Maybe the team is doing so well because you guys all lost interest. They will probably start to slip in the standings once you guys come back..... I am so happy I renewed because each game is a fantastic experience. Great to see the team play some good soccer, score great goals and not give up easy goals when they are ahead.
l will add that my kids are also 9 & 12 right now, so we are also in Prime Time "have-100-things-to-do-everyday" mode. So that has definitely dampened my overall energy level. So I can't say it's entirely the Union's fault.
So...when the Phillies sucked for decades did anyone's interest wane? How about "The Process" years of the 76ers? Priorities change, and so do interests. It's natural, and the way of life. The crew I go with.....well, it's really just me and 3 empty seats this season so far. I still enjoy game days, and making the trek to the Chester Waterfront. I won't judge anyone who's lost interest over the years though.
It's not that I've lost interest. I still have my seats and go to games but it FEELS different to me this year. At first I thought it was the winning and having a good team that was the difference but I had this feeling at the beginning of the season when we were losing. I think the game day experience has changed...below the critical mass needed to generate whatever vibe it had in seasons past. Singing seems a half hearted afterthought (other than the group in the corner of the river end)...can't put my finger on what it is exactly but it is just different for me this year. Hoping it comes back as that was something I really liked.
Kind of. This team used to be a priority. Great example, like 4-5 seasons back I hung with Eric and his boys pregame in a literal monsoon. We were the only tent in the lot and the team tweeted a pic from their office about diehards. Now? It’s gotta be like San Diego weather, free tix and food and someone needs to drive me door to door for me to think about it. I watch most of the games, but I’m not on here or tweeting about it as much. It’s just whatever. I’m happy for the current form, but ownerships lack of passion is catching. Go team!
Wouldn't say my interest is lowest ever, that was maybe the early Earnie regime ~2 years ago with all of his "don't come if you want to see wins" type comments. Tanner arriving has been a boost. Winning solves everything, as they say, and the performances so far this year are helping to maintain the interest. I am actively repelled by the social media presence, but I'm sure for the team that work is a net positive. Just not my thing. I live outside the area now so don't go to games any more, but this year I got ESPN+ to watch as many as I can, so that's something. Guess if I was really committed I would be driving the 2 hours down to Chester.
I'm excited with the team right now, but I do have those feelings that everything is temporary. Over ten years, the team has never proven themselves to be anything good, but it's reached the point (or always has been) that the Union are a special thing in my life regardless of how good or bad they are. Obviously they are playing really well right now, so vibes are good. GD in the positive double digits is new territory for us!! But there's that feeling in the back of my head (and probably everyone else here) that they are going to fall apart, but eh, I'm enjoying the ride and I've learned to enjoy the ride either way. It's been weird because the team is great, but I really haven't watched/been able to watch many games, just a couple. In the past few months, I went through a bad break-up (see the Away Games thread l made lol), replanned my life, graduated, started my career, and became emotionally stable again, and the Union have really helped ground me during that time. I was also going through a difficult time when I first became a Union fan (late 2010/early 2011). The Union for me, are apart of my identity, and I know this is a very personal experience, but the Union have helped bring great stability and community to my life. I just decorated my new desk with a Union scarf as the focal point and PPL as the computer wallpaper. It's weird because I think the Union being good isn't making me more excited about the team, it almost just strengthens my identity and gives more of a proud feeling. (I don't know if that's a good thing or not lol, but it's who I am) As for the attendance and support concerns, this has been something that isn't Union exclusive by any means, and almost all of American soccer has taken a big hit this season as attendance is down around the country. I personally believe the US missing the World Cup last year really will have lasting effects and instead of a post-World Cup bump, we're getting the opposite. As for the Union's unique situation, all other Philly teams are exciting and the Union couldn't capture anything when every team was garbage, so I'm not expecting much as all other teams have a bright future. People here also seem to pretend that Chester location isn't a factor, but I don't think the Union will ever consistently sell-out in Chester no matter how good they are or ever become. This year will be a good showcase of attendance plays out when the team is actually playoff-caliber. I still have to post this year's attendance thread, whoops. It does suck a little bit to see people lose interest, especially when the team is actually interesting to watch. But I totally get it and everyone needs to prioritize, as @jaykoz3 mentioned. As for me personally, it feels good to be able to get notifications of a win when I don't have the time to plan my night around the game. C'mon the U!
The atmosphere in the river end has been dreadful. And people get so defensive when you bring it up. Even this past week... it was packed, but there was very little noise.
I've missed the last 3 games. Still the same song rotation that everyone keeps complaining about? I suggested roughly 15 new songs... I doubt any of them were attempted.
I think the instaresponse is always "hey man, just come stand with us and come to the meetings or write a blog. Get involved man, dont just criticize!" Unless you wrote the lyrics, set them to music, scored the choreography, enrolled everyone in dance lessons, painted the tifo from cotton sheets you grew and harvested and loomed yourself, I wouldn't really hold my breath on the suggestion-to-implementation needle budging.
Yeah... i usually just send them into the void on twitter... they get retweets, likes, traction of "we must do this next game... (from effing capos) ... and nothing. I gave Adam a huge list of songs with lyrics that I know could be pulled off... nothing. I mean if the river end is going to suck with participation anyway, you might as well try new shit... can't even get people to sing the songs they "know"... so seems like prime time to try something new.
As of last Friday about 500 tickets remained unsold, but almost all of them were in TRE with a few in the Club seats. The casual fan is going to choose to pay $30 to sit in TRE rather than $110 to sit at midfield. While the team is improved, the May BOGO deal seems to have really helped attendance. That will cause far more people to show up next Wednesday.
yeah same stuff... they tried salt n pepa "push it" one night. no one cared. Its hard to bring new stuff when no one is interested in anything other than YSA.
Was unable to go to Seattle game due to late change of plans but sold tickets on Stubhub at a high enough value that I got more than my original cost after their fees. My buddy that was supposed to go this weekend texted me last night that he got called out of town so I put them up this am at the break even mark after fees and they sold within 2 hours. Maybe this winning thing helps with ticket sales...somebody want to call Ernie and Jay and let them know?
Not sure if this is allowed but if anyone is interested in tickets to future games my kid's school is doing an online auction. Couple Union games available as well as any remaining NYRB game (donated by the RB organization - Union would not donate tickets when I asked and the ones on the auction site are donations from STH). There are also 2 tickets to Phish at BB+T starting at $100 with no bidders yet. https://www.accelevents.com/e/KALEIDOSCOPE2019
Maybe they're waiting to see if we make the playoffs. A friendly right in the middle of the playoff push. Perfect timing.