At Wednesday night's match, those of us in Section 110 and adjacent sections were treated to the security guards escorting out a young man who dared to bring a trumpet into the stadium. The man had had the audacity to wave the trumpet over his head and attempt to lead the crowd in cheering for the Revs! He was allowed to return shortly thereafter, sans trumpet. Quiet was thus restored. In fact it was so quiet that, from my seat 20 rows up, I could hear the words of Jim Rooney from the center circle as he barked at the linesman for the blown offside call leading to Henderson's goal. My son refers to CMGI as "the Morgue." I think of it more as a new shopping mall: no one shouts in a mall. In any case, it doesn't seem much like a sports stadium. I'm thinking of moving to the Fort. At least there are some live bodies over there. Maybe they won't stare at me in disbelief and disgust when I give the linesman or the ref a piece of my mind.
Unfortunately, I think the design of the stadium has a lot to do with the lack of sound. When the US National team played there right before going to the WC there were over 40,000 in attendance and it still was very quiet. I will reserve my final judgement on the matter until I hear from the Patriot Fans after they have played a few games. My guess is that they will notice that the stadium eats sound. As to the policy on drums and noise makers---I just don't get management objecting to fans who want to use such to spur on the team. If someone can tell me that they are realistically being excluded for security reasons then I buy it. If it's just some over reaction by security and does little to screen out the bad guys then I say--Hey, get a life. The reason people come is to watch the game and make some noise. Let us have some fun will ya!
The major benifit from the drums & noise is that it would drown out the incessant play by play and revs history lesson that the " flamming idiot " one row back deemed manadaory for his buddy and girlfriend that were attending thier first game. if this guy would have shut up already, his friends might actually have wanted to go to another game! I don't know how many games i've been to where i sit next to or w/in earshot of some BigSoccer twit spewing forth all the crap i read here to thier newbie friends at the game... REV-OKe free tip of the day: Your pats fan friends don't give a crap. And they think your a freak. Buy them a beer & yell alot next time - and just maybe the'll have a good enough time to consider comming back. Save the lecture for us twits. who give a flying f_()Ck
I think the stadium will ROCK for the first regular season Pats game. I wish I had tickets, it's going to be a screaming love-fest! 68,000 trying to out yell each other. It'll give us something to strive for - when we have the MLS championship here, and we're ready for it! Sounds like the guy next to me. "Play it into the corner, play it into the corner. Why don't they ever play it into the corner?". Gee, I guess they don't know they have a micromanager in row 29!
CMGI sucks At my first and last game this year, I dared to yell something out during the game. People ahead of me turn around and look at me like I'm nuts. The tailgate parties are also dead. Used to be a total party when I went to games but it's all gone now. Going to the Revs games used to be cheap and fun. Now it's neither. Who cares if its loud for the Pats. If a full stadium can't make noise then there is a problem. The fact is that 20K at a Revs game can't make much noise and the new stadium, new parking lot and new prices have killed the fun and my desire to go to any more games. I'm hoping the Bulldogs do move to Lawerence. I think I'll start supporting them if they do.
Do you guys think it might be that a bunch of non-soccer fans are showing up just to get a look at the new stadium? It seems like that'd be the case?
I think the deadness, both inside and out, at Chapter 11 is due to five factors; 1.) Because everything is a fairly widebody seat, no benches, the fans tend to spread out, especuially in the sections where there used to be a sort of densepack. 2.) there are less Rev stalwarts, due to the team's continuing poor showing 3.) there are a lot of stadium/Patsies groupies who haven't the slightest idea as to what is going on 4.) the whole design of the place, while great for sightlines and walking around, is very sterile, 5.) there is a lot more room in the parking lots. Regardless of how the team improves over time, I don't think it will ever be the same as the old Boro. However, if the team does well in many ways it may end up being better. But that is, at present, a long way off. JIM DOW
I found this very oldie, but goodie..!! The first instance, of "the MORGUE"..and it comes from Johnny Rev's Son. Over 9 years ago..! Smart kid..!! Wonder if he still goes to Revs games..? Looking for other FIRST TIMES..!! Who was the first to call it Kraft Apathy...? =)
Gillette isn't as loud as the old place, and is no where near as loud as all the other NFL venues I've been to: Qwest, Lucas Oil, FedEx Field, Giants Stadium (old and new), Soldiers Field... Gillette is a lame stadium both by design, and by the atmosphere created for the fan experience, for both football and soccer. It's funny that even Patriots players, and other people around the league, have said that Gillette isn't very loud, and yet you come on here and defend it every time as though someone is calling your child fat. EDIT: Ok, didn't realize that quote was from 2002 haha. Regardless, it's pretty obvious that rkupp has been proven wrong on this matter. The stadium sucks.
I'll say that not only are you right, but to add insult, they've also done what too many successful teams in the US specially do ... overpriced their real fans. It's become way too much of a corporate crowd at Gillette, people that couldn't give $0.02 about atmosphere, more that they can tell their friends how they have tickets or bring their customers to the game.
