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WPS Teams Should Listen To The Beat
Atlanta Beat are set to open KSU Soccer Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium built for the WPS.
May 6, 2010 5:11:00 PM
By Giovanni Albanese Jr.
Sunday, May 9, marks a historical date in WPS history. Years from now, fans of the elite women’s pro soccer league will look back on that date and remember that is when the league began to evolve into a staple of major sports.
Why? Because May 9 is the opening home date for the first soccer-specific stadium built for a WPS franchise, the Atlanta Beat. It took $16.5 million of mainly private donations (as well as student fees), to get Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium built.
Atlanta entrepreneur and Beat owner T. Fitz Johnson was one of the principle donors, which made building the 8,300-seat stadium possible. (KSU Soccer Stadium will also hosts concerts, which can hold 16,000 fans.)
Included in those 8,300 seats will be seats on the sideline, in a “family section” and suite-level. KSU women’s soccer will also be using the stadium for its games during the fall.
WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci believes this will be a huge step in the development of both the Beat, and the entire league.
"Sunday's home opener in Atlanta at KSU Soccer Stadium is one of the biggest moments in the development of our league since we launched last March," said Antonucci. "Sports-specific stadiums have been crucial to the long-term success and growth of all leagues – both young and established ones – and we're incredibly pleased to have one of our own teams build a new stadium in their first year as a team and in the second year overall for WPS.”
Antonucci couldn’t be anymore spot on with that analysis of other leagues. After Major League Soccer launched in 1996 with some promising attendance numbers, attendance figures struggled for the ensuing next few seasons. It wasn’t until 1999 when the Columbus Crew opened up its own soccer-specific stadium (Crew Stadium) that attendance in the MLS began to flourish in several markets where soccer stadiums were built.
Now, over a decade later, another eight franchises – Chicago, Dallas, New York, Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA, Los Angeles, Colorado and Toronto – all play in soccer-specific stadium, and another – Philadelphia – is about to join them;. Kansas City has started development of its new stadium and Houston and San Jose have drawn up initial plans.
Those last three and the other teams play in multi-purpose, college or even baseball stadiums that aren’t privately run by the franchise, lacking the up-close and intimate soccer atmosphere many fans in the United States are looking for.
KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia (approximately one mile from the KSU campus), will be operated by the Atlanta Beat.
FC Gold Pride, which features stars such as Marta, Rachel Buehler, Camille Abily and Christine Sinclair, among others, will open up its new stadium on the campus of Cal State University East Bay in Hayward, California, on June 19. Like the Beat, the Pride’s future home field, Pioneer Stadium, will be shared with the CSUEB soccer teams, and is being retro-fitted specifically for soccer. This should help attendance grow.
Attendance to this point in the WPS has been down about five percent, but a major part of that drop was a week three where the weather at three home venues was atrocious, including tornado warnings in St. Louis.
Atlanta will be home, playing in front of near-sellout crowds, for the next month. It should help in boosting the attendance back up. Of course, just building a soccer-specific stadium isn’t going to put fans in the seats. The product has to be top notch and that’s something that’s getting better.
With several International stars from across the globe, the WPS features more worldwide talent than many other leagues. And since the WPS has just eight clubs, each team is loaded with depth, making the quality of play all-star like. On any given game day, 18 of the 22 players on the field could be national team players.
Speaking of all stars, Atlanta’s KSU Soccer Stadium will be the host of the 2010 WPS All-Star Game on June 30. While you can get a good dosage of the WPS talent week-in and week-out, the all-star game will be an opportunity to see the crème de la crème all in one sitting.
“It's an exciting time for WPS as the product on the field continues to get better and better this season. We look forward to being back in Atlanta for our 2010 WPS All-Star Game to showcase the world class players in our league at a world class venue,” said Antonucci. “A huge credit to Beat owner T. Fitz Johnson, Kennesaw State University and the Atlanta Beat organization for their accomplishment in getting this new stadium built and ready for this weekend."
