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Stadium Expansion for 2012


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Soccer supporters - like it or not you are in the US, football is king here, it likely always will be.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

I have been a fan of american football since I was 10 years old.

I doubt anything would ever replace the deeply ingrained involvement I developed for football, but that is just me, and I could easily see Soccer growing in my sports world. Right now, you can find football all over the TV on saturdays and sundays. Soccer is something you have to search for. That is an advantage that will go away some day.

And I am just a generation. It may take a few generations, but I could see soccer on the top of the heap in the U.S. eventually.

High school football receives higher ratings then professional soccer. Think about that for a minute.

The problem with US futbol is that we don't have the best players playing. Likely never will. Too much money for athletes to get into football, baseball, basketball and for those soccer players that are "great" they head to Europe where the money is.

I follow soccer, I played both footballs growing up, I buy FIFA video games more often then Madden. But the rest of this country isn't about it.

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No question that soccer is still considered by most to be a minor sport in the U.S. But go back a few decades and people were saying soccer would never be as big in the U.S. as it is today.

I suspect if you put all forms of sport on a growth chart that the curves would show general interest in soccer has risen at a higher rate than any other sport in the U.S. over the past few decades.

No one really knows how fast and how long that soccer interest curve will continue to rise. We only know how far it has come from its humble beginnings to where it is today.

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I wish all the success to Akron's other sports programs, but the fact is I don't follow other sports like I do soccer. Its soccer 24/7 for me. I never visit another board on zipsnation.org, my bookmark is connected directly to here. I'm having withdraw right now with no MLS or Akron Zips to follow during the evenings. The weekend, its morning to afternoon filled with Serie A, EPL, A-League, etc. I don't have time to watch college football or NFL. :D Doesn't mean I don't support Akron's other sports programs, but soccer is my addiction. Its my way of life.

Damn man, you ARE an addict if you actually watch the A-League! :D That's the one hour each day when I turn off FSC and come on the ZN.o

BTW -- to correct ZIP_ME87, my previous post was not meant to be facetious. Sarcastic would be a much better word.

And to g-mann17, you need to get out more often dude! The USA is a small part of where you live -- but the only part for which Am football is king (even in Canada, possibly including Buffalo, hockey is #1!). Maybe the best thing about Akron U. being a soccer school is that we are so far ahead of the American curve. Consider the possibilities if Akron becomes a capital of US cosmopolitanism. Soccer/football's rise is globalization from below (despite the impact of AEG), which is what #OWS exists for. Whoa, hope I didn't belie my politics there... :P

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And to g-mann17, you need to get out more often dude! The USA is a small part of where you live -- but the only part for which Am football is king (even in Canada, possibly including Buffalo, hockey is #1!). Maybe the best thing about Akron U. being a soccer school is that we are so far ahead of the American curve. Consider the possibilities if Akron becomes a capital of US cosmopolitanism. Soccer/football's rise is globalization from below (despite the impact of AEG), which is what #OWS exists for. Whoa, hope I didn't belie my politics there... :P

Yes the USA is a small part of the globe, but a huge part of the global economy. And in the land of the # 1 economy football is king. Heck in India cricket is king, go tell them about soccer. I believe in China table tennis is still numero uno. Japan its baseball. Maybe you need to get out more.

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BTW -- to correct ZIP_ME87, my previous post was not meant to be facetious. Sarcastic would be a much better word.

Ok. Bad choice of words on my part.

Yes, word choice is very important (B.A. English, University of Akron) ;) .

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we really should get this thread back on track, discussing the possibility of a stadium expansion.

The topic of soccer's growth in america could be discussed here: http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=24678

I'll bump that thread so we can continue talking about it there.

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Damn man, you ARE an addict if you actually watch the A-League! :D That's the one hour each day when I turn off FSC and come on the ZN.o

BTW -- to correct ZIP_ME87, my previous post was not meant to be facetious. Sarcastic would be a much better word.

And to g-mann17, you need to get out more often dude! The USA is a small part of where you live -- but the only part for which Am football is king (even in Canada, possibly including Buffalo, hockey is #1!). Maybe the best thing about Akron U. being a soccer school is that we are so far ahead of the American curve. Consider the possibilities if Akron becomes a capital of US cosmopolitanism. Soccer/football's rise is globalization from below (despite the impact of AEG), which is what #OWS exists for. Whoa, hope I didn't belie my politics there... :P

A-League is not all that bad. :lol: Still entertaining, and even an American is playing for Wellington. Brisbane Roar just broke the record to claim longest unbeaten streak of 36 consecutive games in all professional sports in Australia. I need to get my soccer fix somewhere. :D

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we really should get this thread back on track, discussing the possibility of a stadium expansion.

