[MontroseNeighborhoodCafe]

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[Lowbrow]

A commentator on NPR yesterday was saying that now is the perfect time for something like soccer to move up into the main stream with the NHL in gridlock.

Thats fine with me. I just hope the NHL recovers or another hockey league rises up.

[houstonsemipro]

Why they just build a brand new stadium like dallas is doing now?

[volvo99]

Very interesting topic.

One must understand that such an experiment in Houston could work, and that besides building a team that will have cross cultural support, there must be a forward thinking stadium plan.

Ideally, a solution along the lines of Home Depot Center in L.A., which consists of a fan-friendly 25 000 seat stadium and a practice field complex. Considering how short Houston is on park space anyway, any addition where fans can not only enjoy a game in an intimate setting, along with fields where youth leagues can flourish would be a welcome addition.

As far as where to build it, does the huge Reliant parking lot have enough space for this? It is on the light rail line and is rather convenient from pretty much all of the city.

[houstonsemipro]

I got a great idea, and volvo you gave it to me. Since Reliant and Astrodome is convenient for people cause of the light rail. Renovate the Astrodome into a soccer stadium, with other amenties that will boost up the Dome on having a franchise MLS team. This will be great.

[volvo99]

Semipro...

I agree, however I believe the current Astrodome is too large. Another issue is to determine if the future soccer stadium would be an enclosable facility like Reliant. I think not, as perhaps it would be too small to be economically feasible.

So ideally; demolish the Astrodome, build a purpose built soccer stadium with training fields (or borrow the Texans facility), and reserve Reliant for future World Cup/ US National/ International prestige matches.

[houstonsemipro]

It is just right. They don't need all those seats in the Dome tare them out. All they need is about 20,000-30,000 seats in there, and have resturants, retail and other amenties. They also can use it not only for soccer, but for high school football and playoffs, even the State Championship. That will bring more money back into the Dome. They also could dig an underground practice field like they did the Toyota Center. It's ways around it. Even they could have a hotel inside for the visiting team, and for people.

And I agree with you Volvo on they could borrow the Texans facility.

[houstonsemipro]

I don't agree with you on not considering an enclosed facility. With this weather we have here in Houston who wouldn't pass up an enclosed facility like the Dome, or Reliant? I wouldn't. Matter in fact, I think every sport stadium in the nation should have an enclosed facility. This will be a great benefit to the MLS league.

[volvo99]

Why the Astrodome won't work...

Soccer regulations demand natural grass. No exceptions. Then, roping off the upper levels of the stadium creates a cavernous, empty feel. It would dwarf any other stadium in the league and destroy any attempt at atmosphere. Any additional work on the Dome would really be unecessary and an expense that the new team could not finance. A hotel? So what happens when there are no teams staying? Hotel occupancy is hovering over 57%, so new rooms in a new hotel sitting in a parking lot with nothing else to do would be a waste. Understand that the leading MLS franchise has an annual player payroll of 3 Million! Roger Clemons alone will make that come mid-June! So not a lot of cash for them to burn before the first match.

[MidtownCoog]

Robertson Stadium would be ideal, but night classes and night games would be tricky. The sight lines are perfect for soccer.

But they have done it before.

They at 35K+ SRO for one of the Mexican soccer matches.

[houstonsemipro]

I agree 27

[houstonsemipro]

Besides, what team wanna play outside in the weather. Rain, thunderstorms you have to cancel the game. In an enclosed facility is perfect. What is the Dome used for today, nothing, just for high school football and that's it. We taxpayers is paying for a useless facility. I say turn it into a soccer facility. These outdoor facilies is played out. The grass all muddy from the rain, and other people using the field messing it up worster. Harris County Houston Sports Authority need to look into the Dome future, instead letting it sit up wasting tax payers money.

[Lowbrow]

euro leagues would laugh at us for canceling a soccer game due to rain.

