FC Dallas has sold less than 5k tickets for opener

Now the toll road is finished it's quite easy to get up there. I live about 4 miles north of downtown and the drive isn't bad at all.

 

El Jefe,

I agree. Some folks just don't have any idea how difficult it is for a soccer team to build a stadium ANYWHERE in a market for one reason or another. I've been to Dallas's stadium for MLS Cup a while back and had a great time.

Its a very good stadium (although personally I would have like some sort of roof structure) and getting there even for someone who is not from Dallas was pretty easy and that's before the new highway was build.

Folks should quit moaning about what the don't have and appreciate what they do. Those individuals should consider the problems we are having with getting a stadium anywhere in the DC area is proving to be extremely difficult.

I guess in one way this is a good thing since it just shows how far soccer has come in the last 10 to 15 years that we are even having this kind of discussion.

Nick

 

Speaking as an unbiased Fire fan oblivious to the Brimstone Cup, I think the best alternative would have been to fold the organization.

 

When was the last time the Fire won the brimstone cup anyway?

 

I don't know how long you've been following MLS for, but in those days people were still treating the league like syphilis. It's a miracle anyone offered the Burn a stadium deal. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth when the alternative is that you'll die trying to get where you're going on foot.

 

I don't even know, but my guess would be the last time anyone gave a shit?

 

they are going to have $1 beers, Fireworks after the game and unveil the new FC Dallas booty shakers...oh yeah and there will be some soccer too. Wish i lived near Dallas..I'm all over $1 beers and hot chics in tight outfits and big explosions!

 

Ahh, family fun!

 

The league definitely needs teams to run at or near operating profit. Dallas is one of the profitable teams. That is a good thing. I can't see folding a profitable team.

 

As a concert booking operation they do quite well, as a soccer team not so much.

 

That's why I think this constant heartburn over Dallas is misguided. If they were losing money hand over fist, there would be big time cause for concern. As it stands, they are not. Does that mean they should stand pat and accept the meager crowds that often show up? Of course not. But they have the luxury of fixing their problems without the sickle hanging over their throats.

From the beginning of this thread, its sounds like ownership is doing this by holding the ticket people accountable. It sounds like they have plenty of people that live fairly close by. They need to concentrate on getting them to the park.

 

<books flight to Dallas>

 

Plus, that figure of only 5k tickets sold is about 3 weeks old now....

 

Can we keep this thread going just a bit longer...soon we'll have more posts in this thread than FCD fans at PHP

I keed, I keed

Three weeks old, but I wouldn't be surprised if the number hadn't changed much.

Where's a good mob when you need them?

 

yeah this thread is getting pretty old, maybe they have sold 6 or 7k tickets by now

 

Well, I just spent the last 1/2 hour so reading this thread which apparently includes a decent synopsis of a decades old argument on the location of PHP. My 2 cents worth:

My drive to PHP from is approximately 55 miles from Fort Worth, much of it on tollways starting with 161 in Irving (maybe it'll be better when they finish construction of 121 in Lewisville). This IS a hindrance; especially if they schedule the games during weekdays with a drive through the teeth of metroplex rush hour traffic. Nevertheless, I finally convinced myself to get season tickets; it didn't hurt with FC Dallas being able to pick up some interesting bodies (Van Der bergh, Ferreira) and not losing Cooper (yet).

Naturally, I would have preferred a location closer to me, but it's in Frisco and that's not going to change until/if someone builds another bigger/better soccer-specific stadium (or crowd/support justifies a move to Jerryworld). Location may be a contributor to the lack of fan support but there's still plenty of reason to believe FC Dallas should be able to fill the stadium with the right marketing. Folks should just stop complaining about a stadium location that is not going to change in the near-term.

OTOH, I suspect someone could build a 20k+ stadium on the Fort Worth northside for a USL team, hire a few ex Mex-nationals (e.g. Blanco), actually appeal to the local hispanic community, and easily fill the stadium. (Okay, maybe I'm dreaming). If they were good enough, they might draw my interest at the expense of FC Dallas.

 

Just a slight update, I was on the phone with a sales rep. and I brought up the 5,000#. He said that opening day was looking good and that they had probably sold that much on the east side of the stadium alone. I'm not saying a sell out or anything but I'm betting on at least 12,000. Take that for what it's worth.

 

Good to hear that Dallas won't be empty for the opener. Hopefully it will be a strong crowd.

 

They've certainly beefed up the advertising lately. I've seen ads in the Dallas Morning News, on their website, on TV, billboards and on the most popular sports radio station.

 

OK, so you mean 7k in the stands, with announced attendance > 16k. Hey, I kid, I kid. I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

Screw Dallas.

Just kidding!!

 

I wish I had time to read the entire thread. As it is, just going to chime in.

I live in Austin, and bought a 5 game package in 2006. I took the plunge on that commitment based on wanting to see certain players from visiting teams and hoping to bond with the Dallas roster.

When I went up for the games and stayed in DFW the night before the games, I found the drive to Frisco quite simple. In fact, for people in Plano and th e booming north Dallas areas, it is much easier to get to than the Cotton Bowl was.

I went up for opening day, went to the stadium the night before for some 'fan party' - the fans were great but other than some auctioned gear that was still way too pricey, the club admin and players were nowhere to be found.

As for appealing to the Hispanic community, I just laugh because whenever I went, I certainly felt like they did everything possible to cater to the hispanic community. So much that I felt ignored as just 'typical fan guy' because of such overt emphasis on spanish everywhere, etc. My wife is foreign (brazil) and even found it odd. On gameday we're reaching out to the people that didn't show up!

The team on the field has been boring for years. Again, the complete insistence on filling out the roster with as many latino players as possible, and completely giving up any obvious desire to sign a player that pays for the US national team.....I could simply never connect with this team or roster. My opinionis that most MLS fans are USA fans first. I started watching MLS years ago to watch these guys' club careers. Just like I cherry pick my european games to watch based on Americans on the roster. Sorry, but it's all I have time for. I think Dallas does a disservice to those fans by bringing in no-name, no-impact guys.

The prices of everything in the stadium were a solid 30% too expensive.

I really, really want to like and support Dallas FC. But right now it is a rotating bunch of players that have no pedigree, and aren't making a name for themselves in MLS, then there's the Carlos Ruiz fiasco, letting Toja go so quickly, the major disappointment with Denilson (wasn't there ANY way of knowing if he could perform ahead of time??).

Thank god for Cooper. Dallas won't hold him long though. God, reading their roster is actually less exciting than Kansas City.

SIGN SOME PLAYERS WE WANT TO WATCH

And btw - the jerseys are horrendous. Again, would love to buy one, but the home jersey is just generic and loud. The away jersey is simply a training kit. Insanity at the Pizza......

Sorry if that's harsh. It's how I feel. Simply disenchanted. If I were in LA I could at least be angry at the team. As a Dallas supporter...I just don't care.

 

Believe me, I share some of your frustration and know exactly what you're talking about because I'm a new fan who is really trying to get into it.

But that latino roster bit, at least this season, is nonsense. Cooper, Cunningham, Purdy, Moor, McCarty, Van den Berg, Wallace, Shea and I'm sure I'm missing some. Besides, I don't think it matters what ethnicity the team is comprised of so long as they're winning. I think Dallas has made a lot of moves this year that will make a below average team last year into playoff team this year. Having a good team and not having Hitch in charge of tickets will hopefully have a good effect on the attendance.