MLS Philadelphia Union CEO & Operating Partner Nick Sakiewicz yesterday said that "increasing the capacity of PPL Park always has been a possibility, no matter what Villanova does" in regard to potentially joining the Big East Conference in football, according to Gabriel & Kern of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. Sakiewicz: "We designed the stadium for expansion, and it has been something that we have been discussing." The Big East is "thought to want more evidence that PPL Park will become a sustainable, long-term venue for college football." The stadium, which opened last year, "seats 18,500 fans." For a team to "become a BCS member, it must have 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all games in its home stadium." Villanova Stadium "has a capacity of 12,000 and is unlikely to grow." Sakiewicz said that PPL Park "has four possible sites where expansion could take place, raising the capacity from 20,000 to a little more than 30,000." But "even with expansion, PPL Park would be the smallest football venue in the Big East," trailing Cincinnati's Nippert Field, which seats 35,079. Sakiewicz: "We plan on using this facility for multiple events and welcome the opportunity to host Villanova. ... But it is a soccer stadium first" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 4/12).
ROAD BLOCKS TO BIG EAST: In Philadelphia, Mike Jensen reports "several Big East football members, Villanova's brethren for other sports, have cold feet" about allowing the school to join for football, and a "conference call Sunday among the existing conference football members stopped the process in its tracks." Rutgers and Pittsburgh reportedly are the "schools throwing up roadblocks, wanting to know if taking a team that plays in a 18,500-seat soccer stadium, PPL Park, even with the potential for expansion, really helps the league." Jensen notes it is a "heck of a coincidence that one of the two schools voicing objections is closest to Villanova geographically and the other complainant shares a state with 'Nova" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/12).