[skwatra]

it would be sweet if they could use the dome for this, and modify it to work. but i'm assuming attendance levels would be really low. when you got to aeros games mid-season and they're not doing to well, sitting in Toyota with most of the seats empty really takes away from the game. and the operating costs of the dome, they would be losing money going into it...

and i don't think the weather here would be a problem for playing outdoor. the season is from april to october, sure it would be hot, but most days wouldn't be any hotter than dallas, and it usually only rains in the afternoons and clears out in the evenings. no different from east coast florida.

hooligans are key, we may have to import some until we get it right.

[111486]

Well by some of my replies around this forum, you all know I am a sucker for things being dowtown, especially when it fills up the surface lots. If money was not an issue, I would definitely put something near the other sporting venues in dt to make the area complete as a sports district, since they name the other parts of downtown by distict anyway.

[skwatra]

if its feasible, soccer in the dome would be great. anything other than a parking lot would be great, and if its sports even better.
bothers me that the dome wasn't even mentioned as an option in that article, when much of it focused on a lack of location to play.
if reliant's too costly to operate for soccer, wouldn't the dome be in the same boat?

[Montrose1100]

a MLS team would be great, and do wonders for our sports image. What other city can get a NFL and a MLS team in the period of so many years?

[goldenstick]

Houston needs an MLS franchise and a soccer specific stadium. I'd prefer them demolish the Astrodome since it's no longer viable for anything. They could make some type of monument to commemorate it or incorporate the Astrodome into new 22,000 to 25,000 seat soccer stadium. Build the SSS right where the dome sits now! The dome is just a waste of money at this point and time and would cost too much money to renovate. I know the dome has a lot of history behind it but it's just an old building now that Reliant has been built.

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/index.jsp

[brijonmang]

I agree, MLS would be great for the city. However, I think the stadium would be better located around downtown...somewhere that has potential but is under-utilized. You know, something like what we did with enron and the toyota center.

[ssullivan]

Yeah let's build another stadium and raise our hotel and rental car taxes even more. Our 17% hotel tax rate is higher than places like New York (13.63% + $2), Boston (12.45%), San Francisco (14.05%), Washington DC (14.5%), and Chicago (14.9%). Our rental car taxes are also among the highest in the nation. Granted the average hotel price in many of these cities is more than it is in Houston, but our tax rate helps close that gap. And I'm sure it's negatively affecting our already suffering convention and hotel business.

I'm all for soccer in Houston, but let's find a way to do it in existing facilities if possible. I'm not sure we can afford a fourth brand new stadium right now with the existing funding mechanisms.

[Trophy Property]

I was in Portugal last summer for the Euro Cup 2004. It was amazing to see the amoung of infrastructure was put in place. The country build 8 or 9 new stadiums for the tournament. Of course these stadiums will continue to be used by the local teams (Lisbon has two teams and built two new stadiums). I was able to see 3 games and It was incredible. I am not even a huge soccer fan, but the atmosphere was incredible. I learned a new appreciation for the sport. I think Houston is ready for a MLS team and I think as long as the tickets are resonable and the venue is easily acceeible then attendance will support a team. The problem is that the team can not play in the Dome or Relaint. Those stadiums are way to big. What the team needs to is a smaller stadium holding no more than 30k. Even the largest stadium in Portugal held right at 50K. Most of the others held between 25 and 40k. I think it is important to have an intimate environement. My first thought is Robertson Stadium until a new stadium could be build. Near downtown would be awesome. Maybe right outside the CBD in an area that needs a little help.

[largeTEXAS]

Great idea, tw2ntyse7en! Best idea yet, by far!

[Trophy Property]

largeTEXAS, on Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 @ 10:22am, said:

Great idea, tw2ntyse7en! Best idea yet, by far!
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I totally agree. I even like it better than the casino idea. It would be cool to geat a hotel room on the upper level and watch a game from your room (with a bunch of friends and drinks. This would be a one of a kind facility.

You better watch out or someont might steal that idea.

