No notice on WC Tickets any time soon.

[Galaxian]

USSF has had a month , and they should DEFINITELY be able to tell the ones that got their application in on the first or second day if they have tickets. IF they are confused about whether or not to sell them to the public , all they have to do is see how many applications they received, if there werent enough to fill the allocation , then open them to the public , its kind of simple.

[fidlerre]

We all know damn well what they are doing right now. They are trying to figure out how many tickets are needed/wanted by the suits (US Soccer/Corporate Sponsors/Wealthy Individuals/Celebrities/etc). I imagine those folks get a rolling deadline 'cause heaven forbid Bruce Arena's 2nd cousin from the Old Country misses the Italy game while REAL supporters go instead.:rolleyes:

Jesus, you guys never give up, do you?

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...

For all you know this poor Teresa girl, one of the two in charge of ticketing at US Soccer, has been working 18-hour days trying to get this all sorted out.

But nahh, instead let's act irrational and lead the charge to get her fired. Some of you are pathetic.

[eissman]

If I don't get tickets through USSF, I'll buy them outside the stadiums on game day.

Haven't you folks ever bought from scalpers before?

Provided we don't need matching passport numbers, a thumb print, blood type on the spot and a throat sample of saliva.

How much of this "chip" thing do you think is bunk and how much is reality? I am anxious to find out (hopefully)!!

[eissman]

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...



That was my very FIRST thought actually. I think this is the most likely scenario personally.

[gngrasso]

We all know damn well what they are doing right now. They are trying to figure out how many tickets are needed/wanted by the suits (US Soccer/Corporate Sponsors/Wealthy Individuals/Celebrities/etc). I imagine those folks get a rolling deadline 'cause heaven forbid Bruce Arena's 2nd cousin from the Old Country misses the Italy game while REAL supporters go instead.

If that is true, expect a ALOT of people to get wait-listed since, sadly, I believe the people you mention ($$$ talks) may be a priority. We all know that this happens EVERYWHERE. World Series, major concerts, college sports, etc etc :(

[Shibb]

:rolleyes:

Jesus, you guys never give up, do you?

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...

For all you know this poor Teresa girl, one of the two in charge of ticketing at US Soccer, has been working 18-hour days trying to get this all sorted out.

But nahh, instead let's act irrational and lead the charge to get her fired. Some of you are pathetic.

Even allowing that all as true (and it's debatable about whether they should have been surprised at the demand given how quickly FIFA sold out), it's certainly not unreasonable for them to communicate with their fanbase. An email explaining the delay is a lot more professional than rumors and second hand info on a message board.

[MikeLastort2]

Provided we don't need matching passport numbers, a thumb print, blood type on the spot and a throat sample of saliva.

How much of this "chip" thing do you think is bunk and how much is reality? I am anxious to find out (hopefully)!!

IMHO, there's no way they're going to be checking ID when people are going into the stadiums.

And what's the "chip" thing?

[primusux]

This is pretty harsh to not let everyone know prior to the Fifa deadline. Given the amount of tickets left from Fifa, this 3rd stage is the last credible chance to obtain tickets. It is a much larger chunk of tickets than what will be offered in the 4th phase.

[MikeLastort2]

Even allowing that all as true (and it's debatable about whether they should have been surprised at the demand given how quickly FIFA sold out), it's certainly not unreasonable for them to communicate with their fanbase. An email explaining the delay is a lot more professional than rumors and second hand info on a message board.

I agree. The people spreading rumors and second hand info should stop.

According to US Soccer's web site (http://www.ussoccer.com/schedule/content.sps?iType=4165&icustompageid=16109):

"The pre-sale will end on Wednesday, January 4, 2006, at 5 p.m. CT. Any tickets still available after the private pre-sale will be made available to the general public on Friday, January 6, 2006, at 9 a.m. CT. All ticket orders are subject to U.S. Soccer and FIFA’s Terms and Conditions and members with order forms that cannot be filled (i.e. insufficient information, payment issues, etc.) will be notified before tickets are released to the public. Orders received after the U.S. Soccer allotment is sold will be placed on a waiting list with U.S. Soccer until all preceding orders are confirmed."

[FC Tallavana]

:rolleyes:

Jesus, you guys never give up, do you?

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...

For all you know this poor Teresa girl, one of the two in charge of ticketing at US Soccer, has been working 18-hour days trying to get this all sorted out.

But nahh, instead let's act irrational and lead the charge to get her fired. Some of you are pathetic.

I love how you reply to my post and attack points made by others as if they were mine.

[fidlerre]

That was my very FIRST thought actually. I think this is the most likely scenario personally.It is not just likely, it's the truth. Trust me.

Everyone can say all they want about how the USSF should have known that these tickets were going to be in high demand but nobody understood the depth of desire of the US Fan to head to Germany -- it's higher than any other WC the US has participated in.

