Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

We are fighting to be the first team to ever win the Major League Soccer Treble which involves winning three trophies: The US Open Cup, the Supporters Shield (given to the team with the best season record), and the MLS Cup. We won the first a couple months ago, and we just won the second one on Sunday. The playoff road to the MLS Cup is just now starting and it's the best season FCD has ever had.

Any other FCD fans here?

Good for them! I'm a casual soccer fan, but really only get into the sport around World Cup time. If FC Dallas played somewhere closer to Downtown, I wouldn't mind being a season ticket holder (at least back when I actually lived in Uptown).

Has FC Dallas played anywhere beside Frisco in its existance? Would be fantastic to a see a deal having them moved to the Cotton Bowl. Although I'm not even certain the stadium could support a soccer field.

As the Dallas Burn, they played in the Cotton Bowl until about a decade ago, give or take.

Cotton Bowl is just too big for regular season soccer; with seating for 90,000+, a good game played before 25,000 would be lessened by the empty seats. Who knows if MLS will ever move up to such big stadiums. Of the stadiums used by Liga MX, only Mexico City's América play in a stadium close to the size of the Cotton Bowl, which holds 84,000. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liga_MX). Looks like Liga MX stadiums have capacity similar to typical American baseball stadiums.

The notion has been floated around before, even gaining a big write up by D Magazine (I think) that maybe soccer in Dallas would be better suited to membership in Liga MX....

A modern, more urban stadium seating 25-30k incorporated into the Valley View mall site would be sweet. I just have a feeling the current plans for that place are too ambitious and without bringing anything new to the table, we'll just end up with blocks and blocks of 4/5 story stick apartments in the end.

^Ambitious renovation and upgrade plans for Dallas Municipal Auditorium would be a sweet site, too! Bring in the WNBA from Arlington, MLS from Frisco into the most versatile, adaptable and !! Stunning !! Auditorium/Stadium in North America.

With seating configurations from 5,000 to 40,000 and the dynamic structural capabilities to enjoy the indoor or outdoor climate best suited to your event, Dallas' Municipal Auditorium is mere footsteps away from the sophistication, entertainment and accommodations found only in one of the biggest cities of North America. Trade groups, professional associations and all variety of exhibitions combine the ever-flexible meeting space of the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, the on-site convenience of a 1,000 room Luxury Hotel and the pinnacle of presentation at the Municipal Auditorium to stage outstanding industry get-togethers. Country, Pop, Rock, Hip Hop and just about any other type of music is on performance through out the year, booked in between Professional Women's Basketball and Concacaf Futbol. The Dallas Municipal Auditorium is truly a place to find it all.

Just bumping this thread in honor of last night's 4-0 thumping of Arabe Unido in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal opener.

This team looks really, really solid at first blush. Did any other forum folks catch the game?

I did. I am a member of the Dallas Beer Guardians so I watching all the games now. They are a very inclusive a diverse group. I do despise the drive to Frisco though. The reality is they are renovating the stadium to add the Soccer Hall of Fame so the team is going nowhere.

Yeah I don't think a move anywhere is in the cards anytime soon. That said, it is nice to see the infrastructure improvements that are happening over the next couple years. It reminds me of when the years the Rangers went to the World Series, which spurred some great upgrades to the ballpark.

I'm looking forward to the CONCACAF Champions League game against Pachuca next week. I think it's safe to assume there will be far more visiting fans than there were for Arabe Unido, so should be pretty raucous.

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2017/03/08/fc-dallas-rolls-1-fan-payment-program?f=r

This is a really interesting move by FC Dallas. Basically, FC Dallas will reserve 1% of the proceeds from the sale of any player and distribute the 1% evenly among all the Season Ticket Members, based off each member's number of seats.

To start, they'll distribute 1% of the $2.8M received from the transfer of Fabian Castillo, made official several weeks back.

It's not a large amount of money on the grand scale ($28K for this particular transaction), but is a really cool idea, and a good way to please their existing fan base while potentially gaining more Season Ticket Members.

Anybody headed up to Frisco for the game this weekend?

I was there and will be for the time being since I joined the Dallas Beer Guardians. They take residence in the parking lot for tailgates at every game, including free food and free beer provided by Peticolas and in the stadium in the beer garden at the south end of the stadium. I also attend all the away game watching parties at BBC like this Friday FC Dallas vs San Jose

I've got tickets on the west side of the stadium, and was able to get down to the beer garden for the second half of the home opener. AWESOME vibe down there! The tailgate was great too.

Late one this week, hope they can keep up the good form!

