They make a half-hearted/not very effective attempt to do so at the entrance that sits between 134 and 135 (the Eagles/Barra boundary); but that's it, at least as far as the Barra side is concerned. It's been the case basically forever that folks who want to enter the Barra sections just go in further down, then go sideways until they get where they want to be.
True in the stadium, true in life. Of course, the concept of reserved seats in an almost empty stadium is a bit absurd...
I have often watched in amazement as people dilligently seek out their seats....in sometimes-empty sections. On the $10 seats, my friend hosted some out of town guests with small kids. I would say they were all underwhelmed and would likely never return. Without the VW garage games there was really nothing for the kids to do. (I tried to warn her.)
It's odd - they seem much more concerned about my entrance into my section, 205, but if I want to move down to 105 no one seems to care. And yes, when you have the entire row to yourself it makes you wonder why they even bother. I think I know the reason, though. Back before I got season tickets I would buy the cheapest seats available from the kiosk and then sneak in to the seats I really wanted. Gotta keep the riffraff out!
I can't recall a single game I've been to in which their weren't empty seats in some of the best sections. I'll never forget my friend buying us front row seats on the quiet side to celebrate my graduation from College. The view was obstructed by the box covering the benches that the players sit on. Everyone in the section was angry. We just picked up and moved over to the loud side.
To get in the Barra sections just go to the wonderfully friendly and nice lady with the cross eyes. Her price of entry is a nice hug!
It's ironic that the performance of CSC & security in general is the only thing that hasn't declined at RFK in the past 5 or so years.
I used to have seats in 204. You could get to those with no problem, but if you wanted to get to 104, you'd have to deal with CSC. There would be a event staff person who would stand there and block everyone's view during the game. A lot of times, there would be a supervisor who would also stand in front of people and tell them off if they complained.
I've always waited to around the 15th minute. Usually by then you can exploit a weakness somewhere. If you do get called out you could say " OMG I can't believe it ... my GF has the tickets ... she's the blond in that big crowd" And then point to the largest group of blonde people you can find.
It's harder to get past the nice lady in the concourse next to the beer stand to go down to I think 131-132-133 is the sign than it is to get in the supporters' groups.
Meh, did nothing to us, I'm glad there are cheap tickets for regular fans if I knew about it in time I'd direct DU people to buy there. MLS average for supporter tickets is $16, DC FO is just 10 years behind times. They check (and if they check us they check everyone else for sure), I know cos I've have to tell them not to check every time for last 5 years and every time it's a new damn person LOL
We don't have those since, being redheaded stepchildren, we have to preorder all our tickets and then get few extra on top for any possible walkups (sold out anyway, for whatever reason).
FWIW, the New York Times had a photo spread yesterday on poor attendance at this season's baseball games. The common complaint was weather -- which applies to 2 of the 3 DCU home games. Some of those parks looked more deserted than RFK during the Chicago match.
To be honest, I really think this is becoming more of an issue for a few reasons 1) So many things are available to watch in spectacular 50" HD 7.1 fashion in your own home 2) People overall have become much more accustomed to living climate controlled lives and have less tolerance for natural weather conditions 3) Extreme weather spikes and changes appear to be more frequent (let's not debate it here) 4) Somewhat coupled with #1, the price of live events seems to be going up dramatically, while at the same time the number entertainment options overall has exploded in the last 10 years
Did they bother to look at past early season attendance or did they decide to make league observations based on a shitty Mets team and overpriced Yankees seats?
The reason weather affects baseball so much differently than Football or Soccer in particular is because if you miss a baseball game to rain you can just catch one of the next 450 home games in a regular season. Only very high and low temperatures or severe storms really lower attendance at soccer and American football matches and still less than expected, at least across 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Well the test is Saturday. The hated NY/NJ RedMetroDonkeyBull of Harrison NJ are the opposition bring Cheating T. Henry and a cast of heinous Villians with the temperature in the 70s and sunny and clear. If we can't draw for this....
Well what would you call 'drawing?' I've thought about it myself as I said the same thing recently. I mean, would it be like above league average, some amount above our previous 2 games or something else? I suspect it's possible to get 12,000 or maybe even slightly above that (but more likely 11,750 or thereabouts) but that is still kinda bad in it's own right.