What Have The Canucks Figured Out That We Haven't?

Seriously, they are doing some things quite right north of the border. Toronto, on paper yet, look strong, to go along with strong support. And now, I'm watching Impact de Montreal work their mojo on Santos Laguna.

I check Big Soccer and all I see is something along the lines of some losers calling the Canadian contingent Euro-snobs. Well shit, if that is what it takes, how about some of our brethren just swallowing their nationalistic pride and facing facts...being a Euro-snob means you're fucking right (at least when it comes to the World's Most Beautiful Game).

Go on Canada (and Spencer), enlighten us!

 

RE: What Have The Canucks Figured Out That We Haven

I'll move to Quebec for you and find out. At least that's the first place I think of when I think of snobs..... but I'm also being incredibly ignorant :wink:

 

Frisco Blues

Hopefully, ONE key to ticket sales and attendance... Location, location, location!

God Bless Lamar and the Hunt Sports Group but the decision to locate FC Dallas in Frisco is really hurting their ticket sales.*
Less than 5000 Tickets Sold for [Dallas] Home Opener.
Hitchcock removed for responsibility for tickets.


Of course it's easier to change GM's than to relocate a stadium... unless you're the Cowboys.
Gold Cup soccer will be first sporting event at new Cowboys stadium

* I'm basing the 'location' argument on past MB debate and the views of my sister, who lives in west Fort Worth, who flat out states she'd rather come to Ohio to watch a Dallas game than drive to Frisco again. Of course that's partially because she could visit us in the event.

Crew fans bitch a lot about the grass/dirt parking lot at the fairgrounds but there's at least ENOUGH of it and the location is both prominent in Columbus AND easy to get to.
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Yep... that's a puzzler. Is it player skill or player attitude? Maybe the canuck soccer folks should bring in Bora the 'Old Master'. Yallop leaving tells me a lot.
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Can Portland pull off the NW hat trick?

- From that, it sounds like it's far from a 'done deal'. Especially if there's any tax dollars involved. I'll wait until Portland cement the deal.

But Seattle/ Vancouver/ Portland would make for a great three-way rivalry.

 

RE: Frisco Blues

Nooooo...
All this talk about Vancouver being a "shoo-in" and Portland being on track to get their stadium funding scares me. We really, really want a franchise here in St. Louis. If Portland and Vancouver are in, then we're out.

I'm still dubious about the Vancouver deal. Depends on how serious Garber is about all new franchises playing in socer-specific stadiums. Vancouver doesn't have one in the works. St. Louis does...contingent upon being awarded a franchise.

 

WHy not STL?

I can't believe the league is 14 years old and hasn't had a franchise there already. Outside of New York (maybe) it's the best soccer town in America. What has happened that has kept it from becoming a certainty in the league's history

 

Re: Frisco Blues

That's a great point, really. BMO Field A) is in a spot where there was previously a stadium, B) is only a little over a mile from the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre and downtown Toronto, C) is right off the Gardiner Expressway and easily accessible by highway from various areas around the city, and D) is also easily accessible by transit. And I know location can be a factor because I've used it as an excuse for how rarely I've gone to Red Bulls games.

Of course, the counter-argument is that Toronto FC lucked into a ready-made location that had all those selling points and that in a different city you might not be so lucky. Red Bull Park is much more appealing to me because it will be much easier to get to by transit than Giants Stadium is, but when it comes down to it it's not a WHOLE lot closer to the core of the region; but the issue is, there just isn't any room to build a stadium much closer to the core of the region here in NYC, so you take what you can get.

If you were looking in St. Louis, my guess is that there is some space downtown that could be redeveloped (the area south of Busch Stadium is just BEGGING to have eminent domain exercised over it, if I recall correctly), and especially if a team were willing to consider going across the river into East St. Louis, but I couldn't say for sure.

 

RE: Re: RE: Frisco Blues

Anyone who has watched a Vancouver USL match on TV, knows they are a natural choice.

 

RE: What do the Canucks know...

St Louis suffers from the 'Mexican Standoff' paradigm. "We'll commit to a stadium if.. "

I'd say it's time for a Busch to put his mouth where the family money is.

