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The lowdown on Avaya Stadium’s 2016 MLS All-Star game

By on May 28, 2015
MLS Deputy Commisioner Mark Abbott joined Quakes president Dave Kaval, San Jose major and more to announce the game

MLS Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott joined Quakes president Dave Kaval, San Jose major and others to announce the game

At today’s announcement that the San Jose Earthquakes’ Avaya Stadium will host the 2016 MLS All-Star game, San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo had one message for soccer fans around the country: “Bring it on, we’re ready.”

Avaya Stadium delivered a sellout crowd to see the US Women’s National Team earlier this month, is preparing to host the Rugby Sevens World Cup, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, and now, one of Europe’s biggest clubs in just over a year. Winning next year’s All-Star game will continue the momentum aimed at growing the football community in San Jose, which having just passed the 1 million population mark, is the country’s 10th largest city. “We continue to attract top events to Avaya Stadium and hosting the MLS All-Star Game is another great achievement for the venue,” Earthquakes president Dave Kaval said at today’s announcement.

Kaval said that the Quakes may even seek to expand Avaya’s capacity with temporary stands to accommodate the crowds expected at the All-Star game. “The nice thing about having an announcement a year ahead of time is that we can consider that, and we can work with Sam (Liccardo) and the City and the Sports’ Authority and say ‘Hey, do we need to put in some temporary bleachers and stands and take the capacity up to 20,000 for one event.’ That’s not to say it will happen, but we have the ability to do that because we have enough planning in place.”

However, Kaval said that permanent expansion to the 18,000 seater remains “a long way off.” “Our strategy has been to have the fifteen games at Avaya, and to have a couple other games at venues like Stanford and like Levi’s Stadium and like Berkley, that are bigger. And I think that is kind of the state of nature that we’re in now,” he said. “Over time that could change, I think there could be a point in time when we want to close the stadium. We designed it to accommodate that, as you can see there is an open end, we did it just like in Europe where they build stands on different sides at different times, and so it’s certainly something we can look at, but I think right now it’s probably more like a medium to long-term opportunity.”

Although MLS Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott told Football Every Day they’re not planning to announce the All-Star’s opponent until next year — “there’s a lot of time before that decision gets made,” he said, and “it’s normally in the months leading up to the game” — preparation is already underway for a week-long festival ahead of the game. The league is almost certain that the match will be on a weekday, with downtown San Jose and San Pedro Square set to be venues for the festivities, which will range from concerts and community events. The Chipotle Homegrown game will also take place at Avaya.

Abbott told reporters that MLS specifically chose the Earthquakes’ to host the game because of the new Avaya Stadium. “We always knew this was a great market but we knew we need to have the stadium and a world-class stadium like Avaya. Once we were able to get that done, this was a very logical choice and decision for us to make,” said Abbott.

Abbott was at the 2001 All-Star game that the first Quakes’ franchise held at Spartan Stadium, and the very first MLS game there, too. “Spartan in 1996 was a go-to place for us, but we always knew — even then — and we started talking about then, the need for our own stadium,” Abbott recounted. “No one ever doubted that. We had some great years at Spartan but it was never a gonna be the long-term answer.”

Kaval said that the Quakes value the experience Avaya Stadium provides fans, although they’re still working out the kinks with issues including parking, where he noted “We’re going in the right direction, we want to get better but we’re still not there yet. I think fans are understanding more where to go and how to do it, so that’s helping. We’re not declaring victory or anything like that, we still have a ways to go.”

Abbott said the next way forward for the Quakes is to continue to connect with fans, and that includes potentially, for the San Francisco Bay Area to host a women’s club. Dave Kaval told Football Every Day: “It is something that we’ve thought about, and we obviously think women’s soccer could have a really strong place here in the community, but we also want to make sure that if it’s done it’s done right and if the league is in a position and is solid enough to be successful. Sometimes with ventures like that (the NWSL) it’s really not the team, even if it can be successful — kind of like the Earthquakes back in the day. The Earthquakes were great here, but the NASL folded and so we need to make sure that if we’re gonna make a commitment to women’s soccer that it is done in a way that the entire league is structured and can be successful.”

Many Quakes fans have more modest near-term aspirations, such as finding a shirt sponsor for the team — the Quakes are the only team in MLS to lack one. Kaval said, however, there is no timeline in terms of getting a deal done. “We are being very particular in making sure we have the right partner and it’s the right level of investment, because you’re really co-branding with that company and that company becomes really associated with who we are as the Earthquakes especially with our new press, our new identity, and what our fans believe in,” he said.

“These are long term deals so you need to make sure you have the right partner. We’re out in the marketplace at a number that would be one of the top ones in the league, but we think we have one of the top experiences in the league, and we have one of the best stadiums in the league. So we think because of all those reasons we need to be patient and we need to attack this in a way that’s looking (at a deal that’s) two to five to ten years out as opposed to looking for the next three or four months.”

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.