The owners of the Rochester Rhinos are getting ready for another season of soccer at Capelli Sports Stadium in the city.
This season marks the second for owners David and Wendy Dworkin, and they say year one was a very expensive learning experience, but they are ready for the new season.
"We spent a year getting food and beverage taken care of, working on getting our staff to go, we obviously had a lot of field improvements at the stadium. It's a very long process and there's no off season in sports." David Dworkin said
His wife, Wendy, also a co-owner, said owning a soccer franchise is definitely a year-round endeavor.
"Always looking to make improvements to the fan experience listening to what our fans want. Hopefully giving coach Lilly and coach Pulisic the tools they need to get the players they want, and looking forward to a great season," she said.
There were select games last year that drew 5,000 or more fans to Capelli Sports Stadium, but the Dworkins were hoping for better attendance numbers.
"We had certainly hoped that we would have more attendance that we had. We had some games that were very good. We had, of course, some very disappointing games, and obviously the weather plays into that. And for us, it's a little different, we don't have the benefit of a huge season of games, and we have 16 home games this year," David Dworkin said.
Dworkin says having a good food beverage program is important to build attendance at games.
New this year is the addition of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que which will be cooking right at the stadium.
Dworkin says there's also going to be new food choices, all designed to enhance the fan experience.
The Rochester Rhinos play their home opener against the defending champion New York Red Bulls II, Saturday night at 6 at Capelli Sports Stadium.
Here's a little action from Rhinos' practice at Capelli Sports Stadium: