If they wanted to build a stadium in, say, Dobbs Ferry, somewhere, say, within walking distance of my house, I don't think I'd be opposed to it!
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Stadium Discussion
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If they wanted to build a stadium in, say, Dobbs Ferry, somewhere, say, within walking distance of my house, I don't think I'd be opposed to it!
Much as it would be cool to have a stadium in your backyard, which I fully approve of (and not at all picking on you, DeGrozz), I just want to point out a few things about not having it in New York City.
You're basically going to lose all the New Yorkers if it's in Dobb's Ferry, say. For one, it's $20 round trip (off peak). So add $350 to the price of your season tickets. For another, for a 7pm match there's only three trains back to the city on a Saturday: 9:50, 10:16, 11:16, and on Sunday there's no 9:50 train. Can we fit 10,000 people going back home on that first train? Seems unlikely. Will they have crowd control to prevent pushing and shoving on the platform as folks fight to get on that first train? If you can't get on that first train on a Sunday you're gonna stand there for an hour until the next one.
Also, it's about a 40 minute train ride from Grand Central, so you'll be leaving work at 4pm if you need to take a subway to Grand Central and then get on the train. The other way, for that 7pm match you'll be getting back to Grand Central at 10:30 at the earliest, or 11pm if it's a Sunday. And then you'll be getting on the subway to get home.
Basically, the stadium has to be in the city, and it has to be near a mostly convenient subway station. If you have to take commuter rail to the stadium I could see easily 50% of the season ticket holders not renewing, but I'd bet it would be closer to 80%.
Ha - my comment was not supposed to be taken seriously
Not that I think you’re wrong in anyway. Actually I think you’re right even as a person who lives in Westchester and would benefit from a dobbs ferry stadium lol. But this begs the question for me, how do the Giants and Jets do it? Obviously different sport with a larger following and in NJ but it would seem people commute from the city via mass transit, no? I see how empty RBA is and I get that’s a better comparison but seriously how to jets and giants fans make it work and why couldn’t something similar be implemented? All hypothetical stuff of course because this is a third to last option ahead of New Jersey and Long Island
there are considerably less NFL home games in a season, so people are more inclined to make the trip since it's not as often.
the vast majority of fans attending jets/giants games may well be from NJ with only a small number of actual new yorkers. not sure if there's anything that tracks this kind of data.
overall popularity of NFL vs MLS means a larger pool of people from which attending fans come from.
I believe this is mostly right except for the fans from NJ part, though admittedly I don't have data on that. But my perception is the Jets still skew somewhat to a Queens and LI fanbase dating from their days playing in Shea and training at Hofstra (which continued some time after they moved their games to NJ). For similar historic reasons, the Giants skew somewhat like the Yankees - Manhattan, Bronx, northern burbs plus NJ (due to the proximity of YS to the GWB).
I think this shows it was important to start in NYC even if you move out. Metrostars/RB were hurt by always being in NJ from Day 1, which basically made any fans east of the East River feel excluded from the start. I don't know how long NYCFC would have to stay in NYC before moving to the burbs to get a lingering benefit similar to what the football teams have.
Finally, there is the whole perception/identity of soccer generally being a game tied to the demographics of the city, whether by age, ethnicity or whatever. I don't even know how true that perception is, but it is shared by a substantial number of people. Then there is the issue that NYCFC in particular defined itself as a team located in the city from Day 1. Whether fans might feel especially betrayed by a move for either of those reasons is something to consider though I don't have a strong opinion myself one way or the other.
Only 8 or so games and tailgating makes it a 7+ hour event, so a little travel time gets lost in the shuffle.
The Giants and the Jets were always New York teams that played in New York, and ironically they couldn't get stadiums built in the city so now play just outside the city in New Jersey. But there's a lot of other factors. One is that it's 100% car drivers who go to the Meadowlands. For decades that was actually the only option (not counting NJ Transit buses, of which there are few). There's now a commuter rail station there but that's a relatively recent addition, and it's still almost all cars. Not at all the same as having two baseball stadiums with easy access to subway lines.
LOL, your "little travel time" is why probably a majority of the fans leave at the end of the third quarter, so they can avoid the hours-long traffic jams on the single road out of the parking lots on their way to the turnpike!
MetLife might be the worst stadium with its ingress and egress. The stadium itself and the roads into the stadium.
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I went to one of the soccer exhibtions there a few years ago. Got to the stadium probably 60 minutes early. The parking situation was so bad, I missed almost the entire first half. And when I got to the upper deck, it took me a long time to find my seat because you can't go all the way around the upper deck. It's an atrocious place to go watch a game.
Nope. Go to Foxboro for a sold out event. Being in the middle of nowhere, it should be set up great, but it ain't.
And they also have a commuter rail spur at the stadium. Which they only use for the eight Patriots games a year and refuse to use for any other purpose.
Soup, there it is!
theoutfield.substack.com
The Bronx Comeback
With the GAL stadium site seemingly stalled for nearly a year, NYCFC’s stadium search turns to…..the South Bronx?
theoutfield.substack.com
Back when, this was a non-ideal but acceptable site.
The #6 local subway at 138th and Third is a 5-8 minute walk, longer in a crowd. The Express 4 and 5 at 138th/Grand Concourse is 12-15+. Probably no room for parking and IIRC they discussed running buses to the lots near Yankee Stadium.
But it's on the freaking water and you know what, in 2022 you build where you can as long as it meets the most basic requirements. This does.
Get er done.
The #6 local subway at 138th and Third is a 5-8 minute walk, longer in a crowd. The Express 4 and 5 at 138th/Grand Concourse is 12-15+. Probably no room for parking and IIRC they discussed running buses to the lots near Yankee Stadium.
But it's on the freaking water and you know what, in 2022 you build where you can as long as it meets the most basic requirements. This does.
Get er done.
Mmm. Noodle soup.
The original proposal also included a new NYC Ferry stop there. I’m digging into that to see if that would still be a possibility.
That doesn’t alleviate many parking concerns I’m sure, as those able to take the nyc ferry likely wouldn’t be driving if the ferry wasn’t an option, but it would be a damn cool one.
I’m also a huge fan of the ferry system, but a lot of that hinged I think on the fact that there was a ferry stop 5 minutes walking from my old apt
Was just going to ask if the site is near one of the Bronx ferry stops. I can walk to the Astoria ferry stop, so that would be ideal for me personally. Would also work for anyone along the East River as they have several stops each in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Would be a great way to get to a match.
