Jeff DiVeronica

@RocDevo

High Falls, the Kodak and Xerox towers and Rochester's downtown library are among a handful of sites that plan to be awash in green lights on Friday and Saturday night in honor of the Rochester Rhinos' 22nd annual home opener at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. City Hall is another, which is ironic, because if professional soccer here continues on the same path it has in recent years the city of Rochester may have a big problem. The 12-year-old soccer stadium it owns will be dark because it might not have a tenant.

OPINION: Devo: 10 Ways To Revive the Rochester Rhinos

"Our current situation is not a sustainable business model," Rhinos owner David Dworkin said Thursday.

He and his wife, Wendy, local lawyers who've made good money in the real estate game, aren't sounding any alarm or issuing a make-or-break-season ultimatum. What they are saying is this: We're trying, but we need your help.

"The first thing we learned is it takes a lot to keep a sports team going. It's not just what happens on the (field)," David Dworkin said. "It's your staff. It's your fan support. It's your (corporate) support."

When they bought the team in January of 2016 they said they had a three-year plan to turn around the club, but they lost $1.7 million last year. Unless things improve this summer, it's entirely possible the tradition-rich Rhinos could fold, be sold or relocate to another city just like the Western New York Flash did in January after six seasons. The former Flash will play their home opener as the NC Courage in Cary, North Carolina, on Saturday.

"We have to take each year at a time," David Dworkin said when asked if the Rhinos' situation was as dire. "Our first year it was great that we kept the team in Rochester, but right now we're disappointed we haven't received more support."

He means fan and corporate support, but the Dworkins also wonder why the stadium has never received any annual money from Monroe County's hotel-room occupancy tax like other city venues. Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial ($905,000), the Joseph Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center ($795,000) and Frontier Field ($500,000) all received a hefty cut of that hotel-motel tax that visitors to the area pay. The Dworkins have asked the city why they do not receive a cut of the hotel-motel tax, and the city's response was that the owners must ask the county. The Rhinos plan to do that. The Monroe County Legislature decides the distribution of the hotel-motel tax.

"We don't get any of the 'bed' tax and I don't know why," David Dworkin said. "Our stadium has events that bring people to Rochester."

According to the Dworkins, Rhinos opponents occupy about 300 rooms annually and the drum and bugle corps world championships at the stadium use up about 4,000.

But it's not all doom and gloom: "We're certainly in year two in a better place than we were in year one as far as having our arms wrapped around what we need to do."

Not same old

On the field, the Rhinos and coach Bob Lilley expect to have another solid squad. They're 1-1-1 so far and welcome the defending USL champion New York Red Bulls II on Saturday. Off the field, the front office has been beefed to 10 people with two specifically designated to drum up business. Penfield native Mark Washo is in his second second as Chief Business Officer and Scott Miller has been added to the staff. Both have former Major League Soccer experience. Miller is dedicated specifically to finding corporate support.

"It's not always easy getting people to try something new," Wendy Dworkin said.

Adding Dinosaur Bar-B-Que to the stadium food lineup is among the enhancements this season that the owners hope attracts fans.

The Dworkins bought the Rhinos after city officials terminated the city's agreement with former owner Rob Clark's Adirondack Sports Group, which owned the team from 2008-15. Unhappy with Clark's management, the USL worked with the city and took over the Rhinos for several weeks. The Dworkins were formally introduced in early March. Despite the optimism of new ownership and coming off a USL championship in 2015, attendance dipped to 3,655 per match last year — ninth in the USL — and the lowest in team history.

"I think David and Wendy have put their heart and soul in this venture and they put their checkbook in it, too," said Tim Curtin, Corporate Council for the city of Rochester, the stadium owner. "They're doing everything they possibly can. I think they're struggling with attendance, but they're working on improvements. I can't think of a thing they're not trying."

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Need sponsorships

The Dworkins go by turnstile count, not tickets distributed, as former owners did. They do that, they said, because they want an honest representation of their crowd. They knew the club's image took a hit through two ownership changes and deficiencies at the stadium, which has underwhelmed since opening in 2006. They were aware burned bridges needed to be rebuilt. But they've been surprised so many local companies turn a blind eye to supporting local pro teams.

They tried unsuccessfully for more than a year to find a local business that wanted to put its name on the stadium to replace the deal Clark had with Sahlen's Packing Co. from 2011-15. They ended up with Capelli Sport, a New York City-based apparel company whose owner formerly ran a USL team in Wilmington, North Carolina, and now co-owns a USL club in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania., and another soccer team in Germany.

How does sponsorship help beyond just the dollars? As part of the deal, businesses may get 50, 100 or more tickets to give to employees to attend a match. The Rhinos have had more success locally with medium-sized companies, they said, and obviously the corporate arena has shrunk in the past two decades. The team hopes to land a local company as its jersey sponsor ($75,000) and the owners have met with some bigger businesses. But then they hear the company is going to spend its advertising dollars in other cities, not locally.

Before buying the Rhinos, David Dworkin admitted, "We took at face value that other people (locally) valued the team as much as we did."