 

RE: Re: RE: Frisco Blues

If the St. Louis bid is accepted the stadium will be in Collinsville, Illinois about a 10-15 minute drive from downtown St. Louis. I do like the idea about using the land next to Busch Stadium for the soccer stadium. It's been unused since new Busch opened. The Cardinals swear they are going to build a "ballpark village', but always say they need more money. For a club that draws 3+ million every year, they always swear that they are broke. The city is already giving them a lot of tax help for this project, but still no work has been done on it. It should be a sad sight for the MLB all star game this summer. I wish the city would find some legal way to take that land.

 

RE: Frisco Blues

Unless the city actually OWNS the stadium, I say No Dice on using eminent domain!
Sorry, you guys... you HAVE to draw the line somewhere and that is it.

Ask a taxpayer in Cincinnati / Hamilton County about Paul Brown Stadium. Though ED didnt really figure in, it's tax money pays for the structure.

It's just KELO under other ownership.

 

RE: Frisco Blues

The trouble with the St. Louis bid is that Jeff Cooper, the attorney-slash-soccer-fanatic who is making the bid, doesn't have deep enough pockets. We've got rich guys with plenty of money but no interest in soccer; and Cooper and his buddies, with plenty pf soccer passion but no (signficant) money. He's been trying like hell to get investors, and claims that he has them, but won't reveal their identities publicly. Which speaks volumes.

Garber says no deal unless we know these investors are absolutely on board for the $40 million. Hiding their identities is a pretty strong indication of their reluctance.

I'm losing hope. Looks like instead of a St. Louis team, I'll be watching a Vancouver team playing in an over-sized stadium with plastic grass and American (or, rather, Canadian) football lines on the pitch. Yuck!

 

Also, according to this article, Portland is very close to securing city money for a stadium. The Seattle-Vancouver-Portland triangle would see a HUGE traveling contingent at every game.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... reach.html

 

You mean a "regional focus" might be more successful, form rivalries that last lifetimes, and energize a bigger base than what is being done now?? Very insightful and good to know. Wonder where I have heard that before...?

 

So how exactly does this work? If MLS were to put a side in Montreal, would they try to get the Impact ownership as part of the group and then fold that squad into the MLS side? Is that the plan for Vancouver? How did it work with Seattle?

The reason I ask is Impact are a good side with good support that, based on CONCACAF, may well be superior to many MLS sides. I'm just skeptical as to whether their fanbase would support both or abandon their USL team if both coexist.

 

MLS Expansion

You mean like Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City? Three cities within easy driving distance of each other.

And, unlike Vancouver and Seattle, all of which either already have an appropriately-sized soccer-specific stadium (Chicago), have one currently under construction (KC), or have solid, financed plans for one (St. Louis).

 

RE: MLS Expansion

And how's that working for them?

 

Re: RE: MLS Expansion

No way to know, until St. Louis gets a team. I do know that Chicago and Columbus draw well, with many away fans making the trip when they play each other. Columbus is a bit far from KC, so I didn't include them in my earlier note.

And KC's team is currently "homeless" (playing in a minor league baseball stadium in a distant suburb) until their new stadium is completed.

 

RE: Re: RE: MLS Expansion

A new hope!!!

Just after making the above post, I saw this on the local paper's website:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument

Headline: A-B gives Fenton Soccer Park to St. Louis Soccer United

So, the brewery is giving Cooper their 32-acre soccer complex. That's great, but that is not the part that is giving me hope. The complex is prone to flooding, and the location is really no better than Collinsville...about the same distance from downtown.

Here's the part of the article that gives me hope:

Also, Anheuser-Busch, the league’s only remaining original corporate sponsor, has begun to lobby on behalf of Cooper’s group.

"We’ve had a dialog and discussion with the league," said Dan McHugh, vice president of Media, Sponsorship and Activation, Anheuser-Busch Inc. "We’re letting them know our efforts, emphasizing its such a thriving soccer community and that it makes so much sense that a franchise ends up in the North American soccer capital. We’ll do anything Anheuser-Busch can do...

That gives me hope. To have the backing of one of the leagues biggest sponsors has got to carry some weight.