The River End: assigned seating or General Admission

We aren't Portland and what works for them most certainly won't work here yet.

We have 2,000 seats in the riverend, and a tailgate area directly outside the stadium. We try to get people to do a group march into the stadium but people want to get in and get a beer or go to the bathroom.

When we have had issues in the past you KNOW the person in that seat so we can keep an eye on them and not have the person sneak somewhere else in the section to act like a fool.

Also we are still trying to get a more unified section as it is. In most sections the front couple rows are strong and the back rows tend to be strong or vise versa, but what I would hate to see happen is the people that still come for cheap seats get in early and are camped in the front rows. Then it makes the riverend look like a bunch of clowns and said clowns have a lot more visibility and have the ability to do dumb shit closer to the field.

I love my section, and I love my seats and I have made some great friends that I wouldn't have met in a GA setup.

 

Pros and Cons I guess.... I like going to my seats every game and seeing my neighbors.... but a GA section would probably get people in the stadium a lot sooner I guess... (something we could probably work on, things don't fill up until after the game has started usually)


also as far as people with tickets elsewhere in the stadium coming over to join a friend or something in the River End... well its not like your breaking into fort knox or anything... people generally have no issue sliding and squeezing an extra person in here and there... almost a "loose" GA feel as it is... its not like people are glued to their seats (in most cases at least)

 

I'm not a STH so i'm not going to vote. there are pro's and con's to both argument. I'll let the finer points to more invested people.

However, i will say that what first sold me on MLS was going to a DCU game (long before the union). We ordered what we thought where good tickets. They where okay. However RFK has a similar GA feel to their supporters section, so we walked over. That's when i was hooked.

I agree that it also worked to hook friends into MLS. Sometimes we would go as family groups or couples, and those who didn't like the goal scoring beer showers or could stand for 90 mins would sit in the more expensive seats and the guys and brave one could experience the real passion of a game.

Just my two cents.

 

i have ZERO interest in GA in TRE. seems like a PR nightmare for the team if they attempted it now

 

It's a fun idea, and it would make it a bit more inclusive, the negatives vastly outweigh the positives though.

Like Jess said, you meet people that you probably wouldn't in a GA setup. I know where Jess is gonna be every game. Front row, couple seats in. He knows where I am, five rows behind him, couple seats in. We shoot the breeze almost every game. I know the family in the row behind me, I always see the big dudes with the Union colored construction helmets, it's cool to see the same people around you all the time.

Crowd control, yeah, need assigned seating. I think it makes everyone just a bit more responsible. I know when I sell my tickets, I make sure the other person sends a picture of their SoB membership card along with their PayPal $$.

Honestly, I think the biggest pro for a GA setup is for non-STHs. I couldn't bring people to TRE without great difficulty unless I snuck them in somehow. My buddy that sits next to me and I have done a big group outing to a Union game for the last two years. We tailgate in the parking lot, and have like twenty people come along with us. I would love to have them sit in TRE and know what it's all about, but it just wouldn't work under our current setup.

tl, dr: Don't fix what ain't broken.

 

It kind of is GA as it is. This year I have had a lot more success 'sneaking' friends into the RE since it seems to be easier to get them there (especially once the game has started) and since 138's top rows have had lots of empty seats. Occasionally there have been so many empty seats that we had to ask folks from 139 to move over ... I would just make 137 assigned seating (for those who really want it) and let the rest be GA.

 

GA would suck, I like my seats and I like all the people around me. If they made my seats GA I would never spend a single dollar on the Union ever again.

 

We've been through this subject before. In my view those who oppose GA assume a worst case scenario: you'll see people stealing long-held spots (because all fair-weather fans think like SoBs, of course), friendly ties being violently torn apart, an increase in irresponsible behavior on the part of unaffiliated fans and a corresponding decrease in our ability to enforce the rule of SoB law; in short, we would witness the gradual decay of the foundation that has made the RE great as all of these, in addition to many other unforeseen, factors combine to plunge the RE into total (silent) anarchy. The SoB will then be disbanded from above and the fans' reputation will be left in complete disgrace.

Most of the discussion concerning GA vs Assigned Seating revolves around the security issue (effective policing) and the social issue (being with our friends), and only jess's post addresses our output, so to speak, as a supporters section. Even so, if "clowns" find their way into the first few rows, how much more visible will they be in a section that's only 17 or however many rows deep? If people are gonna be idiots they're gonna be idiots no matter where they sit.