Just like the Sox. I hope MLS never becomes like that. I always cringe whenever I hear Don Garber or other league officials talk about raising ticket prices. I really hate that culture of "make money first, ask questions later" in our country. It certainly exists elsewhere (UK for example), but is seems quite prevalent here. It can absolutely RUIN sports. I'd be happier with the lower ticket prices seen in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 rather than the debt ridden, high priced, Man City crap that makes me think my ownership looks like this Top athletes already make hundreds of millions over their careers. There's absolutely no need for them to make that much. Professional sports would seem much more down to earth if top player salaries were in the 3-5 million range rather than the 10-20. I think rather than capping salaries, leagues should cap average ticket prices and force owners to work within the bounds of their revenue. This policy would allow teams in bigger markets (who draw more fans) to make more money and thus spend more money, while also preventing the ridiculous salaries seen today in some leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, Premier League, La Liga).
Definitely, the only way I even get to go to games now is when I get corporate tickets, or invited by friends with corporate tickets. 90% of the people of those corporate ticket holders care more about the game day spread, tweeting pics of their seats or talking about how awesome their office league fantasy football team is.
Obviously supply and demand at it's best (or worst). I bought my season tickets in '93 for $27 per game, down in the bottom corner of Foxboro Stadium. I have now moved two sections over from there, and am at $169/game. Just astounding. No wonder most real fans can't afford it.
amen my friend,,,I'm going to Jets-Eagles tonight and paying $125/seat plus a mandatory $40 parking pass (a 20% discount vs the at the gate price) to watch scrubs play scrubs - couldnt get a regular season game without them
It wouldn't change much in the NFL. Actually NFL salaries would probably go up. NFL owners cover their payroll with the TV contracts alone. MLB would pretty much stay the same.
I meant for MLS teams. MLS teams should cap average ticket prices. I realize that ticket prices wouldn't make a dent in the NFL.
I was thinking of one of my co-workers on my last job. Several years ago, he and his buddy got on the waiting list for Pats season tickets. The years went by and they gradually moved up the list. He got a call last fall saying he could get ST for this coming season. Yay! Well, the only problem was that when they first signed up, the prices were much more reasonable, and even if you account for the normal inflation, it was still a huge increase from what they had counted on. Also, they had requested a lower category seat in the upper deck, but of course, the Pats offered them the top priced tickets or nothing. A bit of hemming and hawing and they finally agreed to mid-price seats. The cost was a lot more than they had anticipated. Also, when they first signed up, they were both young single guys. Now they are both married and his bud has a new baby on the way. I bet the spending decision went over really well with the wives! They went ahead with it, but realistically, they probably won't be able to keep these more than a couple of years. And then some other guy who has been on the list for 10 years gets his shot.
But some of these owners have invested an enormous amount of money in the league. Some like Hunt and St. Phil invested so much they are likely never to see any return on their money. With the extremely limited tv dollars MLS gets, it needs every ounce of ticket revenue it can get. It is a tricky balancing act for teams. I am sure Seattle thinks about opening up more of the stadium all the time. Every owner in MLS is a businessman first and fore most. We can all live pie in the sky and pretend we would invest 10's of millions of dollars with no hope of return, but I think it is naive to think that of the typical MLS owner. Were the MLS owners making money hand over fist then you would have a point, but the vast vast majority are all still losing money over the long term in MLS.
Seattle has revenue in excess of $30 million. It's not hard to figure out why. 36,000 x $35 x 17 games = $21,420,000 and that doesn't include CCL or playoffs or summer friendlies. 17,000 x $35 x 17 = $10,115,000 Ticket revenue is plenty high enough for the average payroll (3-4 million) in this league.
So you choose the far and away most successful team in the land to base your policies off of? That does not make any business sense at all and is likely a formula that would see the league collapse in 5 years. If the league was averaging 36k then you would have a point but the league is not even half of that total right now, nor can will it be close to that number due to the size of the stadiums being built. Also, for the teams that spent 100's of millions on stadiums, the debt service alone can eat into the tiny revenue the league has. Hell, even the Crew are still way in debt 12 years after their relatively cheap lego stadium was built. Until the vast majority of the teams in the league are profitable, (a vast minority are now), expecting ticket prices to be capped really is kind of a business 101 mistake.
I seem to remember paying $16 for a Pats game back in 85 or 86. When there was no action on the field, you could watch the boxing matches in the endzone seats. Those were the days.
And to think, some kid came up with a moniker for the dead middle section of seating where the Zombies sit..!! Amazing..!! and to boot..Nothing has really changed!! =) 16 years and still the same...how ironic that God awful song is!
You might want to go back and read his initial post. You are acting as though he is asking for capped prices now. When in reality, his post was a reaction to other leagues, NFL specifically, and how he hopes MLS doesn't become like that. He does make a good point about teams attempting to make profit before any further investment beyond the initial purchase of a team and basic infrastructure. While your approach does work in some markets, it may not work in others. Products can become unattractive to consumers because they haven't figured out it's own market. A lot of the time, that takes further investments such as advertising, PR, brand partnerships, enhancing consumer experiences etc... It's entirely possible, and often times very likely, that without further investment into those areas, a product can wither and die within it's market. Because while it tried to stay afloat and become profitable in the beginning, it lost almost all of its early adopters due, and failed to bring in new customers. In business 101 marketability is just as, if not more important than initial profitability.You are acting as though profitability comes before understanding the market. THAT is a business 101 mistake. I could start on some bullshit 4 p's discussion, but I didn't realize we were going back to school here.