I was just reading the MidnightRiders site and noticed the Fans lose 3 to 2 story. When did the tailgate Opening time change from 3hrs before to 2hrs? Why isn't it mentioned on the "NEW" Revs site? Why is the opening times still listed as 3hrs before on gillettestadium.com? SoccerHead
I think the new policy (gates opening two hours prior to every match, rather than the previous three hours) goes into effect for the next home game at the end of this month. Revolution staff handed out slips of paper at the last match with this new bit of information. The Magpie
Soccerhead's right though...other than that notice, the Revs haven't come out with anything on the site or to Center Circle members. I wonder what would happen if people showed up at the usual time on 6/28? amy Check out the Midnight Riders pages
That leaves very little time to have a tailgate. Especially the patriot fans who tend to overindulge much more than us. It's may get ugly in the lots come Aug.
I suspect they won't cur-tailgate the Pats because they have no problem filling the stadium. For the Rev games so far, security and parking people are getting paid for standing around with not much to do for three hours. The two hour entry time does leave little time to cook before the game, given that we already have to go in earlier than before with general admission to get our customary spots in the Fort (not a complaint about GA, just a statement...IMO GA is the best fan benefit we've seen this year). Weber King might have to switch to propane. amy Check out the Midnight Riders pages
...for the Rev games so far, security and parking people are getting paid for standing around with not much to do for three hours... Exactly. Thing is, the Krafts/Revs could save money by reducing the number of open lots, thus requiring fewer staff, but that could leave several security and parking people without the opportunity to make some extra $$$. So rather than trim staff, they trim an hour's pay for everyone. The Magpie
Not only do they save an "extra" hour's worth of $$ for the parking lot/security work force- with less time to "fill up" outside- there is obviously a chance that this could also translate into more concession $$ inside- this would be especially true for families with kids. I can't imagine the current 4 hours gate opening time before a Pats will be changed. Jon
Absolutely. Maybe it'll translate into more business for the Subway down the street. You could park there, too! amy
Speaking of "parking there, too", are there any nearby private lots that the Riders could convince the owners to open, say, four hours early? Couple the extra hours with a reduced parking cost, and I believe you have a winner.
The Subway lot is $5 and we can get there 3-4 hrs early and stay late. I have parkedthere on a couple of occasions for weekday games. If you arrive before the attendant ,when he/she gets there they will just come over and take your $. We also hung out after the game and nobody harassed us. There are many positives to this alternative: -very low cost -More time tailgating -cheap food right there -unlimited alcohol available(liquor store) -atm -no security, et al. harassing you - kids can play soccer in the back only negatives I can see: -longer walk -fort residents will have to leave a little earlier to get there spots(However the earlier arrival time would offset that) I am upset with the decision of the organization to cut the hrs. I understand they are looking to be cost effective as a business. However I as a "Die Hard Supporter" am upset that this is happening. My solution would be to keep the time of 3 hrs in tact and just work with a very skeleton crew. Its my belief they have to many flag wavers out there already. I think it sucks, I drive over an hour to go to Gillette, I want to have time to eat, talk and be merry with fellow supporters. The organziation needs to realize we have a very diverse fanbase. The Midnight Riders have members from Northern Mass., Conn., RI, NH, Maine and Canada. So people who drive 3-8 hrs can only tailgate for 2hrs then they have to leave right after the game, thats very poor. SoccerHead
I think moving the Riders tailgate is something we should talk about, but I don't see it happening this year...we have a great tailgate spot and unfortunately, a lot of us bought into the parking passes, knowing we'd be there for just about every game (and with assurances that we'd be allowed in 3 hours prior to every game). I'm not sure that after the game has been cut to no tailgating...can anyone who actually has the flyer confirm this? Still no info on the Revs' pages. I'd also like to confirm the policy for the rest of the season and for the double and triple headers. Sam's Army folks also travel from afar to see the USMNT and are accustomed to the 3 hour entry time. amy
Next step for Kraft is to eliminate all tailgating and make it mandatory to purchse the overpriced food/ beverage at the Razor. I can hear Kraft at the Revs budget meeting: Bob Kraft "We can come close to breaking even if we force them all to eat our food, drink our beer, and allow only two people per car". Sunil " OK, Bob, I'll draft a notice which we'll place under the wiperblades of all cars during the next match." Bob Kraft: "My grandson wants to have his birthday party on the field on June 28, so we need to re-schedule the Colorado match." Sunil: "OK, Bob. Steve will be happy with that, because they just kicked the crap out of us." Bob Kraft: "I didn't know MLS had a team in Colorado"
Just a question. Do we actually know that the match that was moved from 8 June to the tripleheader actually DID get moved because of the owner's anniversary celebrations? I've heard rumblings but, in my naivete, cannot tell if it is good joke or the terrible truth. JIM DOW
Gee, now that I know about the Subway lot only being $5.00, I might actually go to a game this year. That $15 parking just stuck in my throat. If you come in from the north, where is it in ralation to the stadium? And is it on the North or southbound lane of Rt 1? I don't fancy trying to cross traffic when leaving. Why don't the serious supporters start using the offsite lots as a protest. Might actually start to have fun again at the tailgate. Anything would be better then the atmosphere (or lack of) that we have now.
