There is an article in the New York times today stating that the Man United games sold out in less than an hour in Philly and Seattle. It said the game at Giants stadium has already sold 70000 tickets and should sellout this week. Is anyone surprised there was this kind of a response? Also, does this kind of response to soccer help Seattle and Philly get MLS teams? BTW before anyone asks me for a link, I was too lazy to seach for it online. I read it in the paper today, so I guess its on their site somewhere.
Selling 70,000 tickets is impressive. Doing it in one hour is...wow. I figured they would sell out, but not like that.
I agree. I couldnt believe it when I read the article. Maybe because those areas havent really had much soccer, all the soccer people decided to go.
I'll check that!! Damn, that almost ensures they'll be back next year to check the new and improved Soldier Field. Cool!!
I think most of them bought tickets under the mistaken impression that these were for Bruce Springteen or Rolling Stones concerts. Seriously, I think Champions World knew what they were doing when organizing the current Summer tour, although it remains to be seen whether it's an effective barometer for interest in MLS clubs in Philly and Seattle. I would like for them to see if these same conditions would exist if the main attraction was, say, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester City.
how do this many people(beside the bigsoccer faithful) know about this tour? do they advertise in the big cities? or does the casual soccer fan check man united's site for this tour?
I got on the ticket master web site yesterday morning at 9:05 (tix went on sale at 9:00 a.m.) and managed to get two $35.00 a seat tickets. Everything else was already gone.
"how do this many people(beside the bigsoccer faithful) know about this tour? do they advertise in the big cities? or does the casual soccer fan check man united's site for this tour?" someone answer his questions. They must be running comercials 24-7. Btw im still amazed at the tour being sold out. you know what this means..EXPECTS LOTS MORE TOURS FROM OTHER TEAMS!
maybe the us public like the word "tour" so we should not call an mls team's season a "season" but rather a "tour". 15 stops around the country per year and "performances" at a home stadium 15 times per year.
Hey, everyone loves a winner Or is that a whinger? Does anyone expect to actually see recognizable players take the pitch? I'd be shocked if more than two first teamers were in the side, myself.
It is in their contract to bring their full squads. However, being someone who went to see the Roma/Real match last summer, don't expect to see a great game. That match had no tackling and many players acted as if they were just trying not to hurt themselves. There's a real chance of many of these games being 0-0. I think most people are going to say they saw Man U. and not for the match itself. These teams will play nowhere near the level of intensity they do in league play. I would just expect to see an exhibition if your going.
You can probably buy 95% of the Man United tour tickets through ticket agencies. Those ticket agencies are slick.
I went to ticketmaster web site around 3 pm and they had tix in the $ 60 , $ 40 and $ 35 price range, they were still available, it is all a lie that is sold out
For which city? I did the same for philly and and the web page indicated no more were available at theat price range. Also. I looked for the article in the NY Times On line version) and couldn't find it.
here is the story: From the Sunday New York Times (3/16): "MANCHESTER UNITED TICKETS GO FAST" "Tickets for two of the three games of Manchester United's tour of the United States this summer sold out within 60 minutes when they went on sale yesterday, said an official at ChampionsWorld, the company that is promoting the four-game tour. All 67,000 tickets for the Manchester United match against Glasgow Celtic of Scotland at Seahawks Stadium in Seattle were gone in 40 minutes. In Philadelphia, it took only an hour for all 66,000 seats to be sold for the match between United and Barcelona of Spain at Lincoln Financial Field. The game will be the first official event at the new stadium, which will be the home of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles. As of late yesterday, there were only 6,000 tickets remaining for United's match against Juventus of Italy in the 76,000-seat Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That game is scheduled to be played on July 31. Manchester United's other scheduled match is against Club America of Mexico on July 27 in the Los Angeles Coliseum."
I've cruised a number of soccer-related websites and NONE report the NYT's story. This is strange as one has to figure that one of these links would have reported it as well, by now.
The Times story is incorrect because I purchased 3 $35 tix at 6:30 last night here in Indiana. I have no doubt that all the games are probably sold out at this point, but I'm curious as to why they would go so far as to say 40 minutes... All I know is, my 6 year old boy gets to see a great matchup between two world class teams as his very first pro soccer match. Peace...
If so, MLS better get in on the action. The American Soccer League sponsored such tours in the 1950s and 1960s, and they were huge financial successes. Kept the ASL afloat, in fact. Could be a nice revenue stream for MLS. Bu t they should know history, lest they repeat it: the ASL spent more time worrying about the foreign tours than league play. Soccer guides from the period talk ONLY about the tours, in fact. BTW--I'm from Philly, and want Philly to get an MLS team. But I have to be honest. Selling out in 3 hours is great, but let's not discount the fact that this match had the added attraction of being the first-ever event in Lincoln Financial Field.
Well, if you payed attention to all the exhibition matches that are played in this country by foreign clubs, you would have figured that out sooner. What you have here is: 1)Immigrant fans and expats from around the world 2) US soccer snobs, ex-players, etc who don't support the game here 3) The casual American sports fan who sees EPL highlights occasionally on Fox Sports World. Basically, what you have here is the notion that the EPL is one of the BEST leagues in the world. 1), 2), and 3) from above know that. MLS is not considered one of the BEST leagues in the world. Isn't it easy to see what the long term goal of the league should be? Build one of the BEST leagues in the world, except WITH American players. We're never going to get there without having our own stadiums, our own youth teams, etc.....baby steps and long term investment over time are the only way to get there.
Except that the game won't be played at anywhere near a world class level. Still fun though for sure.
Sorry...I bought my tickets for the Philly game...it's also my 2 year marriage anniversary on Aug. 3rd and my wife was all gung ho about going to the game...she says she wants to become as passionate about soccer as I am...I love my wife.... And no, it won't be world class, but it will be the closest we get until our 5 year anniversary were my wife has given the go ahead for us to go to Old Trafford and England for 2 weeks... peace...