OT: Insane "New" Silverdome plans

Submitted by ken725 on

http://www.kckrs.com/behold-the-insane-silverdome-plans-that-could-brin…

http://www.motorcitysupporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=ar…

If they actually pull this off this will be amazing.  I am not an engineer so I'm not sure if anything like this is possible or how much it might cost. 

I am under the impression that Detroit would be able to support an MLS team.  That is just my opinion, but since I live in California I can't say for sure if that is true. 

What do you guys think about Detroit getting an MLS team?

615Wolverine

October 12th, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^

I also believe detroit opening up a mls team would be wonderful. I played 4 years in high school and love the sport. Now with economy in detroit, idk if they will profit, but i would definetly come up there for a detroit mls gm. Soony saad and kansas city at Detroit motors :) would love see that

E.L. blue fan

October 12th, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^

The owners of the Silverdome are an uber rich Greek family that want nothing more than to own a professional soccer team so this could actually happen. The biggest obstacle at the moment is getting the go ahead from MLS because next year Montreal is getting a team and they plan to add a 20th team the following season but the commissioner of MLS is determined to put a second team in the New York area so it will be tough for Detroit to win the expansion bid. 

MGoSoftball

October 13th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^

with Don.  I dont think that MLS has a chance here.  The Shock couldnt make it and moved within months of winning a championship.

I would like MLS to succeed.  This would help push for a light rail system along Woodward.  Then out east along Gratiot and then west along Grand River, and then southwest along Michigan Ave. 

How cool would that be?

snoopblue

October 12th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^

Looks expensive. They should just sell the naming rights and use the cash to do a full renovation a la the Mercedes Benz Superdome. No point in doing anything too extravagant with three different venues. The Palace and DTE are nearby and are great venues.

ken725

October 12th, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^

You make a good point that it looks expensive.  The only problem now is that the Silverdome is just too big for a soccer stadium.  If this was in Europe I'm sure that you can fill the Silverdome to capacity, but I can't see it happening in the US right now.

The reason to make it a 30,000 capacity stadium is a great idea.  Having 5,000 empty seats is better than having 50,000 empty seats.

Shaqsquatch

October 12th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^

I would love to have a Detroit MLS team, I remember going to Neon games way back in the day. However, I dont know if open-air is the best idea, that really limits the time it can be used...

jmblue

October 12th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^

That shouldn't be a problem, given that the MLS season is during the spring/summer.  If it were during the traditional European calendar, that'd be another story.

I think outdoor is the way to go.  People put up with long, crappy winters here.  When it's nice out, we don't want to be cooped up inside.

Bid

October 12th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^

the sport of the future ....and always will be.

 

No seriously the plans look great. But I can't imagine selling enough tickets for a reasonable ROI. I haven't been in Pontiac in a long while - hasn't that area really gone down hill? A bit ironic that downtown Detroit is now nicer and a better location for a sports franchise than Pontiac.

readyourguard

October 12th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^

It just so happens that I called the Silverdome yesterday to inquire about renting the field for a high school football practice in preparation of next week's Prep Bowl.  I almost hyperventilated when I was told the rental fee is $500/hour....and that was during daylight hours.  If I needed the lights turned on, it was more.   For comparison sake, the golf dome down Opdyke rents for $75/hour.

Raback Omaba

October 12th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^

An MLS team would not last in Detroit.....the first few games/season would be fun, but once it lost it's lustre, the team would be dead.

Detroit's sporting events plate is full enough with the Red Wings, Tigers, Lions, Pistons, Michigan & MSU...there really is not enough wealth or interest to go around.

Additionally, I do not believe the interest in soccer in Southeastern Michigan is strong. Sure, Blackfinn was packed for USA-England, but the every four year world cup craze would never last on an annual basis here. When you take out the soccer playing kids attending the MLS game with their Parks & Rec team, the rare adult soccer enthusiast, and the small percentage of international people here, you don't have much left - Detroit is a blue collar/meat & potatoes town, and soccer is decidedly not that.

