Don't want to get into too long of a perceived attendance discussion......but is it your hypothesis that BMO was less than 50% full......cause that is just flat wrong.
Yeah but I believe the tickets are freebies for the Frisco PDL team. That is what i read or heard somewhere, either on Bigsoccer or on a podcast. Can someone confirm. Also I believe the Des Moines Menace have a good following
I can guarantee you that the next home game will be sold out. Member's Stand is already sold out and we are still 20 days away from game day. Take a look at the standings it will very likely be 1 vs. 2.
"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious." There is no PDL team in Frisco or anywhere else in North Texas.
Honestly, I'm guessing, so I'm not gonna be able to claim any accuracy on this (maybe we shouldn't go down this road). But it was damn empty; maybe there were 14K not 11K. I'll retract as personally I was not there. However, keep in mind that the butts in seats seemed noticeably less than other days. And TFC is already one of the largest "padders" in the league. It looked closer to the DCU game last year where they announced 16K. More on issue, do you think TFC could "lose its status" as a team with good attendance numbers? Honestly, I was trying to get some people to go to the Montreal game, and there are not a lot of takers. The scalpers seem to be taking a bath on seats.
I will post the numbers tonight, unfortunately the forums were closed last night as I was preparing the posts.
I have stated before that I think this is/was a crucial year for performance as ticket sales are softening.....that said, with season ticket sales in the 15-16k range and some advance group sales...do not expect announced crowds of under 16k this year and, more likely, we will see announced crowds continue to be in the 17 - 20k range....and I don't think that is padding. Like you, I thought the crowd "looked" like around 16k on Saturday but "looks" are hard to estimate and, of course, we have no idea how many of those empty seats are sold but not used. I know it is an emotional time around Toronto/TFC these days and my point in responding was that it does no good to say things like there were only 11k there without thinking of what that means and, particularly, if you are making that obseration without, you know, actually being there to observe
By padding, do you mean the tickets are sold or butts in seats. Either case, TFC has been one of the largest padders in the league (a la FCD or Colorado levels). And often they announce 19/20K with much less in the crowd. I gotta keep it real; I've made the same point about other clubs, so we gotta at least be honest about Toronto. I did not say I thought 16K were in the stands. I was saying the actual crowd looked the same as last year when they announced a crowd of 16K. The East looked one third full, and the West stand looked two thirds full. I thought about it. I'm willing to take critiques on my estimation technique. But I hardly think any number above 10K is really out in left field. I agree that many of the tickets may have been sold, but TFC is walking a dangerous line with its supporter base. My friends and I got rid of our season's this year, because it is bloody tough to recoup any money right now for games you can't make it to. I'd like your opinion on whether you're having the same issues (getting friends to come/talking about the team). I am guessing from your response it's NO, but who knows.
I don't agree. The east was about half (maybe even less) full at kick off but was probably close to 70/75% just before half-time. Even, however, your own observations indicate higher than the numbers you are (for whatever reason) putting out there. The East is 6k......you say there were 2k in it. The west is 12k.....you say there was 8k...were the south 3k seats empty? The 2,500 in the north? The boxes? I have 6 season tickets.....all have been used every match.....have had no trouble finding family/friends/cost-workers to take them off my hands.....but I don't charge for them.