Proposed 15,000 seat San Jose Earthquakes Stadium

Fifteen years ago, MLS launched with teams in downright psychedelic uniforms playing on football fields; some of MLS’s earliest highlights look like the two teams are playing on a lacrosse field.  In 2011, the situation has vastly changed, as most MLS franchises have their own soccer specific fields or compounds with only a few still sharing their stadiums with an NFL team.  The multitude of stadiums has also allowed MLS franchises to own another revenue flow which has led to marked improvements of the product on the pitch.  As part of the MLS Talk 2011 preview, we will take a look at the stadium situation for MLS franchises and how it has helped their fortunes, as well as those that are still waiting to build their first home.

The announcement of the Houston Dynamo new soccer-specific stadium this offseason added this franchise to the list of clubs with their own grounds.  In the past year, the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City debuted new soccer complexes (with KC’s unveiling coming in a few months) while new MLS franchises like Philadelphia and Portland join the league with new stadiums already in place.  And this may be the biggest indicator of the success of the league – instead of hunkering down in a football stadium for a few years, hoping to gather enough revenue and support to build your own place, these teams plan on having their own stadium from the beginning.  Montreal will join MLS in 2012 with Saputo Stadium, their soccer-specific grounds built in 2008.

The state of stadiums in MLS can be divided into a few categories, and there are some similarities among these clubs based on where they play:

Teams playing in a multi-use facility and looking to get out: Sadly, some of MLS’s most storied franchises are in this category.  DC United and the New England Revolution’s plights are well documented, but these clubs suffer from a financial drain of resources from lack of control over where they play.  While both have been competitive in the past and still get good talent, they will begin to fall behind their brethren in finances and be unable to get the higher-priced talent they need.  While it sounds like United’s search for a stadium site is beginning to make progress, the Revolution are still looking at yard markers and Patriots logos for the foreseeable future.

Teams playing in a multi-use facility and happy to stay: There is a marked difference between the two aforementioned clubs and Seattle’s situation.  Qwest Field, while known as the home of the Seattle Seahawks, has the type of design that makes it a good venue for soccer as well.  Sounders fans have adopted the stadium as their own and have made it the only NFL-MLS partnership that seems to work without problem.

Teams moving to their own stadium in the next four years: These are the teams that will show how big of an advantage having your own stadium and the revenue it brings in is for a professional team.  Most of these clubs were in the DCU/New England situation, but are hoping shiny new places attract casual fans and their dollars.  This is a model that all professional sports follow – build the new stadium/arena that is a nirvana for the hardcore fans but has enough aesthetic qualities to attract the casual fans and their families.  Fans are eagerly anticipating the Houston/San Jose/Sporting KC new fields and the benefits the clubs will accrue from them.

Teams playing in soccer-specific stadiums:  This number is growing and that is only a good thing for MLS as well as these individual teams.  It used to be that the Galaxy were the class of the league with the Home Depot Center; now arenas like Rio Tinto and Red Bull Arena give their teams a real home field advantage.  The problem with many of these new stadiums are their locations – Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is in Commerce City, not Denver.  Pizza Hut Park is in Frisco, not Dallas.  And while being located outside of a major city is not a death warrant for a franchise (the New York Giants and Jets play in the Meadowlands after all) but it would be better to have these stadiums closer to the fans.

What do all these new soccer stadiums mean for MLS this year?  Fans can expect to see the beautiful game played in nicer stadiums, and this does make a difference for the product on the field.  Watching a playoff match or a rivalry on TV in a soccer specific stadium looks nicer if nothing else.  The money that comes from these stadiums will also make the teams more financially secure, helping the league become more financially secure.  These new stadiums are both a sign of MLS progress and the sign of a brighter future for American soccer.

Proposed 15,000 seat San Jose Earthquakes Stadium

Fifteen years ago, MLS launched with teams in downright psychedelic uniforms playing on football fields; some of MLS’s earliest highlights look like the two teams are playing on a lacrosse field.  In 2011, the situation has vastly changed, as most MLS franchises have their own soccer specific fields or compounds with only a few still sharing their stadiums with an NFL team.  The multitude of stadiums has also allowed MLS franchises to own another revenue flow which has led to marked improvements of the product on the pitch.  As part of the MLS Talk 2011 preview, we will take a look at the stadium situation for MLS franchises and how it has helped their fortunes, as well as those that are still waiting to build their first home.

