all USA fans. However, even when we play MEX in Columbus, there are still 3-5k or more mexican fans. You can't keep them all out no matter how hard you try. So because of this, I'd rather the 50k stadium. Just work really hard to keep as many Americans in the lower section.
Yes I agree, but a big issue is scheduling Olympic quals. Would you rather have say, a full Home Depot Center, or a full college stadium in Omaha?
Well, we're not there yet, but when US Soccer is like the Super Bowl - or at least like March Madness (a possibility in 20 yrs) Sam's Army can sell tickets with tickets to the US/Mex game going to people who: A) Buy 3 other US games B) Buy $100 in US Soccer / Sam's Army merch.
I would rather have 25K with all or mostly USA fans. As per the Columbus example, the opposing team brought roughly 5K fans but that's still about 20K for USA fans. Using USA vs. Mexico as an example, friendlies are played in big stadiums where the majority in the stands are Mexican fans but friendlies are a great chance for a big payout to USSF from $$$ at the gates because all that is thrown at the window when it comes to WCQ because those games count and home field advantage is huge. The only exception would have to be the '05 WCQ in SLC where the crowd of over 40,000 was undoubtedly pro-USA. When I went to that match I was totally surprised by the turnout considering there had never been a US Soccer match held in the state of Utah before that I know of. Bottom line is that, in general, the bigger the stadium the better the chances of the opposing team's fans gobbling up at least half the tickets. All of this information should and will be considered when choosing the venues for upcoming WCQ.