[DJ V Lawrence]

27 ROCKS!!! GREAT idea. I'll go a step further: I think they should build a stadium/hotel in the same format as Detroit's Ford Field, Atlanta's Philips Arena, or Skydome. A minimum-42,000 to 47,000 seat facility would do (we'd have the opportunity to have the largest soccer specific stadium in America, since there's enough room for that.) This place would have all suites, press boxes, and hotel rooms on one side of the stadium, and could be used for conventions and concerts, as well as soccer.


This would be the most state-of-the-Art soccer facility in all North America. It would also be a $400 Million stadium project, because $400 million IS the amount that the Astrodome Redevelopment Corp. had promised to revitalize a hotel- primary Astrodome in the first place, right? What'd make it so successful would be the fact that it could be used 24/7 as a hotel, with the soccer partly used for advertisement for the facility. Yes, it'd be costly to play soccer in the dome, but with a steady attendance and a successful hotel, I think the dome could actually PROFIT.

Oh, and 27, I'm ALL for that Rodeo Houston idea. If that happened, they'd REALLY grow into something unprecedented. I nominate 27 to lead the way on it, too. That whole list kicked ass.

[Subdude]

I wonder if MLS is really going to be in expansion mode again as soon as 2007. They were eliminating teams as recently as 2002, right? It probably depends on how the two new teams do. As much as I would love to redo the Dome, isn't MLS holding out for promises of new soccer-specific fields (which is why Salt Lake City picked up an expansion team)? The Astrodome's just too big.

One aspect of 27's comments I violently disagree with: NO museum for the Oilers. Our tax money is still paying for the "improvements" to the Dome that they demanded in order to stay, before they left anyway. We shouldn't be honoring traitors that way!

[DJ V Lawrence]

[quote=Subdude,Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 @ 6:57am]
I wonder if MLS is really going to be in expansion mode again as soon as 2007. They were eliminating teams as recently as 2002, right? It probably depends on how the two new teams do. As much as I would love to redo the Dome, isn't MLS holding out for promises of new soccer-specific fields (which is why Salt Lake City picked up an expansion team)? The Astrodome's just too big.



Yo check it. I agree the Astrodome is too big for MLS, but only if nothing was done to it. If a hotel/stadium deal happened, and the stadium still had more seats available than the average MLS stadium, AND it were state-of-the-art (we gotta stay ahead of the game with our archetecture, yo), then the size would be PERFECT.
All that would have to be done after that is one thing; fan support of the team, and create the largest fanbase for a local soccer team in America (which can be done). Houston loves PLAYING soccer, but watching it could become a sport in itself, which we've seen in almost all the other contries in the world. We Houstonians just have to learn how to enjoy attending games as much as we love to be playing it, and there's NO WAY we would lose money on the hotel/stadium idea.

Oh, and 27 kicks ass.

[DJ V Lawrence]

tw2ntyse7en, on Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 @ 10:10pm, said:

lol.. I feel like I'm reading a transcript from da' Ali G show!   <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Booyakasha!! Me name be DJ V and me come straight from da WestSide of H-town, aaaiigghhttt?! MAD respect to 27 for the intellect! I must agree that I remind me for Ali G, except I'm black...and I'm Texan...and I..um..wear less Fubu. Recognize!

Also, 27 brought up the most valiant point as to why MLS would be successful here in da Bayou City. Diversity. It's what I love about Houston more than almost anything else. Professional soccer WILL be successful here, so long as that organization appeals to all, and not a particular target audience.

I got two questions. One, what's up with this trend going on in MLS with PROFESSIONAL teams signing on long term to play in High School Football stadiums? Dallas, exibit A. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I'm trying to understand the strategy they have for making MLS as big an organization as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASA. (hey, they build space ships, you know).

Also, Question Two: No disrespekt to da American Soccer announcers, but where's the excitement of watching the game on t.v.? I LOVE watching spanish stations for the games, 'cause the commentators get into it. GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL!!!!! Where's our excitement when USA scores? If USA's announcers lose control, soccer has a great chance here. Does anyone agree?

Oh, and Respect to Subdude!!

