urbanSTL

^ No, I've kinda wanted to see that movie...

A little perspective for you guys.... Notes from the ride home with Bernie and Don Berger.



The no bid was of little surprise to JC.



The efforts in Portland, San Jose, and Vancouver started in 1999. So it took 10 years to put this all together.



Jeff Cooper and ownership did not have the capital to support a team.



Sounds like the Collinsville location maybe out of the question. (thank GOD!)



AB is more involved than just donating the Soccer Park.



St. Louis is the PERFECT market for the MLS, we just need to get our sh*t together.

Is anyone going to even bother to support Athletica, they're going to field a very competitive league and team, but all anyone here can worry about is a team we don't have, in a league where the biggest thing it has going for itself is that it can brand itself "American"??



If this city fails to support the WPS and Athletica, it can forget about an MLS team. New York will get a 2nd team or Atlanta will get one. You can argue about Cooper's financial support, but St. Louis has a soccer team now and some of the Onus to impress Garber is now on the fans.

nah.... women's sports are a whole different bag, baby. Do you honestly think if we had a WNBA team and it didn't draw that it would negatively effect our chances at landing an NBA team. Not a chance.

Moorlander wrote:Sounds like the Collinsville location maybe out of the question. (thank GOD!)

Seriously, I don't get the problem some people have with Collinsville.



As much as I and most people here would have liked an urban stadium, the odds of putting a deal together to make that happen are significantly longer than Jeff Cooper's odds of putting together a successful bid for an MLS franchise in 2012.



As a reminder, city voters approved a measure that would require a public vote on stadium funding after the Cardinals owners reached an initial agreement with city government for partial public financing of Busch Stadium III. Now that Ballpark Village will be Softball Village for the foreseeable future, what leads anyone to believe that (1) St. Louis voters would approve public financing for a soccer-specific stadium, and (2) owners of a St. Louis-based MLS franchise would shell out the entire cost building a stadium in the city when another government within our region (yes, that includes Illinois) might be more than willing to accommodate?



As I said in the Metro East forum, hundreds of thousands of people cross the Mississippi River bridges everyday, and amazingly they live to tell. Just like Missouri, the Illinois portion of the metro area is home to struggling communities and prosperous ones as well. On a forum where suburbs with thriving and/or historic downtowns are preferred to soulless autocentric suburbs, Illinois has many great examples of the former kind, including Belleville, Edwardsville, and Alton.



This development could've been a big plus for Collinsville, another growing small community that happens to have a historic downtown with some potential, so hopefully the plans that were on the drawing board can be of some use to Collinsville from a planning perspective as it continues to grow along the I-255 corridor. It had some potential in terms of density IMHO, and while I'm no fan of sprawl, I'm a fan of Metro East growth as a way to re-center downtown relative to the rest of the region. (And that stadium is a lot closer to downtown than most possible Missouri locations with the possible exception of the soccer park in Fenton.)



Just as there are a lot of misconceptions about city living, the same holds true for the Metro East. I just think we need to be careful.



Anyway, thanks for sharing the information from Bernie's drive time show. Upon further review, it might take more time, and with AB's involvement we might see some tangible progress that could very well make the difference next time around. I'm still very frustrated, but I'm more interested in seeing a sustainable deal put together in the long run.

Very unfortunate –



Garber connoted that StL was the front runner several months ago but then bent to accommodate Vancouver and Portland with there stadium situation. Cooper’s financing issues do not seem to garner the same sympathies.



My guess is that they just want a strong presence in the PNW, Vancouver has been a good supporter of the Whitecaps who are a direct descendant of the old NASL. Portland I am not so sure about, though they do have less competition for the sports dollar.



I also think financial and FIFA pressures will delay the 2012 expansion for a couple of years, our best bet would have been this go around. Garber and the MLS might also start looking at a second team in New York or the South East where there is untapped market.



It is a travesty that arguably the cradle of American football (soccer if you will) has no team, we should have been a charter member in 96 when the league basically owned every thing. From what I have been told is that Lamar Hunt was not going to invest his much needed money if St. Louis received a team, Hunt was a pretty good business man so I have a hard time believing that.



Another option could be to move the historically poor gate performing Wizards here, though I believe they are finally getting their stadium.



So for now it will be SLU, Premier League and the US nationals that will get my dollars, as we wait for Garber to stop wondering what he is going to do with the warehouse of Beckham jerseys if he never comes back from Milan and get a clue.



Oh – and definitively – yes Collinsville will work as a site as far as anyone here knows and the Soccer park in Fenton has got a ton of logistical problems to overcome, but I am glad Cooper has control of it.

Henry Kissinger...



...I've been missing ya...



Wants to bring the 2022 World Cup to the US.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/sport ... odayspaper

I went to the Athletica game yesterday.



