What the original poster on this reddit thread fails to recognize is that the Dynamo are now paying for their years of poor customer experience and empty roster promises. The organizational credibility is near zero. Why they only “announced” 16k last night was because they’ve been tuned out by many in the market. Extra billboards don’t bring back the supporters who no longer show up (those ranks are definitely smaller), it’s actions not words. http://www.reddit.com/r/dynamo/comments/9jd849/thoughts_about_marketing_an_honest_look_at_the/
Dynamo “announced” attendence vs. San Jose: 17,136. In other Dynamo-reported news, Saddam Hussein has been declared the winner of both the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Gulf War. It’s clear at this point they are going to announce 16-17k for each game to keep the attendance average at a certain level even if they have to give the tickets away
Another satisfied BBVA concession stand customer below. BTW, at least the FO messaging to blame another party (Levy Restaurants) is starting to seep in to most fans. I recall the first year Canetti tried to use the "Dynamo are just tenants" excuse even if the Dynamo ownership controlled both entities (that was when @troutseth used to claim that they really were two separate companies and the team didn't have influence over the stadium; he also would defend the FO for not doing anything that showed a small or difficult to calculate ROI - which is precisely why the Dynamo can't draw fans anymore) 7 minutes to get order that was 4 ft away. When are we getting rid of @LevyRestaurants please take note of Jalepenos @ChrisCanetti @HoustonDynamo @OscarDeLaHoya How much smaller can crowds get? pic.twitter.com/7xoUNGyn5s— SCOTT (@SOBYRNE99) September 30, 2018
This person must be in the luxury box - 7 minutes is less than the usual 15 minutes wait at the normal concourse concessions.
These seem like small complaints but they add up when it seems the same every week/year. Now, I've only been to 1 game each of the last 2 seasons so no first person knowledge of recent developments. But on Facebook I saw one guy complain they didn't have lids and straws for drinks or ran out; there is some new MLS policy about no more selling full bottles of water and soda to fans so they make the buyer pour it into a cup - but then sell 32 oz. bottles and only give the customer 24 oz cups. Just stupid stuff like that it is easily solvable by additional staffing/costs but the Dynamo are too cheap to make it happen. When the on-field product lags, you have to be better off-field and the Dynamo seem to not be able to execute in that area.
Below are the pics of the Dynamo's alleged attendance of 19,127. Maybe it was exchange your unused tickets day, group sales, whatever. The Dynamo finish the year with a final "announced" attendance average of 16,906, down about 3% from 17,500 in 2017. Now, it doesn't take much intelligence to recognize that this year's attendance figures appear much more questionable than prior years' in terms of what visual evidence (and the restriction on selling seats in certain non-TV side sections) shows. I'd like to see a reconciliation of tickets distributed to turnstile counts and paid admissions. We'll never see it but it certainly wasn't a good look this year. From earlier: Announced crowd of 19,127 for #HOUvSEA. #MLS (https://t.co/0gswWujGeK + https://t.co/DoG2rP9GOQ + https://t.co/OzbwUpNP7b + https://t.co/O2zivQ9seh) pic.twitter.com/caXo2cKpN4— Empty Seats Galore (@EmptySeatsPics) October 22, 2018
My feeling is that there were under 10k in seats, and most of the end under the awning was occupied by blue tee shirts. Don't know what kind of deal the company got but I'd bet they didn't pay full price for those seats. Concessions - I'd be willing to bet that the concessions staff and probably security too are based on what the organization estimates the crowd to be. There weren't even any vendors coming down into the stands selling beer this last match. I'm renewing for one more year, but if things don't change them I'm sorry to say that I'll spend my money elsewhere.
They’ve got themselves into a real pickle with a mostly unsuccessful team backed by a thinly-staffed and no-frills customer service and guest experience. It doesn’t add up to a whole lot of value in purchasing a season ticket except to avoid Jay Adelberg’s Circle of Suck vortex. This ain’t just a Westside complaint, they got real issues getting folks out to the games.
They are going to be losing more STH's based on this seasons performance and even if they improve it will be a long road back. I'm not even sure that getting into the playoffs next year would help. Perhaps, just perhaps if they invest in a big name who can actually perform like DC and LA have done - but given their track record they probably won't.
What are the chances they invest in a big name or customer service? 10%? They seem to be going to the dying newspaper model of just trying to squeeze more profit out of a declining STH base and cost cutting.
