My prediction is that it will be 28K -32K. I hope they'll give the unsold tickets away for free so the stadium won't look empty on ABC. Anyone have any info on how many tickets they sold so far?
How do you propose they do that without pissing off the 25,000 folks who have already purchased tickets?
People were complaining that San Diego only drew around 25k for the all-star game in 99 and we are not even an MLS city. DC should get a minimum of 30 or I will be very dissappointed.
I guess we have a long way to go if we can't close to sell out our all-star game. Even though I must admit it's just an exhibition and not a real game like MLS Cup.
mls will become respectable when the allstar game and mls cup sell out. with both happening in la next year, they should both sell out.
It won't look empty as the lower bowl of RFK sits just about 26,000 people.. The Washington Post stated today (8/2) that 25k had been presold for the match.. Don't expect too much of a walkup crowd due to the ridiculous oppressive heat in the Washington area the past week.. The temps will be in the upper 90's and it will feel like about 107 degrees at kickoff time..
Why should an All-Star game ever be that big of a deal? We'll be big when the MLS Cup is a tough ticket to get, yes.
Because All-Star games are normally a big deal in the US, whether hard-core soccer fans - excuse me, football supporters - like it or not. Even the NFL Pro-Bowl sells out, and that isn't one of the most popular All-Star games out there. The NFL even holds the game in Hawaii, which doesn't have an NFL franchise. Attendance at MLS All-Star games dropped since the first one in 1996, just like the overall league average did. It's funny, since 1997 the All-Star game has averaged 25,913. This is where I think MLS will max as a seasonal regular season average. Perception is the key. People, uh oh - I mean Eurosnobs/Latin Americsnobs - think MLS games aren't high caliber as it is because the atmosphere - regardless of what BenReilly jokes about in KC - at MLS games suck. I mean if you don't have 60,000 singing and cheering fans, sorry - supporters - in the stadium, oops - ground - how can the quality of play be any good? I do tend to agree though, MLS will not be judged as a success even if the All-Star game sells out the Michigan University football stadium every year, much less The Home Depot National Training Center. Well maybe it would be cool if 100,000 plus went to the MLS All-Star game every year in Ann Arbor, MI. I don't know the answer to these, but did the WNBA sell out their All-Star game? What about past All-Star games? The key is selling out the MLS Cup final. Once this happens, even at Mile High or Arrowhead, MLS will potentially have made it.
agree, the MLS Cup is the more hi-profile game. But I thought there would be more tickets sold because of the National team format. Even though the Euro based players are staying abroad I thought it would be a big draw.
Not to sound mean but Americans are very unpredictable with buying soccer tickets it seems. Fortunately, when it really matters they come out of the woodwork! As long as the hardcore people are there I'm very happy, but of course we need numbers and have to figure out how to get others interested.
Well I'd go if the game was in Orlando. I can't afford to go. But I did get to 2 Qualifying games at RFK. I just hope there is a good walk-up crowd.
had the forecast been for clear skies... i am sure you would not have been... they got 31k on day destined for dreariness... they would have most definitely had a much larger walk up crowd had the forecast been better
Re: Re: All-Star Game Attendance and thank god you were wrong about giving away unsold tickets, Mr. Keen Business Sense
Re: Re: Re: All-Star Game Attendance I did not mean to give it away in front of the stadium Mr. Slow. I meant give it away to youth soccer players in the DC area. Those who paid for their tickets would never have found out anyway. Do you know how many tickets the Yankees give away to youth players and their families, Mr. Slow? Please check and post a response.
Re: Re: Re: Re: All-Star Game Attendance So how many do they. We are all waiting Mr. I having no clue what I post about and since I am a Rochester Fan I feel that I know everything about Soccer in the Us?
Re: Re: Re: Re: All-Star Game Attendance The youth soccer players that should be buying tickets anyway or the other groups of youth soccer players? I can just see it now..."hmm, should we buy tickets or not? Nah, let's wait, they'll just give them for free to us at the end." While I'm sure you had a fail-safe plan already worked out, just tell me what your plan was WHEN people found out that some fans were there for free. Not if, but WHEN. That's a pointless comparison. The Yankees make enough money that they can give away tickets to UNDERPRIVLEDGED KIDS and turn that into great P.R. while at the same time not affecting their bottom line. And, furthermore, it's not like the games that they give away these kinds of tickets for are the "big time" games. You don't see them giving away tickets to the Yankees/Sox series, or the Yankees/Mets series. You see them giving away tickets to see the mighty Devil Rays on a day game during the week. You're talking about giving away tickets to YOUTH SOCCER PLAYERS AND FAMILIES, the exact market that should be buying tickets in the first place. Well let me tell you this-- you start giving away the product for free, then you'll soon find that you have nobody interested in buying. Giving some tickets to the Boy's and Girl's Club is a lot different than giving away tickets to a demographic that can afford them. I have no problem with giving tickets to charitable organizations/church groups/etc, in fact, I've donated Fire game tickets to Big Brothers/Big Sisters last season and this season. But at no point in time does it make any business sense at all to just hand over game tickets to a middle-class demographic for free. Create a $50 youth soccer camp and throw in a ticket with that if you want. But just don't hand them out for free.
the biggest issue which affected the walk up crowd was the heat - I went with 5 others (purchased in advance) - but it was very hot and humid. 15 degrees cooler and I bet we would have seen closer to 40,000 .. but of course pure speculation.