North American Pro Soccer 2019

[4_tattoos]

Question. Is there anywhere in New York City that NYCFC could realistically place a temporary soccer stadium? 

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, 4_tattoos said:

Question. Is there anywhere in New York City that NYCFC could realistically place a temporary soccer stadium? 

 

Nope.   If there was, they’d be there now. 

 

NYCFC needs several square blocks of currently-unused land, centrally located, and also in close proximity to multiple subway lines.  That’s an exceedingly rare commodity in a growing city with our voracious rate of construction.  If such a parcel existed, then it would already have a half-dozen developers fighting for the right to build condos on it. 

[Kevin W.]

13 hours ago, Sodboy13 said:

Hauptman: out.

 

Andrew Hauptman has sold his stake in the Chicago Fire to Joe Mansuelo, and no longer has any role with the club.

:censored: YES GOOD :censored:ING RIDDANCE!

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

10 hours ago, Gothamite said:

11 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Question. Is there anywhere in New York City that NYCFC could realistically place a temporary soccer stadium? 

 

Nope.   If there was, they’d be there now. 

 

Also, there is no need. The team is drawing very well at Yankee Stadium; and its presence there has no adverse effects on the Yankees.

 

What's more, the narrow pitch has been turned into an advantage, as NYCFC have consistently had an excellent home record (only one loss in 17 home matches so far this year).

 

The Yankees spitefully refused to allow the removal of the pitcher's mound for NYCFC matches (despite having previously allowed it for soccer friendlies, and despite continuing to allow it for the Pinstripe Classic football game) as a means of inducing NYCFC to keep their stay in the Stadium short. The Yankees are part owners (or "investor-operators", in MLS lingo) of NYCFC; but the baseball people did not welcome this. However, the whispered fears of the Yankee Stadium field getting torn up have proven to be unfounded. And the tactic of keeping the pitch narrow on account of the presence of the pitcher's mound, intended to make NYCFC uncomfortable, has completely backfired.

 

So the issue of NYCFC getting their own stadium is rapidly fading. While the team will certainly be receptive to any possibilities that present themselves, the more likely scenario is that Yankee Stadium will be NYCFC's home for good.

[Digby]

Is the Yankee Stadium pitch still smaller than regulation size?

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

So the issue of NYCFC getting their own stadium is rapidly fading. While the team will certainly be receptive to any possibilities that present themselves, the more likely scenario is that Yankee Stadium will be NYCFC's home for good.

 

I’m sorry, but this assumption is just wrong. 

 

Yes, Yankee Stadium is a fine temporary venue.  And they play well on the small pitch (which I personally don’t mind, having cut my soccer teeth watching matches at Highbury).  

 

But the Yankees’ schedule still causes problems (just wait until the playoffs!).  And not having their own venue is having an adverse and demonstrable impact on attendance.  Fans are getting frustrated and giving up their tickets.  Even when the team is good and fun to watch.  NYCFC can’t stay at Yankee Stadium much longer, much less forever.

 

And the team knows it; for all the radio silence they’re feverishly working behind the scenes on three different sites.  And those are just the ones I know about; there could be more. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I enjoyed the novelty of MLS at Yankee Stadium when it first opened, but I quickly grew past that. Now the whole experience just looks uncomfortable and embarrassing.

 

I still think MLS in NYC proper is better than Harrison, NJ, but they still need to fix it.

[Gothamite]

Oh, yeah.  Yankee Stadium beats Harrison every single day of the week.

 

It’s a fine temporary venue.  Looks awful on television, but is a surprisingly good place to watch a match in person.  I really don’t mind it, but they need to keep working on the permanent solution. 

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Is the Yankee Stadium pitch still smaller than regulation size?

 

Nope.  It’s at MLS minimum.  110 yards long, 70 yards wide. Always has been, rival snark notwithstanding. 

 

 

[Red Wolf]

I feel like I see a new team saying they measured NYC's field every year. Either way, if/when they get their own stadium I really hope they keep the smaller field.

[Digby]

Oh the TV thing is awful. Particularly when MLS is so into selling the atmosphere to the casual viewer. The camera angle is bizarre and you can't see any fans in the stands. That alone should be a big reason to make it a priority to dump the place.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2 minutes ago, Digby said:

Oh the TV thing is awful. Particularly when MLS is so into selling the atmosphere to the casual viewer. The camera angle is bizarre and you can't see any fans in the stands. That alone should be a big reason to make it a priority to dump the place.

 

One of the shocking elements of Audi Field is that while it looks like a beautiful soccer-specific stadium from beauty shots, its presentation on TV is sub-optimal:

 

 

There's a giant gray bunker at midfield that just looks bad on TV. It probably doesn't affect the in-stadium experience all that much, but isn't great for the viewer. It makes like you're looking at the back end of a storage shed.

 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

2 hours ago, Gothamite said:

for all the radio silence they’re feverishly working behind the scenes on three different sites.

