bobbyake

With soccer passing the NBA in attendance, it would be interesting to compare the current trends of the MLS with the MLB, NHL, and NFL. Maybe I'll start collecting data if I have any free time.

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.

$6,000 is the annual PDL fee. Having a PDL team is good for Akron players in the off season. They could easily get 300-500 people per game if they did things right. How many of the 1,500 UAkron season ticket holders know the team exists? Why not pass out flyers during Akron soccer games? Put flyers in car windshields while there are 4,000 people at an UAkron soccer game. The Cleveland Internationals averaged 90 per game? The 186 from relocating to Akron, with poor local awareness is not bad. 250 or more per game should be an easy goal for 2012. But if they did things right, they could draw 400 or more per game.

No idea if the information is reliable or not, but someone is saying the Akron Summit Assault team is up for sale, possibly moving. http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1840340 http://www.facebook.com/AkronOutlaws

if the US does well in the Olympics, Caleb Porter is going to get us worldwide media attention

live stream http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9845117

I've captured every home victory chant on video this year, enjoy:

looks like you guys are building a reply pyramid with the quotes I'm hoping Mattocks is the only underclassmen we lose.

THAT SIR was my point. He said that if it was Egner those comments would not have been made. Classic race card. As stated above, I meant it more as judging someone based on where they are from. I mentioned Josh Egner because Green, Ohio doesn't have a bad reputation. Inner-city Cleveland does. It angers me to see assumptions made about who Treadwell hangs out with because he's from inner-city Cleveland. Nothing more, nothing less. I know GoZips isn't a racist and wasn't calling him one. Inner City = black Green Ohio = white (probably, never been there). It IS the race card. And that is my last post on the subject. Inner City Cleveland = 53.3% African American, 37.3% White (33.4% Non-Hispanic Whites), 0.3% Native American, 1.8% Asian American, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 4.5% of some other race, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latino Americans of any race accounted for 10.0% of its population, with Puerto Ricans being the majority of the group. Inner City Akron = 67.22% White, 28.48% African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population. Inner City Pittsburgh = 64.8% non-Hispanic White, 25.8% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2% non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.3% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 2.3% of two or more races (non-Hispanic) Inner City Columbus = White: 61.5% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 59.3%), Black or African American: 28.0%, Native American: 0.3%, Asian: 4.1% (1.3% Indian, 0.8% Chinese, 0.3% Korean, 0.2% Vietnamese, 0.2% Japanese, 0.2% Filipino, 0.2% Cambodian, 0.2% Laotian), Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%, Two or more races: 3.3%, Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 5.6%[67] (3.3% Mexican, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Salvadoran, 0.2% Dominican) I grew up in North Hill which is 73% white and considered inner city. Not sure how inner city = black

What US do you live in? soccer is huge in Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, and Utah. It's even growing a little here in Ohio. BTW, the MLS isn't hurting either: "MLS merchandise sales increased 35 percent this year, when the league's regular-season attendance rose 7 percent to a record 17,872. The league's average viewers for telecasts on ESPN and ESPN2 rose 16 percent to 311,000, according to Nielsen Media Research, and viewers on Fox Soccer Channel increased 26 percent to an average of 70,000. For Spanish-language broadcasts on Telefutura, viewers increased 10 percent to an average of 233,000." Source MLS commissioner Don Garber MLS is the 3rd most attended professional sport, ahead of the NBA http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2...-american-sport

I'm sorry you don't take pride in the success of our soccer and basketball programs. I'm also sorry you don't think a MAC Championship for our football team means anything. I could care less about what idiots from OSUcks think of us because I have a lot of fun going to Akron soccer and basketball games. We have great atmospheres for both, and when football was winning, there's weren't bad at the Rubber Bowl either. I understand you hate seeing others get all the national attention and it makes you feel our program is insignificant. But why worry what others think? There's a lot to be proud of here in Akron and I'm sorry you don't share the same feelings.

did you know your statement is up for the Dumbest Statement on Zipsnation for The Year award? are you looking to add another? Welcome to NE Ohio. Are you new here? We haven't had anything good happen for us since 1964, it's not changing anytime soon. Dumbest statement of the year?? 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 There's plenty more.

I would rather see Akron end the football program than trade in our National Championship. No one cares about soccer outside of Akron? Sounds like you're living in the past. Soccer is growing rapidly in the US. http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?showtopic=24678

google maps doesn't have Cup Cadet built or else I could play around with this for a comparison. I don't think we're serious about moving into Infocision. Are we?? Just showing that it's actually possible to play soccer in it. To stay on topic though, I think First Energy Stadium could use an expansion on the reserved side.

What's the point about getting excited about something that never had a chance at happening? It's not about deserving Tressel. It's about it being impossible to get that kind of name at Akron. If you want to waste your time going after coaches that don't want to come here fine. I'm glad Tressel is an adviser on this. Do we deserve a Tressel? NO! The MAC is at the bottom of FBS football. We pay $300,000 for our coach where the average in the MAC is $478,000. The national average is $1.38 million. We're also coming off of back to back 1-11 seasons. So no, we don't deserve Tressel, who while at OSU was one of the top 5 coaches in the entire country.

