But what will it be like for K.C Wiz..? As I see it the club is currently having a second chance to become a true force in the league, the Hunt ownership cobwebbed the club but without him there would not have been a club in the first place so I´ll forgive him. Now the club under new owners need to finally stand on it´s own feet and leave Arrowhead..It´s absolutely necessary I think, within a reasonable time at least. The team is good..There is a more optimistic tone amongst the fans (yeah, I scrolled a lot before writing this..) and despite not having half a billion immigrants from soccer crazy countries there are people that really support the club in K.C which in my view is promising as it shows that the club got roots in K.C. Of course there are clouds in the sky..The if/when/how of building a SSS, the dismissive attitude of MLS towards KCW (As shown by their scheduling..which is great for me in Europe but hardly for you guys) The constant whining from fans of TEAMS THAT DOESN`T EXISTS had me rather perplexed but I guess you learn something new every day.. So what I´m getting to is that in my view KCW might be going places because time might be working for us. In time there will be more MLS clubs around, why not in St.Louis for example?..Nevermind that there exists no derby mentality yet, after seeing their team thrashed they will hunger for revenge. In time there might be a SSS somewhere in K.C which will increase the atmosphere even further, and atmosphere is great for attracting people to games. And a club owned SSS might be necessary to get stable finances for the club (I don´t have any numbers but my own club in Germany makes a lot of money on events)..It pays a lot of bills. So I feel there might be reasons for a moderate optimism when we talk about the club..But I´m new to the club, what do you guys think?
when it comes to paying bills...these $16 tickets i'm paying for better be paying some bills. i used to be able to split parking with my friend and use my zard card for cheap tickets. i won't be able to go to half the games i went to last summer and to top it all off my dad didn't renew season tickets for the first time ever because the upper level isn't open and it's a perfect view from up there...don't mean to derail this thread
that depends on what your opinion of a perect view is. If you mean to watch the game develop, you can see just as well from the lower bowl. My parents season tickets, where I sat for years, were around midfield, about 17-18 rows up and you could perfectly see the play develop from that level.
Those Germans have a word for everything. It is hard to disagree with you about anything. Yes, there are a lot of people that complain about attendance around here. Those type of people just seem to do it as a lame attempt at trying to get their own team or they are insecure fans of existing teams. I'm glad the gimmickry with ticket sales is over. Sure, it is nice to get cheapo tickets, but it creates a fan base that doesn't take the team that seriously and/or the gimmicks devalues the product on the field.
Legitimate gripes. Take a minute to send an e-mail to the Front Office. Attendance is way down so far for many good reasons, those two may be one smaller ones. I know many people that sit in Club Level for Chief's games and most of them wouldn't want to sit anywhere else either. Attendance should pick up as night weekend games happen. Regardless, the Club Level being closed may only matter for this season and next. Also, chepaer tix can be obtained at weekly ticket parties around town as well as Ticketmaster with codes from local supporting radio stations. ($8.10+ticketb@stard fees.) KC's future isn't in doubt but will be settled for non-locals when they have a stadium. If it's on the right side of the state line the future will include the entire city. Do get used to the pricier tickets, that's a permanent change that will only get worse. If it's in Kansas, there will still be plenty of people willing to cough up $22-30 for every game, as that will be what it will take to get in, minimum.
oh i'm sure you can, by perfect i guess that's just my opinion. and just out of curiosity (not being rude) have you sat upstairs before? the view is incredible. helped me to pick out formations and stuff like that way easier. it's like watching on tv just seeing the whole field. i will admit i like being closer now to see the raw talent a lot closer, but i miss the upstairs. and about building a better fan base, i have plenty of friends who bought the cheap zard card tickets but still stood in the cauldron with me for the love of the game. i don't think it's unreasonable for me, or anyone, to gripe about the price. $16 doesn't come easy to myself and my other 17 year old friends, and no parent enjoys busting out $16 x 2 or 3 kids plus themselves and their spouse.
As a member of the media, watching the game from higher level is great. As a fan, I much prefer being close to the action. There is room for special pricing in almost every sporting league, but at what point do you stop giving away tickets or selling them at a price that is practically giving them away? Does it build a fan base? That's debatable (it never really did with HSG in charge of the Wizards). It builds a fan base that not only comes to games because of the price, it builds a fan base that will only come if it is priced at that radically reduced rate. Now, you have reduced the value (and demand) of your product, and in order to cover expenses, you REALLY have to draw people (in this case, 3 Zard card tickets* doesn't even cover the cost of a regular priced ticket). In terms of creating atmosphere and for the bottom line, it seems that you'd be better off not focusing on giveaways, but instead, improving the product so that people desire to come even at a regular price. *This assumes that I am correct in recalling that Zard Card tickets were $5.
Maybe it is just me but I bought my own season tickets when I was 17. I had a very part time (10 hours) job during school and a full time job in the summer. Maybe things changed in the last 10 years.
Still not something you'd want to do *every* game, but $5 tickets probably even works out OK if you use it as a loss-leader with the hope that you'll make your money back on concessions... Unfortunately, (from what I've heard) the Wizards don't make any money off concessions in our current stadium deal.
