Its exciting to hear the strong possibility of a team coming soon... as Calgary desperately needs some pro soccer.
However, I'm always concerned whenever I hear the words McMahon and soccer in the same sentence. It seems like McMahon is always the hill these ventures are happy to die on. Petrone is right that McMahon is more suitable than ever... but its still not suitable for second division pro soccer and unless its deconstructed to 10-15k seats as a consequence of a new stadium opening elsewhere, it never will be.
Anything less than 10000 and McMahon looks empty and cavernous. I understand Petrone not wanting Calgary to fall into the same pitfall Edmonton is facing where attendance is essentially capped at a money losing level by a stadium that is too small (and taking forever to modify with temp seats), but McMahon is possibly even too big for MLS... let alone NASL.
Reality is this. 5000 people per game is ambitious. Doable, but ambitious, as it would put Calgary at #2 after San Antonio for average attendance. 15000 is the absolute best case scenario, and McMahon would STILL be half empty.
Any NASL franchise must have a plan for a 5000-12000 seat stadium long term... but should realistically start at Hellard or Foothills with an additional 3000 temporary seats. McMahon only makes sense when MLS teams come to town for Canadian Cup... cause TFC, Whitecaps and Impact could likely attract more than 10000 fans.
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