 

They can work as feverishly as they like; but they cannot create real estate if none exists. As you yourself said:

 

13 hours ago, Gothamite said:

15 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Question. Is there anywhere in New York City that NYCFC could realistically place a temporary soccer stadium? 

 

Nope.   If there was, they’d be there now. 

 

Any new park would have to be not only within the City limits, but also not way out towards the outskirts. For example, a stadium just on the City side of the border out near Belmont Park (where the new Islanders arena will be built on the other side of the border) would not meet the team's needs. (For the information of those outside New York: there are sections of the City which our subway does not reach, such as eastern Queens and much of southern Brooklyn.)

 

A stadium has to be close to Manhattan, and accessible by transit. Yankee Stadium meets those requirements. Incidentally, so does Red Bull Arena; an NYCFC stadium within the City but harder to get to by public transit than Red Bull Arena would solve nothing. The absolute farthest away from the City's core that a new stadium could be placed would be the area near Citi Field. If the effort to clear out the Wiilets Point chop shops is successful, that would be a good location.

 

A better spot in Queens would be a stadium built atop the Sunnyside Rail Yards, which is located very near to Manhattan and at the confluence of several subway lines.

 

But, unless the considerable hurdles to building a stadium at either of these sites are overcome, NYCFC will be at Yankee Stadium indefinitely, which ain't a bad thing.

 

 

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Looks awful on television,

 

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Oh the TV thing is awful

 

What's all this about? On television is where it looks best. All the viewer sees is the outfield seats. We get only fleeting glimpses of the yawning chasm between the near touch line and home plate.

 

 

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

There's a giant gray bunker at midfield that just looks bad on TV.

 

Do you mean the batter's eye? That does not mar the look on television. 

 

[Edit: @dfwabelhas explained that this comment was not referring to Yankee Stadium. Sorry for my misunderstanding.]

 

Anyway, the unusual camera angle would not be necessary if not for the pitcher's mound issue. Both the television and in-person experiences would be better if the pitch were oriented properly — with one corner near home plate, as it is at other baseball parks.

 

 

 

 

[dfwabel]

DG's "gray bunker" comment was referring to Audi Field's West Side Field Level suites. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

11 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

DG's "gray bunker" comment was referring to Audi Field's West Side Field Level suites. 

 

Ah. Thanks for the clarification.

[Digby]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

What's all this about? On television is where it looks best. All the viewer sees is the outfield seats. We get only fleeting glimpses of the yawning chasm between the near touch line and home plate.

 

 

 

I mean it's mostly a giant wall of billboards, as if the ratio of ads to fans that you'd see in an actual soccer stadium got reversed. It's ugly. There's very little fan presence.

 

[Digby]

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

 

One of the shocking elements of Audi Field is that while it looks like a beautiful soccer-specific stadium from beauty shots, its presentation on TV is sub-optimal:

 

 

There's a giant gray bunker at midfield that just looks bad on TV. It probably doesn't affect the in-stadium experience all that much, but isn't great for the viewer. It makes like you're looking at the back end of a storage shed.

 

 

 

That is true and I suspect we'll see more and more as teams move their suites to field level. Certainly a far cry from the supporters bouncing at midfield at RFK.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

20 minutes ago, Digby said:

I mean it's mostly a giant wall of billboards, as if the ratio of ads to fans that you'd see in an actual soccer stadium got reversed. It's ugly. There's very little fan presence.

 

 

I see what you mean. That is a good point.

 

The return of outfield advertising is a lamentable trend; it negatively impacts the look not only of NYCFC telecasts, but also of baseball telecasts.

 

Consider how nice the clean outfield walls looked when the Cosmos played at the real Yankee Stadium.

 

 

The Stadium and all other ballparks had ads above the fences; but those ads were not so intrusive that they appeared in every single camera shot.

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Consider how nice the clean outfield walls looked when the Cosmos played at the real Yankee Stadium.

 

 

That’s not the real Yankee Stadium.  It’s “Yankee Stadium II.”   Wasn’t until many years later that everybody agreed to say that it was the same stadium.   

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

unless the considerable hurdles to building a stadium at either of these sites are overcome, NYCFC will be at Yankee Stadium indefinitely, which ain't a bad thing.

 

I have never once deluded myself into thinking it would be easy or quick.  I spent many of those first Third Rail meetings explaining to members that they should prepare for a decade-long wait.

 

But that last part?  It is a bad thing.  It is unquestionably dragging down attendance. 

 

And while I have no issue with the size of the pitch, anyone who watches players slip and slide realizes that the quality of that pitch isn’t where it needs to be.  Temporary sod laid on top of a field will never be as good as real grass.  Today was a shambles.

 

I’m glad Yankee Stadium was an option.  That was the price of getting a New York team.  But they need to be out very, very soon.  Fortunately everyone at the club knows it all too well.