[HeightsGuy]

[QUOTE]The problem with soccer, is that unless you were raised to watch it, the way we (Americans) were raised to watch Baseball, then you'll think its mind-numbingly slow. MLS needs a way to "sell" soccer to us so that we will want to spend money on it.[QUOTE]

It's mind-numbingly slow because as a casual observer you have no stake in the action. Get behind a team and watch a few matches and you will see the difference. Unlike most sports popular in the US, a soccer match can be won or lost in a span of just a few minutes. And those few minutes can come at any point in a 3 hour match. Think the final 2 minutes in a tied game of basketball. In soccer, that two minutes lasts three hours. Good luck thinking you can turn away from the action whenever you want to for a beer, bathroom break, cigarette, etc. That's what makes it the World's most popular sport.

[Gary]

goldenstick, on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005 @ 12:50am, said:

Houston needs an MLS franchise and a soccer specific stadium.  I'd prefer them demolish the Astrodome since it's no longer viable for anything.  They could make some type of monument to commemorate it or incorporate the Astrodome into new 22,000 to 25,000 seat soccer stadium. Build the SSS right where the dome sits now! The dome is just a waste of money at this point and time and would cost too much money to renovate.  I know the dome has a lot of history behind it but it's just an old building now that Reliant has been built.

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/index.jsp
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No dissrespect intended, but why don't we knock down Rigley field whle were at it. Tearing down the Dome for a soccer team would be a travesty. That's some of the problem I've noticed in Houston's architecture, theres no loyalty to past culture.

I've seen some old pics of this city and there was some fantastic stuff 50 and 60 years ago. The Shamrock is a perfect example.

There are plenty of areas to make this work but good night don't knock down the eighth wonder of the world.

[htownswami]

This may put a damper on Houston's hope for an MLS in the near franchis. It appears San Antonio has an inside track for getting a franchise next year. Im sure Texas can support three teams but I would think it amy be a while..


http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news?slug=mlss...ov=st&type=lgns

[DJ V Lawrence]

htownswami, on Friday, April 15th, 2005 @ 12:25pm, said:

This may put a damper on Houston's hope for an MLS in the near franchis. It appears San Antonio has an inside track for getting a franchise next year. Im sure Texas can support three teams but I would think it amy be a while..
http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news?slug=mlss...ov=st&type=lgns
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We can still have an MLS team in the near future if San Antonio had a team in '06, but it just wouldn't be in '06, yo. The only thing Houston doesn't have for a team is a deticated investment group and/or ownership that's willing to build or renovate a stadium for primary soccer purpose. We got the fans, yo. We just need a fan that's a mulit-million dollar fan to exist in Houston.

[tigereye]

DJ V Lawrence, on Friday, April 15th, 2005 @ 7:33pm, said:

We can still have an MLS team in the near future if San Antonio had a team in '06, but it just wouldn't be in '06, yo. The only thing Houston doesn't have for a team is a deticated investment group and/or ownership that's willing to build or renovate a stadium for primary soccer purpose. We got the fans, yo. We just need a fan that's a mulit-million dollar fan to exist in Houston.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First post here......let me give you and other a little heplfull info.

There is an investor who has the ball rolling in Houston, hence all the talk aobut the stadium on the NW side of town.

The investor is Club America of Mexico City.

Much like Chivas and there owner Jorge Vergara, they want in on one specific market. For Vergara, it was LA, and he got what he wanted. For Club America, its Houston becuase its a big market with a huge hispanic base that's close to Mexico, just like LA. They do not want to go to San antonio as they feel the market income per household is to low to aqudately support a franchise.

Hence, San Antonio is in negoations with Tigres, another Mexican club for ownership. There Mayor was recently in Mexico to meet with club officals

And BTW....the only reason why SA is in is becuase they gave the "tax-payer-funded" Alamodome away to the MLS by giving them FREE RENT and all concessions, parking. I'm confused.....Mayor Garza was doing this to have a tenant in the Dome to make money for the city of SA. How is SA gonna make money out of this deal?

And as for Houston's proposed SSS in the NW side of town.....root for it to happen as it will tie into plans to redevlope the old Northwest Mall inot one massive sports and entertainment year round complex.