The announcement of the Houston Dynamo new soccer-specific stadium this offseason added this franchise to the list of clubs with their own grounds.  In the past year, the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City debuted new soccer complexes (with KC’s unveiling coming in a few months) while new MLS franchises like Philadelphia and Portland join the league with new stadiums already in place.  And this may be the biggest indicator of the success of the league – instead of hunkering down in a football stadium for a few years, hoping to gather enough revenue and support to build your own place, these teams plan on having their own stadium from the beginning.  Montreal will join MLS in 2012 with Saputo Stadium, their soccer-specific grounds built in 2008.

The state of stadiums in MLS can be divided into a few categories, and there are some similarities among these clubs based on where they play:

Teams playing in a multi-use facility and looking to get out: Sadly, some of MLS’s most storied franchises are in this category.  DC United and the New England Revolution’s plights are well documented, but these clubs suffer from a financial drain of resources from lack of control over where they play.  While both have been competitive in the past and still get good talent, they will begin to fall behind their brethren in finances and be unable to get the higher-priced talent they need.  While it sounds like United’s search for a stadium site is beginning to make progress, the Revolution are still looking at yard markers and Patriots logos for the foreseeable future.

Teams playing in a multi-use facility and happy to stay: There is a marked difference between the two aforementioned clubs and Seattle’s situation.  Qwest Field, while known as the home of the Seattle Seahawks, has the type of design that makes it a good venue for soccer as well.  Sounders fans have adopted the stadium as their own and have made it the only NFL-MLS partnership that seems to work without problem.

Teams moving to their own stadium in the next four years: These are the teams that will show how big of an advantage having your own stadium and the revenue it brings in is for a professional team.  Most of these clubs were in the DCU/New England situation, but are hoping shiny new places attract casual fans and their dollars.  This is a model that all professional sports follow – build the new stadium/arena that is a nirvana for the hardcore fans but has enough aesthetic qualities to attract the casual fans and their families.  Fans are eagerly anticipating the Houston/San Jose/Sporting KC new fields and the benefits the clubs will accrue from them.

Teams playing in soccer-specific stadiums:  This number is growing and that is only a good thing for MLS as well as these individual teams.  It used to be that the Galaxy were the class of the league with the Home Depot Center; now arenas like Rio Tinto and Red Bull Arena give their teams a real home field advantage.  The problem with many of these new stadiums are their locations – Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is in Commerce City, not Denver.  Pizza Hut Park is in Frisco, not Dallas.  And while being located outside of a major city is not a death warrant for a franchise (the New York Giants and Jets play in the Meadowlands after all) but it would be better to have these stadiums closer to the fans.

What do all these new soccer stadiums mean for MLS this year?  Fans can expect to see the beautiful game played in nicer stadiums, and this does make a difference for the product on the field.  Watching a playoff match or a rivalry on TV in a soccer specific stadium looks nicer if nothing else.  The money that comes from these stadiums will also make the teams more financially secure, helping the league become more financially secure.  These new stadiums are both a sign of MLS progress and the sign of a brighter future for American soccer.

Oscar de la Hoya

Recently there has been some chatter that the Houston Dynamo will have a big announcement this week. Since the Dynamo signed Mexican forward Luis Angel Landin on Thursday, its seems that this will be one of three things: an announcement related to the 2010 MLS All-Star Match, an announcement related to the potential friendly against either Club America or Chivas in October, or an announcement related to the construction of a soccer specific stadium for the Houston Dynamo. While news related to the All-Star Match or the friendly are definite possibilities, I’m going out on a limb and predicting that the news will concern the construction of a soccer specific stadium for the Dynamo.

Earlier this year, while he was a guest on the Ken Hoffman show on 1560 The Game in Houston, Texas, Dynamo CEO Oliver Luck stated that the club would be in their own stadium for the 2011 season. Initially, both the City of Houston and Harris County showed some reluctance about getting involved in the building of yet another sports venue in Houston; however, the fact that the bulk of the project will be paid for by the Dynamo has convinced the local governments to get involved in the project. While there are still a few details to work out, it no longer appears that local government reluctance is holding up stadium progress.

