http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-bu...atter.html

The stadium would seat around 40-45,000 and would be located in the downtown area of Miami in the PortMiami neighborhood. This would be undoubtedly a huge plus for a lot of Canes fans who absolutely disdain Sun Life (myself included).

(04-30-2014 04:54 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-bu...atter.html

The stadium would seat around 40-45,000 and would be located in the downtown area of Miami in the PortMiami neighborhood. This would be undoubtedly a huge plus for a lot of Canes fans who absolutely disdain Sun Life (myself included).

Hope it happens! Sun Life blows and isn't good for The U's swagger!!

Great idea. Miami should be a solid soccer town and 40-45,000 stadium for college football in an NFL city is a better recipe for success.

Silly question... Does the UM contract with Sun Life say they "HAVE TO" play their home games their? If not, pay them the $4m per year and move on.

Soccer fields are much wider than football and seating is much lower to the field. You would loose a significant portion of the "high rent" seats. And I don't think 45k in a soccer stadium would create a college atmosphere. Yes, I am aware Notre Dame and Navy played in a soccer stadium in Ireland. The atmosphere was great, etc. etc. etc.

Capacity would also be an issue for me. Miami area fans are fickle but when UM was winning they had no problems putting 80k in the orange bowl. In either case, UM would still be the 2nd tenant.

What happened to the big plans to upgrade Sun Life (i.e. remove the baseball oddities)?

From The U's standpoint this solution makes perfect sense. They're an urban school and a 40-45K seat venue is a perfect size for most such schools.

What I don't get is why Beckham's group would want to do this? A 40-45K seat MLS stadium would be GROSSLY oversized and would look weird.

If the Miami soccer team was going to have to tarp off entire sections anyway - as they would in a 40K seat stadium - why not just save the money and play in Sun Life Stadium where you can tarp off even more sections?

As a fan of the ACC, I hope this happens for Miami's sake. Also, the plan sounds like it could be kinda cool. I just don't see it as being very likely at all.

Miami inflates their numbers we've seen it mentioned plenty of times on boards and hinted to in media pieces. Their announced (reported) attendance usually is between 45-53K... now if they're inflating that... a 45K seat stadium isn't out of the realm of possibilities - especially if they will get a better deal on suite and club seating income than they get at SunLife. It's all about revenue they can generate in a building and if the U can make more money and have happier donors in a more personal stadium than cavernous Sun Life, they might be interested.

As neat as it sounds, I'm not sure this plan is the right one for UM or the MLS.

(04-30-2014 10:09 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  From The U's standpoint this solution makes perfect sense. They're an urban school and a 40-45K seat venue is a perfect size for most such schools.

What I don't get is why Beckham's group would want to do this? A 40-45K seat MLS stadium would be GROSSLY oversized and would look weird.

If the Miami soccer team was going to have to tarp off entire sections anyway - as they would in a 40K seat stadium - why not just save the money and play in Sun Life Stadium where you can tarp off even more sections?

As a fan of the ACC, I hope this happens for Miami's sake. Also, the plan sounds like it could be kinda cool. I just don't see it as being very likely at all.

I agree that 45k is quite large for MLS. 20-25k seems more typical, which would obviously be inadequate for the U. It depends on how they plan to address this. A major part of the construction expense for the stadium itself would be in the club seats and luxury boxes, which would provide the most value to both teams. It depends on how the architects address the lower priced seats that soccer wouldn't need. In addition to tarping off some seats, they could consider using temporary seats in one or both end zones that would allow the stadium to be scalable in capacity.

(05-01-2014 01:25 AM)Marge Schott Wrote:  As neat as it sounds, I'm not sure this plan is the right one for UM or the MLS.

+1. Miami should see what the Sun Life renovations are going to be 1st.

My doubts mainly center around:

1. UM would be stupid to move into a 40,000-seat stadium. How small-time is that? You'd be more like Wake and Duke, in that regard, than NC State, GT, UNC and UL. FSU and Clemson would have stadiums twice as large.

