Mexico's Club America to move MLS's Quakes to Houston

There is no way a soccer only stadium will be built unless the owner personally funds it--in other words, there's no way in hell it's happening.

It's a completely niche sport in the US, and I imagine a Houston team would bomb completely unless they cater to the Latino population.

 

why would a houston team bomb as compared to a dallas team?? or a dc team??? or any other city in the us??

we have a huge diversity in this town....soccer is a world game. i would think houston would be an ideal market.

 

Well what the heck do you think they are planning to do??? That's like saying that bringing a football team to Houston would be a bomb unless they catered to the football fans. Of course they are going to target the latino market, that is the obvious base, and then hope that it expands from there.

The reason I don't think they will go for Robertson is that it is not a good-looking stadium. The capacity is obviously ok for soccer, but it is a very basic stadium with just some grandstands and will not look good on tv at all. While this didn't use to matter, the league has matured to the point where it doesn't have to play in old run-down stadiums, as evidenced by all the new soccer-specific stadiums being built. I simply doubt that they would be willing to play in Robertson, even short-term. It is somewhat similar to the stadium situation that the Dallas Burn went through while waiting for their new digs in Frisco. They went to that joke of a stadium for a season and it was a disaster, and they came running back as fast as they could back to the Cotton Bowl. Who knows though really, I could be totally wrong. As for Rice, does it even have grass?

 

When i say cater, I don't mean just marketing.

I mean bringing in several Mexican players and playing a style that appeals to the Mexican soccer fan.

 

ok, that's a fair point. sorry for any perceived harshness above, it wasn't intended. still, I think that the sport of soccer could prosper in Houston even without adopting Mexican-style play. I agree that having a few Mexican internationals would probably help in the initial draw of fans, but that won't last. The sport will have to survive long term on its own merits, and not those of a few latino players if it is to succeed.

 

Soccer only stadiums are popping up everywhere. DC plans to have theirs built by 2007.

 

it doesn't matter if he's overrated..whenever I watch FUTBOL on ESPN or whatever (DC United games are broadcasted only because of Adu) I have something to cheer about

 

I don't think Adu is overrated. He already has 2 goals and one goal of the week that was outstanding. He dribbled through four defenders and hit the corner of the net. And he did that in only 500 minutes. Better than anyone else on the team. I mean that's two MLS goals at age 15 people. In my opinion it's amazing.

 

Those defenders looked like cones.

My entire problem with Adu is that he's a marketing ploy. Oh, he's a good player prospect. There's no doubt about that. But he's not the most valuable player in MLS - or even near it. But he's getting paid the most.

That would be fine, if he was guaranteed to develop into a superstar. But he's not. Soccer prospects don't pan out very, very often. What MLS has done with Adu is comparable to paying Yao or LeBron not just a max contract, but a special max contract, higher than any other player.

If they hadn't, he might well be playing for Chelsea or Manchester United's youth squad. Oh darn. Keeping players in the US until they're developed is important, but MLS could really regret that contract in time.

The other problem with Adu is that while he's a great prospect, he's totally overrated in the United States. Which, of course, has resulted in a reaction abroad. In America, everyone seems to take for granted that he's the next Pele. Abroad, people view him as a good but not great prospect. The truth is in the middle, of course. But I think that a lot of other prospects, at the same age, showed just as much without all the hype.

 

Are you referring to top European prospects or American prospects?

Because if you are talking about European prospects, then I would agree with you; but if you are talking about American prospects, I would not. The reason he is getting hyped here is because America has never had a soccer prospect like Adu at his age, whereas all the top leagues have.