Ah, FCD...Been a fan since '05 back when Juan Toja/Arturo Alvarez were with with the Hoops... They're looking solid again this year. Hopefully, we can get that elusive LH Trophy this year.

Tivo_Kenevil wrote:Ah, FCD...Been a fan since '05 back when Juan Toja/Arturo Alvarez were with with the Hoops... They're looking solid again this year. Hopefully, we can get that elusive LH Trophy this year.

I'd say this is definitely one of the better teams they've had in quite some time. Great shot at the trophy.

With the development in Plano/Frisco picking up the way it is, I'm hoping they can have more of a built-in fanbase within walking distance. They've sold out their two home games thus far (caveat: limited seating capacity with construction ongoing), which is a positive. It could really be a turning point year in terms of on-field success translating to butts in seats.

Back to first place in the Western Conference!

Anybody go to the 4th of July game last night?

I've been to all the games so far this season and a few have been sold out but roughly half are empty when the game actually starts. When they say sold out they also include tickets they have sold to companies that rarely actually use their large block of seats they offer to employees. So sadly the games don't look as full as they claim they are in a press release.

Do we need to re-title this thread? What HAPPENED to this team?!?!?!?!?

exelone31 wrote:Do we need to re-title this thread? What HAPPENED to this team?!?!?!?!?

Haha wow. I was hopping onto this thread to make the comment, "Hey, FC Dallas isn't very good anymore", and I guess I beat myself to the punch 5 months ago.

Anyone else torture themselves by going to that game last night?

They basically replaced most of the team over the break so I am less than excited about it this time around. They got rid of my favorite player and I know teams do this time to time but hey I never was a dedicated fan to begin with. Plus when the front office started arresting people for cussing in the beer garden last year I was over it. The front office seems so focused on being the family-friendly soccer hour I am over their lack of organization and bad treatment of the fans that actually show up to every game.

Wait, this applies to all the Dallas teams, doesn't it. Soccer, basketball, baseball, football. Isn't the Wnba team doing good? There's not a Women's soccer league is there?

Even the Spurs are having an off year.

Those away goals were devastating

Just chiming into an old thread to say that after a few rocky years I have a real good feeling about this season. We have a pretty solid roster right now.

New coach too, though, so it might take a little time for the team to find their footing. But I'm optimistic!

They are off to a good start! Shame they play in Frisco! Blah!

Apparently they struggle with attendance. Is it any surprise? I would imagine that 90% of the people in the metro area have no desire to drive to Frisco to attend a game. They lost a huge potential fan base by building their stadium in bfe. So very Dallas to do something like that.

I'd absolutely go to a couple games a year if it weren't so far. I'm honestly not a huge fan of the team or soccer, but the couples times I did go I really enjoyed the experience.

It was actually nice that the team didn't have as big of a following as some of our other sports teams, because going to a game didn't seem like as much of an event, and also I don't recall paying all that much either comparatively.

I'm in favor of having two leagues in north Texas, Dallas Liga MX expansion team at the Cotton bowl and MLS in Frisco....

Jbarn wrote:Apparently they struggle with attendance. Is it any surprise? I would imagine that 90% of the people in the metro area have no desire to drive to Frisco to attend a game. They lost a huge potential fan base by building their stadium in bfe. So very Dallas to do something like that.

We get called FC Frisco for good reason.
I've been a fan long enough at this point that I'm burned out on complaining about the location because it feels like shouting into a void. Nothing will ever change until attendance can justify an entirely new stadium at which point they'll probably threaten to put it in Sherman or Oklahoma City. If anything, Jones building The Star and the PGA relocating to Frisco probably makes Hunt feel like he was hip to Frisco before the other wealthy sports owners joined him.

It sucks being a poor fan. The radius of unaffordability radiating from Frisco/Plano seems to grow longer every day. Even with relatively cheap tickets the drive is still a huge distance for me and and essentially requires using the toll road to boot.

IcedCowboyCoffee wrote:

Jbarn wrote:Apparently they struggle with attendance. Is it any surprise? I would imagine that 90% of the people in the metro area have no desire to drive to Frisco to attend a game. They lost a huge potential fan base by building their stadium in bfe. So very Dallas to do something like that.

We get called FC Frisco for good reason.
I've been a fan long enough at this point that I'm burned out on complaining about the location because it feels like shouting into a void. Nothing will ever change until attendance can justify an entirely new stadium at which point they'll probably threaten to put it in Sherman or Oklahoma City. If anything, Jones building The Star and the PGA relocating to Frisco probably makes Hunt feel like he was hip to Frisco before the other wealthy sports owners joined him.

It sucks being a poor fan. The radius of unaffordability radiating from Frisco/Plano seems to grow longer every day. Even with relatively cheap tickets the drive is still a huge distance for me and and essentially requires using the toll road to boot.