Another satisfied Dynamo customer!!! I feel for this one, they actually thought the cited benefits for being a STH really existed in practice, not just throwaway words on a brochure. http://www.reddit.com/r/dynamo/comments/9r9g6s/the_email_i_wrote_to_my_ticket_rep_a_week_ago/
since we are airing grievances-- the lines for concessions were enormously long for some untold reason. the stadium was half full at best. In an attempt to use my "free" (pre paid) voucher for a popcorn, i headed out with about 2 mnts left in stoppage and had to wander around the stadium looking for a line that might be short enough for me to get back to my seat before half time finished. I ended up at the stand below the SGs. I spotted the giant popcorn machine and took my place. About 4 mnts after the second half started, i finally made it through the glacially paced line worked by staff that clearly gave zero Fs. I ordered a popcorn and a water. Said i would pay for the water and handed the voucher to the "worker". the "worker" immediately scrutinized the voucher back and forth. Then called a "manager" over. Both of then studied the voucher at length until i interrupted with "is there a problem"? Response: - "uh yeah, this says sections blah blah blah, and we are sections blah. You can't get the popcorn here." My answer:- "the popcorn is right there" (pointing to giant machine). Response:- "you can't get any here". My answer:- "the popcorn is right there"(pointing to giant machine). Response:- "you are going to have to go somewhere else." My answer:- "this is why no one comes to this place" (flipping voucher on the counter and walking back to my seat; missing first 15 mnts of half and popcorn deficient.) Is this the biggest deal in the world? No. But it is a microcosm of the attitude of the staff. They knew only STHs had these vouchers and chose to haggle and piss off a supposedly valued customer over $.13 worth of product. Product that was thrown in the trash about an hour later. the attitude in whole building is generally one of "I don't give AF" and i just don't see how things are going to be different a year from now
The entire substandard Dynamo customer experience is institutionalized at this point. Poorly staffed and costs cut everywhere. And they’ll blame Levy or the charity group that worked that stand but it’s not hard to figure an easy way to take free popcorn vouchers. If they don’t care about the customer experience why should I care about buying one of their tickets?
It's the Academy treatment and charity treatment that is really telling. They're both so easy at managing, cheaply, with the largest ROI for the business yet have been mishandled so badly that they're net negatives for the team, which takes work to accomplish. If you treat those badly, it says a lot about how the FO handles everything else.
I suspect by the end of the day the reddit thread of dissatisfied customers will be a bit longer. My favorite is the guy with East Center Circle seats that couldn’t get access to the east lounge because the Dynamo closed it for private parties some games. That’s almost consumer fraud. But the underlying theme is this: once the Dynamo have your season ticket money, they don’t care about your customer experience until next renewal time.
Oh for the good old days of good soccer in a bad stadium with plenty of room to tailgate. We didn't have to worry about concessions because we knew they were going to suck.
I knew if I wanted a drink at Robertson, it was gonna take Minimum Wage Mabel 10 minutes to get it so you better food and beverage up before the game
Btw, while reddit and here and social media are not a great proxy for true public opinion, I’ve yet to see a post discussing how great the Dynamo are at customer service, stadium experience, and overall commitment to their words. The Orange Kool Aid Brigade dismisses the concerns as “weak” but that purposely misses the point that this several years of the same cheap incompetent crap at the stadium. There is nothing complaints will do to change things outside of STHs dropping seats
My previous longing for the good old days was about having a competitive team. Good entertainment will help me see past nasty nachos and overpriced drinks. We need some good soccer (and a place to tailgate) and we haven't had it in years. Until that happens complaining about food is rearranging the proverbial deck chairs.
OK, John Walker (new Business Ops head for Dynamo) was on the Glenn Davis radio show last week. If you listen to the interview, there are I think two times he talks about the existing remaining fanbase and said (paraphrasing slightly) that the Dynamo were still drawing "10-12-14,000 fans" out to the stadium. Now, it may just be an off misstatement of the figures since he's only been in charge a few weeks, but I suspect the figures he mentioned were actually from paid tickets sold reports (not with comped tix) which would be 3-4,000 below the announced average of 17,000. Its been obviously the figures were goosed up (like most teams do) but the Dynamo really stretched it. The more optimistic folks will say it may just have been turnstile counts but regardless it shows a big gap. Given his background and numbers crunching, I'm thinking he's looking at paid tickets only.
next big event to watch this offseason: Nov. 26 12 p.m. Option Exercise Deadline Clubs no longer competing in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs must notify the League Office in writing of 1) players whose options they are exercising and/or 2) players who are receiving bona fide offers, announced by the teams. Nov. 30 12 p.m. Option Exercise Deadline for Non-MLS Cup Participants Non-MLS Cup participants must notify the League Office in writing of 1) players whose options they are exercising and/or 2) players who are receiving bona fide offers, announced by the clubs. today!