Ticket Revenues: Losing - Akron's getting around 5,000 now? at possibly $16 per game? which is $80,000 per game or $480,000 per year. Winning - 27,000 people per game with the average person generating revenue of $20 per game would be $540,000 per game, $3,240,000 per year from home ticket sales. Merchandise Revenue: Losing - I was at the team shop 2 weeks ago and noticed all the football merchandise was on the clearance rack. Also noticed that soccer merchandise was in the prime locations. Can't imagine they're generating a lot from football merchandise sales right now, possibly $100,000 from football specific items? Winning - Merchandise sales would be a lot stronger as more stores will carry more products. Merchandise sales could easily surpass $1,000,000 with a winning program, especially if there's MAC Championship and Bowl shirts on sale. Bowl Game Revenue: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl pays $750,000 per team. Enrollment Increase: Winning - There are very strong arguments out there that suggest Akron's enrollment would increase if Akron's football team was successful. "This study supports previous findings that a significant positive relationship exists between college football success and applications for undergraduate enrollment at NCAA Division I-A universities." Hard to put a $ value to an enrollment increase, but let's say Akron gained 300 students because of Akron's football team's success. Using the Ohio resident academic year number, $9,244, that's an additional $2,773,200 in revenue because of a successful football team. Endowment Increase: Winning - There are multiple arguments that suggest there's a relationship between endowment's increasing when football programs are successful. Example Hard to do an estimate on this one, but some could argue $1,000,000 increase is very realistic if Akron's football team was successful. Sponsorships: Winning - Sponsorships draw big $$'s from corporations looking to advertise, which we've seen with the soccer team winning the National Championship (Field naming rights). You could easily argue that Akron could gain $1,000,000 or more per year if the football team was successful. Total Increase of Revenue generated from Akron having a winning football program: Game Attendance: $3,240,000 vs $540,000 = $2,700,000 increase Football Merchandise Sales: $1,000,000 vs $100,000 = $900,000 Increase Bowl Game Increase: $750,000 Enrollment Increase: $2,773,200 Endowment Fund Increase: $1,000,000 Sponsorship Increase: $1,000,000 Total Increase: $9,123,200 This number is gross revenue. If you took the net, the increase from a winning program would net you at least $2,000,000 in additional revenue. So we should pay a coach $300,000 per year when they could generate an additional $9,123,200 per year in gross revenue and $2,000,000 net, for the university? I know you could argue that some of the numbers above could be off and not possible even if Akron was a winning program, I agree. But there's a strong case that a coach that operates a winning football program is worth the cost to keep him there. If the cost is paying a coach $1,000,000 a year, wouldn't it seem worth it to keep them if they're a proven winner?

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing. To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know. I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since. Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance. Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too. IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program. We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that. totally against this. We get 2-3 good years from someone and then take the risk of hiring another Ianello? Caleb Porter is one of the highest paid soccer coaches because Akron can afford it based on the success he's brought. IF we get a good coach that fills the Info, we need to pay that coach enough so they don't leave.

the radio interview with Tressel that discusses the rumor: http://www.610wtvn.com/player/?mid=21625794 The question was if there was any validity to the story that he was to meet with the University of Akron for the head coaching job, as the report had mention. His answer was 'no validity.' What I heard was Tressel turned down an offer on Monday, which could be why Tom Wistrcill stated his comment the way he did. Will we ever find out if an offer was made? Who knows. What we do know is that Tressel informed the university that he's not interested. So the university must have inquired.

You're correct. Akron's soccer field plays at the maximum width and length, which I think is 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. Football fields are only 53 1/3 yards wide. Even with the added space on the sidelines It wouldn't fit. technically, they could reduce the pitch a little to fit. There is no standard, just guidelines. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/r...ent/4200666.stm

I remember someone saying that it's not possible because of the dimensions. On Google Maps, the soccer field isn't built yet but the practice field has the soccer lines. I took a screen capture of the practice field and placed it into Infocision using the same size. There's plenty of room to fit a soccer field.

Paul Winters coached Jason Taylor & Dwight Smith correct?? Wouldn't those connections be great to utilize??

Welcome to NE Ohio. Are you new here? We haven't had anything good happen for us since 1964, it's not changing anytime soon. Dumbest statement of the year?? 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 There's plenty more.

I'm wondering if it's in the works to expand the reserved seating capacity again like they did last year. The entire reserve section was sold out for 2011 and the only way to get reserved seats is through season tickets.

Welcome to NE Ohio. Are you new here? We haven't had anything good happen for us since 1964, it's not changing anytime soon. Were you around in 2010? National Champs in soccer and a basketball team in the big dance.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/tressel-not-int...-akron-1.248012 Whether you want to believe there was a real offer or not, all this hype about a possibility of him coming here wouldn't have started without hearing about the offer. At least we tried. BTW the article doesn't do a good job denying Tressel was on campus Saturday. Of course he was not at the basketball game. He was around Tommy Evans Lounge an hr before the game though.