By Paul Kennedy

Major League Soccer will open its 11th soccer-specific stadium when the Houston Dynamo hosts D.C. United on Saturday.

The Dynamo has enjoyed considerable success since its move to Houston in 2006 -- far more than was considered imaginable -- and the opening of its downtown stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, only adds to its success story.

(Click here for a video tour of BBVA Compass Stadium.)

BBVA Compass Stadium is dubbed the "most urban" of MLS's soccer stadiums, and its opening will play an important role in the revitalization of Houston's East End district.

BBVA Compass Stadium "By the Numbers"
22,000 seats Capacity of BBVA Compass Stadium, making it the third largest of MLS's soccer-specific stadiums after the Home Depot Center (27,000) and Red Bull Arena (25,000).
12,000 season tickets Goal the Dynamo has topped, putting it on a par with the season-ticket base of both the NBA Rockets and MLB Astros.
36 luxury boxes All but two located less than 10 rows from the playing field (the other two are party suites located in the southeast corner).
31 boxes boxes for lease. All have been sold on three-year agreements at $50,000-60,000 a year.

$82.60 Average cost of a ticket for Saturday's Dynamo-D.C. United game on the secondary market.
$74.04 Average cost of a ticket for July 7, 2011, Astros-Red Sox game, the most expensive average cost of a ticket for an Astros game on the secondary market in the last two seasons.

$1.7 billion Money MLS clubs have spent on soccer-specific stadiums through public-private funding partnerships.
$95 million Cost to build BBVA Compass Stadium ($60 million on construction, $20 million on infrastructure, $15 million on land).
$60 million Amount contributed by the Dynamo. The City of Houston and Harris County paid the rest.
$20 million Cost of 10-year deal for stadium naming rights with BBVA Compass, U.S. subsidiary of Spanish bank BBVA.

2,340 days Time between the announcement that AEG was moving the San Jose Earthquakes to Houston and the opening of the Dynamo's own soccer stadium.
10 minutes Walk from the Market Square in downtown Houston to BBVA Compass Stadium, making it the most centrally located of MLS's soccer-specific stadiums.

Sources:
Sports Business Daily
Houston Chronicle
Guardian
Si.com
bbvacompassstadium.com

TANGO IS BACK. Adidas unveiled the official Tango 12 Finale match ball that will be used at Euro 2012. It's based on the classic Tango design used during both the World Cup and European Championship during the early 1980s.
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