MLS to Charlotte?

[Nails]

Just now, TPanther920 said:

I had never heard of Lacrosse until I was in my 20s.  Major League Lacrosse? In Charlotte?

Yes Sir, the Charlotte Hounds.  Not sure how many care-not many I assure you-but they exist.  Nothing against the skill and athleticism required, just saying.

[panthersphan]

On 5/22/2018 at 5:32 PM, bull123 said:

don't see it...Raleigh maybe

 

Yeah, that’s really worked out for the Hurricanes.........

 

Charlotte ranked 4th most viewed city for the MLS opening night this season. Has a stadium already that sells out for International Series every time. MLS to Charlotte makes a lot more sense than to Raleigh.

[panthersphan]

5 hours ago, BrianS said:

BOA is entirely too big for an MLS stadium.  Generally, an MLS team will want 20,000 seats or so.  Sure, there are some larger parks in MLS, but those are typically shared stadiums where only the lower tiers are opened for soccer.

Don't think that has anything to do with Tepper wanting a new stadium.

 

Seattle and Atlanta MLS both play in NFL stadiums.

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

16 hours ago, panthersphan said:

Seattle and Atlanta MLS both play in NFL stadiums.

Exactly.

An NFL stadium can be either a cradle or a tomb depending on different factors. The two teams above have raucous atmospheres and crowds of 40k or more - absolutely electric. On the other hand, unsuitable NFL stadia - and the unbearable coffin-like atmospheres they produced - were the major factor in slowly sucking the life out of initially vibrant fanbases in the league's early years - the Revs, MetroStars, and DC are good examples, not to mention teams that were virtually stillborn, like KC at Arrowhead. The Revs continue to struggle with atmosphere at Gillette even when they draw well enough, Metro (RBNY now, of course) have done better despite absentee ownership since moving to their own 25k ground, DC were basically slowly strangled to death by RFK and hoping for a resurrection at the new stadium opening this year, and of course KC combined a great 19k stadium with league-best ownership to become a model franchise with sellouts from here to infinity. (On the other hand, poo ownership can kill any opportunity - the Rapids, under Kroenke, still draw flies in Colorado after moving from an NFL stadium to a 20k soccer-only setup.)

The key factors for succeeding in an NFL stadium are:

a.) Fanbase, obviously. This is an area where drawing 20k vs. 35-45k makes a big difference - the difference between filling the lower parts of the stadium and leaving them half empty. There's a chicken-egg factor, and ownership quality is important, but some cities can cough up 40k for a regular season soccer game more easily than others. Columbus is not Seattle. (And no one who closely follows soccer in America was all that surprised by Atlanta catching fire, except people stuck in the past.)

b.) Pitch width. A soccer field, obviously, is well wider than an NFL field. The newer breed of NFL stadiums are ALL designed with hosting soccer in mind. (Even if an MLS team isn't in the picture, the lure of various one-off matches that pull 80k is huge for a sporting venue that otherwise draws 8 sporting dates per year.) I've watched a lot of soccer played on old-style NFL fields (or worse, like San Jose for most of their history) - the narrow pitch considerably diminishes quality of play. Really, it's a big problem.

c.) Concealability of the upper deck. Big difference to atmosphere. In older designs, you can't effectively conceal it; it just looms above the game like an damn ghost army. In Seattle or Atlanta, they do a beautiful job and you wouldn't even think it was there

d.) Commitment of ownership to the playing surface. This is less and less of a concern, but back in the bad old days, soccer in an NFL stadium would very often be played on football lines. I can't begin to tell you how much this ruins the overall vibe. No one thinks MLS is the Bundesliga, but there is a big difference between seeming like a respectable lesser league and being so goddamn Mickey Mouse that you're playing soccer on top of hash marks. These days, the owners see enough money in MLS to make this not happen.

 

There are some other factors, but this post is already too long for anyone to read.

[Nails]

On 5/23/2018 at 3:33 PM, Nails said:

It was “Major League” stupid (pun intended) to build a non-expandable minor league park in the center of two states with 15+ million people.

The Tampa region noticed then http://www.raysindex.com/2013/04/new-stadium-suggests-charlotte-will-not-pursue-a-major-league-baseball-team.html

Here’s an article that mentions Charlotte last fall BEFORE Hurricane Irma and the political windfall http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/jones-stop-talking-and-start-building-a-new-rays-stadium/2334956

Even Evan Longoria said they need to move http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/05/10/evan-longoria-rays-might-be-better-off-leaving-tampa-bay/

Then you have Rob Manfred mentioning Charlotte as an expansion candidate, the A’s with stadium and political disaster issues, and the Marlins playing in front of crowds like those pictured.

So frustrating the building of that minor league non-expandable park and the inferiority complex which has many in and out of local government thinking we need to build a new stadium just to keep the Panthers when the eyes should have/should be on bigger prizes.

Tampa beat writer responds to Longoria-saying he’s right...and of course mentions Charlotte.  http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/Daniel-Ruth-Mad-at-Evan-Longoria-He-s-just-speaking-truth-to-Rays-stadium-delusion_168223436

But the negative Nancy’s still think we need to build to keep the Panthers, even though BOA was state of the art when built two decades ago (long before concussion/lawsuit controversies), has been upgraded multiple times since, and there’s zero sane relocation threat.

[djp14]

48 minutes ago, Nails said:

But the negative Nancy’s still think we need to build to keep the Panthers, even though BOA was state of the art when built two decades ago (long before concussion/lawsuit controversies), has been upgraded multiple times since, and there’s zero sane relocation threat.

Do we need to build a new stadium? No.

Will the City of Charlotte bend over if/when Tepper says he wants a new stadium? Yes.

[Nails]

18 minutes ago, djp14 said:

Do we need to build a new stadium? No.

Will the City of Charlotte bend over if/when Tepper says he wants a new stadium? Yes.

Don’t disagree.  They can’t find their a$$ with a funnel.