2. The MLS would be stupid to approve an over-sized, multi-sport stadium. They've spent the last decade trying to get away from that type of situation.

3. When I was looking this up yesterday, I saw that Royal Carribean, a local billionaire, the City of Miami Beach, and 13 local mayors and commissioners are all against this project at present. Their complaints focus on increased traffic and congestion in an area that already has plenty of it, and its affects on residents and businesses. They don't think a soccer/football stadium fits with the Port's identity as a cruise/cargo ship area, and would rather the available land be used in compatible pursuits.

I agree with pts 2 & 3 but pt 1 is no big deal at all. Just play the majority of your games in the 40K seater and when you play FSU, Clemson, etc., play that in Sun Life.

Having 38K fans in a 40K seat stadium will look and feel A LOT different than having the same number of fans in a 75K seat stadium.

Relegating yourself to a home stadium of 40,000 is admitting that that you're no longer a nationally prominent program. It absolutely is a big deal when your stadium is significantly closer in size to Wake and Duke, among other nobody programs, than it is the top teams in your conference.

EDIT: On the radio this morning I heard a commercial paid for by the Miami Seaport Alliance, comprised of many of those I mentioned in another comment, voicing their opposition to the stadium. They even mentioned the Marlins' Stadium debacle, which is why the Dolphins' Stadiums public funding portion was denied in spectacular fashion.

(04-30-2014 04:54 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-bu...atter.html

The stadium would seat around 40-45,000 and would be located in the downtown area of Miami in the PortMiami neighborhood. This would be undoubtedly a huge plus for a lot of Canes fans who absolutely disdain Sun Life (myself included).

This really says slot about the u and the acc. Bottomline Miami leadership is very confortsble in the acc- they like the schools they play and keeps the athletic program sustsinable and consistent in funding. Shalala also likes the way the peer schools conduct business. For a private school like Miami 46 k stadium is very sustsinable . Having a stadiun 1 hr away from campus and fan base is not. Also having a second investor is sweet

Not that I think it will survive the political fallout but where would they hide the 20,000 plus empty seats when the soccer team plays. I thought Sun life plan includes a reduction to around 53,000 for Canes games. Miami should concentrate improving on campus facilities like a indoor facility & larger weight room

Playing in a FULL (or near full) state-of-the-art 45,000 seat stadium would feel small time, but playing in a half empty cavernous stadium an hour from their campus isn't? Oh come on?!!? their games on tv with all the empty orange seats looks small time now!

(05-02-2014 02:28 PM)IceJus10 Wrote:  Playing in a FULL (or near full) state-of-the-art 45,000 seat stadium would feel small time, but playing in a half empty cavernous stadium an hour from their campus isn't? Oh come on?!!? their games on tv with all the empty orange seats looks small time now!

Maybe they just need to paint pictures of fans on the chair backs?

(05-02-2014 02:28 PM)IceJus10 Wrote:  Playing in a FULL (or near full) state-of-the-art 45,000 seat stadium would feel small time, but playing in a half empty cavernous stadium an hour from their campus isn't? Oh come on?!!? their games on tv with all the empty orange seats looks small time now!

I didn't say Sun Life is the right fit.

(05-01-2014 11:17 PM)Marge Schott Wrote:  Relegating yourself to a home stadium of 40,000 is admitting that that you're no longer a nationally prominent program. It absolutely is a big deal when your stadium is significantly closer in size to Wake and Duke, among other nobody programs, than it is the top teams in your conference.

First, let me say that it's not likely to happen for all the reasons you listed as well as a few you did not, so this is likely all moot. However, if it ever were to happen, Miami should count itself as being very, very lucky.

Again, if I were Beckham's group, there's no way I would do this as 40K is WAY too big for MLS soccer. However, maybe the Beckham folks need the money and are willing to make that type of concession to make the stadium happen? If so, Miami should jump all over the schitt and deal with Ross and all the rest of it later.