According to what has been said by Luck and others associated with the Houston Dynamo, stadium progress has been held up by financing. In the wake of last year’s economic collapses, the credit crunch that started hitting European clubs last summer has made its way to the United States making it difficult for the Dynamo to secure the necessary financing. The economic crisis has not been all bad news for the stadium though since the projected cost has fallen about $20 million.

This past weekend, the Dynamo’s high profile co-owner, Oscar de la Hoya, has been in Houston to promote the HBO Boxing After Dark event which took place at the Toyota Center on Saturday evening. In a video interview filmed by Allen Reid of KPRC Channel 2 in Houston, de la Hoya stated that the team was very close to “dotting that final i” and that “everything’s in place. . . . The City is in place, the funding is in place, everything is ready to go, and I’m sure we’ll be making an announcement pretty soon.” This is the first time I have heard anyone connected to the Dynamo indicate that the funding for the stadium is in place. If it was the financing that was holding up stadium progress, based on de la Hoya’s statement, it appears that hurdle has been overcome.

Another reason for expecting a stadium announcement this week is that if it does not happen soon, the Dynamo will not be moving into a new stadium in 2011. Earlier this summer, Luck acknowledged that if the Dynamo are going to be in a new stadium for the 2011 season, then groundbreaking and construction needs to begin this fall. While it’s still hitting the high nineties here in Houston, fall is quickly approaching and we are hitting the now or never time for an announcement that will pave the way for the Dynamo to have a new home in 2011.

No matter what the Dynamo announcement proves to be, you will be able to read about here at Major League Soccer Talk.

Monday Morning Update: a related article has appeared in the Houston Chronicle

Deal on Harris jail, soccer stadium, Dome in “Home Stretch” by Bradley Olson

With the Houston Dynamo’s opening match of the CONCACAF Champions League’s knockout stage quickly approaching on February 24th, it’s time to take a quick look at what’s going on here in Houston.

The franchise made the move from San Jose to Houston, with the impression that it would be easier to obtain a stadium deal in Houston. With the Dynamo’s fourth season starting next month, the club still calls the rundown Robertson Stadium, located on the University of Houston campus in the Third Ward, home. Without rehashing the long, tortuous route the stadium process has taken, it appears that the Houston Dynamo will be starting the 2011 MLS season in a new stadium located on the eastern edge of Downtown Houston. This afternoon, Houston Dynamo CEO Oliver Luck made an appearance on the Ken Hoffman show on 1560 The Game. While Luck was primarily there to promote the Dynamo’s new $150 season ticket package and the $32 special for 4 tickets to the Dynamo’s game against Atlante on Wednesday February 24th. However, Hoffy asked Luck about the status of the stadium negotiations, Luck did not say a final deal had been forged, but nonchalantly and openly stated the team would be in a new downtown stadium in 2011. Gone were the caveats and spin of the past.

More importantly, Luck stated that an unnamed bank has agreed to involve itself in the financing of the Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone a/k/a TIRZ that is at the heart of the public funding associated with the potential stadium. Unlike the sporting palaces recently built for the Astros, Rockets, and Texans, the Dynamo stadium carries a projected cost of under $100 million with only a fraction of the cost coming from public sources. This means that instead of relying on local taxes, which would require a vote, to fund the stadium, the City of Houston and Harris County will provide funds through the TIRZ that will go towards infrastructure improvements. Little, if any, public money will be used on the actual stadium. While a deal has not been finalized, the fact that a bank has agreed to finance the TIRZ, despite the credit crunch and current economy, is an indication that the Dynamo, the City, and the County are on the eve of finalizing a stadium deal.

Speaking of the current economic situation, MLS and the Dynamo, as well as most of the other MLS teams, should be applauded for providing affordable season ticket packages.

Meanwhile the Dynamo are out on the West Coast for some preseason friendlies. Today they faced the L.A. Galaxy, and beat them 2 – nil, thanks to an own goal from Tony Sanneh and a Brian Mullan goal. The Dynamo will be travelling to San Luis Obispo to take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.

This Monday on 1560 The Game’s Soccer Show, it appears that a couple representatives from the Dynamo Girls will be joining us in studio. As always, you can watch and listen to the show online at http://www.1560.tv . The show starts at 7:00 pm Central Standard Time.