Team located farthest from represented city?

[2001mark]

11 hours ago, kroywen said:

The Krafts' stupid decision to build a new stadium in Foxborough has been papered over by the fact that the Pats have been so freaking good since it opened. Up until Belichick, New England was decidedly not a football region, and no one in Boston would ever make the trek to go sit in a glorified high school stadium in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure it'll go back to that once the Pats run (mercifully) comes to an end. And then we'll be back to the good old days of a half-full stadium, only this time surrounded by a failing outdoor mall that will attract no one.

By the time this era runs out, they'll be nearer to building a new stadium better situated for more fans. 

[Gothamite]

Yeah, but it'll be a 22,000-seater and it'll be for the Revs.

[kroywen]

16 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

That's true in most cases, although the major difference is that MetLife Stadium is not accessible by the primary mode of transit in the city, and the Cowboys' stadium is.  So the Cowboys are actually "closer" to the city center than the Jets/Giants in the sense of being far more accessible.  But your larger point is well taken. 

True, though Metro North and NJ Transit both run "Trains to the Game" now (though MNR only does so for Sunday 1 PM games, frustratingly), so NYC residents can take a subway to Penn Station, and transfer to NJT easily. I wish it were a one seat ride from the subway, but the Meadowlands is a lot better connected to the city (and surroundings) via transit than it once was.

[sc49erfan15]

19 hours ago, DG_Now said:

 

Well, how taxes are collected and apportioned within those limits is very, very important. But I think that has more to do with the relocation thread than this one. Or one begets the other.

 

Oh, of course. I meant "meaningless" in regard to whether or not a sports team representing Avocadoville actually plays within Avocadoville's borders.

[raysox]

The thing about the Patriots is that they're New England, and not just Boston. I remember hearing that they wanted to put a new stadium in Providence and not Boston but then built up Gillette, if I remember correctly.

[The_Admiral]

You don't -- it was Hartford, who blew off building a new arena for UConn and the Whalers because they thought they were going to land the Patriots.

 

 

 

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, raysox said:

The thing about the Patriots is that they're New England, and not just Boston. I remember hearing that they wanted to put a new stadium in Providence and not Boston but then built up Gillette, if I remember correctly.

 

Could you be thinking of Hartford?

 

[Gothamite]

3 hours ago, kroywen said:

True, though Metro North and NJ Transit both run "Trains to the Game" now (though MNR only does so for Sunday 1 PM games, frustratingly), so NYC residents can take a subway to Penn Station, and transfer to NJT easily. I wish it were a one seat ride from the subway, but the Meadowlands is a lot better connected to the city (and surroundings) via transit than it once was.

 

Yeah, but the PATH is not the subway.   That transfer is extremely important, and that's what makes Cowboys Stadium much more accessible from downtown Dallas than MetLife is from New York City.  

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The NJ Transit trip to the game, while functional, isn't fun.

A fun game might be to describe the best and worst transit commutes to football stadiums. I think Seattle's CenturyLink is among the best. The stadium is located at the edge of downtown, near both the combined bus/train transit tunnel (red), as well as the local regional train station (blue):

 

 

You can see a small parking lot just north of the stadium, but that's slowly being developed into apartment buildings; the northwest quadrant is already done and open. The northeast one is next. There is a parking garage just south of the stadium, but it's nowhere near the oceans of parking you see in other places.

 

 

 

[raysox]

9 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Could you be thinking of Hartford?

 

Yeah, thanks to you and Admiral. Hadn't seen actual stadium plans

 

dunno why I thought Providence, other than thinking Foxboro is closer to it than Boston, or atleast close

[infrared41]

The things we fight about around here. Anyway...I read through the thread pretty quickly so apologies in advance if someone already mentioned this...

 

Back in the days of the Pontiac Silverdome, the Pistons and Lions were playing 32 miles north of Detroit. Auburn Hills is 34 miles from Detroit. 

 

And...as someone already mentioned, the Cavs former home, the Richfield Coliseum, was 20 miles south of Cleveland and out on the middle of nowhere. But it was right off I-271 so there was that, I guess. 

[The_Admiral]

The weirdest thing about the Richfield Coliseum is that there's virtually no trace of a 20,000-seat arena having been there. The only remnant is that you can see where a turn lane used to be. Makes you wonder about what the future holds for the Palace.

 

To DG's post, Soldier Field is about three-fifths of a mile from the Red, Green, and Orange Lines at Roosevelt, and commuter rail to the south side/south suburbs/NW Indiana has stops just north and south of the stadium, but I don't think many people take trains to Bears games, certainly not the way they do to Cubs/Sox games.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

4 hours ago, the admiral said:

The weirdest thing about the Richfield Coliseum is that there's virtually no trace of a 20,000-seat arena having been there. The only remnant is that you can see where a turn lane used to be. Makes you wonder about what the future holds for the Palace.