The topic of soccer's growth in america could be discussed here: http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=24678

I'll bump that thread so we can continue talking about it there.

So, you do not prefer the subject of word choice in composition?

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we really should get this thread back on track, discussing the possibility of a stadium expansion.

The topic of soccer's growth in america could be discussed here: http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=24678

I'll bump that thread so we can continue talking about it there.

So, you do not prefer the subject of word choice in composition?

My degree says accounting. no idea what you mean. Input it into excel to help me understand :P

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  • 3 months later...

Not sure if this rules out the possibility of a stadium expansion this year, but it appears they're considering turning part of the General Admission section behind the goals into Reserved Seating. Could this be because they're not expanding the sides? The reserved seating sold out last year.

Robert-

Sorry for the confusion. We have yet to release season pricing, but we do have group prices set. The hold up is the possibility of adding additional reserves seats behind the goals as well as finalizing pricing.

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Not sure if this rules out the possibility of a stadium expansion this year, but it appears they're considering turning part of the General Admission section behind the goals into Reserved Seating. Could this be because they're not expanding the sides? The reserved seating sold out last year.

I would hope they'd only add seating behind the west goal. The Rowdies have turned the east goal into the most intimidating spot in all of American college soccer.

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I would hope they'd only add seating behind the west goal. The Rowdies have turned the east goal into the most intimidating spot in all of American college soccer.

It would probably be the bleachers only. A stadium expansion seems to be off the table right now. Basketball needs a new arena and football plays in an empty new stadium. One of us needs to make a few billions to improve things around here.

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Not sure if this rules out the possibility of a stadium expansion this year, but it appears they're considering turning part of the General Admission section behind the goals into Reserved Seating. Could this be because they're not expanding the sides? The reserved seating sold out last year.

The bleacher seats behind the one or both goals could easily be designated as reserved seating. The grass would be the only GA seating left. They probably want to do it as an excuse to keep the Rowdies from setting up camp under the scoreboard next to families with little kids.

I think it's a mistake to do it this year. We are coming off a disappointing season compared to the previous two. Unless coach Porter goes out and wins an Olympic gold medal, the excitement for Zips soccer will be down a little bit. I hope I'm wrong and we could really use the money that would be generated by selling out the reserved seats again, but I don't feel like the timing is right.

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The bleacher seats behind the one or both goals could easily be designated as reserved seating. The grass would be the only GA seating left. They probably want to do it as an excuse to keep the Rowdies from setting up camp under the scoreboard next to families with little kids.

I think it's a mistake to do it this year. We are coming off a disappointing season compared to the previous two. Unless coach Porter goes out and wins an Olympic gold medal, the excitement for Zips soccer will be down a little bit. I hope I'm wrong and we could really use the money that would be generated by selling out the reserved seats again, but I don't feel like the timing is right.

I can't imagine the price difference between the Goal End Reserves and GA will be much different. We're probably looking at $75 again for GA and $85 for RA (Ends).

The problem I see is the RA (Ends) season tickets will sell out, leaving GA for those that don't by season tickets. If you're a RA ticket holder and want to bring friends/family for a game, they're not going to be able to sit with you. That stadium needs more seating to accommodate the casual fans that can only make it to a few games a year..

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The only places they can realistically "expand" at this point is on the main stands. Both areas behind the goals are about at their maximum bleacher capacity. Unless the hangup is finishing Coleman Commons and building additional reserve bleachers behind the North side of the pitch, I doubt much more expansion will happen. It'd be great to see, but I think in regards to the soccer stadium, there are better improvements that can be made

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
With the money Akron receives from Porter's buyout, it would be nice to see the main grandstand expanded.

This has been swept under the rug during all the comotion.

There is NO WAY the west end zone should be reserved seating!

No wonder that the house was PACKED, with the west end zone nearly EMPTY.

Whose ill-advised idea was this?

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This has been swept under the rug during all the comotion.

There is NO WAY the west end zone should be reserved seating!

No wonder that the house was PACKED, with the west end zone nearly EMPTY.

Whose ill-advised idea was this?

It was a sad attempt at increasing reserved seating when the stadium needs more seating for casual fans.

I have a video showing how empty that section has been and a few pictures I can post later today. I think we talked about it some in another thread.

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