I personally think an MLS team would fail in Detroit - I'd keep the Silverdome Soccer events at a once every year thing.

I Bleed Maize N Blue

October 12th, 2011 at 9:47 PM ^

What "apples/oranges"?  It seems to me you're only counting post play as "physical."  There's less of that in soccer, but there are slide tackles, hard fouls (which got taken out of the NBA), people missing the ball and kicking shins and ankles, going up for a head ball and colliding heads or catching an elbow.  Is that not physical?

jmblue

October 12th, 2011 at 10:59 PM ^

You're getting too worked up about this.  I've played both sports.  I agree that soccer is more physical than American fans give it credit for, but I wouldn't say it's more physical than basketball.  They are each physical in their own way.  I certainly don't agree that hard fouls have been eliminated from the NBA.  Watch a game and see how many people take an awkward spill onto the hardwood (which can hurt like hell - there's no "give" like on grass).  

 

superman26

October 12th, 2011 at 9:43 PM ^

Well from the picture in the first link it looks like the seats on the bottom areas go right up to the ceiling or close to it. From my little knowledge, to have a free span area like the two bottom ones, with an extremly heavy roof (the soccer field) you would need a really deep joist spanning across the top to hold up the soccer field. This joist could be nearly 25 or more feet deep and could impact seating. A Bar/Girder Joist that large would be extremly costly. I don't know any other ideas of how to hold up the soccer field without columns though. I am just a soph in construction management though so like I said I don't have much knowledge of the whole thing :) just my two cents.

LSAClassOf2000

October 12th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^

It looks awesome, but I have doubts that the current economy in SE Michigan would support such a venue enough to make it consistently profitable.  

 

However, if they offer to gut the inside and build another Hadron collider....

BigBlue02

October 12th, 2011 at 7:09 PM ^

We have a soccer team here in Utah. The reason it is successful: we have the Jazz and nothing else. I'm very skeptical of a city that already has 4 professional sports teams trying to get another.

State Street

October 12th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^

For those who haven't been following MLS expansion...

MLS is sitting at 19 teams with the inclusion of Montreal in 2012.  The 20th team is all but locked up for New York City (Yes, NY already has a franchise, but they are adamant about adding a second in Queens).

After 20, it looks like Garber (MLS commish) is content to hold firm for a while. 

Doesn't look like this will come to fruition anytime in the near future.  Believe me, this will not move beyond a blueprint unless an MLS franchise is signed, sealed, and delivered to the Detroit-metro area.  That could be a while.  

gbdub

October 12th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^

That idea looks really cool, but I have to imagine tearing the whole place down and building a 30k seat soccer stadium would be cheaper. Hell, tearing it down and building the proposed design from scratch would probably cost the same, and turn out nicer.

bacon1431

October 12th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^

They should just give the Silverdome to Barry Sanders and let him do what he wants with it.

But I would dig an MLS team. Don't know if it'll happen though. I'd wait 10 years to see if soccer continues to pick up in popularity.

kdhoffma

October 12th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^

I've been living in Houston for the past 5 years, and I'd guess this is about as likely to happen as the Astrodome renovations that pop up every 6 months or so.  In the past few years the astrodome was going to be turned into a convention center, or a motel, or a movie studio.

Vasav

October 13th, 2011 at 1:34 AM ^

And call the Silverdome, the "Chrome Dome."  Connects with the auto industry - I can even envision an Old English D (obviously not one of the Tigers' versions) inside a hood-ornament looking device as a logo. Heck if that hood ornament had wings, you'd pretty much connect the team with every other major sporst team in Detroit - chrome is a bit like the Lions' silver, the old-english D would be a bit like the Tigers, the wings would be a bit like the Wings, and the name and logo connecting to the auto industry would be a bit like the Pistons.