Soccer Specific Stadia (Part 1)--------by Section 112 Blizzard
Dec 15th 2006
With Wednesday's sad news that Lamar
Hunt the I/O of the Columbus Crew and FC Dallas is no longer with us, it is
perhaps a good time to write an article about what will undoubtedly be his main
legacy to our sport, namely the soccer specific stadium.
As I explained a few weeks ago in an earlier article entitled, Toronto
FC folding soon? Not a chance., Lamar Hunt spent $US 30 million of his
personal fortune to build a 22,555 seat stadium for the Columbus Crew back in
1999 when things things were looking very bleak for MLS as the existing economic
model based on the use of large NFL and NCAA football stadia simply wasn't
working. The revenue streams derived from this stadium by the Crew were so much
better than anticipated that the league moved to a much more successful economic
based on teams owning or opearting their own mid-sized stadium. There can be
little doubt that this development saved the league and paved the way for MLSE
to enter the fray where Toronto FC and BMO Field are concerned.
To review the current state of play in MLS with regards to soccer specific
stadia, which have either been built or are currently under construction:-
Columbus Crew - As stated above the Columbus Crew
Stadium got the ball rolling back in 1999.
LA Galaxy & Chivas USA - The second SSS to be built in MLS was Home Depot Center
on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson City.
The stadium seats 27,000 and is part of a $US 150 million complex owned and
operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In addition to being the home
stadium of the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA, the Home Depot Center also serves as a
base for the US national team.
FC Dallas - In 2005, FC Dallas moved into the 21,193 seat Pizza Hut Park, which
cost $US 80 million to build and is owned by the City of Frisco and operated by
a holding company associated with Hunt Sports Group.
Chicago Fire - In June this year, the Chicago Fire moved into the 20,000
seat Toyota
Park. The facility cost $US 100 million and is owned by the Village of
Bridgeview, Illinois and operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group.
Colorado Rapids - The really quite breathtakingly named Dick's Sporting
Goods Park will open in April for the first ABC televised game of the 2007
season as part of a $US 130 million project initiated by new Rapids I/Os Kroenke
Sports and Commerce City, Colorado.
Toronto FC - The 20,000 seat BMO Field which will open in
May 2007 in time for not only the MLS season but also the 2007 World Youth Cup
finals thanks to a $65 million dollar investment by the federal and provincial
governments, the City of Toronto and MLSE should already be familiar to most
people reading this article.
Red Bull New York - In the summer of 2008 the Red Bulls should finally
move out of Giants Stadium, which has been a major drain on MLS finances over
the years due to the $US 250,000 per game rental fee required to play home games
there. The new Red Bull
Park will be jointly owned by Red Bull and the Anschutz Entertainment Group.
A new standard is expected to be set by this 25,000 seater stadium which is
expected to cost $US 220 million to build. Ground was finally broken on the
project in September after a long series of delays over the past few years.
Next week I'll look at what is going to happen in future with soccer specific
stadia projects in terms of the five other franchises and how the requirement
for a viable stadium deal will largely determine the course of future MLS
expansion between now and 2010 when the league expects to have 16 teams.
The bottom line is that when you sit in your seat at BMO Field next summer it is
maybe worth reflecting for a moment on the contributions made to soccer by
people like Lamar Hunt, who have helped to slowly build our sport up to the
level it is at today across North America.
Back to Main Page
Back to Article Index