The drive to south county was exhausting, I already hate driving to begin with.



They have a "shuttle" which is 1 mile/ 2 minutes from soccer park. Its just accommodate more parking. Its a joke.



The game was at 1 and the heat and humidity was horrible. They wouldn't let me bring MY umbrella into the stadium yet I have pictures of other people with umbrellas. There's no shade.



There is nothing in the immediate surrounding area to the stadium no restaurants, no density. Its just a swampy area. The demographics leave more to be desired as well. I definitely felt out of place. There were a few city dwellers sitting near me discussing neighborhoods in the city. Yuppies etc. The overall attendance though was poor and there's been a drop off since moving from SIUE.



I wish they could play in a more central location with metrolink service and not in the backwoods in deep south county. Absolutely miserable. I had a more enjoyable trip taking the Amtrak to Chicago for a basketball game. It pains me to say it but I don't think I can muster the energy to go back. I wish Cooper would just build a stadium for the USL Lions and move them into the MLS in the future.



/rant

I think you make good points Arch_Gen. To many soccer is THE sport, but not to enough Americans or St. Lousians. If they're going to attract a crowd they should be a it more fan friendly. I would still love to see an urban MLS stadium I'm fairly certain that SLU has the land! Give it up Biondi!

Yesterday, KC's MLS team played a Mexican League team at SLU's Hermann Stadium. According to the commissioner of MLS:

"St. Louis is a great soccer market," Garber said. "Superliga provides the city an opportunity to show its support. It's not a test. It represents a toe in the water and provides an opportunity for the city to show their support for the league."



So if the game drew a good crowd?



"I think it would deliver on my continual belief that St. Louis is a good market for MLS soccer," Garber said.



And if it didn't?



"That would be concerning."

Almost 5,800 fans showed up on the hottest day of the year for a game that didn't receive much promotion. Hopefully, the MLS got the message that they can be successful here.

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:Yesterday, KC's MLS team played a Mexican League team at SLU's Hermann Stadium. According to the commissioner of MLS:

"St. Louis is a great soccer market," Garber said. "Superliga provides the city an opportunity to show its support. It's not a test. It represents a toe in the water and provides an opportunity for the city to show their support for the league."



So if the game drew a good crowd?



"I think it would deliver on my continual belief that St. Louis is a good market for MLS soccer," Garber said.



And if it didn't?



"That would be concerning."

Almost 5,800 fans showed up on the hottest day of the year for a game that didn't receive much promotion. Hopefully, the MLS got the message that they can be successful here.

I was one of them.



Don't know where the 5,800 figure came from, but given that Hermann Stadium holds just slightly over 6,000, there is no way there was anything close to 5,800. I'd put it closer to about 4,000.

The West grandstand (the larger of the two) was about 90% full, though they did not open the lower section, the East grandstand was about 70% full, then there were the goal ends. All together I would say in the neighborhood of 4,500, the heat probably accounted for some no-shows. Remember they do not count tickets ripped, but tickets sold.



The game was not that good, Atlas was in the lower half of the Mexican league last year and the Wizards (outside of their championship year) seem to be one of those perpetual mediocre clubs even by MLS standards. Both side squandered excellent chances in front of the net and always seemed bunched up in midfield.



Still it was some of the best soccer we have seen here since the US national team played the Crew here several years ago.

Arch_Genesis wrote:I went to the Athletica game yesterday.



The drive to south county was exhausting, I already hate driving to begin with.



They have a "shuttle" which is 1 mile/ 2 minutes from soccer park. Its just accommodate more parking. Its a joke.



The game was at 1 and the heat and humidity was horrible. They wouldn't let me bring MY umbrella into the stadium yet I have pictures of other people with umbrellas. There's no shade.



There is nothing in the immediate surrounding area to the stadium no restaurants, no density. Its just a swampy area. The demographics leave more to be desired as well. I definitely felt out of place. There were a few city dwellers sitting near me discussing neighborhoods in the city. Yuppies etc. The overall attendance though was poor and there's been a drop off since moving from SIUE.



I wish they could play in a more central location with metrolink service and not in the backwoods in deep south county. Absolutely miserable. I had a more enjoyable trip taking the Amtrak to Chicago for a basketball game. It pains me to say it but I don't think I can muster the energy to go back. I wish Cooper would just build a stadium for the USL Lions and move them into the MLS in the future.



/rant

I've been to most of the home games - skipped Saturday b/c of the heat - and the setup at the Soccer Park is by far the worst of their three "home" stadiums so far.



The parking situation is terrible. There's really no shade. The sightlines aren't very good (the stands at both SLU and SIUE are much steeper) and it just sort of feels like a high school stadium. At least the beer's cheap.



