I get ticked off when I hear people knocking the TFC Fans for not supporting team Canada in last nights game " Supporters section full " . I was at the game, good game...there were a few factors: 7pm start, World Under 20 & renewals of seson tix for TFC, TFC Fans had allot of Footie this Year, It cost $$$$$ to go to these games 10,000 fans is ok, I would like to see fan support in other CDN cities and about supporting National team for example My dad is a TFC fan but would never support the national team because he is a Portugal Supporter and Portugal playing last night he did not attend the game and I'm pretty sure there were allot of other fans who watched EURO qualifying...If Team Canada played on a Sunday Afternoon they would get allot of people from Suburbia coming to the game 7pm start in the middle of week is to much with all the trafick in downtown T.Dot and also a Blue Jay game going on...So everybody on this board who knocks Toronto Fans take it easy.
I flew into Toronto on Tuesday night for work (actually I am in Guelph) and I drove back to Toronto to see the game. The tickets were over-priced for mid-field ($75 - wth?), but I got a $30 ticket in section 111 close to the supporter groups. Loved the tico song they were singing: Can you hear the Ticos sing? Noooo! Noooo! Can you hear the Ticos sing? Noooo! Noooo! Can you hear the Ticos sing? I CAN'T HEAR A <censored> THING! Hah, was good stuff. I got some decent photos during the game as well. But, back to the point of the thread - less than half capacity for the first game in Toronto in seven years sucked. DeRo's goal was great though! Cheers!
This is the most frustrating part. I don't think TFC has scored a goal as nice as DeRo's all year. Plus watching DeGuzman live in person was a treat. He has developed into a real special player. I'm making sure I catch all the Deportivo games on Gol TV that I can this year.
This was my first time watching Canada play and I thought they were pretty good, technically they have it all....Ian Hulme always looks like he is really up for it when he comes on. It was a shame that there was such a low attendance (I am not a Canadian citizen but I will cheer for them) but the only reason I knew it was on was because my mate I go to TFC games with bought tickets for us, I hadn't seen anything anywhere about it so personally I think CSA did/do a terrible job of marketing that game. Think how well TFC was marketed leading up to the start of the season, there wa s areal buzz about it in soccer circles and even people who weren't into soccer knew it was coming. Maybe MLSE should give CSA a few tips on marketing. I don't think Poz mentioning the game on Soccer Centrla a few weeks ago counts as marketing campaign worthy of the Men's National team. Lets hope they get their shit together for when the qualifiers start...I'm hoping for a full house then.
It was a treat to watch on T.V. too. I have supported Canadian teams for over 50 years and I am a TFC season ticket, centre stand, supporter. I also bought all the World Cup games. BUT I am not going to be ripped off to pay inflated prices for a "friendly" game with multiple substitutes. The same goes for the All Star game. It's a big chunk out of a budget to pay $116 a ticket plus, plus, especially when there are two to pay for. If TFC raise the price next year again they will lose support. You can only milk a cash cow until it is dry.
Agreed - the CSA needs to figure out the price points that will fill up the stadium. That and maybe tell a few people a damn good soccer team is playing.
Some good points have been made about 'buyer's fatigue.' These points are obviously very valid. Other issues: It being on a Wednesday was not great for many of those outside the GTA who would attend a Canada game are kinda being locked out. I'm attending university in Waterloo (and Wilfrid Laurier) but I couldn't go to the game, quite simply because of class. I'm sure I'm not the only one that was held up because it was a weekday game. Also, people are probably down in general about Canadian soccer right now. The disappointing U-20 World Cup, as well as TFC's recent futility have led to a depressed feeling around many passionate supporters. Lastly, as big of a deal we make about Canadians supporting other national teams instead of the Canadian national team, we have to realize that there are also people who do passionately support their mother country as well as Canada. I mean in a perfect world, we'd all be supporting Canada, but it's a reality that just doesn't exist. All we can do is support Canada the best we can and hopefully those people will come around too and support the team. Because as people have said this is our best team in a long time with quality players. We have a real shot at WC 2010
I'm sure a world cup qualifier will draw at least 18 000 at BMO. This is no reason for alarm I assure you.
If we were playing Jamaica. Not very impressed with under 10K in the stands. It's not like the CMNT has reached the 'saturation point' some of you are nattering about.
