As an admittedly huge soccer geek, it will surely surprise nobody that I'm a bit of a stadium aficionado, too. Over the past two years or so, I've been to, by my count, eight different professional grounds. They all have their attributes and their flaws, but there's something the older grounds, like RFK and Crew Stadium have, that set them apart.

Borrowed NFL stadiums don't feel right. I've seen games at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly and LP Field in Nashville, and didn't feel quite at home in either. It's like wearing a borrowed shirt that's three sizes too big. Even if it's the coolest looking, most comfortable shirt ever, it's somebody else's sweat that's been in the pits and the sleeves cover your hands. Any soul and history that an NFL stadium has isn't really yours if your club side doesn't play its home games there.

Lower league stadiums have their drawbacks, too. I've been to Skyline Sports Complex in Harrisburg and Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, and there's a lighter atmosphere than I like at my soccer games. Not to take anything away from a family atmosphere - the more kids getting involved with the sport, the better - but it's not my cup of tea. Sometimes it feels like you could put the same people at a minor league baseball game or a 4th of July picnic and they'd be none the wiser.

Newer MLS grounds like my beloved PPL Park or the excellent, if bedpan-shaped Red Bull Arena come close, but they're not there yet. The soul of a stadium comes from years of use, from hundreds of games of thousands of people trudging up and down its steps, from standing and singing and watching triumph and heartbreak, from games long forgotten and games that will be remembered forever. RFK has that. Crew Stadium has that. There's a feeling of soul, and of identity in those places that the new parks won't have for at least another decade.

That soul, that romance, is one of the greatest strengths a sport like baseball has, and one of the things we're playing catch-up in. Will Crew Stadium ever hold the same cachet as Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, or Fenway Park? Probably not. But will it be special when a father tells his son or daughter about watching Brian McBride play there? Or about when he stood in the freezing cold to have a beer dumped on him when Josh Wolff scored against Mexico in La Guerra Fria? You bet your scarf-wearing ass it will.

That, more than the cold calculations of "Revenue Controlled Facilities," is what excites me most about the wave of soccer-specific stadiums that has swept the country in recent years. It's cherished memories and that priceless mythology, not 15 dollar parking and eight dollar beers, that will propel the game to new heights in this country.

Allow me to introduce Vlad Bouchoev, a student at Carnegie Mellon University with a passion for soccer who is dipping his toes into the MFUSA waters with a piece on the Red Bulls and their new stadium attendance struggles. - JD


by Vlad Bouchouev

New York, New York. A city with nearly 10 professional sports teams. A city of over 18 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area. The world capital so to speak. Yet somehow the New York Red Bulls still manage to not sell-out their newly built state-of-the-art stadium. The question cannot be as simple as to whether or not soccer is popular in New York City, because NYC has a plethora of foreigners who have a passion for the game. Just last week the new Giants Stadium hosted a sell-out crowd of 77,507 for the Mexico-Ecuador match. Likewise, every summer we see sell-out crowds in New York's American football stadium when world-class soccer teams come play there, either against other international visitor or the local NY Red Bulls. So yes, there are soccer fans in New York City.


So then maybe this brings up the great ole’ New York City sports fans’ complaint of the horrid location of the Meadowlands and how commuting to the stadium takes away any motivation to see their team play. Well my friends, have no fear because Red Bull Arena is here. You hate driving? Don’t want to spend your entire day in traffic? Take the train. You can literally take the train from as far away as Princeton or Long Island, make it to the stadium in a little over an hour and not have to pay the ridiculous $15 parking fee. Sadly, I still don’t think that the commute has been the underlying problem. Attendance figures in the past two NY Red Bull game have only risen by about 4,000 people, bringing this year’s average to a little over 14,000 people. This is not including the barely sold-out NY Red Bull home opener against the Chicago Fire since the team was still riding the “Red Bull Arena-awe-effect” at that point. Remember, the new stadium seats 25,189 so we’re still looking at a stadium that is a little over half-full.


This almost leads us to my last point: competition in a big city market. In a city that boasts the historic NY Yankees and NY Mets, two football teams, a world-famous Midtown arena that sells out any team that plays inside, and the NJ Nets, NJ Devils, and NY Islanders (who even when they struggle seem to steal away some sports fans and bring them to their games), there just seems to be little room for the NY Red Bulls. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to take my beloved NY Red Bulls away from this city. But I am hinting on the fact that maybe cities like Seattle, which have one less “big-4” (football, baseball, basketball, hockey) sports team than other large U.S. metropolitan cities may hold a formula for success for MLS. Granted, I know that argument will be shot down by the likes of the LA Galaxy fans (who live in a city that has more than 4 professional sports teams), Philadelphia Union fans (who even with the “big-4” in their city manage to get 30,000+ to their games), or Salt Lake City folks (who with only the Utah Jazz, don’t get numbers nearly as comparable as the Seattle Sounders at the Real Salt Lake games). Then again, I don’t really consider Salt Lake City a large U.S. metropolitan city. Bottom-line, the NY Red Bulls need to prove that they are a worthy competitor in the NYC sports market. Similar to the way the New York Cosmos did a couple of decades ago…