So now what was originally a $32 million stadium, including a $15 million state grant, to help launch Rochester into Major League Soccer is called Capelli Sport Stadium. The 30-team USL has moved back up to being a second-division league in America, one step beneath MLS (it was third division from 2011-16). Nearly half of the 14 luxury suites are sold. They cost $16,000 annually. That includes 24 tickets per suite, parking and first rights to the suite for any non-Rhinos event.

Although the city paid $579,000 last year for stadium utilities, insurance and taxes, among other costs, the expenditures for the Rhinos add up fast, David Dworkin said. Some included workman's compensation insurance ($175,000), legal fees ($250,000) for events and 11 liquor licenses for every point of sale in the stadium and more than $100,000 for marketing and advertising.

Clark also lost more than a million in each of his first two seasons, but then he cut back expenses, the team operated more frugally and he had annually losses under $500,000. The Dworkins may have made some "rookie mistakes," as Curtin called them, but they also "inherited a mess," from Clark.

Hits and misses

The Rhinos added some twists to the fan experience last year. Some popped, some flopped. What worked:

The luxury suite experience improved because a full kitchen was finally built on the suite level.

The city made good on its pledge to the former owner and installed a new video scoreboard.

More and better signs were added on streets near the stadium so it was easier for fans.

A drop-off point for vehicles inside the park if fans wanted to drop off kids close to the entrance.

The Genesee Brew House Beer Garden in the concourse. You can't watch the match from it, but fans can walk out to a small viewing area on one of the sidelines. Post-match parties are also at the nearby Brew House, whose patio provides a scenic look at High Falls.

What didn't: New on-field seats were often empty. Some specialty food items, such as a dish to reflect the opponent that match (Philly cheese steak, cured meats for Montreal), were not a hit. The Rhinos hope adding Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, what David Dworkin called an "iconic brand," makes a big difference.

Other enhancements:

A $45 season ticket for children, age 16-and-under.

Concessionaires hawking food and drinks as they walk through the crowd during the match.

A new concession stand that serves only desserts.

Dillicious, a new suite caterer.

Rochester Rattlers lacrosse replaces the Flash as a secondary tenant. The Major League Lacrosse squad opens its seven-game home schedule May 11.

What fans say

There have always been two big elephants in room since the Rhinos moved from Frontier Field, where they won titles from 1998-2001 and routinely packed the stadium for the first seven of their nine seasons there. The first is the lack of "atmosphere," or smaller crowds, at the soccer stadium. Comparing the two is "depressing," said Tim Moore, 54, a soccer fan from Rochester.

Indeed, if fans won't give the team a chance again because it's not like Frontier, the Rhinos are doomed. The only way to replicate that atmosphere is for fans to show up.

The other negative the soccer team can't seem to shake, even though the city has replaced some boarded-up homes with new ones, is the perception that the stadium is in an unsafe neighborhood. "Parking and the neighborhood is an issue to most (people) I talk to," Moore said. "Not for me, but I think it permanently scared away a lot of suburban soccer moms."

That might be true. But for every match there is security personnel and a police presence on the perimeter of the stadium and inside its parking lots. Some fans say there isn't enough parking. It's a myth, the Dworkins say. There are nearly 1,100 spots surrounding the stadium, including more than 500 inside the gates.

It's up to the team to try to win fans back and the owners knew it wouldn't happen overnight. They have to find a way to reconnect with specials and promotions. Offering "beanies," to the first 500 fans at the home opener isn't going to do it. Saturday is also supposed to be Section V Soccer Night, as the Rhinos salute local high school players. But it seems fewer and fewer groups of teams ever show up at matches. Nowadays in all sports, kids and their families travel more during summer months for their own athletic pursuits.

Also different than the late 1990s: If a hardcore local fan needs a "live soccer" fix, he or she can just turn on the television and watch the English Premier League. During the Rhinos' glory days, fans didn't have that option. "After watching EPL games on weekends the level of play seems low," Moore said.

Fans also don't make personal connections with Rhinos because the team doesn't do as many appearances at schools as it used to and players also don't stay in Rochester for five, six or even more seasons like the most popular Rochester players did. To a degree, that's a trend throughout minor-league sports, not just the Rhinos. Midfielders Mike Garzi and Kenardo Forbes are the only players left from the 2015 USL title team.

Deanna Baker, 53, a fan from Webster, said she became more of a Flash fan in recent years compared to the Rhinos. "Now that they've moved out of state I will go to a Rhinos game or two. I like to sit on the side of the field (50-yard line) and the tickets can be a bit pricey in comparison to other options like the Red Wings," she said.

You can still buy a Wings' ticket for $8. The cheapest Rhinos ticket is $15, but the team often has a promotion code for a $3 discount.

"I appreciate the new owners working hard to keep the team here and improve the field and fan experience," Baker said.

As for the future of the Rhinos in Rochester, the Dworkins can only hope that appreciation shows up at the turnstile.

JDIVERON@Gannett.com

Home opener

What: The Rochester Rhinos (1-1-1) vs. New York Red Bulls II (2-2-1) in USL soccer.

When: 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Capelli Sport Stadium, 460 Oak St.

Tickets: Start at $15. Call 454-5425 for group discounts.

Did you know? The Rhinos won the 2015 USL title; the Red Bulls won last year.