It is no secret that former mayor Bill White and El Franco Lee were at a standstill.
So the good news is that a new Mayor in Annise Parker who many feared was anti-stadium actually adhered to the request of moving forward the original idea with the stadium and she is one that apparently El Franco Lee is willing to work with.
With the recent press coverage spurred on by the Dynamo Alliance, the issue being talked about in the media and non-soccer programs and stations picking up the issue a true healthy pressure has been put on all involved in this process.
It was important that all of this has ocurred because one wonders if AEG would wait forever? The word out of LA in my circles is that there is a sense of urgency. Those who want to wait on this issue forever on this have got it wrong. You the fan are getting the major players to move on this stadium issue. It hasn’t hurt one bit that the potential of interest in Bellaire came along at a good time irregardless of how serious it really is. The Dynamo and Oliver Luck have to be applauded for their steadfast refusal to go anywhere but downtown.
The Dynamo doesn’t have a shot at being a business without it’s own stadium and control of tertiary revenue streams not to mention suites and the big time feel that comes with being on stadium row. It has been time to stand for something for a long time and not consider our sport a second class citizen and that is what the Dynamo Alliance and fans who showed up to the rally have proven. I have been involved with the media now for many years and I always wondered when those involved in soccer would begin to really voice their opinion publicly. I am not talking about hiding behind emails here.
Those that have shown up in commissioners court also have to be lauded for finding the time to make themselves heard!
Those I listen to are up on the issues and have made many great points. If we in the soccer community don’t feel we are being heard then just like today it is up to us to unite.
Uplifting to see all the Dynamo fans passionate about their sport and their team!!!
On another note, the game of the day today is Manchester City against Liverpool at 9am on Fox Soccer Channel.
Don’t forget we are back tomorrow night on Monday for DYNAMO ALL ACCESS with Glenn Davis on the radio at 7pm!!!! Hope to hear from those at the rally!!
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Glenn I wanted to get clarification on something.
What\’s the area of land that would be the location of the East End stadium?
I thought it went from Dowling to Hutchings and the lenght would go from Rusk to Texas? Is this right? I only ask because you said leading up to the rally the main spot where they held it was Rusk & Dowling?
Can you let me know exactly what the boundries of the stadium would be? Seems some buildings that I can see on say Google Maps would have to be demolished, I don\’t know if they\’re even still up though?
Thanks for showing up at the rally, Glenn. We appreciate that you are always there for the support of our stadium. Build it now!
Glenn,
Is a strike/lockout really going to happen? Why has an agreement still not been reached with now the season just four weeks away!
Whose side do you favor if at all? I don’t understand why the owners are so uppity about restricting free agency and player movement. Those issues have nothing to do with financial stability or economic viability. If a player is out of contract ( VDB, Serioux, etc ) why shouldn’t he be able to shop the market on his own without his former team retaining his ‘ rights ‘ ??
A strike or any part of the season being lost is going to have very, very dire consequences if it happens.
Glenn, do you know if anyone has ever looked at converting the Astro Dome into a soccer stadium?
Ria, there’s so many things wrong with that option is not even funny, obviously you are just wondering, but is a known stance that the Astrodome is just not a good option.
A) Is not even fully paid for and I can’t even begin to imagine what the financial mess would be like?
B) It’s too big, even if you made it smaller is hard to picture Soccer being played there, too massive and doesn’t provide a very intimate experience most fans would be pretty far from the field.
There’s a bit of an adavantage that you could reduce it by a lot and still make it viable, but even that seems expensive, it fits about 65K I believe, you drop it by 25K and it puts capacity to what 30-35K?
C) Grass! Much harder and expensive to maintain and upkeep a grass field or pitch, as they call it sometimes, under a dome and roof, again it would be too much to remove the roof.
D) From what I know and have read, that place is in horrible shape, even though it’s been what 5 years since Katrina and the refugees left? It was pretty badly damaged, and while I’m sure some of that was dealt with afterwords thru some cleaning and general maintenance, is in bad conditions for modern stadia and the current standards of what fans expect or what corporations would like in order to say buy a luxury box or a row of season tickets to give to their employees or to take clients to and entertain them.
E) It’s bad enough as it is that the Texans, Rockets & Astros fans and even the teams themselves feel threaten, if they were to move the Dynamo to “Relaint Park” trust me Bob McNair would throw a fit and I can already see the conflict of interest for when the Dynamo are playing a match!
Just google the 1st 3 or 5 MLS Soccer Specific Stadiums, in chronological order from the earliest they go as follows:
1999 Columbus Crew’s, Crew Stadium 22,000 Capacity
2003 LA Galaxy’s, Home Depot Center 27,000 ”
2005 FC Dallas’, Pizza Hut Park 22,000 ”
2006 Chicago Fire’s. Toyota Park 22,000 ”
2007 Toronto FC’s, BMO Field 22,000 ”
Almost every single one of these venues has improved upon the previous one, most are in between 90-100 million, I believe the Dynamo’s new stadium is estimated to be about 85 million!
With the exception of maybe Dallas all these franchises have enjoyed amazing success and actually made profit for the most part, for sure LA and Toronto as they led the league in attendance until Seattle FC came in last year. They’ve all hosted an MLS All-Star Game, now Houston is getting spoiled with a game in Reliant which spells a big time European team too play against since they usually come to the States for pre-season.
The stadium just allows them so much more flexibility like liberty as to when to schedule games, starting games early enough were families won’t be detered from going to games because they start at 9? And proper upkeep of the stadium’s field!
It’s a must an win-win for Houston’s progress! The team is able to make good profit and offer a 1st class type of atmosphere in an updated and current sports facility and Downtown’s east end gets a much needed influx of money coming in!
Ria,
Edwin makes alot of good points. The only thing I would add is that the business model of MLS is for smaller, more intimate soccer specific stadiums to create atmosphere, demand and intimacy that is difficult to achieve in a large stadium like GIllette Field in New England.
More new stadiums are set to open this year in NY and Philadelphia and Kansas City and others all have plans in the works.
Ria,
I might also add the deal breaker argument against the Dome. Aside from the valid reasons mentioned above, the costs involved don’t make sound financial sense for anyone involved. The Astrodome is a 45-year old facility and the economics involved are far worse for the City of Houston, Harris County, and the Dynamo.
It would take millions in repairs and upgrades just to get the dome into game shape. Annual maintenance costs alone have also been estimated and published in The Houston Chronicle at $10-$15 million per year which if I’m not mistaken, falls on the county, the same county that doesn’t want to spend a flat $10 million on road improvements and infrastructure upgrades in and around a new downtown stadium.
On a personal note, I attended Houston Hurricane matches in the dome back in the NASL days and while the Dynamo’s fans and atmosphere are a vast improvement, I can tell you first hand, football in the Astrodome is a miserable…and I mean MISERABLE experience.
Okay, okay. It was just a thought. Would have been nice if it was a ready to move-in type of deal. I really don’t know much about Houston’s history. Have not been here that long. Your input has been very informative. Thanks guys. See you March 20th at the rally.