Red Bull Arena a winner?

[Cheeta]

So, does anyone think New York's new venue is going to do wonders for a franchise which many would say should be the league's flagship?

Looks a pretty good park. Been criticized for being out in the sticks as it were, but the location doesn't seem too bad. Very public transit friendly.

http://www.redbullarena.us/index.html

P.S. At 25K all covered seating maybe not a bad template for future SSS.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

So, does anyone think New York's new venue is going to do wonders for a franchise which many would say should be the league's flagship?

Looks a pretty good park. Been criticized for being out in the sticks as it were, but the location doesn't seem too bad. Very public transit friendly.

http://www.redbullarena.us/index.html

P.S. At 25K all covered seating maybe not a bad template for future SSS.

Link fixed, superfluous "l" on the end removed.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I think you need to have been to an NYRB game to realize how bad things were for them at Giants Stadium and how far removed the announced crowd can be from reality. The new stadium has got to help but they have a massive mountain to climb to get up to the TFC, Sounders and Galaxy sort of level off the field. What they need now is a DP signing, who is a much bigger name than Juan Pablo Angel, to entice people back to give MLS another try. In the early years of MLS they drew reasonably large crowds to Giants Stadium but over the years the fan base slowly drifted away.

[Tuscan]

Agreed. NYRB is probably the only franchise who desperately need a massive DP signing to bring the crowd back.

[SthMelbRed]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=740092&sec=transfers&cc=3436

Is this one big enough, you reckon?

[Tuscan]

He would have been...

[CanadianSoccerFan]

The name is a tough stumbling block. They lost a lot of fans with the name change and I'm sure at least some new fans will be hesitant to support a team that is so overly whored.

[amacpher]

So, does anyone think New York's new venue is going to do wonders for a franchise which many would say should be the league's flagship?

Looks a pretty good park. Been criticized for being out in the sticks as it were, but the location doesn't seem too bad. Very public transit friendly.

Anywhere in New Jersey is pretty bad location-wise though because of the mental barrier that exists b/w NJ and New York. Many people won't consider going somewhere that the main NY subway doesn't go.

Looks like the first match against Santos on 20 March could be a sell-out (or close to one). But only about 5000 season tickets sold so far. Guess that's almost double last season's total though.

[Obinna]

Why did they even build this in New Jersey to begin with? Was the decision based on land prices/avialablity in NYC?

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Why did they even build this in New Jersey to begin with? Was the decision based on land prices/avialablity in NYC?

Because every big stadium New York builds is in New Jersey (i.e. Meadowlands). I never really got why they don't go into upstate to put them or something. I can see why it can't go into NYC, but at least keep it in your own state.

[amacpher]

Because every big stadium New York builds is in New Jersey (i.e. Meadowlands). I never really got why they don't go into upstate to put them or something. I can see why it can't go into NYC, but at least keep it in your own state.

They should've built it in Brooklyn or Queens. There's space. Upstate would've led to the same travel problems as New Jersey (plus they would've lost the NJ fanbase that they currently have).

This would've been a perfect spot (Brooklyn), but they recently built a baseball stadium there instead (John TV's biggest nightmare realized):

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Yeah that would of been pretty nice spot for it

[CanadianSoccerFan]

According to a poster on bigsoccer who spoke to the front office, the season ticket count is currently 6,300. This is a pretty good number in comparison to the rest of the league. The Santos/Fire games are on pace to sell out in the next few weeks. Only seats in the corner sections remain.

As for the location, yeah it would be nice if it was in New York but hopefully in the future a 2nd team in the boroughs will materialize. It just might have happened for 2011 if Mets owner Fred Wilpon didn't lose so much of his fortune to Bernie Madoff

[Free kick]

Many people won't consider going somewhere that the main NY subway doesn't go.

But from what I understand you can get to Redbull stadium directly by public transit. Its the path (Blue line on the link below) from the World Trade centre station. I passed by the facility several times when I was there in October and it is definitely impressive.

http://www.amadeus.net/home/new/subwaymaps/en/new-york.htm

As far as Giants stadium, what a nightmare of a place to get to.

Other tha

[Canuck Oranje]

One of the highest concentrations of Brazilians in the US is in New Jersey so this shouldn't surprise too much. The question will be if the small crowd will attend RBNY games.

