Pro Soccer Can Thrive Here
May 17th, 2004
By GLENN DAVIS
Houston Chronicle Sports Writer
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
reprinted by permission
HOUSTON, TEXAS --
In the 1980s, when I was a defender for the Houston Dynamos of the United Soccer League, the term "soccer-specific stadium" was never used. The facilities we played in ranged from the Silverdome in Detroit to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., to our home games at Houston-area high school facilities such as Butler Stadium and Delmar Stadium.
Clearly, the small dimensions affected a team that had numerous skilled players, including league MVP Jose Neto, a forward, and midfielders Beto, Manny Neves and Lesh Shrekli. To play quality soccer on small surfaces like this was a challenge. Houston fans never saw our best games because they occurred on the road on larger surfaces.
It's hard to believe that world-class players such as Johan Neeskens, Teofilo Cubillas, Magico Gonzalez and Phil Thompson left footprints on high school fields.
It reminds us of the importance of quality surfaces and the soccer-specific stadiums that can bring out the best in players and fans alike. But soccer-specific stadiums also hold the key to financial success for professional soccer teams.
On Saturday, Texans senior vice president Jamey Rootes was in Columbus, Ohio, celebrating the five-year anniversary of Crew Stadium. Primary investor/operator Lamar Hunt and Rootes, the general manager of the Crew at the time, were keys in building the first soccer-specific stadium, which was completed in nine months and one day.
"It will be one of the highlights of my lifetime participating in that project. It helped to change the future of the sport and the perception of the community," said Rootes, who was instrumental in bringing the U.S.-Mexico game to Reliant Stadium last May.
In its five-year history, Crew Stadium has hosted World Cup qualifiers, MLS Cup championships and All-Star games. Its impact has had a ripple effect that has led to the building of the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and proposed soccer facilities for the Chicago Fire, MetroStars, Colorado Rapids and Dallas Burn. In fact, all MLS teams not currently in soccer-specific stadiums are exploring their options for building these types of venues.
So with the new facilities in Houston such as Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium and the Toyota Center, why not a soccer facility here, too? Houston is an international soccer city, and the demographics and interests of its inhabitants will continue to lean toward soccer in the future.
"Clearly, soccer has established itself long enough that it will become a major league if it is not already," said Houston Sports Authority head Oliver Luck. "Based on demographic projections, it could supplant the NHL in the next 15 years, at least in the southern tier of the U.S."
The model that exists for building a soccer-specific facility is that of public and private entities joining forces as they did in Columbus, when the Crew partnered with the state of Ohio.
The same is occurring in the Dallas area, where the city of Frisco, the Frisco Independent School District and the Hunt Group have broken ground on a new stadium and soccer complex that will serve all entities.
So why not in Houston?
Options exist both inside and outside the Loop.
The aforementioned Butler and Delmar stadium complexes are in need of a breath of fresh air. Or what about Rice University teaming up with a private entity to build a new facility similar to the Home Depot Center agreement that connects Cal State Dominguez with the Anschutz Group and the Los Angeles Galaxy?
How about the great possibilities of a number of growing communities that would benefit greatly from a soccer-specific facility in their part of town? Katy and The Woodlands come to mind.
"I have no doubt there are a number of communities in Houston capable of supporting an MLS-type facility and team," says Rootes.
It can happen in Houston.
