From the "Who Knew?" file comes some interesting statements from Columbus Crew president Mark McCullers on that club's stadium situation; as the soccer-specific stadium trailblazers the Crew find themselves with an increasingly outdated facility just over ten years after it opened.  When Lamar Hunt put down $28.5 million of his own money, he started a wave of soccer stadium building that is still going strong to this day; that wave had the dual effect of strengthening MLS and pushing Crew Stadium farther and farther down the rankings of best league venues with each new stadium opening.


Which says a lot about how far soccer and the league have come since 1999.  For Columbus to have their own stadium at all was an anomaly for so long that the bare bones nature of Crew Stadium hardly mattered; it certainly didn't stop US Soccer from using the stadium for crucial World Cup qualifiers.  As the first top-flight team to have a dedicated venue, Columbus holds a special place in the modern history of professional soccer in America.  A move away from Crew Stadium would not remove that honor.


McCullers comments are clearly rooting in the business of running a professional sports franchise.  Leaving such a young facility is almost unprecedented, but with other MLS teams playing in a higher standard of venue, the Crew will increasingly be left behind.  If the club has aspirations to become a larger brand, or to simply have a chance to compete with the New Yorks and Philadelphias of the world, then it will need a a facility capable of providing additional revenue in a location that gives it greater visibility in the community.


It's noteworthy that he mentioned, but minimized, upgrade possibility for Crew Stadium. That sounds like a strong indication that perhaps it's less about the current venue than it is about location and the club's place in Columbus as the city strives to become/stay "major league."


Frankly, I'm surprised to see McCullers discussing Crew stadium options, simply because it never occurred to me that they would be even speculatively looking.  The league still has several teams in poor stadium situations, so the focus naturally fell to them; even speculation that the Crew might look to build an updated arena in the area hadn't come up on my radar.


Throwing aside notions of nostalgia for Crew Stadium, or the idea that clubs should work to build history in their venues rather than move on so quickly, I applaud McCullers and the Crew for being proactive, even in an extremely preliminary sense, on their stadium future.


Red Bull Arena cost $200 million or thereabouts. PPL Park cost $120 million. Eleven years ago, no one could imagine that someone would spend that much on a stadium specifically built for soccer. It's thanks to Lamar Hunt and Crew Stadium that those buildings exists, but the their existence has the unintended effect of relegating Crew Stadium to second class status.