Also to your point about the finicky fans in large metro areas, there is a similar brand new stadium in Barueri (suburb of Sao Paulo). When the big clubs (Sao Paulo FC & Corinthians) have played their home games there, the attendance has fallen. It too has public transit routes nearby and easy access from the city proper. I'm not sure why that is but I sense it's just fans not accustomed travelling in that direction and uncertainty leads to staying home.

I tend to agree through that the club might need a big name DP to kick start the franchise and location, the question is, in such a multicultural city, what kind of DP do you go for? There is always a danger in having a DP to satisfy a certain ethnic group. My view has always been to focus on putting a good team on the field and the sophisticated and knowledgeable fans will come.

[amacpher]

I tend to agree through that the club might need a big name DP to kick start the franchise and location, the question is, in such a multicultural city, what kind of DP do you go for? There is always a danger in having a DP to satisfy a certain ethnic group.

Portuguese would seem to make the most sense. There's a big Portuguese community just across the river.

[amacpher]

But from what I understand you can get to Redbull stadium directly by public transit. Its the path (Blue line on the link below) from the World Trade centre station. I passed by the facility several times when I was there in October and it is definitely impressive.

Yes, that's true (sort of, see below). Still its New Jersey public transit, not New York which will cause some people to not bother going.

FYI, (for those planning on going), its about a 1.5km walk from Newark Penn Station (over the bridge).

[trueviking]

what a difference a roof makes eh?...instantly looks big league.

ive never understood why new york's big stadium is in new jersey.....you would think there would be tax advantages for the state to have it in new york....why would they just give that up?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Definitely looking good so far:-

[MegasAlexandros1555362277]

I think the stadium is fantastic and I would definitely like to take in a game there in the near future. That being said, does anybody else find that the cameras were placed a little too low? I don't know, I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but when I watch a game on TV I like the fact that (most of the time) the camera angle gives you a semi-overhead view of the field of play. That's not really the case here, at least from the clips I have seen so far from the game yesterday.

[nfitz]

Yes, that's true (sort of, see below). Still its New Jersey public transit, not New York which will cause some people to not bother going.

FYI, (for those planning on going), its about a 1.5km walk from Newark Penn Station (over the bridge).

And it's about a 30-second walk from the Harrison PATH station.

It's not New Jersey public transit, it's the Port Authority public transit. A subway line from Newark to Manhattan; it's only 4 stops from the World Trade Center station in Manhattan. Which makes it more accessible that much of Brooklyn from Manhattan.

New Yorkers do have their anti-New Jersey thing going ... but for many New Yorkers it will be quicker and easier to get to by transit than Yankee Stadium or whatever they call the Mets stadium these days.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Worth bearing in mind that a vast portion of New Yorkers use the subway every day (daily ridership is 7,791,700 according to wikipedia) so public transport is a much bigger part of the culture there than in most American cities.

[alberta white]

Impressive european looking stadium. Tight up to the touchlines. roof should help focus the sound. If it does not they could always install 'Arsenal-around-sound' to lift the mood.

[amacpher]

After attending the match on Saturday, here are my pros and cons (alot of the cons are easily fixable and sound petty, but at the time I was there they were a bit annoying)

Pros

- close to good Portugese and Brasialian community, with good restaurants and bars.

- the roof. Protects you from typically awful NYC weather and enhances noise/atmosphere

- just looking around, it seemed evident that every seat gives a great vantage point of the field.

Cons

- I stood in line for 25 minutes just to get through the gate

- the tickets don't tell you what gate you're supposed to go in. Nor are there any signs posted at the stadium giving you this info.

- beer lines were pretty long. Took about 10 minutes to get a beer before the game or 20 minutes during (ie halftime). "Last call" for drinks is around the 60th minute which seems pointless since almost everyone is using public transportation.

- At $9/pint the beer is more expensive than, say, the Mets new stadium.

- the turf looked like nothing more than a thin layer of sand that was spray-painted green.

Regarding public transportation, it is not THAT easy to get to. Better than Giants stadium, of course. But the PATH train is a different animal from the New York subway. It's slow and Saturday service is unreliable, which is when pretty much every home match will be played. "Four stops from downtown" sounds close, except nobody is coming from downtown on a Saturday. In practice, most people are looking at 3 subways and well-over an hour commute each way. If spending a few dollars more is not a problem, just take the New Jersey transit train. 20 minutes from NY Penn Station to Newark Penn Station.