FC Dallas owners are filthy rich, they own the KC Chiefs..FC Dallas is the bastard son they throw a bone at every once in a while. If they really wanted to have a better stadium location.. they would. Let's not pretend like they're not known for being cheap when it comes to FC Dallas.


They make no marquee DP signings and haven't won anything meaningful in years. 2010 being the last season they were actually in contention of winning a trophy...

They also have a real identity problem in the DFW sports culture. Nobody talks about em. Barely on local sports talk. They've been here since '96. And they've practically have made zero progres on the marketing front....if the NHL can be successful in Dallas, you have to question why MLS has struggled here ...Many ppl enjoy soccer in DFW.

The owners also repudiate the small the supporter group that they do have. Because they're actually vocal about the discontent of how the club is ran..

They don't even help them when travelling to Texas Derby's like the other Texan teams do. Kinda ridiculous given they barely have any die hard support ..but whatevs..

Follow @sadfcdfans on Twitter for more depressing ownership content!

A fellow @sadfcdfans follower eh?

Tivo_Kenevil wrote:They also have a real identity problem in the DFW sports culture. Nobody talks about em. Barely on local sports talk. They've been here since '96. And they've practically have made zero progres on the marketing front....if the NHL can be successful in Dallas, you have to question why MLS has struggled here ...Many ppl enjoy soccer in DFW.

The owners also repudiate the small the supporter group that they do have. Because they're actually vocal about the discontent of how the club is ran..

They don't even help them when travelling to Texas Derby's like the other Texan teams do. Kinda ridiculous given they barely have any die hard support ..but whatevs..

Aint that the damn truth.
It was maddening when Ricardo Pepi had his huge world cup qualifier debut last year and the Dallas Morning News could barely be assed to talk about it in the sports section--on an otherwise quiet sports day no less. A local player becoming a huge breakout star? Nothing interesting there. National media recognized the moment for what it was, but Dallas media? Nah.

I applaud El Matador for keeping the flame alive when ownership just seems completely uninterested in fan culture.

Driving halfway to Oklahoma to roast in the sun is not my kind of fun no matter how good the team is. It's a glorified high school football stadium that is even outmatched by real high school stadiums. Throw some shade up and make an actual PR effort. Sporting KC has a stadium in the boonies compared to the city but they don't have an attendance problem.

flyswatter wrote:Driving halfway to Oklahoma to roast in the sun is not my kind of fun no matter how good the team is. It's a glorified high school football stadium that is even outmatched by real high school stadiums. Throw some shade up and make an actual PR effort. Sporting KC has a stadium in the boonies compared to the city but they don't have an attendance problem.

You're not wrong.

3rd Degree wrote about an interview with Dan Hunt regarding improvements he wants to see done to the stadium:
https://3rddegree.net/dan-hunt-on-toyota-stadium-its-got-to-have-significant-improvements
I'm glad he seems to understand it needs a massive amount of improvements. It's very much trapped in time and even with the new south end seating the place still feels like a glorified high school stadium.
I don't really know what he's getting at with the stage space but he's right that it needs to be be reconfigured.

And please for mercy's sake give the east side some shade! It's BRUTAL while the sun is setting.

IcedCowboyCoffee wrote:
And please for mercy's sake give the east side some shade! It's BRUTAL while the sun is setting.

Not sure if it is a coincidence or planned, but Dr. Pepper Ballpark having most of the stands facing northeast away from the afternoon summer sun was genius. The suites/press box does a great job providing shade.

The stadium is really second rate, high school vibes. In comparison to the Dynamo and Austin FC stadiums... FC Dallas is really stuck in MLS 1.0. Same w/ the Rapids and Revs.

And don't get me started on NYCFC... Kansas City Wizards baseball stadium vibes... Just terrible

Sort of a non-update update, but there are still rumblings about stadium renovations.
Latest rumor seems to be they will likely announce the plans by midseason this year (so, by the summer), and possibly begin work around the same time.

They want this place looking better by the time the world cup rolls around, so the clock is ticking.

Probably be easier to start the whole hell over. : )

I wish, lol.
I know that ship has long sailed but I'll still always dream of a new stadium somewhere else, or even just a more modern one across the street from this one. The current one feels so little league.
But I guess for now I'll have to settle for a stadium reno and hope that Dan Hunt sprinkles a little extra bit of that Super Bowl win money onto his neglected soccer team.

My main hope now is that hypothetical Irving-Carrollton-Frisco train line, which would connect to the green line at Carrollton then drop fans off a couple blocks from the stadium in Frisco.