Florida Cup 2017 Website up and running - Tickets on Sale to General Public

Interesting. I did not catch this titbit of news; thanks to redditors for catching it. More seats being added to Al Lang to get it up to 10,000 seats. This would be in keeping with a push for MLS.

Presumably there will be greater marketing and promotion of the Rowdies and combined with talk of MLS this will get more fans out to Al Lang and increase the average attendance a bit.

And yes the November vote was cancelled. I think the mayor and Bill Edwards have a plan for Al Lang that won't involve voter approval for extending the lease. 

Edit to add: eyeballing the existing layout of Al Lang from Google satellite, it is hard to see how you could add more than an additional 1,000 seats by extending the existing temporary aluminum stands to the corner flags. 

Maybe if you removed the berm you could put seats in there and get close to 2,000 more seats but that would be a lot of work and money (and the kids would miss the berm); especially if it only ends up being used for 2017 (i.e., if with any luck the Rowdies get into MLS in 2018, he says crossing his fingers and knocking on wood). Removing the berm would allow you to move the goal line and touch line closer to the old concrete grandstands however, which would be nice.  

(Follow link for full article.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/5bnn0m/florida_cup_2017_website_up_and_running_tickets/

Florida Cup 2017 Website up and running - Tickets on Sale to General Public

phat7deuce

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reanimate_me

On another note, is that VIP section next to the grandstand supposed to be the expansion that was talked about that was supposed to bring Al Lang up to 10,000? Because if so, call me underwhelmed... and also skeptical that that tiny box contains 2,500 seats.

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phat7deuce

Yeah, good catch...I thought I had read/heard they were extending the midfield with bleachers. Maybe that will be added down the line depending on ticket sales?

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reanimate_me

Hmmm, can't seem to find anything on it in a quick search just now. But I did see that an expansion is on the ballot for St. Pete residents tomorrow. Maybe it was optimistic talk from Edwards and we just misread?

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phat7deuce
I don't think it is on the ballot any more. As far as I can remember the team decided to go a different direction - still wanting to do the expansion, but going a different route on the lease maybe. Can't remember entirely...

This was the article that mentioned the 10k:

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2016/08/02/florida-cup-soccer-tournament-coming-to-st-pete.html

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reanimate_me

Yeah that article was hidden behind a paywall so I kept searching.

Edit: I looked on my phone. It's very briefly mentioned in passing. Weird.

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phat7deuce

Oops...apologies. Here's the quote from those who get stuck on the paywall:

"The capacity of Al Lang Stadium is 7,227 but additional bleachers will be added to bring capacity up to approximately 10,000."