I've always been indifferent to the program, but after the first national title some fans lost perspective. For a while there I really enjoyed seeing the program grow and the stadium expand. Over the last couple of years I've heard JMU fans talking about their team taking on Alabama. Stuff like that and knowing a few people who went to North Dakota State, I'm always going to support the Bison,
I just remember all the smack talk when we started our football program back up and how our excellent record for the first two years was because we played no body. How we weren't going to win any games once we started playing real football in the CAA. Finished ahead of them both years. 2-0 record against them on our way to playing real teams in FBS.
I didn't realize they were that far along. Last time I was there it was a big blob of nothing and one construction worker.
Won't they just give away 5K free tickets to charity groups like Big Brothers? It's a tax deduction for seats they couldn't sell and they win a few converts/collect some parking and concession revenue.
I doubt it. 8pm on a Tuesday night for what will likely be (sadly) a one off CCL match means nobody is going to be interested. They don't charge for parking so the only thing to be gained might be concessions but i would n't be surprised if those are run at a minimal level that night as well.
Well, sure actual butts in seats will be low. Thus give away to charity what you can't sell and take a tax deduction. Let the charity figure out how to distribute the tickets to anyone interested.
But once you give away the tickets you have to staff for those tickets showing up. On a night where they're unlikely to show up and unlikely to spend much, if anything, when they do.
You guessed right. Atlanta is opening up full stadium for 4 games during 2018 season. https://www.atlutd.com/post/2018/01...nz-stadium-300-level-four-matches-2018-season Using last year as an example, I'll assume they average 43000 for the non full stadium games and 70000 for the 4 full stadium games. That would be an average of 49,353. I still think they hit over 50k average. They had 1 non full stadium game that was over 45k. They would have to have 6 non full stadium games of 45k to pass 50k average or if they hit 71/72k for the full stadium games probably only 4 or 5 45k games would be needed.
Yep, and I still think Atlanta can average over 50K per game, even with only four full-capacity games. They drew 45,314 vs. FC Dallas last year and I think we'll see something similar for many of the restricted-capacity games. Even with about 95% of the lower bowl and mezzanine already filled via season tickets and group sales, they still have a couple thousand on the season ticket waiting list. Plus, it helps that all but 1 home game will be on the weekends and they won't have such a compressed schedule in September this year with 8 games in 23 days. So, demand should be even higher this year and attendance records will fall.
The fact that they are pretty much guaranteed over 49k average and we are discussing 50k average as a real possibility blows my mind.
I wish I could come up with something snarky about the AUFC attendance story but can't. It's a huge positive for the club and the league.
With all those people going to games I bet parking is a real bitch! It’s so Busch league of AUFC to run an organization without enough parking for so many people going to their games. It’s weak, but I tried.
new-ish teams talk of 50k for ATL. LAFC about to open the best stadium in MLS NYC needs a rebound attendance wise ORL needs butts in seats ________ MNUFC- let's just hope for a better year two, with more buzz around their team. maybe signing ONE!! DP is a good start.
Not sure if this is discussed elsewhere, but isn't it pretty likely that the XFL will be looking to rent out MLS stadiums for their new league in 2020?
I started a thread in MLS general when xfl was announced to discuss this topic but it hasnt gotten much traffic.
Orlando sold out every game but two I believe and averaged 25,028 (4th in the league)and Minnesota averaged 20,538, not Atlanta numbers, but pretty good (10th in the league). I'm pretty sure LAFC will sell out the entire year, I believe they have reached season ticket cap (if not close). NYCFC did have a down year, but still averaged 22,177, take out the Connecticut game and it's 22,928 and take out the Citi Field and they averaged 23,116. Our problem is teams like Chicago, Colorado, Columbus (Austin), FC Dallas etc.
We don't know where the XFL teams will be located, so it isn't really possible to discuss if MLS stadiums will be needed.. If the previous version is any indication, only a handful of the XFL teams will be in MLS markets.