[Subdude]

It is interesting that both the proposed San Antonio and the new Frisco (for FC Dallas) fields offer futbol training and practice facilities for kids. It's a nice idea to build up interest in the teams.

[N Judah]

So what else will be at the NW Mall site besides a soccer stadium?

[Subdude]

It might depend on how the team markets itself. Attendance at the teams in LA might be an example.

I'm surprised about the San Antonio announcement. MLS has already had to contract once, so it's odd they're adding expansion teams so fast.

[houstonsemipro]

More news on soccer in Houston. Check out the link below.

http://www.chron.com.../sports/3185000

[tigereye]

tigereye, on Saturday, April 16th, 2005 @ 11:30am, said:

And as for Houston's proposed SSS in the NW side of town.....root for it to happen as it will tie into plans to redevlope the old Northwest Mall into one massive sports and entertainment year round complex.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remember when I said this......its now falling into place......that is if they dont use the Astrodome and build at Delmar

NW Mall redevelopment thread

[DJ V Lawrence]

tigereye, on Tuesday, May 17th, 2005 @ 5:53pm, said:

Remember when I said this......its now falling into place......that is if they dont use the Astrodome and build at Delmar

NW Mall redevelopment thread
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Personally, I prefer the Astrodome over Delmar or NW Mall. Soccer in the Dome would kill two birds with one stone for Harris County, Soccer, and the City of Houston, since we ARE trying to decide what to do with the Dome.

And besides, Delmar stadium is a HIGH SCHOOL stadium. I don't see the Rockets, Astros, or Texans playing in High School stadiums for home games. If we really think that lowly of soccer in Houston, we shouldn't have a team in the first place.

[Subdude]

New soccer stadiums generally have seating of about 20,000. The Dome is way too big, and it wasn't designed around being able to hide seating sections as at the Alamo Dome. A smaller high school stadium seems like it would be a better place to start for soccer facility.

[tigereye]

Subdude, on Wednesday, May 18th, 2005 @ 10:43am, said:

New soccer stadiums generally have seating of about 20,000.  The Dome is way too big, and it wasn't designed around being able to hide seating sections as at the Alamo Dome.  A smaller high school stadium seems like it would be a better place to start for soccer facility.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, form an engineering standpoint, the Dome would work for serving as a shell for an intimate 25,000 seat soccer stadium.

Back in its hey day, the Dome used to seat 42,000 when one end of the stadium was left open which made room for the scorebaord spectacular. If you subtract the other endzone, you easily shrink capacity to the nieghborhood of 30,000 or less. Open ended soccer stadiums are the popular designs for the MLS anyways. To further shrink capacity, the interior would need to be gutted and the concourses would need to be enlargerd, which would push the seating deck closer to the pitch. Overall, this would eliminate sections in the seating bowls design which could get you to the 25,000 mark.

What I would like to see done is for the the entire reliant campus be sectioned off into three rectulangular blocks. One for Reliant Center, the middle for stadiums, and the last one for parking. the Astrohall needs to be replaced by a Parking garage structure to serve soccer.

The parking lot east of the Dome needs to be raised for in favor of a retractable soccer pitch that could move in and out of the Dome to make it more multipurpose. The Dome's seating bowl needs to be as multipurpose as the Saitima Super Arena in Japan, which can change form a 40,000 seat soccer stadium to a 5,000 seat concert venue in the blink of an eye.

And last but not least...on the North end of the Dome that faces Reliant center, an air conditioned, sheltered walk way with moveable pathways like you find in airports needs to be built to connect Reliant Stadium and the Dome to the light rail line to make it more attractable to use for commuters. No one likes trudging across barron parking lots in the middle of the night to catch a train....wake up Metro.

This needs to be done.....nuff said.

[DJ V Lawrence]

tigereye, on Wednesday, May 18th, 2005 @ 5:32pm, said:

Actually, form an engineering standpoint, the Dome would work for serving as a shell for an intimate 25,000 seat soccer stadium.

