Flames to announce plans to announce arena plans in the... future...

[polak]

Originally Posted by shermanator

MLS has a very low chance of coming to Calgary as it stands today. Anyone who wants MLS in Calgary down the road better get their asses over to Hellard and support Calgary Foothills this summer, show them that pro soccer can survive here...

I think you're more likely to find a rich bored person in Calgary who can bring a team here with the change in his pocket than someone who wants to watch like, 5th division soccer.

[J epworth]

I was looking at those earlier as well, and I just don't understand how that Foolad Arena is a retractable roof. How does the roof close?

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by polak

I think you're more likely to find a rich bored person in Calgary who can bring a team here with the change in his pocket than someone who wants to watch like, 5th division soccer.

Give a fun product with a good fan atmosphere and you'll be surprised by how many people would come to watch lower league sports. If the Okotoks Dawgs can get 1,600 people for a Collegiate summer baseball league (what is that, like 8th division baseball?) I'm sure you can find enough passionate people in Calgary to fill up Hellard Field to watch U-23 Soccer.

[polak]

I love soccer so I hope you're right!

[Tyler]

Hopefully they build the stadium with indoor genetically engineered real grass. Similar to what's been done before in other countries and what the Blue Jays are trying to do in Toronto:

http://populous.com/news/2011/08/01/...ainment-arena/

Would be a huge selling point for football and soccer

[JBR]

Count me in the crowd that doesn't care at all about soccer... however.... I would consider going to the odd game if we had a great facility with a top shelf atmosphere.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by polak

I think you're more likely to find a rich bored person in Calgary

Unfortunately, most of the rich people in Calgary are too busy making money to be that bored.

If you did find such a person, the risk would be that he would get bored with his new toy after a few years and move on to something else. The only thing that makes a team viable long-term is a solid fan base. If this city hasn't got 2,000 people who will buy cheap tickets to lower-division games, it's highly unlikely to have 30,000 who will buy expensive tickets to MLS games.

This is a real danger. I'm old enough to remember the NHL–WHA merger. The Calgary Cowboys were a disaster at the gate – I think after their last season, they had sold only 2,000 season tickets before they folded.

The only reason Jim Pattison wanted to keep the team going was in the hope that the Cowboys would be included in the merger with the NHL, and he could then build a new arena to replace the Corral. But the NHL wanted no part of a team that could not even fill the Corral. Even in 1980, the league was against allowing the Flames to relocate until it became clear there was no way of keeping them in Atlanta. The brass were convinced that Calgary would not support a hockey team.

Fortunately, it turned out that Calgarians will turn out to support anything that gives us a chance to cheer against Edmonton. In a way, it was Pocklington and Gretzky that made the Calgary Flames. I doubt whether they will have that kind of outside help in bringing an MLS club to town. That will require grassroots support.

[Resolute 14]

The problem with MLS will always be that the league is approaching critical mass in terms of number of teams coupled with the fact that Calgary just isn't that important of a market. Either way, we are many years of supporting lower level teams away from finding out.

[Thunderball]

The comparable for MLS in Calgary are not the Kickers, Strikers, Storm, Mustangs, United, or other miscellaneous team in a second or third or fourth rate league, owned by some fly-by-night owner, its the Boomers, and that is an outdated sample size.

Even then, pointing to those failures would be like saying Calgary wouldn't support NHL because they let the Cowboys fold, since that ignores the underlying deficiencies, namely league deficiencies, stadia deficiencies and (not so much in the case of the Cowboys) past ownership deficiencies.

All those failed teams prove is that Calgary isn't a very good minor league city in general (aside from Hockey), which the Cannons, Outlaws, 88s, Vipers, etc. also attest to. Weather is a pretty big factor in the demise of all these clubs too.

In 1980-81, the Boomers got 10-11k on average at McMahon, Calgary at that time being roughly a third of the size it is today (~550k). McMahon was an improper facility then for soccer, complete with astroturf and football lines. What killed the Boomers wasn't attendance (as they were around the average), but a small-time owner and the fact that the entire league itself was in financial meltdown, ultimately folding completely three years later.

