Confirmed: Independence playoff game WILL be at PPL Park

From the Washington Post's soccer writer's Twitter feed:

@SoccerInsider: If Philly Independence hosts #wps playoff match, it will take place at Union's PPL Park

WOOHOO!

That's great - and you've got to think odds are pretty good it's going to happen, given that they've clinched a playoff spot and finishing anywhere but fourth ensures a home playoff match.

D@mn. That would be expensive for them to rent out. Potentially franchise ending expensive unless they've managed to work a good deal w/ the Union.

Also, unless they tank the rest of their games, this game will either be the semifinal or final.

This is awesome. Sure hope it happens, because I'll be there in a heartbeat.

I have seen confirmed that a weekend playoff game would be at PPL. However, no where does it say the third place game on a weekday would be there. But it won't matter, cuz we're still on top of the table!

The email I just got from the front office doesn't even consider finishing lower than second, even though that's still a (remote) possibility.

One more win and they Get the Semi Final for sure... from their facebook page

they better hope the girls get it together at magicjack, since philly plays them at fau and that's it. philly is too up and down, will not win out, so you can count wny for the aug 27 game and philly for the aug 20 game.

that being said, mj can put 10-12k in that stadium. it ain't happening with boston or sbfc, not matter how much you wish it.

and hope solo needs to get back to magicjack, just put a cast on and stand on the sidelines.

i'd say the league needs magicDan more than ever to get maximum draw for these playoff games. magicJack finishing 4th and at least getting to the Aug 20th game is perfect. ideal game is abby knocking off #2 with a header.

i'm still not sure about rochester fans if it is wny vs philly. the only weekend game wny has left at sahlen is atlanta. they have a wednesday but i can't see that doing any better than the 3300 boston had for a weekday game.

the playoffs this yr are more about the survival of the league, no favorites here. magicjack's act together and a date in wny on the 27th is heaven for showcasing the league to new franchises and sponsors (i see the wps has added another national sponsor). mj's nationals have time to gel and get a playoff spot if magicfool truly understands what the league needs in the next couple of weeks.

to everyone's dismay, it all goes back to magicDan again saving the league.

Philly may not finish 1st (WNY has 2 games in hand and just 3 pts back) but I'd hardly call them up and down. They have yet to lose two games in a row. That's pretty darn consistent.

While I'm not sure I want Philly to win 1st place (sorry Philly fans), I do think PPL Park would be a GREAT place for a WPS final, provided the Union gave WPS a good deal on the rental.

Based on what the Fire (allegedly) charged CRS for TP and what the former SBFC GM said RedBull wanted to charge SBFC for one game at that new place, I'm very concerned about PPL Park rental costs and how that might (negatively) impact cost control and sustainability.

i'm not sure of cost since i never saw what the figures for the red stars, but i'll bet a bottom-dollar the world cup tour goes through magicjack. 3rd or 4th, that's the draw, plain and simple. there's no way sbfu or boston will pull magicjack numbers if they have to meet wny on the 20th. it doesn't matter if philly or wny finish 1st or 2nd, it just i like wny better, it matters if magicDan's national team II is showing up for a game against wny or philly. like i said, if sbfc gets through, there's no way the roschester crowd will turn out. they've shown that time and time again this season.

bottom-line, more than ever this yr, the winner of the wps title still less important than the league's survival.

of the 3, sb, boston and mj, mj is the one you want in the playoff and showing up at sahlen and union stadium for the 10k plus draws. boston and sb wont get it done.

this 3rd yr is about selling the league to sponsors and investors. you get a crazy run from mj from the 4 spot to the champion game. that's solid gold for the league. abby pulls magickjack through with some headers to the champioship, you can mark the 2012 season on your calendar with 2-3 western franchises.

sb and boston working their way through philly and wny, you could see some ok crowds. boston will probably do well if they get to host a game.

MagicJack is the biggest player going into this post season. as a user said, i dont have a favorite team, just play mj because no one else does. it's more about the league to me.

Go MagicDan!

so lets just throw the games so mj gets to the finals or bc they have abby.....feeling sick to my stomach..

What makes you think MJ can win in Philly @ the Semi in order to get to the final?

Crazy Dan in the finals would be the worst.. this guy has been mocking the League and other teams.. On the other hand if Philly hosts MJ in the semi or finals we will have a great Where's Dan chant going the entire game

All Being said it is playing out as I suspected... Boston will make their playoff run and if they win 2X over MJ (Very possible to do) then MJ will be out of the playoffs

BTW, the cost of PPL would be covered if 7-8K show up, for one game, the cost is negligible, but the cost over a full season would be an impact at 3000 a game.

you really think the viewing audience of the wny vs mj sellout was thinking about magicdan and his side show. magicjack's roster sells the most tickets and is the draw.

Make sure you vote for the correct Rookie of the Year.

farrelly

Farrelly also...
GPGSMIN G A SHTSSOGFCFSCE
14 131101 1 2 13 8 7 5 10

OK, so Philly has 30 points, Sky Blue 19, and a game in hand. If SB wins out, they have 33. So Cheesesteaks need to win tomorrow and have SB lose or draw at home against WNY. That will ensure Indy gets the semifinal at PPL. It's not a done deal yet.

Even if Sky Blue wins out, they would only have 31 points. (Ditto for MagicJack.) Since Boston and Atlanta are already too far behind, Philly can clinch second (at worst) with a win over Atlanta on Sunday.

Oops; you're right, SCF Sorry.

and i worry about the appearance of a half empty stadium to a wider tv audience. that just makes the league look sick. there's no guarantee that you'll get a large enough crowd in ppl park, but maybe this game won't be televised. i haven't checked.

It's televised.

I wouldn't worry yet. It's the home stadium of the Union; they're loving their nice new stadium. While I wouldn't exaggerate the crossover of fans from MLS to WPS, for one game in a new stadium in the aftermath of the World Cup, I think they'll be alright.

Plus it won't have the gridiron lines. And it's grass (isn't it?) not artificial turf.

Unless they get a nice discount, I would not expect a ton of Union Fans

The won't pay the full ticket price to see the Independence

THe Playoff was included in the season ticket packages and Unions supporters were the first to ask for a discount on the ticket... Nice way to support a team that needs the money... don't go to one game all season, then ask for a discount to a playoff game.... NICE !!!

My Cash is extremely tight and I have had to take advantage of every promo I could and put them on my CC to get to the games this year. I missed one but I pay and buy merchandise food and CHEER

Great Q&A in Philly.com with Riley and Halstead about playing at PPL and much more.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/More-on-the-Independence-playing-at-PPL-Park.html

I got a nice note from Crystal Baird of the Independence front office letting me know of the ticket price scale for the PPL playoff (semifinal or title game). They're working with New Era/ComcastTix to put them on sale this week with a color-coded chart to boot.

$20-General admission (The River End?)
$25-Bronze
$30-Silver
$40-Gold
$75-VIP/On-field seating

Done. Now I'm definitely pulling for Philly.