I just read my 2003 Season Ticket mailer, and there's a bit of weirdness going on. They've made some of the West sections (108 - 114) significantly more expensive than last year. Whereas the East stands are about the same or (I think) less. The only reason I've been sitting in the West the last couple seasons has been that my buddies have their seats there. But now that my $14 West-side seat costs $25, and the seat directly across on the East-side costs just $15, I think I'm changing sides. It's not that big of a deal, and I hope they make a lot of money. But I think the biggest change is that more people will be sitting in the East stands, and for afternoon games, more people will have sun in their eyes. Please discuss.
It's been mentioned in the 2003 season tix thread. One theory is that the management would like to fill up the east side so the stadium and crowd looks good on TV. Another theory is that not having the sun in your eyes is worth paying a premium. By the way, if you sit on the east side, the sun will also get in your eyes for the first half of night games as well. But it is a shorter walk from the Club Quake tailgate.
Now, here we're talking business. They wanted to be kinder to the drunks. With that kind of help, Beerking may come over to the east side with the rest of us.
According to JM, revamping the stadium seating isn't just to have big crowds on the east side for the TV cameras. The organization is looking at what it will take to achieve the annual revenue goals (i.e. fiscal stability) set forth by AEG/SVSE/MLS/et al. Eliminating some of the seats in the cheapest price points and putting a premium on seats of highest demand will help them do that. (I believe they have already forecast attendance increases as part of the equation). Mike
Although management is assuming there will be bigger crowds, what, if anything, have they done so far to promote any increase in attendance for next season?
NOTHING. And don't expect anything since hockey season just started. Once the Sharks are bumped from the NHL playoffs, someone over at the Arena will say, "Hey, what should we do to sell some soccer tickets?" And by then it will be too late to make any appreciable difference.
Hmm... Doug, that seems a little harsh to me. Unless you work in the front office and have some inside scoop... Even the fact that they devised a somewhat radical price structure for next year leads me to believe that they're not exactly on auto-pilot.