IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
What has been for a while a flight under the radar is about to end. Philly's Major League Soccer team has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for 2:30 p.m. Monday at the site of the 18,500-seat soccer-specific stadium in Chester.
One thing about already having a fan club, in this case the Sons of Ben, is that the bleachers set up for the event likely will be full. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis to see franchise officials and MLS commissioner Don Garber turn the first chunks of dirt for the future pitch.
The team is scheduled to start play in 2010, but the Sons of Ben figure it’s never too soon to begin doing work in the community. To that end, the club is asking attendees to bring canned food for its second annual “Help Kick Hunger” drive, benefitting Chester’s Bernardine Center. MLS Philadelphia will match donations up to $500.
Reached on Wednesday, the CEO and Operating Partner of Keystone Sports & Entertainment, LLC, the ownership group for the MLS 2010 Philadelphia, said the franchise has managed to push ahead despite the sour economy. Nick Sakiewicz wrote in an e-mail that “we are over 6,000 season-ticket deposits and are about to announce our second major stadium sponsor next Monday. Been in the ground for about 8 weeks and very excited about the future. Looks like we’ll sell out the stadium the first year and we are very focused on building the best stadium we can and servicing our great fans.”
At some point over the next two months, they expect to build momentum by kicking off a naming campaign and releasing info on season-ticket prices, leading up to announcing the team’s name, logo and color scheme. Word about the coach, players and Daughters of Ben — there will be cheerleaders, won’t there? — come much later.
Paul Vigna still has the seat he wrestled out of the concrete at Connie Mack Stadium parked in the finished basement, a 1980 Phillies championship mirror hanging above it. Now, why he’s kept an autograph of former Flyer Bruce Gamble on a sheet of Hockey Hall of Fame paper is another story. A native of Philly who grew up in Lansdale, he’s an assistant sports editor at the Daily News in charge of special projects who has written two columns related to sports and consumers: View From the Seats and Savvy Consumer.
ABOUT THIS BLOG:
Athletic contests were, for a long time, simply fun and games. Nowadays they’re just a small part of a sports entertainment industry that puts billions of dollars into play and a number of issues into motion. Moneyball indeed. You might be closer to the action than ever before, but that privilege comes at a price - and often it’s beyond what you can afford.
With that as the backdrop we’ll use this blog to dig out stories and swap advice about how the fan experience is changing and what it’s costing you now and in the future. Some of it will educate, some will let you vent. And in a sports panel format, it should allow for a consensus of opinion that can carry some weight.