I disagree though I wouldn't use the term 'saturation point' because obviously there are plenty of soccer fans here - more that the same people have been going to a lot of games and weren't crazy about this cash call. I.e. if you price the tickets too high and don't bother to market the game well - you get < 10k in Toronto. There are plenty of entertainment options here (film festival & blue jays/yankees last night alone come to mind) and that has to be taken into consideration when competing for entertainment dollars. I agree the crowd was disappointing - but to put the blame on the Toronto soccer fan for not showing up is not warranted all things considered.
The CSA sucks, tickets were way to expensive in 90% of the place, they charged $11 parking (TFC is $10, U20 was $20 - same lot), they had no press, no advertising, no nothing. The only way I knew about the game was because of the RPB forum where I noticed a thread. Yesterday I asked some friends if they were coming, their answer: "There's a game?" followed by "Are there tickets left?" The entire night was a joke from a logistical stand point. Big ups to all the fans that were there, I had making fun of the CR goalkeeper like many others.
Season ticket holder for TFC that also attended 8 FIFA U-20 games this past summer. That's a lot of soccer, especially when you factor in the commute from suburbia. Being a weeknight game also didn't help -- it's a pain in the ass trying to get down there from work (midtown) to the stadium for a 7PM start. I do feel bad for the CMNT in that they did not get to play before a sellout crowd at BMO Field. I fully expect bigger crowds next year, however, when we start playing WC qualifiers.
Scalpers losing money makes me smile. They are vultures and it drives me nuts to see the cops at the games walk by them and do NOTHING. The cops should bust these guys and TFC should rescind their season tickets so real fans can get tickets.
I already talked about being all soccer budgeted out, but, this brings back an interesting point about TFC tickets this year. I hate to go back to this but when that U20 game was added to make up for the lost TFC regular season game and I made a stink that this was bogus based on the fact that we bought season tix for TFC not Cdn soccer and that MLSE should have refunded us that game instead of giving us a U20 friendly (totally unrelated game to TFC and MLSE as this is CSA and FIFA stuff). I got alot of resistance over how everyone enjoyed the game there and that it was fair of TFC to give us that game as a replacement. Nevertheless, I dont want to go there, just adding to the back story....I mentioned that if the game wasnt included in the TFC package that no one would be there and forget the $90 a ticket (midfield, I think)...I said that at $10 a ticket they couldnt sell out Lamport. No one believed me, however the proof was out there last night. Its not that big a draw for Canadian soccer friendlies. Everyone is right to a certain extent...maybe at a better price point and some marketing it could have been a few thousand more. Anyway I suspect that WC qualifiers will be a different story and we will fill BMO to the rafters with support for Canada as I would look forward to a meaninful game against anyone in Concacaf (might be awesome against the US or Mexico though). I would definately pay the amount for the midfield tickets last night to one of those games.
It's part of the revenue sharing plan between the city, CSA, and MLSE. I'm sure someone in that equation had the bright idea to charge more than regular season TFC games and I doubt it was the city or MLSE in my mind.
I was at the game and I enjoyed it, even though there weren't very many people there. I blame the low attendance on poor marketing. I only found out about the game because I was online looking for TFC tickets and just happened to click on a link to see other events at BMO Field. If I hadn't done that I would never have known about it.
I made it to the game from the K-Dubb and STANDING in the supporters section was a real treat. I think poor advertising combined with high ticket prices made a lot of fans decide not to attend. I woulnd't have paid more then $20/ticket for a friendly against Costa Rica. I support our CMNT fully but my student budget keeps things in perspective. For a friendly not even against a top 30 nation..there is no way tickets should be any more then $30-40 Just My opinion.....exciting game to watch!
the prices for tickets are bit expensive for a friendly against Costa Rica.. i could have told you that the wouldn't sell half of those tickets.. I guess they care more about making cash that filling the stadium..
There wasn't a single damn promotion for this game so just relax. Blame the CSA for their lack of advertising. To call out TFC fans like that is stupid. I bought six tickets, all of which were used and if it hadn't been for the fact that I'm a TFC supporter, my friends would never had known about it. Besides, when it was all said and done I payed $38/seat for what would normally be $15/seat. I would gladly pay more to see my national team play but not too many would. One more thing, why the hell did they even bother opening up the store? What a disgrace! I got there early hoping to scoop up both kits and a scarf only to find that they had absolutely nothing. Ridiculous!
Meh. I admit that I'm over generalizing. Obviously I'm not included you in my venom. But I think there is a greater poseur element at TFC games than we like to believe.
Explain? $14 seats had service charge and $1 donations, totaling $19 per ticket. 19x2 = 38. Did you pay for someone else? Did you buy too many tickets that you couldn't sell off?