https://worldsoccertalk.com/2019/12/24/usmnt-attendances-decline-fourth-year-row-worst-since-2006/ Besides the rise in price of tickets, the product on the field isn't worth it.
Product on the field, yes definitely. Ticket prices, no. USSF had some of the lowest ticket price options this year that I’ve seen in a decade. Which makes it all the more troubling. The 2 highest attendance games were the most expensive/premium games. Not a ticket price issue.
i live in memphis, and i remember driving to nashville with 8-12 friends for the first couple of friendlies played there. i went for at least 3 sr friendlies and 2 matches when olympic qualifying was there. but as (the lowest) prices crept past $80+ it got cost prohibitive. i havent been to a match in years now. i, and the friends i drug along (some fans, some not) were absolutely priced out of us soccer matches. would i pay more to see us play jamaica in a gold cup semi, for example? of course i would. is a hundred dollars for a friendly, in addition to a few hours of driving, more managable now that im 40 and not just out of college? of course it is. but saying us soccer hasnt priced a LOT of fans out of the game is absolutely untrue. and thats before factoring in the quality.
Just sayin... if you haven’t been to a game in years then probably need to trust me. It’s not about the ticket prices which the last several games have been face value in the $20 range. It’s the shitty product on the field.
Foreign fans that the USSF targets with their location choices, etc aren't as interested anymore either since beating up on the US is not a big deal for them anymore. Everyone does it now.
Who would pay to see Zardes, Ream, Trapp, Lovitz play and the GB project? I wouldn’t go even if the tickets were free Pulisic playing or not. It is really bad when you know your team has already lost the group stage of the World Cup and qualifying for it hasn’t even started. That is how bad the selection of players is. We have many players to be excited about, but when your current coach picks crap after crap then you already know the ending of the movie.
It's also really bad when you know your team is not going to make the World Cup at all given its current form.
I am sure we will make the WC but that is about it. That is as much as we can aspire to and that will be seen as an accomplishment.
That is the sad part about it is that we will make the WC no matter what because our competition is crap. Look at OU tonight, they play in a shitty conference and couldn’t even give LSU a game, forget about beating them at least give them a game the first quarter. You play against crap, when it really matters, you get destroyed.
I have lost so much interest in the team at this point that I don't even know for sure how qualifying works anymore. I think we will still have the hex, and if that's the case, I don't think we'll make it to the WC finals "no matter what." I think there is enough talent in the other top 5 teams in the region to make it difficult if our current form is anything to go on. The problem I have with live professional sports nowadays is that the cost per ticket rarely has anything to do with the product on the field. I live in Atlanta and the Falcons were one of the worst teams in the league this year, but it still cost an arm and a leg to go see them play, which we didn't. Based on the quality of the US team, we should be able to see them for what it would cost to see a second or third division team in England. It should never cost $80/ticket for this team.
Speaking of college football, and given that the context of this thread is about declining attendance... this year's bowl game attendances have been down across the country. Not only has the USMNT lost excitement from its fanbase by not qualifying for the previous WC and then not doing much to restore hope, but US Soccer has to contend with a climate in which sports attendance is decreasing in many other contexts at this time.
I am thinking about going to the Costa Rica friendly. It would cost me a minimum of $100 for myself and my three sons. Not terrible... but not great either... I would like to be sitting away from Costa Rica fans as I want the feeling of comradery. I assume we will be out-numbered :-(
This is very much the fact. Butts in the seats are down. The difference for the NFL is that TV ratings and cash from pay per view streaming is up. The butts are on the sofa. Not sure anyone extra is tuning into Berhalter ball and most who do don't last much past halftime. Ratings can't be good.
Long time fan here. Like many others here, I've been losing interest in the team, especially since the Couva debacle. This is probably the lowest point of the national team since the 1980s. What can be done to turn things around?
In my experience Costa Rica has the fewest fans in the US of any Central American team. I wouldn't worry about it too much
Start winning against legit competition could be a start. Maybe even participate in Copa America and do well there too but USSF doesn't plan on participating there any time soon.
It's beyond pricing people out. I do think people underestimate how much some of the high ticket prices can keep people away, especially on an internet message board dedicated to soccer where I think I am safe to say the typical poster's socioeconomic status is above average. Our definitions of cheap vs many many others are skewed and especially in the types of communities where us soccer lacks fans and needs to attract more people. But, I agree it has more to do with product on the field. Ticket prices were just as high comparatively in days when the US would pack 'em in. This drop coincided with the team shitting the bed, ticket prices have been an issue for much longer.
The organizers are making a profit from these games one way or the other, either from TV revenue, sponsor revenue or negotiations that keep their overhead really low, or some other avenue to allow for lack of ticket sales from impacting their bottom line. There can really be no other reason for why the organizers continue to price tickets the way that they do. The prices are just so incongruous to the demand and the product on the field. There has to be something that we're not seeing economically that allows them to not lower ticket prices. Regardless, the last live game I went to was a long time ago. I don't see that changing until 2026.