I have recently moved to the Cincinnati area from Pittsburgh. In the past I have gone to 1 or 2 Crew games per year. Now that I am 1 hour 20 mintues away instead of a good 3 hours I want to take advantage of being in closer proximity and attend 4 - 6 matches in 2013. I have two questions. 1) Do the Crew ever offer a smaller ticket package than 10 games? 2) When do single game tickets usually go on sale?
I'll let someone else answer the question about single tickets, but yes -- the Crew frequently offer smaller ticket packages. The smallest one that's showing up on the website right now is the ten-game pack, but they usually advertise four-game packs sometime during the season.
With a possibly related question here: Last year I had a ten pack and no supporters group membership. This year I'd like to join a supporter's group but will be out of the country for about 9 weeks. Is it possible to be a member and not have season tix?
I was a member of Crew Union and did not have season tickets. Although I should have gotten them. It is possible.
Yep. 20 bucks (for either one, I believe) nets you membership + a swag bag. Plus, I know Crew Union membership means $20 Nordecke single-game tickets (HSH probably does too).
This guy speaks the truth. $20 to Crew Union for last year's membership got you: 1) A discount on food and drinks at 4th Street Patio and Grill (Tuesdays is half-off drinks night and I believe Wednesdays are another day when their standard happy hour discount supersedes the CSU membership discount.) 2) A bag with a keychain bottle opener in it. Ironically, it seemed most of last year's beer supply was twist-off. 3) A t-shirt 4) Discounts on tickets in the Nordecke. (Officially, it's section 101, but once you're in the Nordecke, no one really cares.) These tickets, at least through Crew Union are sold at our tailgates at the SW corner of the "VIP" lot under the huge black/yellow tents and flag, near the big ditch. Hudson Street Hooligans and La Turbina both operate their own tailgates not far from Crew Union's tailgate.
The Hooligans' membership this year is $5, isn't it? You don't get a swag bag or whatever, but you get ticket discounts.
All the above is correct so far. Crew Union is ironing out final details of our swag items but there will be no change to ticket prices. $306 for Full season. We can accommodate half season and single game requests. I would like to point out one other item of note: CSU is a non-profit. All proceeds go to our member sponsored events, away games, tailgates including the USA tailgate, Crewsmas, and the Charity events that our members support (like polar plunge or adopt-a-family) ...Pretty proud of that.
You should be saving that money to buy the club. Duh! No, really, what you guys are doing is great. Keep up the good work.
I believe they're selling multiple t-shirt designs this year. It sounds like one of them is included in the membership cost.
I'm sure the majority of you can care less, but the wonderful salesman at Crew HQ convinced me to go with the 10 game plan (purchased two tickets today). I'm super excited to be making the trek from Cincinnati to Columbus on fairly regular basis (wife approved of course). I will attend all of the 10 games and my guest will include my wife for one game and the other 9 any friend or work collegue I can convince to enjoy the great game of football! I am big into enjoying the complete experience and would very much like to partake in pregame activities. Any recommendations on tailgating or pre-game pub locations would be greatly appreciated? I have to admit that I feel like a little kid at Christmas. I grew up in Pittsburgh loving the Pittsburgh Spirit (MISL) as a season ticket family. Although entertaining,. I really yearned for outdoor football after being raised on the Bundesliga. Columbus was always a bit too far for more than one or two games a year. Now that I'm living closer to the epicenter I plan on taking adavantage of it. Never thought I would see a league like this let along be able to attend matches as a regular! Am I now permitted to say, "Be Massive My Friend"?
There's a group that gets together for away games, at least according to this site. Please note that some of these groups are more organized than others. On the bright side, if you want to share rides with others from the Cincinnati area, I'm sure something could easily be arranged.
Almost. If you want the full experience go to a tailgate. Most people you meet are easy going and everyone has the Crew in common. Great company, usually quality beer (Great Lakes or Bell's man myself) and never a bad time. Show up shake a hand or two and makes some friends.
Some might skewer me for saying this, but I recommend avoiding the stadium parking if at all possible. Getting 6000 cars out of 4 exits after the game is a nightmare, but it's even worse when the ground is just a huge mud pit. Coupled with them punching you in the groin and charging $10 for the experience, it's just kinda lame. If you're carpooling and you're up for some post-game tailgating its probably not a big deal, but if you're expecting to get back to Cincy anytime soon you're gonna have a bad time. There's a set of railroad tracks on the West side of the stadium, and on the other side of the tracks are a bunch of sidestreets you can park on. It's free (if you obey the street signs), close, and significantly easier to get out of. If you're ever confused when you're parking just wait a minute or two - another Crew fan will pull up and you can follow them walking over the tracks. It means 1 less tailgating group in the parking lot, but you can still go to the Crew Union or HSH tailgate anyway. 4th street Bar and Patio and Ruby Tuesday (not the chain) is becoming the de-facto place to spend pre-, post-, and during matches (both like a 10-minute walk from the stadium)
I could not disagree more. Maybe in the past the traffic snarl getting out was bad. The way they paved the lots helps funnel the traffic better now a days. Personally parking in the reserved B lot on game days, I get to 71 South within 5 mins from getting to my car. $10 to park is too much though.
Couple of HSH notes: Memberships are $5 this year and entitle you to ticket discounts and first dibs on whatever cool stuff we do. We've kind of lost the plot over the last couple of years and this year we're emphasizing the "Show up, Drink beer, Watch soccer" attitude that the group was started with. hence the cheaper memberships and less SWAG. Yes, we are doing a few different t-shirt designs this year. We'll keep you posted. We sell season tickets in section 141 for $306. Single game tickets are $20 for our members. You can be a member and not have season tickets through us. You can be a member and have season tickets through the Crew FO. You can be an HSH member and have season tickets through Crew Union if you want. We're hanging out at Hendoc's for away games this year. Doing the tailgate thing for home games. All of this (and more!) is outlined in detail on HudsonStreetHooligans.com.
Just an FYI: the "railroad cops" have been cracking down rather hard on people crossing the tracks to get to Crew games. They're not posted every game, and you can't see them until it's too late but bear in mind if you get busted it's a $60 ticket.
Agreed. With the majority of the parking area now paved, things have gotten a lot better. Take a beer or a soccer ball or something for after the game and you're good. I understand that some people need to leave almost immediately after the game, but if you can wait around for 20-25 minutes after, it should be a relatively easy exit. Maybe you don't even need to wait half that long. Most games have some sort of postgame activity, whether it's player autographs or a chance to score on goal. There's also a bar in the tent to the west of the stadium. This bar stays open long after the in-stadium beer sales shut down. You could also visit the official team shop as well.
As long as you're not using it as a marketing ploy for the FO, yes. And welcome! This will be the best thing you ever hate and love, love to hate and hate to love in you life
This is also 100% true. There's been several discussions on this matter, but the bottom line is that things won't appear to change anytime soon. If you do it, you run the risk of getting caught. If you get a ticket, keep in mind that while they're not city or state police, they're real police with real consequences. The only way to build a crossing would be, as we all decided, too expensive. They'd have to put in ADA access, probably some sort of gate so people would only cross at that place, lights, etc. For a handful of dates per year, it's just not going to happen. Another option would be to pregame at 4th Street bar and grill and just walk from there where you can take sidewalks and walk under a railroad bridge.
No no, I'm not skewering you at all. I've walked across the tracks (and still do) many times. I'm just being friendly and saying watch your ass.
Haha I know - I'm actually glad you let us know now instead of us finding out the hard way. I'll use part of my $60 savings to buy you a tailgate beer!