urbanSTL

Grover wrote:...Or (my favorite) the Marketplace further west on Manchester?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Saint+Lou ... iwloc=addr

What we will get is a stadium surrounded by a sea of other fields, surrounded by a sea of parking lots, with plenty of SUVs and mini-vans hauling annoying families with annoying kids who are only there to see the fuzzy character mascot and carry on annoying conversations on their cell phones.

Grover wrote:

The suburban location is necesssary to include the development of youth soccer fields

How about the open prairie clost to DeSoto Park?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Saint+Lou ... 8&t=h&om=1



Or the industrial corridor near Manchester/Vandeventer?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Saint+Lou ... iwloc=addr



Or (my favorite) the Marketplace further west on Manchester?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Saint+Lou ... iwloc=addr



I know that any of these would be very difficult to pull together, but there would actually be places for families to eat, shop or do other activities close by. Not to mention that the stadium/soccer fields would be closer to more people and more readily accessible by mass transit. All of these are large enough for a stadium, more than a dozen soccer fields and parking. What a statement it would make to put this in the city!

sda wrote:Funny you should make this point, as the two most densely populated black and Mexican areas in St. Louis are within an eight-minute drive of the proposed site. This site, in fact, is right in the middle of the reigon's largest Mexican community. The fact that the Latino community has consistently been the MLS's most loyal supporter in many, if not most, league markets makes this site even more attractive.



Ideally, of course, Metrolink will eventually run to the stadium. But in the meantime, buses certainly -- without question -- will run. Can't your "thousands" just take the bus? Isn't that what most of them would have to do anyway? If you say the location is too far for them to travel, I'd counter by pointing out that there is likely no closer location to St. Louis's primary minority areas where an MLS complex could be built. If you'd respond to that point by saying that the stadium should just be built without the complex, I'd ask what does more for introducing kids to soccer: having a 20-25,000 seat soccer stadium in the heart of the city that hosts 2-3 dozen soccer events a year, or having a complex 10 minutes out with enough fields to give tens of thousands of kids each year -- if not more -- top-notch fields to play on.

appraisalman wrote:Do kids in St. Louis really need an introduction to soccer?? Practically every kid in St. Louis grows up playing soccer, not to mention there are about four or five large soccer complexes in the St. Louis area already for kids to play soccer at.

bpe235 wrote:how the heck can an mls team afford to pay 250 mil towards a nearly washed up beckham???

However, on closer inspection, one can see that the reported contract estimates have been carefully worded. AP reported that the Galaxy, citing industry experts, said the Beckham deal "is worth more than $250 million in salary and commercial endorsements." The key phrase to note here are the words "commercial endorsements" and not the word "salary." It's actually more an estimate of what people think he could potentially earn as opposed to what he will receive annually in paychecks from MLS and the Galaxy.



The reality is this: The salary portion of Beckham's deal is relatively minuscule compared to the huge figures being bandied around and is well in line with what most top soccer players around the world currently earn. Bear in mind also that Beckham probably decided only on Thursday to sign with MLS after Real Madrid's contract offer almost certainly would have required him to take a pay cut (this is conjecture, though, since the details of his negotiations with Real Madrid have not been made public).



A league source confirmed to ESPNsoccernet's Kristian Dyer two weeks ago that the offer on the table from MLS to Beckham was a four-year deal worth $36 million (at $9 million annually). Reuter's Michelle Nichols reported Thursday that MLS sources say his annual playing income is only in the "single figure millions." Even if MLS upped its original annual salary offer, the logical assumption is that it would only be by a few additional million or so per year.

appraisalman wrote:It'll be interesting to see if interest in MLS soccer takes off now that David Beckham is in the league.

TheWayoftheArch wrote:Other than the childhood anecdote..and I'm glad you enjoyed it, I have to wonder why you even bothered with that post.

uninterested

no opinion.



Thanks for the update.

innov8ion wrote:
However, I couldn't care less about Beckham and his quest for riches in America. It may cause a minor spike initially, but it will wear off.