If the Flames build a covered/indoor 20k/40k seat stadium designed for both soccer and football, and if the Flames actually want a second major tenant... the strength of the Flames LP ownership group, the cache of the league to capture casual fans, and the relative lack of spring/summer sports competition put Calgary near the front of the MLS line. The stadium and ownership mean everything to MLS, and MLS means everything to the casual fan. I'm not sure NASL is "big league" enough to capture the casual sports fan, even with a shiny new stadium.

Plus, looking at MLS, who's really left in the US to expand to that doesn't have MLB to compete with and is in the West to reduce travel distances?

Sacramento, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Las Vegas. That's about it.

Aside from the largest markets, there often isn't enough market for MLB and MLS (see Atlanta, Miami, Tampa... though sounds like Miami and Atlanta may get another chance, and why Orlando got a team and Tampa didn't). Minnesota and St. Louis are actively seeking expansion, but one has to think MLB is a damning factor against those markets.

Sacramento is probably the best option out of those, but if MLS wants to expand to 28 or even 32 (sounds like the endgame is 28-32 like the other North American leagues), there's room for at least 3-4 more Western US/Canada teams. Especially seeing as no major league seems to want to be the first to have a Las Vegas club, for multiple reasons. (MLS just rejected them until "at least after 2018")

Plus, even if it was announced with the new stadium and that was announced tomorrow, Calgary MLS wouldn't play until 2020 at the earliest. At Calgary's growth rate, that's another 150-200k people in the metro by then, which, assuming current growth rates, puts Calgary easily into the largest 40 US/Canadian markets.

Either way, stoked if the indoor stadium talk is true.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

In 1980-81, the Boomers got 10-11k on average at McMahon, Calgary at that time being roughly a third of the size it is today (~550k).

And I'd guess 3-4k of the attendees were kids from minor soccer teams who were given free tickets.

[bob-loblaw]

I really like the stadium being built in Minnesota. Building a mini-me here with a similar open concept would draw people like crazy for the venue alone. http://www.newminnesotastadium.com/

[polak]

Originally Posted by JBR

Count me in the crowd that doesn't care at all about soccer... however.... I would consider going to the odd game if we had a great facility with a top shelf atmosphere.

You would totally want to go to games if we had a league in town that was truely important.

It's the best time.

[Spencemid]

https://twitter.com/sunmitchell/stat...00987056803840

@SUNMitchell: Football fans in Calgary are going to want to pay attention to Flames' arena plans announcement. It definitely involves a new stadium. #CFL

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by J epworth

Give a fun product with a good fan atmosphere and you'll be surprised by how many people would come to watch lower league sports. If the Okotoks Dawgs can get 1,600 people for a Collegiate summer baseball league (what is that, like 8th division baseball?) I'm sure you can find enough passionate people in Calgary to fill up Hellard Field to watch U-23 Soccer.

That's because seaman stadium is a10/10 facility.

[Muta]

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Muta

When's the announcement?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by J epworth

Give a fun product with a good fan atmosphere and you'll be surprised by how many people would come to watch lower league sports. If the Okotoks Dawgs can get 1,600 people for a Collegiate summer baseball league (what is that, like 8th division baseball?) I'm sure you can find enough passionate people in Calgary to fill up Hellard Field to watch U-23 Soccer.

Correction. They average around 2,300 fans per game with over 4,000 on Canada Day. In the top 5 for attendance for collegaite ball in North America. Besides the stadium itself and the excellent ball they play helps to attract fans.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by 4X4

When's the announcement?

In the... future...

[Dion]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

That's because seaman stadium is a10/10 facility.

Being located in a small town that supports the team helps also.

[browna]

Mls would be a decade away or so, but even if it's in 2 decades, they would still need somewhere to play. A 40k stadium built for football wouldn't have that many alterations or compromises needing to be made to do Mls as well, if designed properly.

Be very interesting to see, clearly the leaks, intentional as they may be, means something is imminent. Been a while in the making, almost a decade since the hearing of the first definite plans for the Flames owners.