You can watch the inaugural game at KSU Soccer Stadium on Sunday, May 9, on Fox Soccer Channel if you’re not able to make it to the park. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET when the Beat will host defending WPS champion Sky Blue FC.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Why? Because May 9 is the opening home date for the first soccer-specific stadium built for a WPS franchise, the Atlanta Beat. It took $16.5 million of mainly private donations (as well as student fees), to get Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium built.
Atlanta entrepreneur and Beat owner T. Fitz Johnson was one of the principle donors, which made building the 8,300-seat stadium possible. (KSU Soccer Stadium will also hosts concerts, which can hold 16,000 fans.)
Included in those 8,300 seats will be seats on the sideline, in a “family section” and suite-level. KSU women’s soccer will also be using the stadium for its games during the fall.
WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci believes this will be a huge step in the development of both the Beat, and the entire league.
"Sunday's home opener in Atlanta at KSU Soccer Stadium is one of the biggest moments in the development of our league since we launched last March," said Antonucci. "Sports-specific stadiums have been crucial to the long-term success and growth of all leagues – both young and established ones – and we're incredibly pleased to have one of our own teams build a new stadium in their first year as a team and in the second year overall for WPS.”
Antonucci couldn’t be anymore spot on with that analysis of other leagues. After Major League Soccer launched in 1996 with some promising attendance numbers, attendance figures struggled for the ensuing next few seasons. It wasn’t until 1999 when the Columbus Crew opened up its own soccer-specific stadium (Crew Stadium) that attendance in the MLS began to flourish in several markets where soccer stadiums were built.
Now, over a decade later, another eight franchises – Chicago, Dallas, New York, Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA, Los Angeles, Colorado and Toronto – all play in soccer-specific stadium, and another – Philadelphia – is about to join them;. Kansas City has started development of its new stadium and Houston and San Jose have drawn up initial plans.
Those last three and the other teams play in multi-purpose, college or even baseball stadiums that aren’t privately run by the franchise, lacking the up-close and intimate soccer atmosphere many fans in the United States are looking for.
KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia (approximately one mile from the KSU campus), will be operated by the Atlanta Beat.
FC Gold Pride, which features stars such as Marta, Rachel Buehler, Camille Abily and Christine Sinclair, among others, will open up its new stadium on the campus of Cal State University East Bay in Hayward, California, on June 19. Like the Beat, the Pride’s future home field, Pioneer Stadium, will be shared with the CSUEB soccer teams, and is being retro-fitted specifically for soccer. This should help attendance grow.
Attendance to this point in the WPS has been down about five percent, but a major part of that drop was a week three where the weather at three home venues was atrocious, including tornado warnings in St. Louis.
Atlanta will be home, playing in front of near-sellout crowds, for the next month. It should help in boosting the attendance back up. Of course, just building a soccer-specific stadium isn’t going to put fans in the seats. The product has to be top notch and that’s something that’s getting better.
With several International stars from across the globe, the WPS features more worldwide talent than many other leagues. And since the WPS has just eight clubs, each team is loaded with depth, making the quality of play all-star like. On any given game day, 18 of the 22 players on the field could be national team players.
Speaking of all stars, Atlanta’s KSU Soccer Stadium will be the host of the 2010 WPS All-Star Game on June 30. While you can get a good dosage of the WPS talent week-in and week-out, the all-star game will be an opportunity to see the crème de la crème all in one sitting.
“It's an exciting time for WPS as the product on the field continues to get better and better this season. We look forward to being back in Atlanta for our 2010 WPS All-Star Game to showcase the world class players in our league at a world class venue,” said Antonucci. “A huge credit to Beat owner T. Fitz Johnson, Kennesaw State University and the Atlanta Beat organization for their accomplishment in getting this new stadium built and ready for this weekend."
You can watch the inaugural game at KSU Soccer Stadium on Sunday, May 9, on Fox Soccer Channel if you’re not able to make it to the park. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET when the Beat will host defending WPS champion Sky Blue FC.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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