Real Madrid vs. Chelsea

Submitted by Go Blue Eyes on

Soccer match at Michigan Stadium today.  Who is going?

Hopefully the rain holds off.

Zoltanrules

July 30th, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^

This sucks more than stars not playing. I hope they can play the game. Wonder what the policy is if the game is cancelled ? Looking for poncho now and praying.

casmooth

July 30th, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^

I'll be there. If the wind shifts north or even north east, we could be ok. The field is going to be in awful condition. I hope they covered it overnight.

MGOTokyo

July 30th, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^

my kids to exhibition tennis matches that featured some of the world's best players. Prices we're high but effort was 50% at best. I imagine soccer would be the same. Probably with early subs that rarely see the field in EPL matches.
But..... enjoy.

skurnie

July 30th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

Wasn't planning on going but tickets are cheap on Stubhub and the family is out of town. Thinking about heading over to find a cheap ticket due to this weather

160 IQ

July 30th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

Is the stadium even big enough for a soccer field?  I thought they were different dimensions.

drzoidburg

July 30th, 2016 at 6:28 PM ^

it's a problem for a lot of stadiums in america. Those that were put forth for the final world cup bid offered to remove a few rows of seats. Michigan Stadium was actually on the preliminary bid, and got removed from the final list either due to refusing this compromise, or for other reasons

DaveK9

July 30th, 2016 at 7:32 PM ^

The only college football stadiums that had enough room for a FIFA soccer pitch were Stanford and the Rose Bowl. That's because of those stadiums at one point had an athletic track around. The Rose Bowl was a track cycling venue for the 1932 Olympics.

Posted by Bando in 2014:

Not sure if the link is going to work, but from a 1990 issue of the Michigan Alumnus, discussing the 1994 World Cup committee coming to Ann Arbor to scout locations:

http://books.google.com/books?id=NwDiAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA16&lpg=RA4-PA16&d...

Pertinent quote:

"Michigan Stadium would need to be modified however to meet World Cup specifications. The field would need to be widened and the AstroTurf replaced with natural grass. One conceivable way of doing this would be to raise the field with scaffolding and cover the first eight rows. Of course the field would have to be removed in time for our American football season."