Rain, economy delayed new soccer stadium

A rainy June complicated workers' ability to pour cement. A shaken Wall Street meant it took longer to sell construction bonds.

That squeezed the built-in cushion out of an already tight schedule that aimed to ensure the 18,500-seat home of the Philadelphia Union would be ready to open in the spring.

Last week, the soccer team bowed to soggy, economic reality, announcing that it would play its first home game - and maybe its first few - at Lincoln Financial Field.

"It's a daily thing, where we're at: Are we a day behind, a week behind, a month behind?" said Nick Sakiewicz, the team chief executive and operating partner. "It's a very fluid situation."

At the same time the team is building a $115 million stadium on the Chester waterfront, its representatives are traveling the world to identify potential Union players. And its ticket agents are handling steady requests: The team has taken deposits for 9,100 season tickets, roughly half the capacity of the Chester stadium.

The stadium's steel skeleton is rising just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge, cranes and crews working counter-clockwise around an oval pattern. Red brick covers parts of the exterior. Ticket windows are installed.

Sakiewicz said the stadium still could be finished before the opening home game, April 10 against D.C. United, but the team could not guarantee that as the Major League Soccer schedule was being finalized.

At most, he said, the Union will play three or four games in its temporary home.

The Union, the league's 16th team, will play its first-ever game on the road, against the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on March 25. That's the opening game of the MLS season. Teams selected for that annual showcase typically are picked to highlight MLS success stories.

In this case, the game will feature the league's newest team, the Union, and its runaway attendance leader, the Sounders.

The good news about moving to the Linc, fans and team officials said, was that more people could attend the historic opener. The Linc will seat 37,500 for the game, double the size of Chester.

The move also allows the Union to host a second "opening day," with all the attendant pomp and media attention, when the team plays its first game in Chester.

"We're going get a two-for-one," said Bryan James, president of the Sons of Ben supporters club.

He predicts the game at the Linc will sell out, forcing additional sections of the stadium to be opened to accommodate demand.

Even people who don't love soccer love events, and this will be a big event, he said.

Hundreds of fans will travel here from the Washington area to support D.C. United, which is backed by three major supporters clubs. They'll be welcomed by the Sons of Ben, 5,200 strong.

By playing at the Linc, "you double the people exposed to live soccer on the very first day you're in the market," James said.

Plainly, people want to see the Union. About 7,000 fans have fully paid for their season tickets, which cost $275 to $1,100 depending on location, and 2,100 are paying in installments.

Who will they see on the field? Nobody yet knows. Team officials have identified an interest in about 100 players around the world.

Union coach Peter Nowak spends much of his time traveling, scouting players, or in an office in Chester outfitted with TV equipment that allows him to watch virtually any game, anywhere.

"We're trying to find the right pieces," said Nowak, a former assistant coach of the U.S. national team.

Those pieces, joined as one, will play at a stadium that is to be the centerpiece of a $500 million development that backers say will help revive impoverished Chester. The stadium is to be surrounded by entertainment, retail, and residential development.

The question has been whether the sour economy would force cuts in those plans, which were key to securing state financing for the stadium.

Sakiewicz said, however, that the team owners were proceeding with the ancillary development, work already under way to install underground pipes and vents.

Other MLS teams have felt the economy's brute impact.

In late 2008, the San Jose Earthquakes announced reductions in the design for a new stadium. This year, the San Jose City Council dropped the price of land for the stadium from $132 million to $89 million to keep the deal alive. Development of adjoining retail and office space is on hold.

Jeff L'Hote, founder of LFC International, a New York soccer consultancy, said construction woes were not unique to MLS. Liverpool F.C., one of the world's top clubs, recently announced it was putting off the long-planned construction of a new stadium. The team won't build until the English lending markets loosen.

"If the Philadelphia team plays at Lincoln Financial Field for part of next season, is that bad for the team?" L'Hote asked. "I don't think it's ideal. You would want to launch in your stadium. But I don't think it's overly detrimental."

The design of the Chester stadium allows for construction of additional sections, and Sakiewicz said the team expected eventually to install them, increasing seating to 30,000.

That's a huge number for MLS, where the typical game draws 15,819, down 4 percent from last year's 16,508, according to mls-daily.com, which tracks attendance.

The Sounders average a league-leading 30,412 per game at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks.

Toronto FC ranks second in attendance, averaging 20,307.

They are the only teams to top 20,000.

Last week, Sakiewicz walked the Chester construction site, looking over a steel-and-concrete frame that changes by the day. The sound track was the clank of metal on metal, the beep of construction vehicles, and the shouts of workers.

Two years ago he stood in nearly the same spot, insisting that Philadelphia could land a MLS expansion team and that a stadium could rise from a field of dirt and rock.

People thought he was dreaming. Pro soccer had already failed here twice.

Today the region has a team, one with a name, a coach, a front-office staff, and, on sale soon, just in time for holiday shopping, an official blue-and-gold jersey.

Sakiewicz, a former pro goalie, doesn't dwell on the work it took to reach this point. He prefers to concentrate on what's ahead.

"When you're a goalkeeper, there's nothing behind you," he said. "Unless you're picking the ball out of the net."