Starfire or Qwest. That is the question.
The CONCACAF Champions League question, to be precise. Where should home games be held?
There are pluses and minuses for both sites. (And keep in mind that we're generally talking mid-week night games. That is a factor.)
Starfire: Up-close and intimate. Lousy parking. Small seating capacity. Easy to guarantee a sellout.
Qwest: Close to downtown. Huge. Possibility of low turnout, especially if we play teams nobody's heard of. (Which is likely in the early going.)
Rumor is that management is leaning toward Starfire, at least for the early games, assuming Starfire is approved by the CCL people. That's a big if. Among the rules for stadia are that it should be the venue where the team plays the majority of its home matches. (More rules where there might be issues are posted at the bottom. For full list of competition rules, click on the link in this paragraph.)
Which brings me to the two-part poll:
1) If it were up to you, where would the match be played? And
2) If it's at Qwest, how many tickets do you think we could sell?
10.2 Stadium Location
a. The home venue selected by the participating team should be the
stadium usually used by the team for its home games.
10.4 Stadium Seating
As a general rule, matches may only be played in all-seated stadia.
a. If only stadia with both seating and standing areas are available, the
standing space shall remain vacant.
10.5 Field Surface and Condition
a. The games of the CCL may be played on natural or artificial surfaces.
b. Where artificial surfaces are used, the surface must meet CONCACAF
requirements for artificial turf. In such cases the visiting team must be
permitted a minimum of two training sessions on the artificial surface
prior to the game.
10.6 Lighting
a. Since all games are evening games, they may be played only at venues
where the floodlighting installations provide that the whole field is
evenly lit to at least 800 Lux.
10.7 Other Stadium Facilities. Each stadium shall, as a minimum, provide the
following facilities:
a. Separate locker room facilities for the home team, away team and
match officials, meeting international standards in terms of size,
quality, and basic amenities such as hot water, towels, as determined
by CONCACAF.
b. Controlled Areas that may serve as post game interview areas.
c. Room for post-game press conference, air conditioned if available.
d. Facilities to accommodate broadcast and production operations,
consisting of at least 2 enclosed booths for radio and TV and preferably
at least 2 enclosed TV booths and 4 enclosed radio booths.
e. Controlled seating for no less than 50 media personnel for Preliminary
Round and Group Stage games, 80 for Elimination Round games.
f. A media room, preferably air-conditioned and with high-speed internet
access for all attending media, television monitors carrying a live feed
of the match, and food and beverages for all attending media.
g. Provide a private, secured box or comparable seating area for the
officials of the visiting team.
h. Broadcast facilities for television trucks including parking space,
security, and power and two (2) phone lines in the location where the
production trucks will be parked.
i. A fully operable public address system, audible both inside and outside
of the entire stadium, and an operator or announcer qualified in its use.