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Pittsburgh in MLS?


Rampart

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The Pittsburgh Riverhounds signed an agreement with Everton for a football academy. But read the middle part of this article. I had no idea that Pittsburgh was putting such a bold plan together.

Post Gazette Article

I can see a 3,000 to 5,000 seat stadium going up but a 20,000 seat soccer stadium will end up getting built around the same time the indoor NASCAR track get's built.

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I think the long term plan could work. The Riverhounds were recently playing in USL-2 and playing 45 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh in Washington County. The attendence was great (in fact some of the league's best) when they were in the A League (now USL-1).

A new 3,000-5,000 seat soccer only stadium would move them back to USL-1 and back to Allegheny County. If this gets marketed correctly and has major support from Dick's Sporting Goods (a prominent sponser/partner with MLS, headquarted in Pittsburgh), then the MLS coming here is not out of the question.

With the Beckham rule in place and more money becoming available to MLS, some bigger names will be coming here in the next few years. Add to that the fact that Everton put thier name on an academy linked with the Riverhounds. For them to be associated with a USL-2 team, means that the Riverhounds have some rather ambitious plans.

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I admit it would be cool to have an MLS team in Pittsburgh, but somehow I dont see it happening.

Than again, I could be wrong, it could happen, but I dont think theres any way we can build a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer when we could barely get a 20+ thousand seat arena.

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What!?! There's gonna be an indoor NASCAR track?

Just a pipe dream like a MLS Stadium, but the indoor race track people did have a press conference.

http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990420track3.asp

This may be an incredibly dumb question...but wouldn't there be problems with carbon monoxide poisoning?

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
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Today, we are all otaku.

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I admit it would be cool to have an MLS team in Pittsburgh, but somehow I dont see it happening.

Than again, I could be wrong, it could happen, but I dont think theres any way we can build a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer when we could barely get a 20+ thousand seat arena.

Actually if anything the soccer stadium would be far easier to have done, as odds are it'd cost nowhere near as much as the arena, plus it'd likely be privately funded as opposed to a hybrid plan.

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The MLS thing would be way in the future, if it happens at all. It seems the plan now is to build a complex with a 5,000 seat stadium and 10 surrounding soccer fields for a large complex. The rumor is that this would be built at the Pittsburgh Mills.

Getting an MLS team will of course depend on fan interest. When the Riverhounds played in the A League (USL-1), they were one of the best drawing clubs in the league. But changes in venues and a drop to USL-2 have hurt the team. Now that the team is under new ownership, they seem to have a very ambitious plan for the future.

And yes, a soccer stadium could be built for a few million as opposed to the 300 million for a new ice/multipurpose arena, and be built from private funds.

Take this for whatever it's worth, but it is very interesting.

Riverhounds Blog Piece

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What!?! There's gonna be an indoor NASCAR track?

Just a pipe dream like a MLS Stadium, but the indoor race track people did have a press conference.

http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990420track3.asp

This may be an incredibly dumb question...but wouldn't there be problems with carbon monoxide poisoning?

The article made a point of state-of-the-art ventilation and soundproofing.

Athletic Director: KTU Blue Grassers Football

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Montreal, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, New York*, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta will gain MLS Clubs before Pittsburgh.

* Yes I realize RBNY already calls New York home. I'm talking about a second franchise.

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Montreal, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, New York*, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta will gain MLS Clubs before Pittsburgh.

* Yes I realize RBNY already calls New York home. I'm talking about a second franchise.

Because since theyre bigger and have more people theyre soooo much more deserving than us, or any city as small as us for that matter. <_<

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Montreal, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, New York*, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta will gain MLS Clubs before Pittsburgh.

* Yes I realize RBNY already calls New York home. I'm talking about a second franchise.

Because since theyre bigger and have more people theyre soooo much more deserving than us, or any city as small as us for that matter. <_<

Exactly.

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Montreal, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, New York*, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta will gain MLS Clubs before Pittsburgh.

* Yes I realize RBNY already calls New York home. I'm talking about a second franchise.

Because since theyre bigger and have more people theyre soooo much more deserving than us, or any city as small as us for that matter. <_<

I don't remember saying that. These are all perspective franchsie locations in the MLS. After seeing what the Penguins went through to get a new arena, I don't think MLs will want that amount of hassle to get a SSS built.

All these cities, already have venues, no longer in use that can be converted inot SSS. Or they simply won't get screwed around by the government like Pittsburgh.

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Montreal, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, New York*, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta will gain MLS Clubs before Pittsburgh.

* Yes I realize RBNY already calls New York home. I'm talking about a second franchise.

Because since theyre bigger and have more people theyre soooo much more deserving than us, or any city as small as us for that matter. <_<

I don't remember saying that. These are all perspective franchsie locations in the MLS. After seeing what the Penguins went through to get a new arena, I don't think MLs will want that amount of hassle to get a SSS built.

All these cities, already have venues, no longer in use that can be converted inot SSS. Or they simply won't get screwed around by the government like Pittsburgh.

Sorry, but thats what people usually mean when they say that. However, we were getting screwed for a new arena because we didnt get one when it was first proposed. Back when the citywas bankrupt. And they were getting pressured to get one almost too fast. Now that the city is somewhat on its feet and will have time to build a soccer stadium, it should be easier. {and the plan is to build a 5,000 seat one that can be expanded to 20,000 in coming years, which coudl work out to be cheaper, and small stadiums are cheaper than arenas anyways {less ventilation no roof ect.ect.}}

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A soccer only stadium is a mere fraction of the cost of a multipurpose/ice arena. Where the Pens new buiding costs 300 million dollars, a 3000-5000 soccer specific stadium would come in under 2 million. The plan also calls for the stadium to be built with private funds, so the city of Pittsburgh won't have a hand in it.

The cities mentioned above are very deserving of teams and I think many will have teams in the future. The expansion process is slow going and if Pittsburgh even gets an MLS team, I think there would be a lot of barriers and a lot of things to prove to the MLS hierarchy.

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