Quote:
Originally Posted by browna
A lot of complaining or just flat out excuses. Pity that the taxpayer-free stadium can't be a 10 minute walk from anyone and everyone in the city but thus the challenges of living in a 1 million person city. Thousands of people head up to Cross Iron every weekend, too to trudge around mall, and even a few hundred to the race track, with less accessibility.
Parking no problem, ingress and egress no problem. Transit and shuttle buses available. Right off the ring road, which by the time the stadium is built and club off the ground, the west leg should be almost done. It's actually a really well thought out venture by the Spruce Meadows folks.
Brings me back to the idea where who knows, maybe the Flames look to the Tsuu T'ina for the next area a, as part of the massive development just off the ring road.
Back to soccer, but when it was at Foothills Park 15 years ago or more the Storm had 1500 or 2000 people. When they doubled ticket prices the next year, attendance went down by more than half. I have a feeling the next excuse is ticket prices
If you truly want to support higher level soccer in the city then the options are opening up with Foothills FC and now this club and you'll make the trip work more often than not.
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If you insist on call it an excuse, it is a pretty valid one for a lot of people. Location will have an impact on attendance, especially for semi-casual fans. And while we can all admire the dedication of supporters who are able to travel far and wide to support the team, it does present a problem for others.
The main issue I have with the location is that the key to this league's survival is selling an experience. Marching to the match turns a lot of heads in Vancouver, for example, and it creates a bit of buzz and excitement. Non-fans notice, and it helps sell the experience. The festivities before and after the match are hugely important - food, beers, etc.
With the time of travel for me being more than double than if it were located centrally, I will need to weigh whether I spend 90 minutes round trip for 90 minutes of soccer, and perhaps skip some of the pre-game stuff. Or, if I was to decide to pour a lot of money into the beer tent, my commute becomes a lot more lengthy (shuttle bus and train), or expensive (Uber). Sure - a lot of that is due to where I chose to live. And I'm slightly jealous of the guy who lives in Silverado, perhaps only for this single reason!
All of that being said, there are a few things that please me about the Spruce Meadows location:
- It has the potential to be a unique little stadium, depending on what structures they decide to incorporate.
- Lots of opportunities for food trucks, beer gardens, and they also have some hospitality on-site which will make it a destination.
- It isn't McMahon. Even though McMahon would be more convenient for myself and most others in the city, the atmosphere would kill this whole venture after a season or two. Plus football lines. Blech.
So call it being negative, excuse-making, etc. but the location is a significant factor. There is no way that it can't be a factor for a large chunk of the potential supporters.
That being said, the site itself does have a number of positives that I am excited about. In general, I am feeling optimistic about this league. To have high level soccer in Calgary (well, sort of.
) is a dream come true, and it will beat going to a Whitecaps game every few years. I am just personally a little disappointed in the distance I'll have to travel to be a part of it. It'll be tricky for some casual fans, but hopefully the experience that they build around it will make it worth the trip for them and get them hooked.