https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/nws...ield-red-bull-arena-alyse-lahue-20190724.html “We’ve seen other teams continue to up their professional standards, and Sky Blue has to follow suit,” LaHue said. “We’ve grown out of a college environment at this point. Rutgers has been a great partner to us through the years, but it just doesn’t have some of the amenities that other professional venues have." Curious where they'll end up next season.
I still think they should've moved to Camden (They'd still be a NJ team, but they could pull from the Philadelphia populace, and it would open NYC to one of the MLS teams in the future). After losing their minor league tenant, Rutgers is redeveloping the site of Campbell's Field into athletic fields. SBFC should've called Rutgers up and and been like, "Hey, why don't we remodel it to be a soccer specific stadium? Gov Murphy, who cares so much about SBFC, is more than happy pay for the remodel." (I mean, while I'm dreaming, I might as well dream that Murphy would be willing to pay for it, right? ) As is, they have to go to Red Bull Arena. What other option is there in northern NJ/NYC that would be deemed an upgrade over Yurcak? Like maybe they could move to one of the minor league ballparks in the area, but I really don't want that to be a trend, one team in the league playing on a tiny field is more than enough.
Would it be completely unrealistic to hope that SkyBlue would move to/be aquired by Philly and play at Talen Stadium in Chester, with a new team being affiliated with one of the NY MLS teams? Or that, for now, SkyBlue simply make the Philly move with a NY team coming in later?
No more unrealistic than my Camden idea was. I think it would be reasonable and perhaps even ideal, but from the article it sounded like they were focused on the NYC market.
I wonder... RBNY recently helped upgrade Pittser FIeld (MSU Soccer Park) for their DII team, including building locker rooms there. Did the upgrades there make it NWSL-viable? I know the biggest issue at Rutgers (aside from location) was the lack of locker rooms. I know playing every match in RBA is a dream, but if the rent there is too high, would Red Bull's DII stadium be an option?
With 5k seats, attendance potential is capped at the same level, but with all of the upgrades and more professional setting/atmosphere, it would be a BETTER (not BEST) option than Yurcak.
I think the issue mentioned about Pittser Field at MSU is that the trains don't run there on the weekends.
Really good piece that looks at what options Sky Blue is considering for a new stadium, plus mentions of many other good things that have been happening with LaHue on board: https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/08...hue-finally-some-positive-signs-for-sky-blue/ Pittser is mentioned, as are a number of nearby MiLB fields. Too bad playing at RBA sounds so exorbitant...
And we have a number (sort of) now: And for reference: https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/08/18/sky-blue-fc-red-bull-arena-record-crowd-nwsl-future-venue/ So it's definitely not cost-effective to play at RBA on a game-by-game basis - 5-6x the cost with only 3-4x the attendance. They do say later in the article that but I don't buy it. Now, if their new non-Yurcak home costs about the same as Yurcak but they start drawing 3-4k regularly instead of 1-2k, that average attendance increase alone could pay for having two or so games per year at RBA.
I hate the thought of playing in a baseball stadium (see NYCFC). Pittser seems like the best option despite lack of transportation on the weekends. Maybe SkyBlue can arrange for trains to run there on game days?
NYCFC is an example of how NOT to play at a baseball stadium... Also the infamous Flash-Reign game. OTOH, the Reign's current stadium is rather good, and I'm also personally partial to how well Busch Stadium in STL has hosted soccer games. But yes, I think that if they can make Pittser work, that's the best near-term option. I mean, people in DC make it out to the Spirit games easily enough without good public transportation there. Which is why I really think that a Pittser-sometimes-RBA arrangement for Sky Blue would be an amazing parallel to the Soccerplex-sometimes-Audi arrangement that the Spirit have.