I hope it goes through, the Dynamo deserve their own stadium. I like keeping a percentage of ticket prices super affordable. As far as the TSU Tigers playing there..isn't the damage football does to a soccer pitch one of the concerns with Robertson?
I'd say that it's more of a sticking point. The Dynamo don't control the grounds grew there, to my knowledge, and UH doesn't have a lot of incentive to clean up the field before Dynamo games knowing that the rent check is in the mail. The main issues are revenue and quality, to my mind. MLS teams don't become profitable if they have to share/rent a stadium. The Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas posted profits years ago when they opened the Home Depot Center and Pizza Hut Park, respectively. UH also creates logjams with scheduling that inhibit what the Dynamo can do. I believe they won't allow MLS Primetime Thursday games on ESPN2 to be played while school is in session. Also, the 9 PM start times some games have had were due to UH not wanting to interfere with student parking at Robertson. The stadium itself is not in the greatest condition, although I hope that the new stadium will be able to replicate the one great thing about Robertson that all other stadiums in this city lack: the feeling that you're right on top of the action, no matter where you're sitting.
They're terrible. The Chronicle really needs a to hire an administrator or do away with the comments altogether if they ever want to shed one aspect of their bush-league image.
None of them understand a thing about soccer. It's going to be pretty weird when it comes time for a team like Man U or Chelsea to visit the stadium and I get to pay 8.50 to see them.
You will always have people against city money for any sports complex, that's fine, they have a right to their opinion. I'm not a soccer fan but $10 million is nothing compared to the other stadiums so I don't have a problem with it...
wrong. soccers more popular around the world and among hispanics and in Texas, soccer is the sport of choice over baseball.
Baseball, in this country, is wayyyyyy more commercial than soccer. That's the problem. MLS is just a joke to begin with (designated players, mls owning contracts not the teams) so the room for commercial success is very little. I even doubt that the US national team winning a world cup would be able to bring the MLS even close to the level of MLB or the NBA.
Correct. Except that it's called football. We're the only people in the world who invented a different game and called it "football" instead. INcorrect! And freaking blasphemous! It's probably headed that way, but youth baseball leagues still vastly outnumber youth soccer leagues, and it's not even close. The older the kids get, the more they steer towards baseball, basketball, and football. If Varsity soccer were to ever take off in Texas, that would change (and probably pretty quickly).
That's the near-sighted view that MLS and American soccer are gradually eroding. Before I go any further, I know that it must seem most of posts regarding MLS are challenging this viewpoint and that it may seem stale. I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I'm sure that us MLS fans will eventually be vindicated. MLS has only been around for 13 years. The others leagues have many decades worth of head starts. The DP rule has helped the league substantially in terms of popularity. David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco have given the league an international profile that it lacked before. Networks like ESPN, ABC, TeleFutura, and Fox Soccer Channel ensure that every match is broadcast live. Attendance in certain cities outdraws the NBA. Cities like Houston, Kansas City, and DC United are working to get stadiums done like Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Salt Lake, Columbus, Colorado, and Chicago have done. Check out designs for Red Bull Arena that is currently under construction. It's going to be a state-of-the-art stadium for any team in any league. Soccer in this country will continue to grow in popularity. And smart business people recognize that. That's why people in Vancouver, New York City, St. Louis, Portland, Montreal, and Miami (which is being backed by FC Barcelona) are clamoring to get MLS teams and the expansion fee continues to grow. Soccer is an exciting and beautiful game. You have to attend a game to get a feel for it and the environment that it creates. MLS is a fast-paced, rugged brand of soccer. That's why certain players who come here from other leagues struggle to adapt. Go to a Dynamo game and sit with the Texian Army or El Batallon and get back with us.
The thing is, I love the Dynamo. Beckham and Blanco are both old now and way past their prime. I applaud Beckham for still being able to compete at the highest level given the adversity he's faced, but Blanco is the biggest farce. It's like his reputation is playing on the field for him. I wouldn't be surprised if his 40 time is about the same as Pat Onstadt's at this point. For every good play Blanco makes, he screws up 5 times more just because he's so old. In terms of on field impact, Juan Pablo Angel (who i loved watching at aston villa) has made the biggest difference. His first year here, he dominated the league. That is how you earn respect, not just by being a name. I played soccer for years and years. Division 1 and High School is as far as I went. I know the game and do not need to be told to appreciate it. I never once said the league was in decline, it's miles ahead of where it was even five years ago. It has SO far to go in terms of being able to make money and compete with MLB, NBA, and especially the NFL which is on a whole other level than baseball and soccer. For the short-sighted people that run this city/county (they think soccer = bunch of mexicans) to agree to a stadium deal would have been a much easier choice if soccer was a bigger sport. In 10-15 years, this deal would hopefully be a no-brainer.
Oh, and new york taxpayers are on the hook for 325 million to help pay for the new yankee stadium. We can't seem to part with 20 mil for a team that won championships 2 of their 3 years in town.
I want the stadium for the Dynamo.... but to suggest we should do it because New York built a palace for the Yankees (who happen to be among the most valuable franchises in all of sport) is silly. Houston has spent public bucks on 3 new stadiums in the past 8 years...we haven't exactly been stingy.
I agree with almost your entire post, except this little ditty right here. I could agree with you if you had said they underestimate the grass-roots popularity of the sport, or the impact the sport already has in this area, or the quality of the MLS game, or something like that. But I really don't believe they're stupid enough to think that "soccer = bunch of mexicans". Anyone who hasn't been 6 feet under in the last 80 years knows that football (the game where you move the ball mostly with your feet, not the American pigskin game) reigns supreme in Europe, Africa, much of Asia, and all of Central and South America (not to mention Mexico). Rugby, golf, and basketball are distant also-rans. In Asia and Latin America baseball is big, but not nearly as big as football (or fútbol, as it were). American pigskin "football" is not even on the map.
They may be past their prime, but they're both still more than capable of playing at a high level. Not nearly as high as what they were able to in the past but still high enough to raise the level of the game in MLS. And both of them had teams interested in them in the offseason, Beckham is on loan to AC Milan and Blanco played for Santos at the end of last year. I don't think there was ever a point in his career where Blanco could run fast, that's not the type of game he plays, his vision and ability to make smart passes hasn't changed. You are right in that other guys have made bigger impacts, Angel, Emilio, and Schelotto have all been huge. If I had to choose I'd rather have any of them on my team instead of Beckham or Blanco. The league is slowly getting better and I think the guys in charge are doing the right thing by growing it slowly and making sure the league is stable. As more teams get their own stadiums they'll be able to bring in more quality players at a younger age and also be able retain some of the talent that they currently have.
