And now the first failure of a soccer-specific stadium built in the US. Why Chicago's owners built this stadium without any direct mass transit access (one has to take a bus from the Midway Airport Orange Line stop) and a few miles away from the highway, which scared-off a lot of suburbanites due to the venue's location on the southside (really southwest) of Chicago was poor planning. Of course, the amount of money the owners received directly and indirectly answers the 'why' question.
The Chicago Fire will pay $65.5 million to leave the suburban Chicago stadium that has been the team's home for more than a decade.
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I've heard that the Union have a similar issue with their stadium; but, while it lacks subway access, it does have direct commuter rail access whereas Chester PA is a challenging location, too, albeit with good views. The Rapids location is also a challenge as its halfway between downtown Denver and DIA out in the middle of nowhere
Speaking of failure, more on Miami's proposed 'temporary' stadium in Ft. Lauderdale. Still scratching my head of this as its intended to be a 'short-term' arrangement Beckham finds a location in Miami, which is 40 miles away, and the lease is for 50 years. Any bet that Inter Miami, if they exist, will still be playing at this location 10 years from now?
David Beckham's plans to build an 18,000 seat stadium in Fort Lauderdale to temporarily house Inter Miami were approved on Tuesday.
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Lastly, MLS must be excited about this. Another deep-pocketed owner wants a team. Of course, the xiciting infrastructure of soccer in Charlotte is well behind what already exists in Raleigh and even furtehr behind other potential hosts in Sacremento, St. Louis and elsewhere. That said, expansion fees drive the bus in MLS.
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper will travel to New York next week and meet with MLS officials to discuss expansion to Charlotte.
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