I just want to see Messi play before he retires. I hope I can go to a semi final game where Argentina is playing. I don't care about the price.
Yeah it seems like it's always like that even at the World Cup group games. The mid part has empty seats... Not even talking about the media area
I expect this to be a big story going forward. Saturday's games seemed pretty empty, starting with Costa Rica/Paraguay that announced 14k. Was really surprised when it came to Brazil at the Rose Bowl. The far side of the stadium (that you see on tv) looked to be 75% full, but the bench side was amazingly empty, no more than 40% full. No idea if it's prices, but even a Brazil friendly usually brings in a full crowd here in LA. Yet for a tournament, they can't full more than 60%??
One word... greed. I was thinking about going to one of the games in Chicago, but i'd rather spend my money on something more affordible. Im not going to pay triple digits for Jamaica-Venezuela nosebleeds when I could find nfl tickets of better value. Its a shame seeing stadiums that arent even 1/4th full.
There were $5 out there on stubhub and vividseats and craigslist. Personally I got 3 freebies. Barely 15-18K in the stands, thought the announced att. was 25k
Stubhub is clearly the way to go for all but the most popular games. I got a ticket to Uruguay v Jamaica for $6 for a section that Ticketmaster was charging $200+ for.
Not really a ticket question but thought this thread was appropriate for these questions. For those who have attended matches.... ...what has the food selection been like? Is it the typical Hot dog/ NFL stuff. Any ethnic cuisines brought in especially for the matches? Also, are vendors selling hats and shirts and other items for all 16 teams or just the teams involved in the game? Any answers will be appreciated.
I heard from a few friends who went to the Brazil/Ecuador game......they were charging $40 - $60 for parking!!! What the he@@??????
Don't know if the TV took a shot of they shaddy side of the stadium. The upper deck was more or less ok. yeah, anyhow, not lots of peeps. Which was great, in/out super quick, nobody in concessions, not line for bathrooms, and back up in the burbs in 35min with lots of time to settle in for the MEX-URU game.
So far I've been to US/Colombia (Santa Clara) and Brazil/Ecuador (Pasadena). Food offerings have been limited to traditional hot dogs, bbq, tacos etc. There doesn't seem to be any initiative to incorporate special ethnic cuisines. You'd have better luck wandering around the parking lot tailgates in search of authentic foods. Merch vendors I've seen are only selling items for the teams involved in the match.
Thanks for the info. I kinda figured that would be the way things would be but I still needed to ask.
Also the folks manning the concessions were so slow, almost amateurish. It would take them 8-10 minutes to handle one person. It's as if they were volunteers doing this for the first time. They were running around confused most of the time.
Concession workers are the absolute worst, even worse than government workers. But think about it, there is no incentive for them to hussle....the more they work the more work they have to do. Why make 800 trips for a pizza when you can do 150.... you get payed the same either way. They have no incentive to give it a real good effort. Maybe the best they try for is the absolute minimum to not get fired.
I have been to other events at Levi's stadium and other stadiums. Even by usual standards, they seemed unusually slow during the USA-Colombia game. Someone 7th in the queue during half time didn't get back to his seat until 40 minutes in the second half.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I've been disappointed by the USA supporters turnout. Less than 40K for a critical game in Chicago vs Costa Rica. Levi's Stadium was near capacity for the opening match, but it was overwhelmingly filled with Colombian supporters. That said, I've been im Been disappointed by USA supporter turnout. Maybe my expectations were unreasonably high, but we were way outnumbered by Colombians at the opener in Santa Clara. And then seeing all of those empty seats in Chicago... At the same time, been impressed with Colombian support. I went to USA/COL and COL/PAR -- those fans show up in big, bright, loud numbers. I guess the advantage of going to these matches with half-full stadiums is the ability to self-upgrade your seat, like we did last night
Argentina vs Chile was over 60k (I have the exact number in my camera at home), but they were more people than USA vs COL, which was "sellout"... I feel to bad for those americans or non-argentinians that attended to this match hopping to see Messi. A lot of argentinian supporters, but not many were truly argentinians, I did notice that when they played the anthem, and they don't know the specials "cantitos" we have for some rivals . This is what happen when you don't play in places like Miami, or even Orlando.
Columbia travels extremely well. I recall a friendly against the US in London last year, and it looked like 3/4 of the fans were wearing yellow jerseys.
I think much of the attendance issue is based on a basic reaction against gouging. Sure, there are games where only people with a vested interested in one of the teams playing will likely show. Peru/Ecuador is an example. Two small nations playing in Arizona, looked like 8k max. Also wondering how much of the "this is a tournament created from nothing, with nothing at stake' has to do with it. There's no real vibe. They would have been better off delaying last year's Copa, and just holding the 100 year anniversary in Chile (or here).... Gouging wise, the worst case I've heard involved parking prices. I've had friends go to games at the Rose Bowl and Levi Stadium. Rose Bowl was charing $40$60 for basic parking, and Levi was charging $80!! I can imagine getting cheap tickets (or gifted), driving up to the gate, and doing a 180....that, or if it's publicized before hand, just passing. It's like being forced to buy an extra ticket.
The issue of gouging, for this tournament, is unconscionable . I wonder if it is time some local politicians took a look at how SUM and/or the USSF have handled this to see if there have been laws broken. It's really disgusting.