In many ways the demand and excitement to attend these matches have even outweighed the US/Mexico match in Columbus a few month ago -- and that was tremendous, as any of you that attended can attest to. And to me that is stunning, especially considering we are talking an 8 hour trip to Europe -- not a 1 hour drive or 2 hour flight to the midwest.

[fidlerre]

I love how you reply to my post and attack points made by others as if they were mine.
Oh for gods sake -- it's the quick reply button. Lighten up Francis.

[FC Tallavana]

IMHO, there's no way they're going to be checking ID when people are going into the stadiums.

And what's the "chip" thing?


While I disagree on how easy it will be to purchase tickets outside stadiums (we are playing two Euro teams in Europe and they will have hordes of fans there driving up demand & price) I do believe it will be easy to enter a stadium should you purchase a scalped ticket.

What I would do...Hand my ticket to the ticket-taker at the gate. If they scan it and send me on my way I'm good to go. If they ask me for my passport, I'll say, "Oh sh!t, I left it at the hotel." They will then hand me back my ticket and tell me to go get my passport (I hope). I'll then walk around the stadium and enter somewhere else.

[MikeLastort2]

Oh for gods sake -- it's the quick reply button. Lighten up Francis.
I've never used this "quick reply" feature.

Until now. :)

[rksehga]

Provided we don't need matching passport numbers, a thumb print, blood type on the spot and a throat sample of saliva.

How much of this "chip" thing do you think is bunk and how much is reality? I am anxious to find out (hopefully)!!


Here's the deal with the ID requirements. As has been pointed out many times, imagine the bottlenecking that would occur at the turnstiles if they checked all or even a substantial percentage of people's passports against their tickets.

Now, think about FIFA's goals oh having FULL stadiums for every match. When do they want full stadiums? At the beginning when the television cameras are most likely to pan the crowds.

Okay, now return to visions of said bottlenecking - now imagine the fan outrage when they are not in their seats because they are stuck at the turnstiles.

Now, think about what other uses the ID requirement could have. Hmm, if you think security you're on the right track! That's right, they are going to use this requirement to trip up openly unruly attendees. Imagine Drunken English Hooligan marching up to the turnstile and prudent German Ticket Taker, upon realizing said Englishman is actually Drunken English Hooligan, asking for Drunken English Hooligan's ID. Now, Drunken English Hooligan cannot find his passport. Yippee for German Ticket Taker because he now has a valid reason to deny Drunken English Hooligan admission to the stadium! Look at that, now everyone blames Drunken English Hooligan for, well, for being Drunken English Hooligan and is greatful to DWCOM for instituting the policy.

Now, I'll leave it up to you on how to figure out how not to be Drunken English Hooligan, or as the case may be, Drunken American Moron.

[El-Professor]

Provided we don't need matching passport numbers, a thumb print, blood type on the spot and a throat sample of saliva.

How much of this "chip" thing do you think is bunk and how much is reality? I am anxious to find out (hopefully)!!


On the FIFA website there is rather obtuse reference to how they will handle this. Since it would obviously be impossible to ID and check against the ticket every single fan and still get the match started on time, they will have two tickets checks as you go in. The first check will be to see if you possess a ticket at which point you will be searched and your flares and brass knuckles confiscated (ok, I'm embellishing a little bit). At the second checkpoint your ticket will be scanned to prove that it isn't a forgery. At that point they will check your ID if you arouse their suspicion. This is the rather obtuse part, because they don't indicate what could arouse their suspicion (but I agree that drunken louts will get a hard look).

The Germans are trying to prevent two things, forgerys and scalpers. They will control most of the scalping before the day of the game with the whole allocation system. At the game, the only way they can control it is to check every ID to every ticket, which as I said is near impossible even for the efficient Germans. So there is a non-zero probability that you can find a ticket outside the stadium and get into the game.

Do you want to take the chance? I don't. I do, however, expect US Soccer to treat me like a paying (big bucks at that) customer and keep me informed about what is going on, particularly with another ticket deadline looming.

[Jimbo]

Given that USSF has said it's implementing a first-in-time priority for allocating tickets, it should have had a system in place to allow it to allocate tickets as the requests came in. If the first in the door requested 4 tickets to every game, that's four tickets off the top. If the second request in the door asked for two tickets to the first two games, then those tickets are allocated. It's a simple iterative process as long as you have determined the order of priority for applications, which they announced ahead of time to the world, they had done. USSF should be in a position to tell somebody whether they're going to receive the tickets they requested by now. There really isn't a good excuse for failing to notify anyone before the FIFA deadline.

