It's a Crew match at home. That's all the draw I need to show up. I'm a 'hardcore' without a Nordecke membership however. I am guessing there are maybe, 5000 to 7000 of us.
I think there are 3 factors. 1)Missing the WC, no doubt is reason #1. Interest has taken a massive hit. 2) Currently Pulisc is the only “household name” to casual fans. 3) Ticket prices for these friendlies. USSF is apparently too stupid to realize fans aren’t gonna pay unreasonably jacked-up prices to see a WC failure with one star.
I've been dealing with a runny nose and sneezing all day. This is the first I've felt sick all year, and It has to be from that darn Crew game. I may just skip the early march matches next year (minus the home opener)unless we get FC Cincy, or if the wind isn't that bad, etc., and just exchange my ticket for a later game I can take a friend to. I can totally see why people do this.
If the league was worried about attendance they wouldn't schedule the game at 2:00 in the afternoon the middle of March. I was there. It was cold. They are lucky there wasn't a snow storm. This is Ohio and it is still Winter. You have to commit your day to going to the game to be there at 2:00. People have other things they are committed to doing including youth sports. Basically you have to be done with whatever else you have to do by noonish and go to the stadium. After sitting in the cold for three hours, you may not feel like doing mush else. The local press does not help. I'm not saying that they have to, but they don't. WTVN on Friday news mentions all the other sports games going on in the city over the weekend but did not mention the Crew. The Crew rarely makes the front page of the Dispatch pre-game and is usually buried in the back behind 3-5 pages of NHL coverage. Its their right to cover whatever they want however they want to to but they are not helping the Crew. Everything makes a difference. It could be worse. We could be Chicago.
The general nature of early-season MLS games also don't help bring the droves out. With OSU football, every game is pretty much crucial. You see how one loss can destroy a chance to make the playoffs. In MLS? Early season matches help with momentum to kick-off the season, but do you remember the crew losing streaks/winless streaks in years past in the middle of the season? It usually doesn't matter, and you can still be competing for a playoff game at the end of the season. The number of MLS teams that make it in the league, and the "parity" do no real favors to make the second home game of March in terrible weather as a game you must attend. At least not at Mapfre. If you are tailgating, you are out in the cold. I enjoy watching players all season to get an understanding on how they perform vs certain teams, coaches, lineups, to see who is improving and on the decline, etc., but soccer is also my favorite sport, and we need the casual fans to join our ranks. I could pick quite a few more games to see the Crew than against FC Dallas in March in garbage weather. And this is coming from someone who was there. Now you put the stadium downtown, and the St. Patrick day activities are closer, you can spend your pre-game in a bar inside, you get some more of the taller buildings nearby to help with the winds, along with covered stands, in a new stadium.....and you won't sniff below 10k attendance. We are a smart city. For some, the crew is what you do no matter what. That number looks to be close to 10k based on the attendance. For others, you weigh the overall experience and weather with time commitment and cash value of the experience, and they may have said...not this one. I don't think that's unfair. New York Red Bulls reported 15k for similar weather. So they had 5k more people attend with a metro population of 18 million more people. Should we expect to hit 15k on a day like Saturday? 12k? Sold out? How far are we off?
Some years ago, I was close to putting hang on ignore. I think one’s perspective is blurred when you are one of his targets.
I sat through 90 minutes of my kid's game and we then went straight to stadium and got there as they kicked off. Not once in the 4+ hours of sitting outside was I cold - nor did my kids complain. It was great day - especially in 2nd half when sun came out. Anyone complaining otherwise - dare I say is SOFT! I also sat through another 90 Minute game yesterday (before the snow). I do it all the time with my kids. Sometimes its not pleasant but I go to every game because I love them, I love the game and I love watching them play it. Same goes for being a season ticket member. I bought the tickets - I'm going to the game - cold, wind, snow, rain, heat. I just don't understand or accept any other sort of reasoning/excuses.
That's why you are one of the 8K or so absolute die hards. For the great majority, MLS, for whatever reason, is not worth the time or money.
The early season games are at 2 pm so that it is warmer than at night. It really was not THAT cold. 40. Put some layers on and go. I left at 1 pm to attend and was out by 4:15. It was not all day.
The temperature was 40 degrees with a cold wind but the sun was shining. I wore a light insulated jacket, heavier coat,hat, gloves and a Crew scarf. No cold beer! Enjoyed the game!
Whoa whoa whoa! Don't get all crazy. Plenty warm for a cold beer - just make sure your gloves have a rubbery surface to grip the can. Wouldn't want to waste $10 on a spilt brewski.
My interests and pursuits are varied enough that to apply a capital T Truth to arguments about our shitty little domestic soccer league would be more than disingenuous.
I totally get your point, but as someone coming down from Cleveland, I kinda liked the 2 pm start. Leave Cleveland at a reasonable time in the morning, and back home by 7:30 pm (taking into account for time to exit the parking lot). That said, the two early afternoon Saturday cold weather matches I have been to (2014 playoff match vs. the Revs, and this past Saturday, both drew less than 10k).
I'm a college football guy. I admit it, that's the sport of my passion. And there is no weather that will keep me from attending a Buckeye Football game. (same goes for about 100k of my friends.) What can we do to increase Columbus to a city that has 20k people willing to say that about the Crew? I think it can be done, but I think there will have to be some unconventional changes to get another 10k people willing to "suffer"* for the Crew. *Suffer here means watch a sporting event in non-optimal weather or time.