Soccer-specific stadium

Soccer-specific stadium (or football-specific stadium) is a term used mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Korea coined by Lamar Hunt, to refer to a sports stadium either purpose built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multipurpose stadium which is for a variety of sports including soccer. An SSS (FSS) may host other events such as other sporting events (mostly lacrosse, American football and rugby football), and concerts, but the design and purpose of an SSS is centered on soccer. Some facilities (most notably Toyota Park, Pizza Hut Park and Columbus Crew Stadium) have a permanent stage at one end of the stadium used for the express purpose of staging concerts.

A SSS typically has amenities, dimensions and scale suitable for soccer in North America, including a scoreboard, video screen, luxury suites and possibly even a roof. The field dimensions are within the range found optimal by FIFA — 110–120 yards (100-110m) long by 70–80 yards (64-75m) wide,[1] wider than the regulation American football field width of 53⅓ yards. Lastly, the seating capacity is generally small enough to provide an intimate setting, between 18,000 – 30,000 for a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise, or between 5,000 – 15,000 for a franchise in the North American Soccer League or USL Pro (whose attendance is subject to more variation), as opposed to the much larger American football stadiums in which most MLS teams were compelled to play at the league's inception (generally 60,000 – 80,000). The seating capacity for USL Premier Development League fields ranges from 1,000–5,000. The first major SSS in Canada is BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario.

The term "football-specific stadium" is sometimes used in countries where the sport is known as football, although it is not as common in countries where football is the dominant sport and thus football-specific stadia are quite common, or in countries where baseball is dominant (Far East, Central America and the Caribbean). The term tends to have a slightly different meaning in these countries, usually referring to a stadium without an athletics track surrounding the pitch.

Contents

List of soccer-specific stadiums

Major League Soccer (MLS)

Current MLS soccer-specific stadiums

Stadium Club(s) City Capacity Opened Cost (Millions USD)
BBVA Compass Stadium Houston Dynamo Houston, TX ~22,000 2012 110
BMO Field Toronto FC Toronto, ON 23,000 2007 62.5
Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus Crew Columbus, OH 22,685 1999 28.5
Dick's Sporting Goods Park Colorado Rapids Commerce City, CO 19,680 2007 130
The Home Depot Center Los Angeles Galaxy,
C.D. Chivas USA[2]		 Carson, CA 27,000 2003 150
Jeld-Wen Field Portland Timbers Portland, OR 18,627 2011 31*
Livestrong Sporting Park Sporting Kansas City Kansas City, KS 18,500 2011 165*
Pizza Hut Park FC Dallas[3] Frisco, TX 21,193 2005 80
PPL Park Philadelphia Union Chester, PA 18,500 2010 115
Red Bull Arena New York Red Bulls Harrison, NJ 25,189 2010 220
Rio Tinto Stadium Real Salt Lake Sandy, UT 20,008 2008 115
Saputo Stadium Montreal Impact Montreal, QC 20,341 2008
Toyota Park Chicago Fire[4] Bridgeview, IL 20,000 2006 98

Future MLS soccer-specific stadiums

Stadium Club(s) City Capacity Planned Opening Cost (Millions USD)
New Earthquakes Stadium San Jose Earthquakes San Jose, CA ~18,000 2013* 60*

Proposed MLS soccer-specific stadiums

Proposed stadium Club(s) City Capacity Current/Former Stadium
Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, British Columbia 20,000–30,000 BC Place

North American Soccer League (NASL) and United Soccer Leagues (USL)