My question is the following: are we going to these games to hang out and socialize or to try to sing for the full 90? So you get into the stadium and your friends, instead of being right next to you, are two rows above you (which is not very likely anyway) - is this really going to ruin your good time? This sounds cliquey. If you're not happy with your neighbs, then take advantage of the GA and move up or down or left or right to be with your friends. Furthermore, for every good neighbor there is someone else who's stuck next to some stub-hubber(s) who had no idea what they were getting into and who, BECAUSE of the assigned seat policy, will refuse to move, no matter where they are. Just like you, they see the seat as their "property". Institute a GA policy and those people will have another option, and you can make that clear to fans entering that they do indeed have the option to sit wherever they please and/or feel most comfortable. You can even advise fans that the closer to the center you are the noisier it will be, or something to that effect. In addition, with GA you won't have as many gaping holes in the middle of rows or sections because people won't be glued to their seats. When everyone's close together they're less self-conscious about participating, and the energy builds quicker and easier. For those of you who are staunchly anti-GA, have you ever been to matches and sat in GA sections?

And with regards to policing, give me a break, this is the RE not some South American curva. We're a relatively tame crowd aside from the occasional scuffle or foul-language chant or what have you. I seriously doubt that'd change as a result of GA. Why so much worry about policing if we've had very little to police?

You're right, we're not TA, but we are humans and in discussing this GA thing many of you miss the bigger sociological picture (sorry that's pedantic but that's what it is) because you're too concerned about not losing your spot.

 

You theory makes almost no sense, you present it as a scientific theory based on fact when really it is just your opinion, but I do give you credit for making it overly complex and usuing big words.

 

"In my view..." I don't know, but from the looks of it I think I openly stated that I was expressing my opinion. It's just over your head; like they say, it's always easier to mock what you don't understand. So please, enlighten me, why doesn't my "scientific theory" not make any sense (apart from my excessive use of "BIG WORDS")?

 

no, I'd rather it just be locked

 

Seriously what does it matter to you? Are you a union fan? Have you been to our stadium? GA won't work here right now, it might in the future but right now how we have it setup works for the sob. I don't care what GA supporter sections do.

 

Nothing just tired of this conversation that leads nowhere. Its not changing so move on

 

A. Reserved seating is best, just is. Tailgates before games happen because its not a bike ride to the stadium, a 30 minute walk or even an EASY subway ride (such as Jeld Wen and other ). Its a trek to PPL Park. So do you really want to be standing in line after driving 30 min to 3 hrs from Center City or Harrisburg or Erie. Personally, I would, but I know the majority would not. There are many positives, but the negatives out weigh them.

B. Not everyone on Big Soccer Philly is SoB/River End sitters. This has to do with TRE, so makes some sense to be in this category. Pretty sure section 122 people dont give a flying f*** about GA.

 

I'm in 103, and I definitely do not care!

 

Half of the stuff they site as what would happen in your link aren't allowed to happen.....less tifo, less flags....etc.

Most of the stewards in the RE know the deal and when people use stubhub to get seats they explain what the section is about, if they choose to stay then they can stand or have an obstructed view.

And I will say it again with assigned seating we KNOW where the stubhub seats are, we KNOW the faces of the people that sit around us each week and we look out for each other. Almost every time we have had an issue in the RE it was caused by non regulars, and because of the assigned seating the team can go after those ticket holders that are scalping tickets and revoke the tickets. So it does two things, it stops that scalper dead in his tracks and it kicks out a trouble maker for that game.

and as for this....
We don’t want what has happened in places like Toronto or Philadelphia to happen here.

What exactly are they referring to?

And as others have said we have a GREAT tailgate atmosphere that we all enjoy that would be seriously cut back if we had to stand in line just to get into our seats.

 

I still don't understand why you regurgitate the same crap all over this message board. You have a thread for this in the MLS: General form already and people from here have talked specifically about Philly there. Just because you didn't like the answers doesn't mean you should come into this forum and start the same thread hoping that people will give you the answers you want. Just because YOU believe that general admission makes a great atmosphere doesn't mean that it is true. The United States is a big diverse place and everyone is going to do things differently. The Barra Brava/Screaming Eagles in DC have made a good atmosphere with GA style seating (I've been there before in the mid-2000's during their play-off years). I believe that the River End makes just as good of an atmosphere in an assigned seating environment. If you can't except that people may think that reserved seats are better than general admission then stop starting topics on this subject. Almost every thread you start seems not to be something for discussion but just you hoping that people agree with your idea.

Oh, and since this is specifically about the supporters section it should be in here (actually, I don't think it belongs anywhere in here at all but that isn't my call). There is no need to junk up the main forum with topics that have nothing to do with the team in general (since this thread is about the supporters' atmosphere in particular as you brought up in your post).