(03-07-2020 03:16 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  You soccer guys usually get sensitive only once every four years. The Sting was in the bottom of attendance. The fire was/is. Keep telling yourself it's a soccer town because of the world cup or international matches. Saying soccer is popular because fans follow their international team and thus local soccer will be popular is like saying Huskie football will be popular because people follow the Bears.
Local soccer is about as popular as Arena football where the Chicago Rush averaged 12k fans a game to beautiful Rosemont. The Rush out drew the Fire in '06.
Soccer is coming everyone! It's taking over

Wow, the Chicago Rush outdrew the Fire in '06. Of course the Rush was so popular it ceased to exist after 2013 and the Fire can trace its history back to 1978 -- 23 years before the Rush debuted. What does that say about staying power?
For the record, average attendance for the Fire in 2019 was 12,324, down from 14,086 the year before. Again, the current Fire owner was willing to spend $60 million just to get out of Bridgeview. It remains to be seen IF the move pays off.
Although I've never said -- and neither do true soccer enthusiasts -- that the sport is taking over, only someone with their head in the sand or located somewhere else can deny its growth in popularity. And it clearly isn't limited to every four years, but I wasn't making apples to oranges comparisons between soccer and anything else, my comments were about the facility; specifically the one you're all excited over NIU now getting to share a field with a women's pro soccer team.
To pvk75, I said "you make good suggestions", I simply lack faith in our administration to capitalize on things even with committed fans like you .