Crew Stadium in Columbus was America's first Soccer specific stadium, built in 1999 The Stadium holds 22,685 who come out in support of the Crew. The Crew finished second in the East (best mark at the time), and went to the Finals of the US Open Cup, (another high mark at the time). Proving that having your own stadium does help the results on the field for a club.
The next team to invest in their own stadium Galaxy who saw a dramatic rise in their attendance, and brought the to the status 'Jewell of the MLS'. The creation of these stadiums brought on the urge for other clubs to construct stadiums, in an effort to establish their own identity in the city. After all, it is not very attractive when you play championship soccer in somebody else's facilities. Especially when you have to play the beautiful game on a field with the embarrassing football marks on the field. Even more embarrassing is playing in stadiums in which the crowd you draw can barely fill the lower bowl of the stadium, and on TV viewers see more empty seats than they do supportive fans. I am not talking about your guys Seattle, your rock. However some teams struggle to maintain a to get a foothold in the market they are in because they play in a stadium that is just too big for them. Especially for the New York Red Bulls who seem to be engulfed in Giants Stadium as only a pathetic average of 7,000 or so fans don't look like much in the 105,000 capacity stadium.
The same holds true for the Revolution, a very successful club who does not seem to have that loyal of a following when their average attendance on 17,000 are so fans seem to not exists in Gillette Stadium that has a capacity of 68,756. Instead one of the league more successful franchises is playing in a NFL Stadium, and the club nor its fans get the proper venue. The lack of a stadium for clubs like New England, Kansas City will keep them from becoming top-class clubs in the MLS. Even though some clubs like DC, Houston, and Seattle do more than fine in NFL or in DC's case former NFL Stadiums, they still have the fan base to pull it off. Seattle's amazing attendance record makes Qwest Field one of the premier environment in the league, and thus a great choice to host the final. Houston also does well, as their attendances that usually are around 20,000 can fill up the 32,000 capacity college football stadium the Houston Cougars play in. It definitely was a great atmosphere for the plus 27,000 crowd who showed up for the Dynamo's playoff match against Seattle. Then United, the originators of loyal fans throughout the league do a fair job filling the lower bowl of RFK Stadium, but it would be nice to see Barra Brava in their own confines.
While these clubs are successful without their own stadium, it still in a great idea for each team to play in their own stadium. Clubs who play in their own facility just do better than clubs who do not. Only five of this year's eight playoff teams play in a soccer specific stadium, but once again both conference finals are in soccer stadiums. A testimony of the importance of soccer stadiums in the MLS.
For the 2010 campaign ten of the sixteen teams in the league will play in their own stadium. While other are looking to make their own stadiums, and future expansion teams are looking to build their own stadiums. The future is bright in the MLS, and it is lighten up by the lights of stadiums that were built specifically for MLS clubs. I say keep on building, as the success and future profitability of MLS teams will be determined on whether or not they will be able to play in their own grounds.
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