What’s the Right Size for an MLS Stadium?

In the past few years, MLS has been facing the Goldilocks issue: What makes a stadium too big? Too small? Just right?

Not too long ago, this seemed like a silly question. The goal was to move soccer out of the cavernous American football venues and into smaller, cozier spots that had been created just for soccer. With MLS averaging about 15,000 fans per game in 2006, and most American football stadiums seating 35-70,000, life was all about downsizing.

Then came 2007 and two newcomers: David Beckham, and Toronto FC. Beckham’s arrival in Los Angeles shone a spotlight on the sport in the US, at least temporarily, and gave LA a season of sold-out crowds and hype.

And expansion team Toronto’s fans took to the game with passion, creating unheard-of sellouts for each game at BMO field. When the sellouts continued beyond the inaugural season, smaller stadiums suddenly began to look a little less appealing, and Toronto began looking into a seating expansion.

Then, in 2009, MLS broke with their tradition of requiring an SSS* for expansion franchises and allowed the Seattle Sounders to play in Qwest field, a venue they share with the NFL’s Seahawks. Risky at the time, but a great move in hindsight. Seattle broke all MLS attendance records that year while opening up only the lower bowl of the stadiium. They expanded 2010 capacity to 36,000 by opening up new seating areas, and they’re still selling out.

But it hasn’t been all hearts and flowers for MLS attendance. FC Dallas opened their stadium in 2005 in neighboring Frisco, about 30 miles from downtown Dallas. In 2009, their attendance averaged just over 9,000 per game in their 21,000-capacity site.

What this disparity means is that nobody really has a definitive answer to this question: What’s the right size for an MLS stadium?

In the current economic climate, teams seem to be playing it safe. Better to be a Toronto, with ticket demand exceeding supply, than a Dallas. When stadiums now in the planning or construction stages start coming online, the new Kansas City stadium will have an 18,500 capacity, and San Jose’s will start at 15,000.

Expansion franchises are leaning in the same direction. The stadium for the 2010 Philadelphia Union will have an 18,500 capacity. When 2011 teams Portland and Vancouver open (or reopen) their stadiums, they’ll have capacities of 20,000 and 15,000, respectively.

The biggest positive about the stadiums currently under construction, though, is that even though they’re being constructed on the small side, several have built into their plans the ability to expand if soccer in the US should really take off. Toronto is currently working on their expansion, and Kansas City, Portland, San Jose and Vancouver have built the possibility for expansion into their blueprints. Given the uncertainty of demand in the country, this seems like the best compromise.

But I’d love to see the day when MLS ownership groups are kicking themselves for thinking too small.

If you’re curious about how well the teams filled their stadiums in 2009, attendance figures are here.

And here are current and planned stadiums and their seating capacities:

• Chivas USA and LA Galaxy (shared stadium): Home Depot Center, Carson, CA 27,000
• Colorado Rapids: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, 19,700 (nine miles from downtown Denver)
• Columbus Crew: Columbus Crew Stadium, 20,500
• Chicago Fire: Toyota Park in Bridgeview, 20,000
• Dallas: Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, 21,200 (approx 30 mi. from downtown Dallas)
• DC United: Currently in RFK Stadium, capacity 45,600 (Not an SSS). Still no stadium deal despite a lot of false starts. Commissioner Don Garber is threatening to yank the franchise if the situation can’t be fixed.
• Houston Dynamo: Currently Robertson Stadium (American football) 32,000. Planned stadium: 20,000 in 2012
• Kansas City Wizards: Currently Community America Ballpark, a former minor-league baseball stadium, capacity. 10,400. Planned in 2011: Wizards Stadium, 18,500
• New England Revolution: Gillette Stadium (shared with NFL team NE Patriots,) capacity 68,800. Currently not in serious discussions about building an SSS.
• New York Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ): 25,200
• Seattle: Qwest (pictured, above): 67,000 for the entire stadium. Current capacity for soccer is about 36,000.
• Portland: Reconfigured will be about 20,000, with the option of 24,000. (Wikipedia — my source — disagrees with our commenters. See comments.)
• Philadelphia Union: 18,500 (opens in June.) Home opener in another venue had sold 25,000 by last Thursday.
• Real Salt Lake: Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, 20,000
• San Jose Earthquakes: Buck Shaw Stadium 10,300. New stadium planned for 2012, 15,000, expandable to 18,000
• Toronto: BMO Field 21,800, expanding to 24,000 this year
• Vancouver: Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium, 15,000, potentially expandable to 30,000
  See comments for more discussion.

*Creating smaller and cozier games isn’t the only reason for the SSS requirement. It’s also to push the league towards profitability by giving the MLS ownership a bigger piece of the pie for things like concessions, parking, and alternate uses of the stadiums like concerts.

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Category: MLS, World Football