Look, I (we all) hate the guy. Always will. Lots of other MLS fans do, too (I mean, yeah, just read the comments from that MLS article), But, personally, what causes me to pile on with an article such as this isn't so much what has been legitimately achieved in Austin, it's the silly claims and unnecessary exaggerations coming out of the organization that try and make it more than what it is. Fact is, Austin won't kick a ball in futile anger for over a year, but they'll start their inaugural season in MLS with a new stadium; possibly a new $45M training facility (they're supposed to break ground on it this spring). They have a head coach. A "sporting director." Overall, a reasonable staff for a club that doesn't exist yet. A major corporate sponsor that seems to be footing the bill for at least part of the training facility. Compared to Nashville and Miami, Austin's not doing bad at all. I mean, Precourt's been working on this project for over three years, so he should have made progress. True, the stadium location isn't nearly what he wanted it to be, and the city seems bizarrely disinterested in anything related to parking and transportation. These are not minor issues. But by comparison, Nashville's stadium is stalled at least until 2022 (and if it is built, it'll be anything but "urban core") and season ticket sales for games that start in 6 weeks are soft. Miami, despite lots of stunning renderings, may end up calling Lockhart II its permanent home. Again, things could certainly be better in Austin, but they could be worse, as well. But they don't have "nearly 40,000" season ticket deposits. They have an unreported number of deposits from individuals who each could have claimed up to 8 season tickets. I mean, who the hell boasts about selling 6% of stadium capacity in season tickets? I understand that the process my be in its early stages, but it's just weird. Or how about this: Near as I can tell (and please correct me if i'm wrong) Austin FC has two corporate partners: St. David’s HealthCare and Double Dave's as its "official pizza partner." That's it. Two. Imagine the positivity from such a ramp up! Or that line about DPs: What the hell does that mean? Inventive ways to acquire DPs or to introduce them (assuming they're signed)? That quote links to another article that says the club might just sign a DP in the Feb-May window, which would make zero sense and, to anyone with a half a brain, is clearly not going to happen. Personally, I like the following quote from this article: A big believer in the MLS draft as a way to build a roster. Yowza. That'll bump up the ol' ambition ranking. Then there's the Mercado tweet that @crewfan_in_columbus just shared. Again, compared to where they should be, 13 months before they'll start play, Austin is fine. Much of the organization is still a shell, but there's time to address that. It's the childlike delusions of grandeur that are so absurd. Listing Tigres as a "rival." Boasting of the overwhelming support for the club in Austin, where the biggest local newspaper virtually ignores them (and doesn't even employ anyone to cover the sport; Bils is a freelance reporter) and they only draw the same few hundred fans to their largest events. Launching an expansion club in MLS is hard. But Minister of Propaganda Loughnane implies its a walk in a park in Austin. Everything's coming up roses and lollipops. They're beating fans off with sticks. Sticks, I tell you! If I didn't hate those mother********ers so much, I'd feel embarrassed for them.
It’s the way to maximize revenue on every single seat sold. I don’t love it as a buyer, but that’s the strategy.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
At least you recognize that Rotten Logs Enterprises is putting profits before passion, then you can’t say you’re surprised in a few years. Also, what Bill said.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...dible-pace-says-club-president-andy-loughnane From the article... "AUSTIN – Last June, Austin FC set an MLS record with 30,000 season-ticket deposits within the first 24 hours of opening them to the public, a number that’s since grown to nearly 40,000. Now, in the first few weeks of converting those to season memberships, the front office is making steady progress in selling out a stadium that’s just starting to take physical shape. At a fan event last week celebrating the one-year anniversary of Austin FC joining MLS, club president Andy Loughnane detailed the progress being made in ticket sales. In total, the sales cover 6% of the 20,500 fans expected to fill the stadium when it opens for Austin FC’s inaugural season in 2021. But with the highest-dollar tickets selling out quickly, and with 75 percent of the stadium season tickets priced at $48 a match or less, Loughnane feels optimistic about the club’s prospects for filling the stadium with fans." ...... I really suck at math, so I'm going to need somebody to school me here....but I'm reading this as Austin FC has sold about 1,230 season ticket seats. Am I missing something? Is this the huge demand in Austin? I'm not completely delusional about Austin's potential success. I know that theyve just started selling seats and the number will obviously climb. I think they will probably sell out most, maybe even all games, at least in their first season. I also believe they will sell thousands more season tickets. I just hear a lot of hype from Austin fans about how their going to take this league by storm and how us rubes have no idea of what unprecedented support they will have. This majorleaguesoccersoccer.com article written by acclaimed Austin journalist Phil West paints a different picture for me however. Somebody please explain.
