Through a little research I discovered something that season ticket holders should be aware of. As the front office made the 'transition' to this new "All-in-Fan" contract they failed to mention an important change. When the team stinks and can't even host an Open Cup game you're only getting 17 games - paid for at the same (or higher) rates that we paid for 20 game in previous years. According to the T&C's the price you pay entitles you all MLS games, Open Cup games and CCL games (excluding the final). In the past the team has made sure season ticket holders received 20 games per season. Not under the new plan. With CCL games a pipe dream at this point, and no open cup games this year, the front office effectively was able to leverage a 17% price increase across the board on their season ticket holders and still 'sell' it as no increase in price. Certainly the club has the right to do this. But man it feels a bit of a low blow considering the season last year and what we've experienced this year. And get ready, your "All-in-Fan" package is about to get billed for 2018 in the next 30 days or so. Am I the only one out there that didn't realize this was changing? I received confirmation that this is the case from my season ticket rep.
Andy Carroll runs the business side like Craig Waibel has run the soccer side the past couple of years.
While we're on the subject of the rear ending of STH's, did anyone see these "fan first" concession prices that Atlanta is rolling out at their stadium? Maybe the RioT can implement something like this with the extra money we gave them for these games that won't happen.
20 games was never guaranteed. The team was just good enough that there were always playoff games to get to 20. However, I do remember a year (or maybe two) where they hastily put together friendly games to get to 20 games.
I have a new favorite player. Chad Barrett is pretty cool. Love listening to him on the On Frame podcast. He will be great in the booth after he retires.
Wrong - until this year we had physical tickets that showed Bonus game A, B and C and they were paid for in advance. And yes, one year, I think I remember them pulling together a lower level exhibition as one. They held prices flat on a 20 game season and switched to the "all-in-fan" contract and gave their most loyal fan base an ~20% price increase per game. What's wrong with this approach is there is no incentive for the front office to even host an open cup game.
I'm not sure what you mean. The Open Cup determines home teams by coin flip, and has for several years. Other incentives to advance are still there: ancillary revenue from concessions and such, opportunity to play youth in a competitive environment, the cash for winner and runner-up, and a trophy for the case all remain.
I didn't realize this could be the case at all. After 10+ years of having 20 tickets I would have felt pretty safe assuming i'd get 20 again. Granted, you can't assume anything with the RSL ticket people anymore. I cancelled my season tickets for the first time since season 2 after getting an email saying "no price increase" and then having my price be 80$ higher than last season. With only 17 tickets that would have been a 33% increase for me, and I was in cheap seats =/
I was going to email my rep about this, so I guess now I'll have the answer before I send it. I'm still going to be an ass, though, because this is just wrong. Especially given how long the 20 ticket thing has been established. They even quote you with the "price per game" rate with 20 tickets when you talk to a rep. So it's assumed if not guaranteed. This reminds me of when I tweeted at the team after the open cup "so what do we get with our bonus tickets" and didn't get a response. Go figure.
I can just imagine the complaints the sales reps are getting from disgruntled RSL fans. I work for an airline and have to deal with complaints all the time, but at least I have the ability of compensating a customer to smooth over the situation. RSL reps must be hating life right now.
To my reps credit, they handle the criticism very well and are typically very understandable and clear with replies. It's the lack of initial transparency that is annoying. I'm not sure of a "good" way to handle the 17 game thing this year, but being mute on the issue isn't the right answer.
One of the reasons we cancelled our season tix a few years ago was that I was tired of things that were established benefits were taken away with little to no notice.
That's one thing that certainly stings to some degree. They're not only increasing the price per ticket, but also removing a lot of the extra perks you used to get. Being able to get extra tickets if you had to miss a game was nice. I fully understood that at some point it would go away, but it's just one of many things that have decreased over the years.
After cancelling this year I'm back in the market. Petke has this team fit and fighting, moving off the ball, combining, playing forward. It's pretty. If anything it's an indictment of the Cassar era right now it's the form we see from Plata, Sunny and others. It helps to have Savarino and Rusnak combining...and Silva looked (vs. ManU) to have some edge, size and intelligence. Lots to be happy about.
my recommendation would be to see the year out and, more importantly, how Waibel handles the loans and bloated salaries on the team. Yura has to go in the off season. Savarino has to be bought. Lennon should be looked at and possibly sent back to Liverpool with a deal already done to have him back in the summer. This shift that Petke has made in the team could be seriously damaged if our GM fails to do what is needed of him
While Cassar was not up to the task, I think this analysis is a bit harsh. The things that are happening now are because of Rusnak and Savarino. If Petke had the roster that Cassar had to utilize, does anyone think we would have played so well these last 3 games? Cassar didn't have anything close to what those two bring to the pitch. Plata played pretty well under Cassar, especially before he got hurt. The same for Sunny. Their forms now really aren't due to Petke. In the last 3 games I have seen a bit more motivational play than under Petke previous to them and under Cassar. Some of that has to do with Yura sitting down I think along with the emerging chemistry Silva has with those around him. The addition of Savarino has been the catalyst to these things happening.
I suppose we can agree to disagree. The fitness is better, the effort is night and day better. The off ball movement is dynamic and aggressive. We're using space and width again, starting right from the back (CBs wide as outside backs push up), DMids more forward (see Sunny's play and WHERE he's active on the field, see Becks scoring lately). The players give a damn, they're trying, they're implementing a tactical scheme. Attackers are defending, they're switching sides and overloading, it's actual soccer. Far less of that was going on under Le Jeff. I'll be buying seats to specific games regardless. This I can watch. Whatever we had the past two years, wasn't that watchable.
we don't rely on long balls out of the back to nobody. You can talk all you want about other aspects, but that was easily the most telling part of the Jeff Cassar system. His complete lack of desire to put the ball and play through the midfield was horrific to watch
Petke also didn't have Burrito like Cassar had... To say that the change we've experienced in the last few weeks is directly the result of a couple players is pure hogwash.
Actually I'm 100% correct on this point (with the possible exception of 2015 & 2016). I had several discussions with Bill Manning on this topic over the years. Although you had those printed tickets, there was not a guarantee that those games (A, B, & C) would happen. One year, in fact, it did not because of early playoff and USOC exits. Another year, it took a last minute "friendly" - I think BYU or Austin Aztex or some other PDL team - in order to fill the 20 games. The team did their best to try to make sure that STH's got 20 games in, but it was never guaranteed. Fortunately from 2008 through 2013 the success of the team usually guaranteed this. The marketing may have made it appear to be guaranteed, but it most certainly was not. EDIT: I stopped covering the team near end of 2013 season, and so haven't paid as much attention to this since then, but didn't we only get 19 games a couple of years ago as well - maybe when the team didn't make playoffs? It seems like I remember questions being asked on this forum about what "game C" ticket was going to be used for.