MetroStars to build new stadium?

[Jordan]

This is long, but it's so important to me, so if you could bear with me...

At 1:30 p.m. Eastern US time, the MetroStars are expected to announce that they have concluded a deal to build a $100-million privately funded 27,000-seat stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

Please, please, please let this be true.

Over the past 10 years, the MetroStars have been the laughing-stock of the league. The team that's in the nation's biggest market has been languishing as tenants in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey since they started play in 1996. Throughout these 10 years, the team has dealt with piss-poor attendance--parlty due to terrible marketing, poor management, atrocious teams and the cavernous, pain-in-the-ass-to-get-to, atmoshpere-free Giants Stadium. I'm working on the weekends, I'm busy, I don't have that much cash and I don't have as much desire to go see Metro because of how bad it's gotten--I've been to only three home games this year

Sometimes it can be a lot of fun to go see Metro, especially if you're standing and singing behind the goal in Section 101, but it's awful to be in a 78,000-seat stadium that's less than 25% full on a GOOD attendance day, awful to see a soccer match on artificial turf, awful to see your team lose at home time and time again, and awful to know that your team is losing money every day because the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority (NJSEA), run by the state government, has got your team by the balls, charging them exorbitant rent rates and taking all money on parking and concessions.

Metro and the city of Harrison started to seriously discuss building this stadium since 2000. Harrison is in dire need of a rebirth--on the site of the proposed stadium and downtown renovation project, there's nothing but wasteland and abandoned warehouses. Even though the team and the city were seeking a decent amount of taxpayer funding (which i disagree with in all cases... except this ), this is something both parties desperately needed.

So what did the NJSEA and the state government (which is inefficient and corrupt--it's been said that you need to be Tony Soprano to get anything built in New Jersey) do to us for the past five years? Blackball the team with false promises, try to milk as much money from the project as possible, do everything they can to kill the deal if they weren't making as much money as they'd like, and out and out just act like assholes.

Today, it looks like Metro and Harrison are going to tell NJSEA to go f..k themselves. This stadium is going to get built entirely on private finances, which is great because 1) taxes don't get raised and 2) if NJSEA doesn't chip in, they make NO money on this.

There will be a pretty little stadium in Harrison that can also be expanded to up to 40,000 in the future if we need to. There will be cool apartment buildings built all around it--and if I can't live in one of those, it will only be a 5-minute PATH train ride from NYC to the stadium. There will be bars, restaurants and shops all around the stadium. There will be a lot of demand created to go see Metro just because of this stadium. There will be a fun event people to see before they go out in NYC on Saturday night. There will finally be people getting off the train, singing on their way to the bar, singing at the bar, singing on their way to the stadium, singing in the stadium, singing on their way back to the bar... etc.

There will no longer be crowds of 5,000 on a Wednesday night. There will finally be soccer the way it is meant to be and it'll be in NYC's back yard.

And this team may finally be saved.

Please, make this happen.

[Hitesh]

Hope it all goes to plan! Sounds like a nice stadium in a nice area!

Keep is informed!

[natas]

Good stuff, I read somewhere that it was costing the team about $100k per match in rent to use the Giants stadium, which seems pretty insane.

Your team must have some pretty wealthy backers to afford that, also bodes well for the MLS that more and more teams seem to be trying to build soccer-purpose only stadiums.

I'm hoping the new Australian league can look at some aspects of the MLS to succeed, as it seems Aussie and US soccer culture have a lot in common.

[Jordan]

We do have wealthy backers--MetroStars (along with four other teams) are owned by Anshultz Entertainment Group, a large company run by Phil Anshultz, one of the wealthiest men in the United States. I'm not really a fan of "Uncle Phil," as he's known among MLS fans--he's an infamous recluse and he's got some pretty wacked out right-wing political beliefs... but he's done so much to keep MLS going and I do appreciate that.

More teams are getting stadia (called "soccer-specific" by many, but in reality, concerts and other events will also get decent priority)--Dallas just opened one up yesterday--and more investors are buying into the league, so MLS is moving in the right direction.

[Tommy]

We do have wealthy backers--MetroStars (along with four other teams) are owned by Anshultz Entertainment Group, a large company run by Phil Anshultz, one of the wealthiest men in the United States.  I'm not really a fan of "Uncle Phil," as he's known among MLS fans--he's an infamous recluse and he's got some pretty wacked out right-wing political beliefs... but he's done so much to keep MLS going and I do appreciate that.

More teams are getting stadia (called "soccer-specific" by many, but in reality, concerts and other events will also get decent priority)--Dallas just opened one up yesterday--and more investors are buying into the league, so MLS is moving in the right direction.

152136[/snapback]

I saw about this yesterday. Pizza Hut Park :laugh: :laugh: , what a stupid name. Plus I didnt reliase Djourkaeff now played in the MLS

[Head Honcho]

It'd be nice if you could get some of those investors interested in Leicester City FC

But good luck with the new Stadium

[Jordan]

I saw about this yesterday. Pizza Hut Park  :laugh:  :laugh:  , what a stupid name.

152539[/snapback]

Yep, a bit like "Walkers Stadium," is it not?