The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Many say it's a long shot, and with Montreal, Vancouver, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Portland and St Louis amongst others putting their names in the hat in an attempt to land a Major League Soccer franchise, the odds don't look so good for Ottawa to be one of the next two cities chosen to start the 2011 season.

But, it's definitely intriguing to say the least. And the though of a brand new soccer stadium that could seat up to 30,000 spectators is something that I would welcome, for the most part.

I naively thought that the Eugene Melnyk camp might be working together with the Minto group trying to bring back the folded CFL franchise to revitalize the downtown area by modernizing Frank Clair Stadium or by developing some other central location. But apparently they haven't really spoken to each other and are pretty much on their own. The plan of Melnyk is to build the stadium adjacent to Scotiabank Place and already I'm thinking Ottawa still hasn't learned anything from the mistakes of the past, namely no one enjoys the drive to the west end of the city to see a game. Because it's professional hockey, we do it anyway, even in the dead of winter knowing 45 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic awaits us at game's end. But does soccer have enough drawing power that fans won't mind this sort of inconvenience?

Maybe it does. But, the more lingering question is can something non-hockey related survive in this market? Having 2,000 fans attending Ottawa Rapidz games is enough to keep it afloat, and that's not much to ask for. However, any MLS franchise needs strong attendance (20,000+ on average) to survive, and the appeal of something new (a new soccer team AND a new stadium) will likely be enough to draw the crowds in the short term. The question is if they'll stay for the long haul.

Ottawa did a very good job as one of the host cities of the 2007 U-20 World Cup and attendance was very strong. Will these same people attend MLS games? Melnyk is gambling they will, and we'll find out before the end of October if he's successful in his bid to land a franchise in Ottawa.