Like many, I'm in a bind. I couldn't get through via the FAX and overnighted my application, getting a 81xx number. What are my chances of getting USSF tickets? I have no idea. If USSF doesn't spill the beans, I'll have to go into the FIFA lottery and run the risk of being allocated tickets twice and being disqualified by FIFA, if I read their rules correctly. The timing is critical for people on the bubble. The current lottery is the last legal way to get tickets (aside from the unlikely option of conditional tickets). The USSF really botched their assignment, first by setting up an ordering process that favored those who were lucky enough to get through on the fax (either the legal or the back door fax numbers), and now apparently by putting US fans in a position where they have to take the chance on being shut out or being disqualified if they receive USSF tickets and win in the FIFA lottery.

For the people that talk about buying scalped tickets as such a hot option, it costs a lot of money to go to Europe and some may be uncomfortable going on the hope that the scalper will be there with tickets to sell, and if a scalper has tickets there's a pretty good chance he's going to be charging a serious premium. Just go to ebay and see what people are trying to fetch for tickets.

I don't think people are overreacting to the apparent news. USSF said they would notify people by January 6th. If they can't meet the schedule they put out previously, it's a big black eye for them. Add me to the list of unhappy campers.

[MikeLastort2]

I don't think people are overreacting to the apparent news. USSF said they would notify people by January 6th. If they can't meet the schedule they put out previously, it's a big black eye for them. Add me to the list of unhappy campers.

What's today's date?

[dfb547490]

:rolleyes:

Jesus, you guys never give up, do you?

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...

For all you know this poor Teresa girl, one of the two in charge of ticketing at US Soccer, has been working 18-hour days trying to get this all sorted out.

But nahh, instead let's act irrational and lead the charge to get her fired. Some of you are pathetic.

Teresa was great handling ticket orders for the Mexico and T&T games, and while I haven't interacted with her myself it's my understanding that Amy has been great for this. I could be wrong but I don't think anyone's blaming either one of them. It's not their fault, it's the fault of the idiot execs at USSF who are going to screw anyone who doesn't get USSF-allocated tickets out of entering the FIFA lottery as well. They're the ones who need to be fired.

If any business other than a professional or big-time college sports team treated its customers the way USSF does, they'd go out of business within 6 months. And let me be perfectly clear once again, it is NOT the fault of folks like Teresa and Amy who from what I can tell are doing the best they can, it's the fault of their bosses.

[NBlue]

:rolleyes:

Jesus, you guys never give up, do you?

Did you ever think that the demand they received far out-weighed anything they could have ever imagined and that is why this is taking longer than expected? God no, instead let's just blame them and call them idiots and morons...

For all you know this poor Teresa girl, one of the two in charge of ticketing at US Soccer, has been working 18-hour days trying to get this all sorted out.

But nahh, instead let's act irrational and lead the charge to get her fired. Some of you are pathetic.


First, I want to say how much I typically respect and agree with your points, Fidlerre. That said, I think you may not take into account the emotion wrapped up in this situation concerning the allocation and the appearance, at least, of incompetence and the frustration resulting therefrom.

I certainly am willing to give USSF the benefit of the doubt and I am hopeful (though, frankly, not optimistic) that we will all receive emails tomorrow -- or at the very latest -- the day before the FIFA lottery applications are due -- informing us as to whether we will receive tickets. However, based on the comments the initial poster attributed to Amy (who seemed both nice and competent when I spoke with her several weeks ago) it would not seem this is likely.

Based on the fact that it appears they are not going to meet the deadline they themselves had promised (tomorrow) or possibly one that is important if you wish to seek tickets through another means (1/14), I think it would be more than reasonable for them to send out an email or some form of communique indicating where they are in the process and the reasons for the delay and why we should expect an answer. Perhaps and indication of how many request were received and why they are having difficulty sorting through them. Instead, no communication whatsoever has eminated from USSF at all -- leading us to only speculate as to what is going on.

This reminds me of something that was brought up a few weeks ago by another poster about his conversation with Amy and her thought over our concerns about getting tickets:


She also told me that everyone on Bigsoccer that is fretting over this is crazy. And she was pretty emphatic about the use of the term "crazy".)


My response -- which I feel is appropriate to repost here (apologies) is equally if not more applicable to the situation as it stands today then it was on the day of the fax fiasco:


I also talked to Amy this week and she was quite nice. However, her opinion of our "fretting" is emblematic of the problems at USSF. They fail to take into take into account that many of us -- hundreds, if not thousand -- care very deeply about US Soccer. We have planned with our wives (or husbands), children, parents, friends and others to take several weeks out of our lives and away from work or school to go to Germany next year. We do not make this decision idly or without great thought and planning. Moreover, the considerations of housing and travel also make this a great financial committment. Accordingly, it is beyond me why those at USSF fail to understand how important it is to many of us that we are able to obtain tickets to this event that we care so deeply about and have sacrificed so much to attempt to attend.

We are not "fretting" about a hangnail or complaining about some minor squabble; rather, we are frustrated and concerned over something that means a great deal to us and over which we have no control.