I understand that last year we had less than 1,400 season ticket holders. I just saw on the St. Louis website that before they even have a franchise, they have signed up over 1,500 season ticket holders years in advance. http://www.stlouissoccerunited.com/content/view/39/81/ They also have a very well organized supporters club. Given that I see thousands of families every weekend on youth soccer fields, what is the problem. I know families from my daughters' teams that are soccer fanatics, but have zero interest in the Rapids. What's the difference between here and St. Louis, or Toronto, or Columbus, etc.....
Are those actual paid tickets, deposits, or just people who have said they would be willing to buy a ticket? Seattle has had 11,500 put down $50 for a season ticket for the 2009 season already.
They have registered for tickets. It doesn't seem like there is any money down yet. I moved here and started coming to games in 1997. Was there any pre-purchasing prior to the Rapids?
I thought it was more like 3,500 full season seat equivalents in 2007 for the Rapids. That being said, Seattle which doesn't start until 2009 already has 11,000 deposits.
That number is just people who have signed up as being interested. Keep in mind St. Louis hasn't been granted a franchise yet, so it's too soon to be signing people up for season tickets. Also, look at the front page: http://stlouissoccerunited.com/ . You can see the sign-up right there. It says "Pre-register for Season Ticket Information and sign up for E-news updates right here!" So that number is just people who have given their email addresses mainly for the sake of just getting any new information sent to their email (which right now consists of an occasional blog post from Jeff Cooper). That said, I think there is a huge interest in soccer in Saint Louis. A lot of guys around here play indoor soccer, and I even hear an occasional person at work talking about Man U or see someone sporting an Argentina jersey at the grocery store. Seattle's season ticket sales have been amazing though.
Its because St. Louis is SOCCER COUNTRY... come on man, u lived there, I lived there. We are nuts about soccer!!! i wouldnt have thought any different!
Some of the best players come out of the St. Louis area. Im talking Girls and Guys... Would you like me to list a few..... Brad Davis- Houston Pat Noonan- New England/Norway... lol Taylor Twellman- New England Steve Ralston- New England Chris Klien- LA Matt Pickens Women Lori Chalupny Becky Sauerbrunn
Yeah I understand the roots of soccer from that area doesnt explain the fact that all these places outsell us lol
Maybe its because these teams acutally have the potential to have 1. A good coach 2. A good team As the Rapids lost in the #1 category!!!!
As long as people are coming out to Dick's I'd be happy and worry less about season tickets sales. If the team can put together a few good seasons in the new stadium I'm sure it will happen. I moved about a year before dick's was built, but I remember the empty felling and declining turnouts at Invesco. what was the average attendance for Dick's?
The team hasn't given any reason the community to support the team with season tickets. Personally, I don't have season tickets, but that is mainly for three reasons: 1) Except for the 4th of July game (which I don't attend anyhow), you can aquire tickets in advance without signing up for a whole/half season. 2) FC - Ugh - he just can't organize a squad. His games are generally brutal to watch, and his team never seems inspired. 3) FO - What would it take for the Rapids to forge a reciprical agreement with the media (i.e. I'll give you advance scoop if you give us more than a column inch of space each week), and start bringing in some quality players that don't play on the back line? Seriously, it isn't rocket science. Fix 2 & 3 and I'll sign up next year.
Honestly, it doesn't serve much purpose to write about what other places are doing. As long as those places aren't here, it doesn't really matter. Anyone who has lived here for any period of time knows that Denver sports fans have a huge number of choices when they look at spending their sports dollars. The determining factor for most of those fans is the performance of the team in terms of winning and losing, not even necessarily style of play. I would expect locations that haven't had teams and are just acquiring them to be excited and supportive, sort of like your first kiss, but the test will come when th first kiss has worn off. We have never yet had a run that would catch the attention of the community. It is nice to make the playoffs, but that really isn't enough if you are playing a sport that the average man on the street wouldn't put in his top three. We need to have something approaching a Rockies kind of run that the media can't ignore, where we turn on the 10 O'Clock Sports to hear the announcer say the Rapids have done it again, one more win!!! Are they ever going to lose again? Until that happens, we won't have a huge number of season tickets. Attendance will be based more on the weather than on the game itself. Last season started well, eyes began to look our way, and then we fell off the edge of the earth. I am not assuming the same thing will happen again, and am looking to the new season with the hope that this will be the year, but season tickets won't go up until the team does.
Actually the talk is that MLS cracked down on the attendance inflation last season so the numbers reported, while not 100% accurate, are much clowser to the numbers of actual paid attendance. Its not that surprising when you factor in the 4th of July sell out,the opening game sell out, the Beckham sell out, and the Beckham pack where you had to buy tickets to other games to get a ticket to the Beckham game.
Oh that's right other cities, like St. Louis, don't have choices like the Rams, Cardinals (which some call a religion), Blues, college soccer at SLU and SIU, minor league baseball, college basketball, NCAA final fours, etc... But you do make a point because all of the above named clubs have recently won championships.
Right on! The reported attendance for 2007 = 14,749 up 22% from 2006. With another year of Kroenke, Plush, Wright, the Dynamic Duo and the rest of the FO, Dick's 1 year old and Beckham, last years excitement, what will the numbers be like in 2008.
The ROX had no fans what so ever until their great run at the end of the season. Denver is a Broncos town, all other sports teams are 2nd fiddle or lower!!!
major international cities. Teams and administration that are formed to support soccer- not entertainment, ala RFO. Everyone at TFC is Soccer focused, not an army of interns waiting for their shot to work for the Avs or Nuggets.