The covered upper-deck sections at Red Bull Arena are clearly out of range for TV camerasGETTY IMAGES
The Red Bulls have "covered a wide swath of seats" in the southeast and northeast corners of Red Bull Arena's upper deck, according to Brian Trusdell of PRO SOCCER USA. It is "unclear how many seats have been taken out of commission" in the 25,000-seat stadium, but "all or part of six sections were covered on the southern end and all or parts of seven sections on the northern end." The coverings were "red with what looked like photos screened onto them, and clearly out of TV camera range." Red Bulls GM Marc de Grandpre said the club was going to "rethink the environment" of the stadium, and possibly consider "more open-space concept" areas. He added that renovating areas of the stadium "would take years." The Red Bulls drew an average announced home crowd of 18,601 last year, "down from 21,175" in '17. Fox Sports' Alexi Lalas said of the team, "They specifically made a conscious effort to go away from big-name, big-money sexy signings, and focus time and energy on development. One thing that isn't sexy is player development. As important as it may be, it doesn't sell a lot of tickets" (PROSOCCERUSA.com, 4/14).
