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Monday, March 11, 2013

Scheduling Conflicts Force Changes To Eagles Schedule

Blackbaud Stadium
The venues for the Eagles June 14 match against Tonga and their home World Cup qualifying match against Canada have been moved due to scheduling conflicts. The June 14th test will now be moved from Rio Tino Stadium in Salt Lake to the Home Depot Center in Los Angles while the Canada match has been moved from the Kennesaw State soccer stadium in Atlanta to Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. (NOTE: It should be noted that U.S.A. Rugby did not officially announce the venues even though Salt Lake and and Atlanta have long been rumored to be nearly set in stone by officials close to the organization.)

As source close to U.S.A. Rugby explained that Rio Tinto stadium is now is in the running for a soccer World Cup qualifying match on either the 11th or the 18th, both of which are a Tuesday leaving little room to prep the field for a rugby match. The Home Depot Center, despite having two Major League Soccer team, had availability to schedule the match. Being in L.A. should allow U.S.A. Rugby to draw a strong crowd similar to what they would have had in Salt Lake (HDC is even a bigger venue).

The match against Canada was moved due to a scheduling conflict for the Canadians. They had planned to host their leg of World Cup qualifying in Toronto but that anticipated end of July date reportedly is no longer viable. As such, Rugby Canada has moved the date of that test to August. Unfortunately for U.S.A. Rugby, that meant that the Kennesaw State soccer stadium would no longer be available. Chalk this move up to RugbyCanada. Now the match will be played at Blackbaud Stadium at a later date. The stadium was the setting for the Eagles last home World Cup qualifier against Canada. The U.S. won 12-6 on the 4th of July.

What do you think of the moves?
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23 comments:

  1. Damn. The rugby community in Atlanta was ecstatic about this game. I spoke with a lot of them in Savannah this weekend for the Saint Patricks Day Tournament.

    What a disappointment. I will still make the trip to Charleston but I wish it was here.

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  2. Charleston is a great town but it is a terrible idea to move the Canada match there. This is the most important home match of the year and it will be played in front of maybe 3,000 people in a 5,000 seat stadium? Not only that, but it is essential for USA Rugby to get Houston-like crowds and sticking matches in a 5,000 seat stadium makes that impossible. If they were going to play in a tiny stadium, they may as well have played it in Glendale where they know it would sell out and they get free rent.

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    1. Where do you propose it go? And I don't think USA Rugby gets anything close to a deal on rent at Glendale.

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  3. If the goal is to raise funds, why don't they have the match in Seattle? I know it takes a bit of the home field advantage away, but I'm guessing you could get 10K or more easily being so close to the border. You have a lot of branding options too.

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    1. In what grass stadium? There's no Reg 22 turf there.

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    2. The NFL stadium is configured for MLS games for the Seattle Sounders.

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Seattle_Sounders_v_Red_Bull_New_York_kick_off.jpg

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    3. The NFL stadium is turf. And that rent is probably outrageous for an event that wouldn't draw much over 10K.

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    4. Centurylink would be a huge cavern, plus the Sounders are probably playing. Starfire Sports Complex is only 5k at best. There are basically no good 10-20k seat stadiums in the state of Washington.

      I could imagine a game being played at JELD-Wen in Portland, but once again, the turf issue.

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    5. I don't know. This looks like a pretty good atmosphere when configure for soccer/rugby.

      http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/pictures/2009-03-19-sounders/stadium-wide-IMG_2918.JPG

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    6. What part of "it's not Reg 22 turf" are you not understanding?

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    7. Feb 2012 they put in a new FieldTurf field.

      http://www.fieldturf.com/en/artificial-turf/artificial-turf-news/seahawks-and-sounders-fc-to-install-new-fieldturf-at-centurylink-field/

      FieldTurf was appointed as an IRB preferred vendor

      http://www.fieldturf.com/en/artificial-turf/artificial-turf-news/fieldturf-appointed-as-an-international-rugby-board-irb-preferred-producer

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    8. The new surface at CenturyLink Stadium is the FieldTurf Revolution. See - http://www.fieldturf.com/en/featured-installations/seattle-sounders-centurylink-field

      The American Rugby Championships were played on FieldTurf last Fall, which was an IRB event.

      http://www.fieldturf.com/en/sports/rugby

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    9. Regardless of vendor, turf is *not* Reg 22 approved unless tested by the IRB. The process involves multiple stages of sampling and inspection of the installation. Seattle, as such, does *not* have Reg 22 approved turf. Canada paid for the testing and their facility passed; so did Glendale for its training pitch. Seattle has done no such thing.

      Also, the costs would be outrageous for the expected crowd in a venue that large.

      You're a Seattle homer, I get it. Unfortunately, you don't know what you're talking about.

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    10. And you're a simpleton with ZERO ambition. Say hello to your grandma when she brings your supper down to the basement while you spam blogs with nonsense.

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    11. I'm a simpleton because I've tried to put in a bid that included turf to USA Rugby before and learned about their turf policy while you talk out your ass about Seattle? Please. And how is it I'm somehow living in my grandmother's basement for posting on the internet while you, also posting on the internet, somehow aren't?

      Don't get mad, bro. It's okay to be wrong. Which you are.

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    12. FIFA certified, which the Seattle stadium is, expedites the IRB regarding 22 approval. Also, FieldTurf is an IRB preferred vendor and the approval process would be quick and inexpensive.

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    13. I challenge you to call someone at USA Rugby and get them to verify what you just said. Because they won't. The installation is a huge part of the testing process (which is what makes it pricey), and there is *so much* FieldTurf that is FIFA-certified yet not Reg 22 approved.

      Also, *again*, the costs for a stadium that large would be outrageous unless USA Rugby suddenly starts pulling regular crowds of 30-40K.

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  4. Lots of Pacific Islanders in So Cal, which should make for a good crowd at the Home Depot Center. Let's hope USA Rugby gets the marketing right for this one.

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  5. Super disappointed. I was looking forward to Atlanta but will have to road trip to Charleston now.

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  6. I'm bummed because ATL was the closest to me they've come in a while and I was wanting to drive 5 hours to see the Eagles, but now in Charleston it's an 8 hour drive. I'll be there anyway. Gotta do what we gotta do!

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  7. The Varsity Cup opening round matchs in Annapolis will be played in better stadiums then the Eagles play ?

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    1. Bigger: yes? Better: no. Navy's stadium is 50 years old (and shows it). It's also turf with permanent football lines.

      Do you think the Annapolis stadium is better than all the soccer-specific stadiums in MLS too? You know, since they're smaller and all.

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    2. Please don't feed the troll- aka David Smyth.

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