Back in its hey day, the Dome used to seat 42,000 when one end of the stadium was left open which made room for the scorebaord spectacular. If you subtract the other endzone, you easily shrink capacity to the nieghborhood of 30,000 or less. Open ended soccer stadiums are the popular designs for the MLS anyways. To further shrink capacity, the interior would need to be gutted and the concourses would need to be enlargerd, which would push the seating deck closer to the pitch. Overall, this would eliminate sections in the seating bowls design which could get you to the 25,000 mark.

What I would like to see done is for the the entire reliant campus be sectioned off into three rectulangular blocks. One for Reliant Center, the middle for stadiums, and the last one for parking. the Astrohall needs to be replaced by a Parking garage structure to serve soccer.

The parking lot east of the Dome needs to be raised for in favor of a retractable soccer pitch that could move in and out of the Dome to make it more multipurpose. The Dome's seating bowl needs to be as multipurpose as the Saitima Super Arena in Japan, which can change form a 40,000 seat soccer stadium to a 5,000 seat concert venue in the blink of an eye.

And last but not least...on the North end of the Dome that faces Reliant center, an air conditioned, sheltered walk way with moveable pathways like you find in airports needs to be built to connect Reliant Stadium and the Dome to the light rail line to make it more attractable to use for commuters. No one likes trudging across barron parking lots in the middle of the night to catch a train....wake up Metro.

This needs to be done.....nuff said.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm TOTALLY against the thought of us submitting to a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer in Houston. The New Orleans Saints are hurting because they have sold ONLY 25,000 season tickets. Soccer's the biggest sport in the world, and if Houstonians can't fill a stadium of 40,000 seats for a soccer team, we should just forget about trying to have a team at all.

And I'm all against this High School stadium thing. If it's a PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE, play in a PROFESSIONAL LOCATION with PROFESSIONAL MONEY and PROFESSIONAL SPONSORSHIP. 20,000 seat stadiums are what they use for BASKETBALL and HOCKEY ARENAS. 20,000 is NOT an exceptable baseball or football attendance, and it shouldn't be for a marketable league like the MLS. Screw trying to have sell-out games. Get MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

Either Houstonian love soccer, or they don't. Fill up a 40,000+ soccer stadium nightly in Houston, or just don't have a team if you think 40,000 Houstonians are not interested. End of story.

Last question. If we get a soccer team for Houston, will you (the person reading this) support that team passionately like we have for the Texans, Astros, Comets, and Rockets, and would you buy season tickets and actually go to the games, or are you only hoping to have a team to have one, and are banking on OTHER Houstonians to go to the game instead of you ? Answer soon, yo...

[N Judah]

Depends on the team. A regular MLS franchise, no. A minor league franchise of a storied team from a mediocre league (i.e. the deal with the Mexico City team) - maybe. A minor league franchise of a European team? Definitely.

[LTAWACS]

Im not a big soccer fan...

[Subdude]

Quote

I'm TOTALLY against the thought of us submitting to a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer in Houston. The New Orleans Saints are hurting because they have sold ONLY 25,000 season tickets. Soccer's the biggest sport in the world, and if Houstonians can't fill a stadium of 40,000 seats for a soccer team, we should just forget about trying to have a team at all.

And I'm all against this High School stadium thing. If it's a PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE, play in a PROFESSIONAL LOCATION with PROFESSIONAL MONEY and PROFESSIONAL SPONSORSHIP. 20,000 seat stadiums are what they use for BASKETBALL and HOCKEY ARENAS. 20,000 is NOT an exceptable baseball or football attendance, and it shouldn't be for a marketable league like the MLS. Screw trying to have sell-out games. Get MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

Either Houstonian love soccer, or they don't. Fill up a 40,000+ soccer stadium nightly in Houston, or just don't have a team if you think 40,000 Houstonians are not interested. End of story.

Last question. If we get a soccer team for Houston, will you (the person reading this) support that team passionately like we have for the Texans, Astros, Comets, and Rockets, and would you buy season tickets and actually go to the games, or are you only hoping to have a team to have one, and are banking on OTHER Houstonians to go to the game instead of you  ? Answer soon, yo...

