SOCCER-SPECIFIC STADIUM

'Soccer-specific stadium' ('SSS') is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada. It was coined by Lamar Hunt to refer to a sports stadium whose primary (but not only) purpose is to host soccer matches. An SSS may host other events such as other sporting events (mostly lacrosse and gridiron football), drum and bugle corps competitions, and concerts, but the design and purpose of an SSS is centered on soccer. These venues tend to be located in the suburbs outside the city limits instead of in the city itself, with the current exceptions of Columbus, Ohio and Toronto.
A SSS typically has amenities, dimensions and scale suitable for soccer in the United States, 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 United Soccer Leagues (whose attendance is subject to more variation), as opposed to the gigantic American football stadiums in which most MLS teams were compelled to play at the league's inception. The seating capacity for USL Premier Development League fields ranges from 1,000-5,000.
These facilities face criticism from fans in that they tend to be optimized for staging concerts, often resulting in one section of the stadium behind a goal having very few seats, if any. Instead, a berm or other feature is created where concert stages could be placed without destroying the main field.
The first large SSS in Canada is BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario. The original Toronto stadium plan was centered on grounds at York University that would have been used by the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and an MLS team. That stadium would have been 65 yards wide, in accordance with Canadian football standards, and would have had one set of end zone seats mounted on a track so they could be moved: back, to make room for the 150 yard length of the Canadian football field (including the end zones); and forth, to provide an intimate setting for soccer. However, the York University plan was shelved. Plans for movable stands were then scrapped, meaning that BMO Field was completed for soccer use only on the grounds of Exhibition Place.
The term "football-specific stadium" is sometimes used in countries where the sport is known as football, although not so much so in countries where football is the dominant sport and thus football-specific stadia are quite common. The term tends to have a slightly different meaning in these countries, usually referring to a stadium without an athletic track.

Contents

List of soccer-specific stadiums

Major League Soccer (MLS)

Current MLS Stadiums

Past Soccer-specific Stadiums

Proposed Soccer-specific Stadiums

United Soccer Leagues (USL)

Current USL Stadiums

Proposed Soccer-specific stadiums

Other Soccer-specific stadiums

See also

Notes and references

External links

List of soccer-specific stadiums

Major League Soccer (MLS)

Current MLS Stadiums

Stadium	Club(s)	City	Capacity	Opened	Cost (Millions USD)
Columbus Crew Stadium	Columbus Crew	Columbus, OH	22,500	1999	28.5
The Home Depot Center	Los Angeles Galaxy, CD Chivas USA	Carson, CA	27,000	2003	150
Pizza Hut Park	FC Dallas	Frisco, TX	21,193	2005	80
Toyota Park	Chicago Fire	Bridgeview, IL	20,000	2006	98
Dick's Sporting Goods Park	Colorado Rapids	Commerce City, CO	18,500	2007	130
BMO Field	Toronto FC	Toronto, ON	20,195	2007	62.5
Real Salt Lake Stadium	Real Salt Lake	Sandy, UT	~20,000	''2008'' ★	145 ★
Red Bull Park	Red Bull New York	Harrison, NJ	~25,000	''2009'' ★	220 ★

''
★ = projected''

Past Soccer-specific Stadiums

Stadium	Club(s)	City	Capacity	Opened	Years Used	Status
Lockhart Stadium	Miami Fusion	Fort Lauderdale, FL	20,450	1959	1998-2001	Open

Proposed Soccer-specific Stadiums

Club(s)	City	Current Stadium	Capacity
D.C. United - Poplar Point Stadium	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium	55,672
San Jose Earthquakes	San Jose, CA	Spartan Stadium	30,578
Kansas City Wizards	Kansas City, MO	Arrowhead Stadium	79,101
Houston Dynamo	Houston, TX	Robertson Stadium	33,000
New England Revolution	Somerville, MA	Gillette Stadium	68,756
St. Louis expansion team	Collinsville, IL	None
Philadelphia expansion team	Chester, PA	None

United Soccer Leagues (USL)

Current USL Stadiums

Stadium	Club(s)	Division	City	Capacity	Opened
Lusitano Stadium	Western Mass Pioneers	Second	Ludlow, MA	3,000	1918
Legion Stadium	Wilmington Hammerheads	Second	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 Ramon Loubriel Stadium	Puerto Rico Islanders	First	Bayamon, PR	15,000	1974
Busch Field	Virginia Legacy William & Mary Tribe	PDL NCAA	Williamsburg, VA	2,271	1984
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	First	Charleston, SC	5,113	1999
SAS Soccer Park	Carolina RailHawks Cary RailHawks U23's	First PDL	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	El Paso Patriots	PDL	El Paso, TX	3,000(?)	2005
PAETEC Park	Rochester Raging Rhinos	First	Rochester, NY	13,500	2006
RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium	Atlanta Silverbacks	First	Atlanta, GA	3,000	2006
Saputo Stadium	Montréal Impact	First	Montréal, QC	15,000	2008

Proposed Soccer-specific stadiums

Club(s)	Division	City	Current/Former Stadium	Capacity
Des Moines Menace - Liberty Bank Stadium	PDL	Des Moines, IA	Waukee Stadium	6,000
Vancouver Whitecaps - Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium	First	Vancouver, BC	Swangard Stadium	15,000
Minnesota Thunder	First	St. Paul, MN	James Griffin Stadium	6,000

Other Soccer-specific stadiums

Stadium	Club(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	Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Various	NCAA Local	Waipio, HI	4,500	2000
Mike Rose Soccer Complex	Memphis Tigers Various	NCAA Local	Memphis, TN	2,500	2001
Starfire Sports Complex	Seattle Sounders (alt.) Various	USL-1 PCSL	Tukwila, WA	2,000	2002
Morrison Stadium	Creighton Bluejays Various	NCAA Local	Omaha, NE	6,000	2003
Uihlein Soccer Park	MSOE Red Raiders Various	NCAA Local	Milwaukee, WI	7,000	1994

See also

★ Major League Soccer

★ United Soccer Leagues

★ List of football (soccer) stadiums by capacity

Notes and references

1. Laws of the Game 2006 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.

External links

★ BigSoccer, online community for fans - Stadium discussions

★ World Stadiums