I couldnt imagine missing either of them but if I were forced to choose, I would be there June 9th. That day can never be replicated.
Wait -- if we throw away a few more three goal leads the home opener may just be another friendly dressed up as a regular season game as apposed to the low talent USMNT game dressed up as a real international game against a country that is isn't recognized by FIFA See that .... I shafted everybody. Club vs Country vs James -- I pwn you all. Grain of truth in waiting to make your mind up ... I think the home opener will be a magnificent once in a lifetime night that will only be beaten by us winning a trophy on our own turf. USMNT vs Guadalupe is a throw away if it wasn't the first game in a decade. Still Guadalupe no matter what way you slice it. If that isn't a cake walk for the nats I dunno what it is except you get to sit through Canada vs Panama first which isn't a bonus
And yet Guadeloupe's population is almost 10X that of the Faroe Islands, a UEFA "country". Even though the opponent is a minnow, It'll be good to see the USMNT in KC after a 10 year absence.
Guadeloupe, if I'm not mistaken, has made it past the group stage of every Gold Cup in which they've competed. The only reason they're not a full FIFA country is because they're technically part of France. The chance to see the full USA A squad in a competitive, tournament style match is hard to pass up. Furthermore, I don't know anyone in my group who plans to be anywhere other than the parking lot tailgating for the majority of the Canada match.
I'm a country over club guy and I say the home opener. The US game has two very big things going against it: 1) It's Guadeloupe. 2) It's the third group game, we'll probably already have clinched advancement and likely first place. Therefore our B team will be playing, and will still win. Home opener, first game in a stadium, has to be the choice. I say that even though I've been painfully waiting a decade for another USMNT game.
I agree with the analysis on Guadaloupe. They're going to be a good side, and they're going to be pretty fired up to get a results. I'm driving in from STL to see it, and I can't wait. Gotta find something to do before the game, though...
USMNT Gold Cup Member's Stand tickets available here. $35.00 tickets and $1.25 to cover paypal/shipping fees. http://www.kcisa.com/tickets/#!/goldcup AOKC will have pre-game, post-game, & tailgate info out soon. Make sure you sign up before hand. Great chance on June 4th as the US takes on Spain, or you can do it right now at http://www.theamericanoutlaws.com
Still pissed the FO wouldn't allow you to purchase from available seating and thus be able to give up your STH standard seat. Hey I'll buy for 3 family members.... but I won't be able to sit with you. Last time US was here with Costa Rica, I bought a block of 20 and they found a place for it to work no problem and had no issue putting my 2 STH locations back in the pool for sale. Granted it was Camarohead but it was also 33,000+ in the lower two bowls. I'm attending by myself as a resut.... please party in the parking lot with me <sob> [Stupid Policy - please note for next major event]
Bought four tickets this morning for the West Stand Goaline. Super pumped for this...can't wait to see Canada (cough cough).
http://soccerfamilystyle.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/the-usmntao-flag-is-here/ New AO section flag making its way to KC.
Just received an email from MLS pushing discounted Gold Cup tickets at LiSP!?! I checked the site and there are still groups of 4 tickets available in Section 105. I'm very surprised to see that. KC had a mid-week attendance of 37,319 at Arrowhead the last time the USMNT was here. One would think that with less than three weeks to go, this thing would be getting close to a sell-out.
Not really. I mean while there are a ton of people that want to see the US play, the level of the opponent and the price is certainly a bit of a turn off.
Also, this game has not been advertised at all. I think if they wanted to really push this, they could have been soldout a long time ago.
The only advertisements I see are on SKC games, which most people watching the game already know about the game.
I know I had asked a couple of people if they were going to the game that are actually soccer fans about it and they hadnt even heard about it. If soccer fans who generally get that info dont know, then it most people are not going to know about it.
We can say the same for our home opener. There are plenty of tickets available it seems like after playing around on ticket master.
Old man turns on TV, SKC playing, "hate this European crap". Sees SKC ad, "Well, since the ad tells me to like it subliminally, must by season tickets!" Whole campaign is extremely flawed, ads need to be everywhere.
but felixx, i thought this game would sellout 3 times over!!! you gonna blame that on the advertising now? surely it has nothing to do with what mr. killington said about the opponent and price... like i said back when we originally had this discussion on here.
While price and opponent are certainly factors, I dont think they are close to being the main factors in lack of sales. This whole thing wasnt handled very well. I fully believe that if this game was actually marketed, it would have sold out fast and they would have been turning away people for the last month. No one knows about this because they announced it two months ago and not another word has been said. I dont know if the marketing is the responsibility of CONCACAF or SKC but it has been crap. Basically, if someone didnt see it in the news the day it was announced or they arent a big fan of the team like we are, they dont know this is happening because no one is telling them. If fellow soccer fans dont know it is going on, you cant really expect many people they do not follow soccer to know. I also know some people that planned on buying tickets but the initial allotment sold too quickly to buy them and then they never knew more tickets went on sale so they ended up making other plans or changing their mind. If they had just put for sale the full allotment of tickets right then, I bet it would have sold out. In sales, momentum can mean anything. Even if they couldnt do that, ads should have been in place letting people know about it. While a stronger opponent would increase sales, the USMNT should sell 18,500 tickets to any opponent when they come to town. But, people have to know about it. The price is a lot for a soccer match but I know people that dont even like soccer that bought $50 tickets just because they want to see the USMNT. So, I dont think that should be an issue selling the game out. I have no doubt that there are enough people within a couple of hours willing to pay those prices. We will have guest from Tennessee at our tailgate that day coming here just for the game. I think the lack of sales is due to lack of marketing and then being on a Tuesday is probably the secondary factor.
So does anyone know about any stuff that will be going on for pregame or anything like that? I'll be in town from Sunday to Wednesday, and I'd really like to get the festivities on.
If you still need tickets we have a few left. We will end sales Friday at 5:00. Grab them while you can as there are not many left. http://bit.ly/jcET8U Also don't Forget Beer bong for Babies on Sat the 11th, Watch Party For Dallas game on 12th and Johnny's pre-party on Monday evening. Its going to be a long week. http://www.beerpongforbabies.com/Beer_Pong_for_Babies/Welcome.html The Cauldron, AOKC, and The Free Beer Movement are all sponsors of this event. There are a few teams left so join in. Unless you hate babies.
Just picked up three of your tickets and might do more by Friday. I have some phone calls out to people that have expressed interest in going.