In what way, like not selling tickets pre-sale to anyone with obviously Latino surnames? How do they normally handle it for Columbus?
All I know is that no matter where it is, Brandinho, my brother, and I will be attending the game. I need my first USA-Mexico cap, because the atmosphere at those games must be electrifying. Definately looking forward to that game next year.
Hartford. Rentschler Field needs a game. Plus I've never met a single Mexican in my entire life in Connecticut as they don't come here, probably wouldn't fit in well anyway! But I'm also fine with keeping it as a Columbus tradition.
For Columbus, they have offered Crew season ticket holders the chance to buy something like four tickets for each season ticket they hold. Once that sale is finished, they offer tickets to the general public. Because the stadium is small, this ensures a significant proportion (probably close to 75%) are sold before the tickets are offered through other means. At a minimum, this means that loyal fans of MLS get tickets before others. The buyers could, of course, resell the tickets and that is how I was able to sit at midfield for both the US-Mexico qualifiers held at Crew Stadium. If the US plays them there again this go round, I hope to repeat the process. And let me be very clear - I don't believe that withholding sales to people on the basis of their names is the way to manage sales. Apart from the legality of the process, it could also restrict the ability of true US fans from buying tickets. Also, thinking the location of the game will have a significant effect on the makeup of the crowd when we're playing a team like Mexico is quite ill founded. Unless the cost of plane tickets or gas severely crimps the desire and passion to see the Mexico national team live, the location will have little impact.
Pretty sure that's illegal, although there are accusations that the USSF was doing that vs Honduras in DC 02WCQ. What nancyb is saying is that you pick a stadium with a large season ticket base and where the great majority of those season ticket holders are US fans. You do a pre-sale to those season ticket holders only. In Columbus, that has resulted in at least 1/2 the tickets being sold to US fans before the tickets were sold to the general public. There is also the pre-sale to registered US Soccer fans, but I believe many Mexican fans have become wise to this and know they can register just for this game. That's why it's really important to pick a stadium with a lot of season ticket holders.
All the more reason to pick RSL if they have huge season ticket numbers. If RSL has 10k season tickets, they couldn't offer more than 2 tickets a piece to each season ticket holders. The result will be less of a black market and less Mexican fans with tickets.
If they have 10k season ticket holders, then RSL's stadium would be a great place to hold the game. Would the elevation have a negative effect on the US players, giving the Mexican team an advantage?
That was a major screw up of epic proportions. The guilty party was the DC United front office, but I assume that the USSF must have agreed to their idiotic plan. While the lawsuits charging that rights were abused were not successful, the whole thing was a black mark on US Soccer. In addition to the purported restriction of seat assignments, some genius had the brilliant idea of only selling tickets in 20 seat blocks before offering to anyone else. It wasn't too long before the Latino community found out about this and massive quantities of tickets were bought to resell at mercados throughout DC and, I suppose, elsewhere around the country. Meanwhile, US fans who waited to buy through Ticketmaster were out of luck. The tickets were already sold. Seriously, what's the proportion of US fans who'd think to buy tickets in a group before they're available on Ticketmaster? Very few. I can at least say that I did buy the block of 20 and sell them to my coworkers.
That could be a consideration. I honestly don't know what the effects are of 8000ft vs 4000ft. Factors such as altitude and weather should factor into the decision as well. Not knowing the dates, my predictions for the host sites for our potential opponents: Mexico - Crew Stadium Costa Rica - The Linc in Philly Honduras - Sandy, UT Guatemala - PGE Park, Portland El Salvador - Qwest Field, Seattle That's a little West Coast heavy. I could see Seattle hosting a game, particularly a late home game if we've already qualified since the fed will be happy with a big crowd and not care if away supporters find their way in. I think the Linc is a great choice for Costa Rica. You won't get more than a few thousand Ticos. Philly will be eager for a big US game in anticipation of MLS coming to town. I could see 50k+ for that one. RSL is a no-brainer to host at least one match, and Portland is long overdue to host a qualifier.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Location doesn't matter. There aren't enough Costa Ricans in the US to make much of a difference. Due to the fairly large ex-pat population, the ability to manage sales by offering first to season ticket holders is important. This seems like a good place to have the match. Dicey due the numbers of Guatemalans that might show up. Same as Guatemala. Will we be in a situation to pre-sell to the Seattle ticket holders?
Here's a web site that shows country of origin for immigrants in the US and counts by country. http://allcountries.org/uscensus/7_immigrants_by_country_of_birth.html
Regarding Portland I'm sure people remember the classic WC98 qualifier held at PGE Park vs Costa Rica. To this day, that still might be the most pro-US crowd ever at a home qualifier. IIRC, that game sold out in just a few hours. I remember reading that Nike somehow controlled the ticket sales of that game. Does anyone else remember this? It was a big deal at the time because the game soldout so quickly, and it was 99% US fans. Can something like this be done again in Portland? The Timbers have great support, but I think their limited season ticket numbers make them not an option for Mexico. Still, the US has sold out every game they've played there will nearly 100% pro-US crowds. I'd be surprised to see the US host anyone in Portland and see a crowd that wasn't pro-US.
I would assume so. Seattle looks on pace for season tickets #s close to 20k. Even with the big stadium, I think Seattle will provide for a good atmosphere. A good amount of away supporters may still find their way, which is why I think Seattle would be great for a late qualifier if we've already made it to Africa.
Not appropriate for Mexico (keep it in C-bus), but TCF Bank Stadium at the UofM in Minneapolis will be open by next September...just in time for the last few WCQs. -brand new 55,000 seat stadium -on the nation's second largest college campus (~52,000 students) -in the middle of a major metro area of 3 million plus that has NEVER hosted the senior men's national team -slated to host preliminary rounds of 2016 Olympic soccer tournament We do actually have a fair number of people from Central America here, but given the fact that this market has been so soccer starved, I'd bet on a nice US turnout.
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2007/01/08/daily39.html "TCF Bank Stadium will be built to accommodate soccer in a state that supports soccer, so it would be a great site." - Joel Maturi, University of Minnesota Athletic Director Yes, the surface will be field turf, but other stadiums mentioned (Portland and Seattle) are also artificial turf. There are certainly precedents for laying down a temporary natural surface.
Raymond James Stadium. We got a huge crowd for the Ecuador game, and although there might be more Mexico fans, there will always be a solid amount of US fans.
Seattle. 2009 is the first year of MLS in the city, and over 16,000 season tickets already sold. There's a solid pro-US fan base first in line to snatch up the tickets in the lower half of the stadium. If they want to keep it small and US-friendly, they could keep the seating configuration the same as for MLS and not open the upper bowl. Sure, there are lots of Mexicans in the state, but there's also a large US fan base willing and able to go to games. It'd be a great match.
If you'll forgive my ignorance...why does the Mexico game need to be held in Columbus? I keep seeing posts saying that's where it needs to be, but I don't understand why.