I know they're not paying to be at A-B, but they'd be so much better off playing at SLU, or at least not switching away from SIUE in the middle of the season (What about all those east-siders who bought season tickets? And how are people supposed to keep track of where they're playing).



That said, it is really good soccer. The games have all been close and generally exciting. I'm not that much of a soccer fan, but I've enjoyed watching world-class athletes do their thing, and the quality of play has improved at every game I've been to, as they get more used to each other. I really hope they can make it, but I think they need to pick a good, centrally-located stadium (like SLU) and up their marketing to people beyond the girls' youth soccer crowd.



Arch, give it another try. A night game, perhaps?

stlwriterman wrote:

Arch_Genesis wrote:I went to the Athletica game yesterday.



The drive to south county was exhausting, I already hate driving to begin with.



They have a "shuttle" which is 1 mile/ 2 minutes from soccer park. Its just accommodate more parking. Its a joke.



The game was at 1 and the heat and humidity was horrible. They wouldn't let me bring MY umbrella into the stadium yet I have pictures of other people with umbrellas. There's no shade.



There is nothing in the immediate surrounding area to the stadium no restaurants, no density. Its just a swampy area. The demographics leave more to be desired as well. I definitely felt out of place. There were a few city dwellers sitting near me discussing neighborhoods in the city. Yuppies etc. The overall attendance though was poor and there's been a drop off since moving from SIUE.



I wish they could play in a more central location with metrolink service and not in the backwoods in deep south county. Absolutely miserable. I had a more enjoyable trip taking the Amtrak to Chicago for a basketball game. It pains me to say it but I don't think I can muster the energy to go back. I wish Cooper would just build a stadium for the USL Lions and move them into the MLS in the future.



/rant

I've been to most of the home games - skipped Saturday b/c of the heat - and the setup at the Soccer Park is by far the worst of their three "home" stadiums so far.



The parking situation is terrible. There's really no shade. The sightlines aren't very good (the stands at both SLU and SIUE are much steeper) and it just sort of feels like a high school stadium. At least the beer's cheap.



I know they're not paying to be at A-B, but they'd be so much better off playing at SLU, or at least not switching away from SIUE in the middle of the season (What about all those east-siders who bought season tickets? And how are people supposed to keep track of where they're playing).



That said, it is really good soccer. The games have all been close and generally exciting. I'm not that much of a soccer fan, but I've enjoyed watching world-class athletes do their thing, and the quality of play has improved at every game I've been to, as they get more used to each other. I really hope they can make it, but I think they need to pick a good, centrally-located stadium (like SLU) and up their marketing to people beyond the girls' youth soccer crowd.



Arch, give it another try. A night game, perhaps?

It is really good soccer I love the team, its not them its just the whole setup. I wish Cooper would keep Soccer Park as practice fields and find a location in the city for the stadium.



I'd love to go to the game Wednesday to see Marta but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it and that's my favorite player. There isn't another home game then for another month. The league also has more conflicts with FIFA and international games. Its only their first year so hopefully things get better.



The soccer is good but the audience is skewed pretty heavily to the soccer families. I don't know how long the team plans to stay at Soccer Park with the attendance dropping off. Its just not my ideal soccer venue

( :Violin : ). Cooper could always buy the Lions and have the MLS tap them for expansion. It just seems like his ownership group has been used as leverage by Garber over bigger markets.



They weren't even originally scheduled to play at 1 pm that day. They got bumped for a wedding reception.

Hope needs to go back to being a blonde.

I was watching a phone in show on Fox Soccer Channel hosted by Eric Wynalda and Nick Webster. It was on last night. Basically they take calls on any soccer related issue. A lady called in and asked a question about the KC Wizards. Eric Wynalda responded first by answering her question then he changed the direction of the conversation and started talking about how the Wizards should move to St. Louis. He said he respects KC ownership, but said even they can acknowledge that things did not turn out like they wanted them to. They play in a 'high school' soccer stadium. The few fans that do show are on their cell phone or 'making out'. He said the team should be in St. Louis, where they will be supported and wanted. He stated that St. Louis will find the money to get it done. I guess he was referring to Jeff Cooper. He said the great soccer fans in STL deserve a team. He went on and on for 5 minutes, on a call in show where they are usually rushing through callers. I was happy to see Eric standing up for St. Louis. I happen to agree wholeheartedly, that MLS should be here. Hopefully his sentiment will spawn a more positive perception towards St. Louis in MLS circles.

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/2638684



PS-The intro of the show shows a soccer ball shoot across the screen with the Arch, Space Needle and other buildings in the backgraound.

Must be destiny!

I think MLS would be a good thing for St. Louis. Would it increase the chances of hosting the World Cup?



Either way, I'm not much of a soccer fan myself, but I think it would be good for St. Louis.