Current NASL/USL stadiums

Stadium Club(s) Division City Capacity Opened
Lusitano Stadium Western Mass Pioneers PDL Ludlow, MA 3,000 1918
Legion Stadium Wilmington Hammerheads USL Pro Wilmington, NC 5,300 1930s?
Ezell Park Nashville Metros PDL Nashville, TN 1,317 1950s?
City Park Stadium Westchester Flames PDL New Rochelle, NY 1,845 1970s?
Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Puerto Rico Islanders NASL Bayamon, PR 15,000 1974
Anheuser-Busch Center AC St. Louis[5] Temporarily suspended; may join NASL in 2012 Fenton, MO 6,000 1982
Busch Field Virginia Legacy
William & Mary Tribe		 PDL
NCAA		 Williamsburg, VA 2,271 1984
National Sports Center NSC Minnesota Stars NASL Blaine, MN 12,000 1990
David Maus Soccer Complex Central Florida Kraze PDL Lake Mary, FL 3,666(?) 1995(?)
Virginia Beach Sportsplex Hampton Roads Piranhas PDL Virginia Beach, VA 10,000 1999
Blackbaud Stadium Charleston Battery USL Pro Charleston, SC 5,113 1999
WakeMed Soccer Park Carolina RailHawks NASL Cary, NC 7,000 2002
Macpherson Stadium Carolina Dynamo PDL Greensboro, NC 1,600 2002
Invaders Soccer Complex Indiana Invaders PDL Mishawaka, IN 4,985 2004
Patriot Stadium Chivas El Paso Patriots PDL El Paso, TX 3,000 2005
Atlanta Silverbacks Park Atlanta Silverbacks NASL Atlanta, GA 5,000 2006
Sahlen's Stadium Rochester Rhinos
Western New York Flash		 USL Pro
WPS		 Rochester, NY 13,500 2006
Sevilla FC Stadium Sevilla FC Puerto Rico USL Pro Juncos, PR 13,500 2010

Proposed soccer-specific stadiums

Club(s) Proposed stadium Proposed stadium capacity Division City Current/Former Stadium Capacity
Des Moines Menace Liberty Bank Stadium PDL West Des Moines, IA Valley High School Football-Soccer Stadium 8,300
FC Tampa Bay Unnamed/Rowdies Stadium NASL St. Petersburg, FL Progress Energy Park 7,227

Other soccer-specific stadiums

Stadium Team(s) Division City Capacity Opened
King George V Park National Stadium
Memorial Sea-Hawks		 CONCACAF
CIS		 St. John's, NL 10,000 1925
WRAL Soccer Center CASL teams CASL Raleigh, NC 3,200 1990s
Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Hawaiʻi Rainbow Wahine
Various		 NCAA
Local		 Waipiʻo, HI 4,500 2000
Mike Rose Soccer Complex Memphis Tigers
Various		 NCAA
Local		 Memphis, TN 2,500 2001
Starfire Sports Complex Seattle Sounders FC (some cup matches)
Seattle Sounders Women
Various		 MLS
W-League
PCSL		 Tukwila, WA 4,593[6] 2002
Morrison Stadium Creighton Bluejays
Various		 NCAA
Local		 Omaha, NE 6,000 2003
Uihlein Soccer Park MSOE Raiders
Various		 NCAA
Local		 Milwaukee, WI 7,000 1994
Yurcak Field Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Sky Blue FC		 NCAA
WPS		 Piscataway, NJ 5,000 1994
Maryland SoccerPlex Washington Freedom WPS Germantown, MD[7] 5,128 2000
Orange Beach Sportsplex Local teams Local Orange Beach, AL 1,500 2001
Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium Kennesaw State Owls
Atlanta Beat		 NCAA
WPS		 Kennesaw, GA 8,300 2010
Ellis Field Texas A&M Aggies NCAA College Station, TX 3,500 1994

Past soccer-specific stadiums

Stadium Club(s) City Capacity Opened Years Used Status
Mark's Stadium Fall River Marksmen
Fall River F.C.		 North Tiverton, Rhode Island 15,000 1922

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Laws of the Game 2010/2011" (PDF). FIFA. p. 7. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofthegame%5f2010%5f11%5fe.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-09.  Although the official Laws of the Game allow for pitches in adult matches to be 100–130 yards (90-120m) long by 50–100 yards (45-90m) wide, the more restrictive range is specified for international matches.
  2. ^ Was also used by the Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer in that team's only season in 2009.
  3. ^ One of several possible stadiums considered for use by the Dallas Sting when they enter WPS, originally scheduled for 2010 but now pushed back to an indeterminate future date.
  4. ^ Also used by the Chicago Red Stars of WPS before that team's departure from WPS after the 2010 season.
  5. ^ Also used by Saint Louis Athletica of WPS from the middle of the 2009 season until the team's demise early in the 2010 season.
  6. ^ http://www.soundersfc.com/Matchday/Matches/2011/Season/USOC-03-vs-FC-Dallas.aspx
  7. ^ The stadium is located in Germantown, but has a Boyds postal address.

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