 

To DG's post, Soldier Field is about three-fifths of a mile from the Red, Green, and Orange Lines at Roosevelt, and commuter rail to the south side/south suburbs/NW Indiana has stops just north and south of the stadium, but I don't think many people take trains to Bears games, certainly not the way they do to Cubs/Sox games.

 

Fairly certain it will be razed and redeveloped for automotive R & D projects.

 

On a side note, if anyone's seen the the Transformers trailer from a week or 2 back, the Pontiac Silverdome is heavily featured. 

[dfwabel]

On 12/18/2016 at 10:17 AM, Gothamite said:

 

Could you be thinking of Hartford?

 

Hartford was 1998, a year prior it was Providence's effort. 

 

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/01/28/cianci-menino-patriots/

 

http://wpri.com/2015/09/10/how-the-patriots-almost-moved-to-providence/

[infrared41]

7 hours ago, the admiral said:

The weirdest thing about the Richfield Coliseum is that there's virtually no trace of a 20,000-seat arena having been there. The only remnant is that you can see where a turn lane used to be. 

 

Back in the day, we took state route 303 to get to the Coliseum. 303 is a nice, scenic road with a lot of hills. You'd be driving along and then out of nowhere you'd see this pop up. It was like they'd placed an arena in the middle of Amish country or something. 

[OMMF]

On 12/18/2016 at 10:39 AM, DG_Now said:

The NJ Transit trip to the game, while functional, isn't fun.

A fun game might be to describe the best and worst transit commutes to football stadiums. I think Seattle's CenturyLink is among the best. The stadium is located at the edge of downtown, near both the combined bus/train transit tunnel (red), as well as the local regional train station (blue):

 

(picture)

 

You can see a small parking lot just north of the stadium, but that's slowly being developed into apartment buildings; the northwest quadrant is already done and open. The northeast one is next. There is a parking garage just south of the stadium, but it's nowhere near the oceans of parking you see in other places.

 

 

 

While not quite as functional as the two stations you mentioned, there's also a FHSC stop near the stadium. And the Water Taxi/WSF terminal isn't too far of a walk either. For a downtown stadium, very accessible. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

36 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

Back in the day, we took state route 303 to get to the Coliseum. 303 is a nice, scenic road with a lot of hills. You'd be driving along and then out of nowhere you'd see this pop up. It was like they'd placed an arena in the middle of Amish country or something. 

 

Prior to Camden Yards, that was the default. Put your stadium or arena where it was easiest to drive and park.

 

Thank God for urban renewal (the good kind). Having our sports palaces in downtown cores is so much better for everyone. Except, I guess, the Richfields and Auburn Hills of the world.

[bosrs1]

Just now, DG_Now said:

 

Prior to Camden Yards, that was the default. Put your stadium or arena where it was easiest to drive and park.

 

Thank God for urban renewal (the good kind). Having our sports palaces in downtown cores is so much better for everyone. Except, I guess, the Richfields and Auburn Hills of the world.

 

For arenas and ballparks I will agree. I still don't see any benefit to having big football stadiums downtown. The lack of use and the volume of people that show up to my mind still demand football stadiums belong out in the boonies. Otherwise they're taking up prime real estate downtown and providing little return.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Not to be a total homer, but CenturyLink has been a tremendous success. The Seahawks often make playoffs, the Sounders play from March to November, there are concerts (Beyonce, GnR), and this year we had Copa America.

 

It's the best case, but I realize it's not true for every city.

[OnWis97]

I went to yesterday's Vikings game and it's nice to go downtown for the game.  Of course, I live five light rail transit stops away so it beats the hell out of driving out to the 'burbs for me.  It's probably reduces the entire fiasco by 90 minutes.

 

But generally I tend to agree with the idea that an eight-game-per-year investment may as well be on cheap land.  I am pretty sure the NFL has a rule that you are supposed to drive a large SUV to the games, so they may as well play on a freeway off ramp. 

 

All else equal, I like the downtown experience, and it does work well for the Vikings and several other teams, I am sure...but the whole "redevelopment" thing (which some people don't buy anyway) for eight games and the occasional U2 and country concert seems like less than optimal use for the land.  In fairness, the opportunity cost for that part of downtown Minneapolis (and Seattle; I've been to a Mariners game) is probably minimal.  But anything "prime" is probably better served by MLB, or at least NHL/NBA.