I don't quite see the logic of benchmarking MLS attendance against baseball or football attendance. They're different animals. MLS simply isn't as popular, so if 20,000 is an appropriate size, then so be it. If it fits well in a high school stadium, then use the high school stadium. Why would we want to spend the money constructing a sporting facility that seats more than its expected usage would require? As I said, I really don't see the logic. Building stadiums that make economic sense isn't "submitting", it's just common sense. Also, remember that a couple of MLS teams have already had to fold. We don't want to overspend on facilities on an unproved product.

[DJ V Lawrence]

Subdude, on Thursday, May 26th, 2005 @ 3:34pm, said:

I don't quite see the logic of benchmarking MLS attendance against baseball or football attendance.  They're different animals.  MLS simply isn't as popular, so if 20,000 is an appropriate size, then so be it.  If it fits well in a high school stadium, then use the high school stadium.  Why would we want to spend the money constructing a sporting facility that seats more than its expected usage would require?  As I said, I really don't see the logic.  Building stadiums that make economic sense isn't "submitting", it's just common sense.  Also, remember that a couple of MLS teams have already had to fold.  We don't want to overspend on facilities on an unproved product.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...but also remember that some MLS games have filled NFL stadiums to capacity (70,000+), but for some reason, they are talking about building 20,000-seat stadiums for those same teams. Where's the logic?

Subdude, I understand completely where you're coming from. It truly does make sense. My point is this: if you're gonna do something, do it right. You're right, two teams have folded. You know why? Because the league automatically assumed that because those cities had a large Hispanic population, it would just automatically survive. That doesn't work. What the league needs to do is stop living in the taboo that only one ethnic background love soccer, and they have to come up with ways to cater to ALL races. Create a soccer interest that doesn't exist in corporate America and Urban America instead of assuming that because you're of certain background, you will attend games.

That ideology will NOT work in Houston. I heard they're talking about building a soccer venue for MLS at Delmar Stadium. For what reason? You tell me. You mean to tell me that because I'm not Hispanic, I'm not allowed to have the MLS advertise their team to me? If you won't advertise soccer to me now, when will you? And what if, just if, the East End didn't attend games. Who would fill the seats then? 5th Ward? River Oaks? Bellaire? Katy? Sugarland? Who ELSE are you teaching the art of soccer to?

Push for the ENTIRE city of Houston to go to games the way Bob McNair did when the Texans did their inagural season. After watching what he did, I think there's NOTHING Houston can't do in terms of marketability and enthusiasm.

[el-tri]

[COLOR=blue][SIZE=14]
I think the Astrodome would be perfect for soccer, and if the Harris Sports authority allows it to, the city could add a moving pitch for grass to be natural and for it to grow faster, like the Sapporo Dome in Japan.Plus the Astrodome could be used for other events too. I rather leave the Astrodome as a sports venue than a hotel.

[ricco67]

Something occured to me while on vacation...

Why not offer it as a Sports venue AND a hotel for those enthusiasts that LIVE for a particular sport or event?

I've recently had clients that flew in all the way From Germany for the Billy Idol Concert (of all artists!) and would leave the next morning back to germany.

The same thing happened with the Kelly Clarkston concert (they flew from Ireland!) and were gone the next day.

The same ting can be done with the for not only soccor, but other events.

Just update it a tad, improve the sound system, and boom! a new venue. It could "counter" program whatever is at the Stadium. Say that there is a Motocross thingie at the stadium, then there could be a concert at the dome, or vica versa...


Ricco

[HeightsGuy]

I've changed my mind on this a few times, but now I'm in favor of retro-fitting Delmar:

1. Much cheaper than retro-fitting Astrodome
2. 20,000 sounds just right to start with
3. Reliant has proved itself to be a wonderful venue for soccer when 70k seats are needed, it's there whenever you need it
4. If MLS explodes here and 20,000 isn't enough, it can always be moved to Reliant