Quote:
Originally Posted by wburg
An NBA standard basketball court measures 94 feet by 50 feet. A soccer field measures roughly 345 feet by 225 feet--that's three times as long and twice as wide. That alone increases the footprint of a soccer stadium of equivalent seating area. The plan to put a basketball arena in the city-owned property in the Railyards (in between the passenger depot and the tracks) was so squeezed into place that the proposed plan cantilevered part of the arena over the tracks. So if there is to be a soccer stadium in the Railyards, it would have to be on the privately owned portion to the north of the Central Shops, rather than on the triangle of city owned land. Such a facility would still be quite close to the Amtrak depot (there is a separate entrance on the Shops side of the tracks) and the upcoming 7th Street/Railyards light rail stop on the Green Line.
The next question might be...how do we pay for it? From the sound of things, the basketball arena will have dibs on parking funds for the next few decades. And are soccer fields as multi-purpose as an enclosed basketball arena for concerts, rallies etc., and would two such facilities in the same neighborhood divide the potential market for such events?
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Good points, and good questions. The money issue is the obvious one, because there certainly isn't extra money lying around. But, we are talking about something with a smaller price tag. The San Jose Earthquakes are right now building a brand new stadium with a price tag around $60 million(which their owners are paying for out of pocket, and with increase in ticket prices), and they're having lots of bells and whistles included in their interesting design. Montreal's stadium was pretty bare bones at a cost of $40 million, while some at the higher end of the league are $150-200 million:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer-specific_stadium
An MLS stadium would get used 17+ times a year for league play, more if the team makes playoffs, and any other "friendly", exhibition, or reserve team matches. If the group can lure Women's professional soccer (no team in CA yet, but teams in the pacific northwest), that's more games as well. Other uses would all depend. It could host college or high school football, college soccer. Not much other use than for things like concerts, graduation, political events? But we already have several venues so this would have to compete.
I know if I were a billionaire I wouldn't mind investing in MLS. That league has grown tremendously over the past decade, and it's on a trajectory to be one of the best soccer leagues in the world by 2020. Heck, the Seattle team just signed USA star Clint Dempsey to something like $24 million contract. Cities are clamouring to get in on the action before it really gets huge. I hope there are some smart investors out there who want to take a chance on Sacramento, no better time than right when downtown gets the new arena and revitalized!
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