Major League Soccer

[cman710]

Whether to use public funds for a stadium remains an entirely separate question, but the idea of a 20,000 seat stadium for an MLS team is not outrageous.

The average attendance for an MLS team in 2013 [[as of the end of June) was 17,480. Of the 19 MLS teams, 11 have averaged more than 17,000 fans, and 14 have averaged at least 14,000 fans. By team, average attendance varied widely, from a low of 8,998 for Chivas USA [[in the Los Angeles area), to a high of 41,502 for the Sounders [[in Seattle). While it is hard to say how well a Detroit team would draw, a 20,000 seat stadium would not be crazy.

I have attended one MLS game, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. The attendance was awful and the stadium huge, making for a really dead feel and a poor experience. A 14,000 fan crowd at a smaller stadium might seem loud and exciting, whereas the same crowd at a larger stadium is inevitably dull. For the team by team statistics, click here.

[emu steve]

How about Cass/Fisher/2nd/Ledyard?

And since the city would hold title to the stadium [[as governments do for real estate tax reasons) how about letting Cass Tech play their FB games there free.

And the Cass FB field can be recycled for something else [[or at least be a practice field).

H.S. FB games could be played there rather than having them at Ford Field [[Aug 31?) or WSU's Adams Field.

Could use same parking as for the arena.

Could help Ilitich unload excess property not needed for the arena.

and probably many more +s.

[rb336]

The average attendance for an MLS team in 2013 [[as of the end of June) was 17,480. Of the 19 MLS teams, 11 have averaged more than 17,000 fans, and 14 have averaged at least 14,000 fans. By team, average attendance varied widely, from a low of 8,998 for Chivas USA [[in the Los Angeles area), to a high of 41,502 for the Sounders [[in Seattle). While it is hard to say how well a Detroit team would draw, a 20,000 seat stadium would not be crazy.

If you dump the far outlier, it comes to an average of about 16,750. Basically lower than all but 6 NHL teams [[all but 4 of which were lower than 85% capacity). It is no surprise that Pac Coast/NW teams do the best, and as kids who grew up playing soccer become adults, I fully expect soccer to overtake hockey nationwide [[although I find it dull as all get out, like if you quadrupled the size of a basketball court, allowed only passing and chopped the hoop diameter by 5 inches, creating scores lower than the average hockey game)

[emu steve]

If you dump the far outlier, it comes to an average of about 16,750. Basically lower than all but 6 NHL teams [[all but 4 of which were lower than 85% capacity). It is no surprise that Pac Coast/NW teams do the best, and as kids who grew up playing soccer become adults, I fully expect soccer to overtake hockey nationwide [[although I find it dull as all get out, like if you quadrupled the size of a basketball court, allowed only passing and chopped the hoop diameter by 5 inches, creating scores lower than the average hockey game)

Soccer is a game where one has to look forward into the future and try to predict what will happen with that game.

I'm talking initially 2020 but really 2030 and beyond.

Does Detroit want a soccer team for 2030? If so, try to get a 2020 expansion team.

Detroit needs to decide if it wants to get on the soccer 'bandwagon' or let it pass Detroit by.

The business of saying 'well, we can get a team which wants to move...' is bad business. Might be a bad team. The selling owner might try to 'hold up' a new owner or city and Detroit would get a WORSE deal than by moving in 2020.

[I don't see any real growth in MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL within the U.S. in the next 10, 20 or 30 years. None of them seem to be able to support additional cities. A number of franchises now struggle in these leagues.]