Well, they've only been selling season tickets for the past week or two. And supposedly, they're working their way through the list of deposit-makers based on the date people made them (oldest first). Though, of course, they're still perfectly happy tossing out the number of potential seats/tickets and allowing readers to erroneously assume that it equals the number of people who made deposits. We have no real idea how many season tickets they might sell because the club purposefully doesn't provide enough in the way of hard data to allow you to calculate or estimate that number. Though clubs who really do have overwhelming demand tend to splash those numbers out there publicly for obvious reasons. Minnesota recently announced a 94% conversion rate among 2019 season ticket holders, and that they were going to sell a couple more thousand season tickets in 2020 out of their 6,000 person waiting list. That's demand. Until and unless Precourt actually admits how many individual people made those deposits and the rate when the club tries to convert them into actual full season packages, it's all going to remain a mystery. Recall, people made that $50 refundable deposit before they had any sense of what season tickets would even cost. The club's rosy spin on this sounds like it's meant for those potential fans on the list who haven't been contacted yet (better buy now, or you may not be able to do so later). Or for potential investors, buyers or corporate sponsors. Personally, I assume they'll be fine at the gate, but nothing more. Year one is likely going to pull in a lot of curiosity seekers. But other than the obviously inflated number of potential seats, nothing about this launch implies that demand is "record setting." The number of fans at their events is pretty modest (and includes the same people over and over again); ownership/ the FO has a track record of not really knowing how to run the business side of an MLS club very well; stadium location and lack or transportation and parking will be a disincentive for fans to come out to games; and there have been posts on social media (not an entirely believable source, admittedly) that quote former Austin employees who say the 30-40K number is bullshit.
The only good answer is if 6% comes from 6% or less of the names on the list. If 6% comes from 15-20-30%, then we have a good idea how much those 40,000 really mean. They obviously aren't going to give us the correlation.
You seriously can't make this up...... "Fighting Verde"..... Top time today with Roger on @MenInBlazers talking about “the greatest invitation in the world” and the games we play with it, the soccer ball. Fighting Verde @AustinFC pic.twitter.com/aCDGNvyOWK— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) January 22, 2020
It's so nice of him to raise awareness for people who have been suffering from verde. It's a very serious condition.
That same episode has a still photo of the ownership group. With all the money Dr. Pete and the Haslams paid him, you'd think that moron would buy another shirt.
They have only started to sell the most premium seating. Suites and loges are pretty much completely sold out from my understanding. What you're seeing them report now are premium club seats and the prices of those are ranging $4,000 to $6,000 a seat. They haven't even begun selling to general seating or low to mid-level price points.
I gotta admit... I kinda like this guy. It's a small glimpse into ~12 years ago when Chicago and TFC fans would stop by and throw jabs.
How does this work, exactly? Consider: the deposit process was to call them up, give them your name and pay them 50 bucks. I don't recall hearing that people were asked what level of seats they were going to purchase. Yet somehow - magic? telepathy? - they have started the sales effort by only calling people who want higher priced seating. Or do they call you and say "Are you buying the high priced tickets?" and if the answer is no, they say "sorry to disturb, we'll get back to you when we're selling the cheaper seats." When you can pass along a source for how you came to this conclusion, let me know.
They had two options IIRC when they submitted their deposits. $100 for premium seating, and $50 for non premium. What gets me, is they're not following what they said they'd do. Shocker, I know, right? They said they'd end up prioritizing people based on when they put their deposits in. So if you legit were the first person to get your deposit in, and you were the $50 option, some ass wad who paid $100 gets priority over you. And just because they paid the $100 premium pricing, doesn't limit them to premium seats. Can you imagine telling someone that if they don't want to buy their premium seats today, they get tossed back into the queue at the end of the line? No. They're gonna say, "Oh sure... you don't want the $7,500/season option, but we can sell you the non premium $3,000/season option." This will end up being a debacle.
You pretty much nailed it. They started with the $100 (premium) deposits and won’t get to the $50 (general/supporters) deposits until some time this spring.
So let's say CanBeADick gets a call from jackwagon sales rep and Mr.Dick realizes his ten subscribers to his shitty podcast won't finance the suite he dropped a $100 deposit on and wants to downgrade to nosebleeds in the corner. They tell him no?