I have a good friend in the business that get info from to pass on tips for soccer fans trying to get tickets.
They are trying to stop Mexican fans from getting tickets, okay resale. However I'd be very very surprised if you couldn't transfer them.
If they can be transferred, then they can be easily sold. If their goal is to keep Mexico's fans out, being able to transfer makes no sense.
I put in for lottery tickets for this match, and I've already booked airfare from D.C., so I'll be buying them one way or the other if we don't win. I do have to say, though, that it seems more fair to everyone to do it this way -- why should fans who, for whatever reason (work, kids, life, etc.) can't be online the moment the tickets go on sale be penalized? Especially in a stadium that's small enough that it'll certainly sell out.
The lottery is designed to get as many ao, Sanmers, Columbus sth, usssc people in the building as possible. The general ticket lottery will have a token number. But there's a reason us soccer moved to the ticketmaster portal platform instead of just allowing ao to distribute tickets.
As long as we keep on winning and a majority of the fans in the stadium are cheering on the USA, the Hex match against Mexico should be in Columbus.
I am pretty sure that any USSSC members who wanted them were able to get tickets at any time during previous presales for this matchup at Columbus Crew Stadium.
So ... If one intends to apply through AO, they should not apply via US supporters as well, as it will invalidate both applications. But it looks as though the deadline for the latter will arrive before AO provides any info for their process, at all. Is that right? I've heard absolutely nothing from AO yet. Has anyone?
The AO lottery doesn't close until tomorrow. If you reach out, they can probably forward you the email and you can register.
Have done. But their contact link says something along the lines of 'we're pretty busy, it might take a couple days to get back to you'. I'm not optimistic.
are you also a USSC member? if so then AO wouldn't have sent you anything. I just got my USSC invite (after many many emails/calls/tweets to USSC. No clue what or why.
This is, as I understand it, accurate. On Sept 11, AO sent their entire member roster to Soccer House in Chicago. The Crew did likewise for their STHs. I assume the Sammers did the same but I don't know. The federation then essentially melded those lists with the USSSC members list and identified double (or triple) entries. This has led some people to imply that everybody is being dumped into the same pot. Such is not the case. Each group is being given a carve out of the stadium. AO members (and, I believe, Sams Army and also Crew Supporters groups - Hudson Street, La Turbina, Crew Union) may be segregated somewhat but essentially they're in the "insanely drunk and rowdy" section of the stadium which will doubtless be subjected to the curse known as Capos, arrogant douchenozzles from Seattle and utterly insufferable Mommy-bloggers from DesMoines (although she may have quit after some drunk grabbed her tittie. Of this I know little and wish I knew less) So it's not a question of AO vs, USSSC in a lottery. AO will get theirs- last time it was 7000 and I'd guess it's a similar number this time too, USSSC will be on the west side, likely with Crew STHs, etc. The main question is what percentage of eligibles are they thinking they will accommodate? The assumption is that USSSC has carved out a portion which will seat a much larger percentage than other groups will be able to. Also note that, while in the past Crew STHs have been guaranteed a one-for-one ticket purchase (ie for each ST held), they too will be subjected to the dreaded "preferred purchasing program" - aka a lottery. To get back to the question though, US Soccer sent out emails to everyone who appeared on multiple lists asking them to declare for one and only one of the lotteries. In other words, if you miss on AO, you won't get a second chance with any other group. You will be dumped into the "general public" lottery which as noted above isn't likely to have more than a handful of tickets set aside for thousands and thousands of people. You have to believe that they're not lying and that there really IS a carve out for the "general public" lottery, but it can't be many. I can tell you though that while AO has divided their group into sections - I believe it's A through G but don't quote me - it's strictly for convenience. In the end, the AO lottery will be run as a whole. Either way, I believe some sections have already closed while others are closing today. Not an expert, call them. I do know that if you think you are an AO member but have not gotten an email then you were not on the member list which they sent to US Soccer. Either you didn't renew or you renewed after Sept 11 (Sept 6 for USSSC members,IIRC) If neither of those conditions apply, maybe they have a bad email addy for you or your system sent the email to a spam folder. I keep hearing that the wording seems to imply a promotion and Gmail doesn't like those. All I got. Some details likely wrong, but the general thrust is accurate. PS: Be advised that last time Mapfre was configured for 24,850, likely the most that's humanly possible. Also, the Mexican Federation does get some. Who knows the number. Doing the math suggests that not much is going to be left over.
