Jeff DiVeronica | Democrat and Chronicle

Jeff DiVeronica, Olivia Lopez

Are the Rochester Rhinos part of the new stadium lease deal struck this week between Monroe County and the Rochester Red Wings baseball team?

"We are not part of the deal that has been made between the county and Red Wings," Rhinos owner David Dworkin said Thursday morning.

He actually laughed when asked the question. This is how a rumor starts.

Jamie Germano/@jgermano1/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Rhinos met with County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo over the summer. Dinolfo also happens to be the sister-in-law of Rhinos' Chief Soccer Officer and former head coach Pat Ercoli. They discussed, among other things, why the soccer team doesn't get a portion of the county's hotel-motel or "bed" tax. This was, by the way, a meeting the soccer team requested as long ago as last spring.

As I reported in April in a story about the Rhinos' uncertain future in the second year under David and Wendy Dworkin, Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial ($905,000), the Joseph Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center ($795,000) and Frontier Field ($500,000) are among city venues and organizations that receive a cut of that bed tax that visitors to the area pay.

{{props.notification}} {{props.tag}} {{props.expression}} {{props.linkSubscribe.text}} {{#modules.acquisition.inline}}{{/modules.acquisition.inline}} ... Our reporting. Your stories. Get unlimited digital access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

But a move back to Frontier Field? That's not happening and wasn't the point of the meeting.

KEITH NORDSTROM

Look, I think the Rhinos leaving Capelli Sport Stadium and going back to Frontier Field is the type of jolt the franchise needs. It's the only chance they have to recapture the fan base because going to MLS, which is the only other magic bullet out there, is not happening. That dream died long ago, sadly.

To me, the Rhinos going back to Frontier makes a lot of sense. It'd strengthen both franchises.

The soccer team used to draw big crowds there for most of 1996-2005 before getting big heads and wanting more revenue streams and their own stadium, which hasn't worked out for a myriad reasons I don't want to rehash here because there are too many and we've done it right here before.

Jeff DiVeronica

But let's look at this:

The Red Wings need more revenue because under terms of the new deal (we think, exact terms haven't been released), the county wants the baseball team to foot more of the annual bill on the 20-year-old stadium, which still isn't paid off.

Hey, guess what: The Rhinos used to bring in lots of dough for the Red Wings and county back in the day. They received only 3 percent of concessions at their matches and minimal from parking.

1996 FILE PHOTO

The city of Rochester, bless its heart, owns the soccer stadium, but it really doesn't want to be in the business of running it (the Rhinos run it). The mayor will say what a community asset the park is, but it's not or she and the city would help the Rhinos out when they need repairs done at the facility, like for, say, the replay machine.

Fans have noticed. So, if you go to a match never take your eye off the play because if you miss a goal, you'll never see the replay. The replay machine is broken. So that new scoreboard with the nice new video pixels that the city paid for, well, no replay makes it basically a billboard, not a videoboard.

Jeff DiVeronica

This is just one of many times the city has been less than helpful to these owners, local people who saved the team from moving to Nashville, and the past owner, Rob Clark.

So, let's all grab a wrench and screwdriver and dismantle the stadium, sell it off for parts and move the Rhinos back to Frontier. The city doesn't want to have to pay for the stadium, so let's ditch it. Please spare me the, "But taxpayers paid $15 million for that stadium!" gripe. That money was going to go to some other city or project if we didn't get it from the state for the soccer stadium, so it's not like the Rhinos reached into your pocket. The state did.

Hey, sometimes you make mistakes. I never thought this stadium would flop, but it has. I was wrong. So let's move on instead of doing the same thing over and over again and thinking we'll get a different result. Insanity, right? If the Bills can do it, why not the Rhinos, who by the way are 10-5-8 and in the chase for a top seed in the USL playoffs just two years removed (and rebuilt) from winning it all.

Of course, here's where some more insanity ensues. The Rhinos can't play at Frontier if they're in the USL and it remains part of America's second division (third division, it's OK, not second). For the second division, I'm told, teams have to play in soccer stadiums. You'd HOPE the Rhinos might be granted a waiver or grandfathered in because of their past success at Frontier, but that's unlikely.

All this being said, I think the Rhinos back at Frontier — with the pitch configuration they used to have, not the Western New York Flash disaster from last summer — would help the club. Doesn't mean we'll see sellout crowds again for pro soccer in Rochester. Maybe the Rhinos could average 5,000 fans a game there, but not 10,000 like the old days, no way.