Ah, that’s more like it. The New York Cosmos. Could that be the missing piece of the puzzle? Were they doing something right that the NY Red Bull franchise has overlooked? Let’s flashback to way before my time, 1976. The Cosmos crashed out of the playoffs that year losing to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. At that point, the world’s greatest player ever, Pele, had been on the Cosmos for two years, and the “Soccer Bowl” was yet to be won. Attendance increased by a mere 8,000 people from the previous year. Thus, Pele initially had only a marginal “Beckham-effect.” The next year the Cosmos loaded up on more world-class players like Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer, and Giorgio Chinaglia and saw attendance skyrocket to a very steady 45,000 pace for the next several years.


The Cosmos then won a few championships but soon after ran out of money and folded. So what conclusions can we make about all this? Well, money is power. If you have the money (which the Red Bulls do) spend it, bring in high-end players, and fans will gradually flood the stadiums to not only see the talent of the players but to also see their team succeed. If you would like to grind out success from your team, feel free to go about this way. But here's another thought: Maybe it’s the brand that New Yorkers don’t support, not the game. If there’s one thing that stays away from American sports, it’s commercialization. You don’t see advertisements on your American sports jerseys; you see the name of the city, the name of the team, and the logo. In the case of the Red Bulls, the whole franchise is named after an energy drink that doesn’t even have an association to New York, and the logo on the New York Red Bull jersey is the actual logo of the Red Bull energy drink.


So New Yorkers: would you attend if your team’s name was the Cosmos? Perhaps we’ll find out if the MLS sticks another expansion team somewhere in Queens, NY and names it something more evocative. Will fans attend if the Red Bulls stock up their team with big-name players and dominate the rest of the season? Perhaps we’ll find out after the Red Bulls get Theirry Henry, Ze Roberto, and Raul, and go on to win MLS Cup. Until then, the case of the Red Bull franchise in New York City is just as much of a mystery as the Shroud of Turin. One thing is for sure: the Red Bulls have to continue building their name. The MLS is an investment. The NY Red Bulls is an investment. The arena is an investment. Professional soccer in the US may never reach the same popularity level as in Europe, but if it will, it will take time.

Major League Soccer, barring a collapse at the labor agreement negotiating table in the next few weeks, will play it's fifteenth season in 2010.


Though that history, eight different clubs have taken home the MLS Cup trophy (in its various forms). An MLS team has captured the US Open Cup in every year but one. In total, eleven different organizations have trophies to their names. Of the clubs that haven't won anything at all, only two are league originals with a history of failure going all the way back to 1996.


Of those two clubs, one needed thirteen years and a miracle playoff run to get to their first final, which they then naturally lost. No trophies, no success, and the butt of so many jokes that even the club's own fans can't help but poke fun on occasion.


It couldn't have been easy to be a MetroStars-Red Bulls die hard. Good thing, then, that New York fans are now the luckiest in the league.

By virtue of their market, New York will always be one of the most prominent American soccer clubs. It doesn't matter that the club has never won anything; in a league as young as MLS, it's more the international reputation of the city rather than actual play on the field or trophies in the display case. And well, New York is a draw for the likes of Thierry Henry, Raul, Ze Roberto, and Maldini the way Kansas City, Columbus, Dallas, and even Washington simply are not.


So it shouldn't surprise us that New York has been linked to all of those names in recent weeks. Add to the New York aura the brand new, and by all accounts world class, facility the Red Bulls are set to christen this season, and Red Bull fans should be riding a wave of euphoria unlike anything they've experienced before. Only the glory of a title could push the wave higher, and as with any MLS season, New York has as good a chance as anyone to bring the Cup home in 2010.


For now, at least until results on the field come in an potentially ruin the high, Red Bull fans are the luckiest in the league. No one else can boast a facility like Red Bull Arena. No one else can boast being connected to names like Henry, Raul, and Ze Roberto. While their history is terrible, their branding distasteful (to some) and their match-attending fan base lacking over recent seasons, the future is honestly and truly bright for New York Red Bull fans.


Not that any of their rivals will care. Adding the Union to the mix of New York-directed hatred that emanates from United and Revolution fans should make 2010 a notable one for New York.


Don't worry though, Red Bull fans. Not only do we already know that you thrive on the abuse, but you've got a sparkling new stadium to go to and world renowned footballers linked to your club every day. There's much to be happy about.


Fourteen years and no trophies, and you're still the luckiest fans in the league.