It's obvious from the teaser that we received that CONCACAF wants a full house for their Gold Cup quarter final matches in Philadelphia this weekend.
How would you go about ensuring the crowd will arrive? I mean, the Phillies are out of town, and nothing else is happening, other than going to the beach and drinking beer while the sprinkler washes over them (it's Philly right?). Let's push those unsure fans over the tipping point by .... giving folks five dollars off of a ticket! (using the secret code "GOLDPASS").
Woo Hoo! Let's Party!
Tickets start at $25 and run up to $75, and they seem to have plenty tickets available at the $75 price from my probing of the ticketmaster site. But you know that no ticket price is really what's listed because the Offical Ticket Sponsor of Unprofessional Foul (tm), Ticketmaster, is involved.
That $5 savings will sure come in handy, after the $10.10 "convenience charge" plus the $3.50 processing fee + $2.50 for the "joy" of printing the tickets out on my printer. That's the "ease" and "convenience" they like to tout. "Ease" and "convenience" should be the name of the fists that show up to pummel us, the consumer, into helpless submission.
We all understand what Pearl Jam went through, though those crazy Seattle idealists felt they could take them down. Ticketmaster is like the La Cosa Nostra of the event world. They get their vig, regardless of what happens. They don't even smile, or give us a reach-around during the transaction.
What else could we spend that $5 on? How much is a beer at Lincoln Field? Maybe that $5 will get you on your way to being inebriated. Or maybe we can 'make it rain' on Landycakes? I mean, they had time out of their practice to fly to Los Angeles to pick up the their award for "best underdog win by a bunch of posers".
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Gold Cup Tin Cup Offer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
FC United pull a Radiohead
FC United: far from shaky in the Northern Premier League Premier Division
The non-league club born out of anti-Glazer sentiment, FC United, has decided to mimic Thom Yorke's master scheme in sales, allowing fans to set their own price for season tickets. They're recommending 90 pounds (160 bucks?) as a minimum, and will evaluate the plan after a month's trial.
No word yet if the club is also adopting Karma Police as its team anthem.
It's a bold move for the grassroots club, currently operating in the Lancastrian shadow of two of the sport's biggest spenders. After all, with the world's economy still struggling, sports teams need to compete with more innovation than ever before when it comes to trying to get money from your pocket.
They're not offering season tickets for free (after all, they don't have the accumulated wealth of Yorke and co. following a string of hit albums), but they're setting recommended minimum prices and hoping that enough spend on either side of the 90 pound mark to keep the club running.
Says FC United general manager Andy Walsh:"The Premier League clubs have put up prices regardless of the ability of people to pay. Those that can afford to pay continue to pay and those that can't fall off the end. Ultimately that will undermine the game of football, which has always been about inclusivity, not exclusivity.
Considering that they've managed average attendances of more than 2,500 throughout their four-year existence to date, it's an idea so wild it might just work.
"For many, when prices go up there is no alternative. We've demonstrated there is an alternative model that puts the supporter at the very heart of the football club rather than on the fringes."
For the sake of grassroots soccer's survival, let's hope that it does.
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