My take is that it was more of a coincidence. They probably saw how little interest there was in the premium-priced Gold Cup doubleheader with Costa Rica, Cuba, Martinique and El Salvador, with the Salvadorans as the only group with a sizeable local population. By bundling the Revs crowd, that would mean another 6,000 season tickets, not to mention however many advance-sale tickets they'd already sold for the Dallas game on June 8. So they will get at least 10,000, and maybe 15,000 for the game, which is at least a respectable number. The Dallas game had been "accordioned" around, initially part of the doubleheader on Portugal's national holiday, June 5, with USA-Portugal. The party for the Krafts' anniversary was on a Sunday, and the game was originally set for the Saturday night before. Or, had the USA game that eventually happened in Richmond on the 8th come through, Revs Dallas would have been part of the DH and the Krafts would have either had their party somewhere else, or perhaps on the Saturday if they still wanted to use the stadium. Tom
The "Subway" lot is on the right side of Rte 1 going south about a half mile north of the stadium turnoff. They usually open up a portion of their lower lot if the crowd is good size and just cordon off a small part of the regular lot for most Rev games. It used to be $10 and has been $5 this season and last. It takes about ten minutes to walk to the stadium. The liquor store adjacent to rte 1 is the landmark. It is also fairly easy to get back on Rte. 1 going north after games because of the light cycle at the "MacDonald's corner" just north. But beware boozy types cutting into the liquor store after dark. We have almost bought the big dirt nap on a number of occasions coming back to the lot after games. The folks who run the lot are very, very nice and might well be disposed towards an alternative tailgating site. I seem to remember a lot of cooking during Patties dates.
I think we would need to talk to the offsite lots and find out 1) if it's feasible, 2) the timing they would offer and 3) the amount of space that lot has (which is an issue for Sam's Army games). As Amy said already, it's probably not going to happen for this year, since a lot of us have paid for parking passes this year. Monty
Well, in thinking back to all those times where protests have actually helped, and not hurt supporter/club relations... ... please, can someone offer up a case, time, circumstance, etc.? Sorry people, but as much as I don't like the new policy, I can understand it, and any effort to protest it IMHO would not be worthwhile... a wasted effort. This affects everyone, not just the supporters groups. The Magpie
The other thing is that if the Riders wish to maintain a high-ish profile and encourage people to wander over and eventually join, there is no better spot than the current place. Taking all this over to Subway will be cheaper for people to park, but who are we kidding? It won't take long for it to slip into nothing more than a few friends gathering in a common area for a tailgate. Nothing wrong with that, but if the Riders aim to be more than that, it might make sense to suck it up and deal with whatever negatives there are in the current lot. Tom
Has anyone made mention of the later opening time on the men's and women's national team forums? As bad as a shortened tailgate is, it'd be even worse if all those fans arrived three hours early only to have to wait an hour on Route 1. - HWM
Has anyone made mention of the later opening time on the men's and women's national team forums? As bad as a shortened tailgate is, it'd be even worse if all those fans arrived three hours early only to have to wait an hour on Route 1. Wafty, I agree...and as I said before, we need to get confirmation on whether this new policy is going to be applied to all games or just the regular season games. amy