What is kinda wacky is that we were told there will be no cheap tickets. Yet for the first two home games I have gotten tickets for $8.10 a piece. How long it will last I do not know. Instead of buying them cheap on game day you have to go out to some event around town to get them. But hey whatever works.
Wasn't the ZardCard program developed for children under 12 and meant only as End Zone only GA seating? Face it, people everywhere exploited this program with little to no shame for doing so either. I guess you could blame the club for not being a bit more diligent about policeing its policies. But as someone who pays regularly for my seating in the right context, I felt a bit shorted to a degree as a season ticket holder and sorry for the (at the time) struggling club that fans who exploited it regularly that were that self indulgent. I'm not picking on you Pete you just happen to be one of many examples but it sounds like you zCarded your way for more than a few years past the age and also sat in premium ticket seating with that price. Trust me I'll jump on a deal when it's offered like Spoon is pointing out, but my moral, kharmic fiber gets the best of me if I knowingly engage in defeating the spirit for which something is intended. Especially if its towards something I love and by doing so it is taking away from it in other forms from what it was intended to do; which in this case was help the the club stay a float financially and build new fans. It's like the people who go on those time share weekends with no intent ever of even being interested in them, but as adults they somehow feel good about taking their kids to Branson (or wherever) for the weekend on that false pretense. "honey, i only have to sit through a 90 minute high pressure sales presentation and we get 3 days free" and they do it repeatedly throughout the year. I don't hop the fence on golf courses, I don't load up my pockets with taco sauce for my desk, I don't intentionally take office supplies from work, I buy not just burn music from artists I know and like because the fact is I like and need for all that to stay around and not inflate by honoring and kicking back through the established system. They get what they've earned and provided and I've been entertained/fed/supplied whatever. The more Taco sauce you take beyond that burrito you had the more the restraunt lost on its margin and had to back fill. Invariably the cost gets passed back to you anyway so you're stealing from yourself, the consumer on a grander scale. So you see, Zard Cards were the Taco Sauce of the Wizards experience, good for helping get you out there but too many people started taking all of them and letting them rot in their office desk drawer, thus - no more Taco sauce is available. However I don't think you can do business very long by not offering your top condiment in some capacity. Thus I predict there will be some new "Chalupa Sauce" of equivalent marketing spin to get the kids out and cheap (but it will never be as cheap as before). But for right now, I don't think you can beat the $8.10 promo they've got going. I will now step down from thy soapbox (and it was a tall one today) and apply fire retardant gel.
Developed *for* children, yes... but (IIRC) you were able to get up to 4 tickets for your "family" to go to the game with you. The $5 tickets didn't have an age limit on them.
I don't know that it was posted anywhere (or even official) but my interpretation of that policy was that it allowed the kids to bring a friend or two at the same reduced price....as opposed to the entire family.
Most important for the wizards is getting season ticket holders, so that rainy games or Wednesday games don't kill us. There is not much point in becoming a season ticket holder when you get cheaper tickets by not being one. One of my favorite things OnGoal has done is make it really cool to be a season ticket holder this year while also not making STH's feel stupid for not getting cheaper tickets to the game.
Cash or standard credit cards (Visa/MC for sure, possibly AmEx/Discover) are accepted at all concession and souvenir stands.. Many moons ago there was an Arrowhead loyalty program of some sort, but I don't recall all the details on that.
Is that like a bagel blessed in Bhutan? Whatever keeps you regular... McGinty asked at what point do you stop giving away the tickets, etc.? When it's in your economic best interest to do so and not before. KC has run a completely revamped marketing campaign for what amounts to a minute in marketing terms. This in a reaction to not only an owner change but stadium uncertainty, and starting on unstable and borderline toxic ground in the first place. Give them a bit to clean up the mess left by the Hunt's. Columbus and Dalls are not selling out every week either, and they have stadiums. Lastly, I still have my '96 Season Tix receipt and "Thank You" letter from the KC Wiz FO. 24 of the best seats in the house (Fan Flex Pack - Lower, middle) plus a $5 "processing fee" for a total of $341. That's $14 each.
I miss having season tix. But I am trying to bring 2 boys with me. I did always wonder besides keeping my front row midline tix what good were the season tickets. What is really cool about season tix if you are going to stand in the Cauldron? Joe
The random discounts. The guaranteed receipt of a giveaway item. The Information Brick (aka Media Guide). The good feeling of supporting the team. Giving the team a reason to put the Cauldron at midfield on the TV side in the new stadium.
I really respect the supporter group! I like that the wizards put you where they did....... this adds so much and is a win-win for the wizards.. if this group gets bigger and bigger.. bring back the argentines too! I'm too old to keep up, but u singing, waving the scarfs and holding them up is great! If this thing is gonna grow, it's up to your ability to grow the atmosphere at the game that makes it great.... the wizards are right to give you much love and respect.
If you're under 63 you're not too old for the Cauldron. There are a couple of us more seasoned supporters.