I don't buy that whole Duke/Wake line at all. That's a very limited perspective, IMHO. I mean this with all due respect to everyone on this board but The U isn't located in some sleepy Southern backwater where there's nothing else to do like most of the schools that fill those 80K seat stadia. They're located in one of the largest, most glamorous cities in the United States that has perfect weather year round and is filled with professional models and girls who aspire to be professional models. As such, any hit the Canes take for only playing in a 40K seat stadium will quickly be mitigated by the fact that the town in which they play in is EASILY one of the nicest in the country for an 18-22 year-old kid and is a FAR more exciting place to live and go to school than most of those places that are filling those enormous cow pastures.

Now, consider that Sun Life Stadium holds 76,000 people and is located a half hour away from Miami's Coral Gables campus. Miami has never consistently drawn anything close to that number of fans for their home games and that was true even when the stadium was 10 minutes from their campus.

This would give them a chance to create an electric atmosphere at their home games and move them much closer to their students. As I said earlier, 38K in a 40K seat stadium sounds and feels worlds different than the exact same number of fans in a 76K seat stadium.

Do you honestly think recruits would hold it against them because they only filled up a 40K seat stadium instead of half-filling an 80K seat stadium? That's some pretty suspect logic, IMHO. In fact, I would go so far as to call it wishful thinking on the part of one of their rivals.

If Miami could somehow pull this off, and I don't think they can, it would be their most substantial move since winning the last of their five national championships. It would be a HUGE positive for their program and there's just no doubt about that.

Think it would be great for UM and horrible for Soccer.

(05-02-2014 10:03 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  

(05-01-2014 11:17 PM)Marge Schott Wrote:  Relegating yourself to a home stadium of 40,000 is admitting that that you're no longer a nationally prominent program. It absolutely is a big deal when your stadium is significantly closer in size to Wake and Duke, among other nobody programs, than it is the top teams in your conference.

First, let me say that it's not likely to happen for all the reasons you listed as well as a few you did not, so this is likely all moot. However, if it ever were to happen, Miami should count itself as being very, very lucky.

Again, if I were Beckham's group, there's no way I would do this as 40K is WAY too big for MLS soccer. However, maybe the Beckham folks need the money and are willing to make that type of concession to make the stadium happen? If so, Miami should jump all over the schitt and deal with Ross and all the rest of it later.

I don't buy that whole Duke/Wake line at all. That's a very limited perspective, IMHO. I mean this with all due respect to everyone on this board but The U isn't located in some sleepy Southern backwater where there's nothing else to do like most of the schools that fill those 80K seat stadia. They're located in one of the largest, most glamorous cities in the United States that has perfect weather year round and is filled with professional models and girls who aspire to be professional models. As such, any hit the Canes take for only playing in a 40K seat stadium will quickly be mitigated by the fact that the town in which they play in is EASILY one of the nicest in the country for an 18-22 year-old kid and is a FAR more exciting place to live and go to school than most of those places that are filling those enormous cow pastures.

Now, consider that Sun Life Stadium holds 76,000 people and is located a half hour away from Miami's Coral Gables campus. Miami has never consistently drawn anything close to that number of fans for their home games and that was true even when the stadium was 10 minutes from their campus.

This would give them a chance to create an electric atmosphere at their home games and move them much closer to their students. As I said earlier, 38K in a 40K seat stadium sounds and feels worlds different than the exact same number of fans in a 76K seat stadium.

Do you honestly think recruits would hold it against them because they only filled up a 40K seat stadium instead of half-filling an 80K seat stadium? That's some pretty suspect logic, IMHO. In fact, I would go so far as to call it wishful thinking on the part of one of their rivals.

If Miami could somehow pull this off, and I don't think they can, it would be their most substantial move since winning the last of their five national championships. It would be a HUGE positive for their program and there's just no doubt about that.

+1