I bought tickets through the US Soccer Fan and then USSSC presales for the last three US/Mex matches in Columbus, which put me in the South Endline area. I hope that the lottery process allocates the stadium similarly, giving USSSC members availability to the entire stadium minus the North areas controlled by AO and the Crew SG's. If that's the case, and USSSC members get first dibs, Crew STH's second dibs like in the past, I think almost every applicant from those groups will get tickets. We'll know better on October 10th. I'm USSSC "Gold" and applied for only Endline tickets.
great insight, thanks for that. Couple notes: - mommy bloggers from des moines.. laughed out loud on that, thanks. And i know exactly who you are referring to. - love that you guys are still bitter over the seattle capos issue from a few years go. drama.. but i like how you worded it. - Sammers is really a thing and are given ticket access? gotta assume most of their members will get access, given the relatively small numbers? - I'm guessing Mex Fed will be closer to 300. I thought that was the number they gave us for Azteca in 2013, either way, it will be <500 for sure. If we only give them 100 tix then getting access to Azteca is going to be harder then this game. - you better believe USSC will ensure most of their paid members get tickets, it's their product and their membership. can't imagine why they would leave any of them out, but not sure the volume. regardless, all good and thanks for the details. Although messy, i do like the weighted lottery concept. 1st come 1st serve is not a good play for things like this where you have tiered membership status. Not sure if AO is building in some logic for length of membership... gotta assume they have some qualifiers built in. fun, fun.
With the new ticketmaster portal Sammers and AO get equal access. Last cycle I'm fairly certain us soccer only sold aroubd 100 tickets to Mexico away. There just aren't that many away traveling fans. Of course it's pretty easy for US fans to just buy ordinary tickets in Mexico.
I'm a member of both AO and USSSC and got this email on Monday: ---------------------------------------- "Dear U.S. Soccer Member: U.S. Soccer is beginning the process of accepting ticket applications for the USA vs. Mexico 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier, presented by AT&T. U.S. Soccer Members are automatically qualified to be included in this process. You should be receiving information to apply for tickets as part of your U.S. Soccer Membership shortly, if you haven't received anything already. Please note that ticket requests are limited to four (4) tickets and one (1) application per household or place of business. For American Outlaws We have recognized that you are also a member of the American Outlaws, a qualified group able to participate in a separate private ticket application pool.As both a U.S. Soccer Member and AO member, you may choose to be included in only one application pool. To apply for USA v. MEX match tickets, you have two options: If you wish to apply for tickets through your U.S. Soccer Membership (which excludes seating in the American Outlaws section), please proceed with applying based on the instructions for that channel. You do not need to reply to this note. If you wish to apply for tickets in the American Outlaws seating area (which will thus exclude your chance to apply for seats in any other area), click here to submit your name by Tuesday, Sept. 27, at10 AM ET. (Note: the email address you provide in the survey MUST match the address to whom this note was sent). From there, the American Outlaws will send you instructions on the afternoon of Sept. 27 on how to proceed. Tickets are being made available to American Outlaws members on a lottery-selection basis. Applications will be selected at random after Sept. 29 to determine the purchasers of available tickets. The applicants selected will be notified by Oct. 10 and have their payment card charged shortly thereafter. The odds of being selected will depend on the number of applications received, the number of tickets requested, and the number of tickets available. Thank you for your support of the U.S. National Teams. U.S. Soccer" ------------------------------ So if you missed that deadline to opt in for the AO lottery, you'll probably have to apply via the USSSC lottery. Which closes at 2pm ET today. Hope that helps. Good luck!
And also, I opted to apply via the USSSC lottery, since I'm a paying member at the "Silver" level. I figure that will give me significantly better odds. I essentially only keep my paid USSSC membership active for the purpose of getting tickets to this match and the World Cup, so I may as well use it.