2015 Whitecaps

[RL RCD]

Here is a couple of quotes from and article on the Sounders and Centry Link field

" The Sounders have sold out 109 consecutive matches at the stadium "

"Hanauer added that the team’s ultimate goal is to continue selling out every home game – while also fully opening the top decks at CenturyLink that increase the stadium capacity to 67,000. The Sounders perennially lead MLS in attendance, drawing almost 40,000 fans per game."

Hopefully RL RCD doesn't hear that they have been calling games sell outs when there have been empty seats available. Drawing almost 40,000 in a 67,000 seat stadium and you call it a sell out, only Lenarduzzi would think of doing that. Now if they slash their ticket prices in half they could draw and extra 27,000 and sell more beer.

There is a huge difference between Sounders and Whitecaps philosophy which you will never understand.

Go to any “Sold-out” game in Seattle and you will still be able to buy a ticket. Obviously, they are accepting a “casual fan” any time and, that way, transforming that casual fan into a fan who, due to a great experience, will most likely buy season tickets.

Whitecaps announce a sell-out at 21,000 and there is no way that a casual fan can come and watch a game although there is 7,000 empty seats at the lower bows and 27,000 empty seats at the upper bowl. Bobadduzi, proudly and publicly, has said a few times that their goal is to make people to buy season tickets and that is why they are “creating a demand” by limiting number of available seats. If anyone asks me that is ludicrous philosophy because, that way, you can only alienate a casual fan. You will never turn a casual fan into a season ticket holder by shutting the door right into his face!

Now, from day one, I said that Whitecaps should have done it before their inaugural season. It is too late to do it now because they have, what, 13,000 or 14,000 people who buy season tickets anyway so really, now, reducing the ticket prices would not make a lot of sense (because it is hard to devalue the ticket).

But, it is still not too late to grab attention of a casual fun. Who cares, announce sell out at 21,000 but make, at least, additional 7,000 tickets available for lower bowl. That is basically what Sounders do.

Why did I mention slashing ticket prices? Do you remember a large group of students on the north side during the first season? See, most of those students are gone because they cannot afford season tickets (I know quite a few guys who told me the same story). Yes, Whitecaps were giving them a solid discount to buy tickets but that could work only for a few games and that is it.

When you have a stadium of 55,000 then you should do anything in your power to get as many people as possible (or, at least, to get 28,000 in lower bowl). No one will convince me that Whitecaps are doing that. So, what could possibly be wrong with slashing the ticket prices by 50% for students only? Just an idea (and, by the way, I am not a student).

 

[Dude]

We don't know what you are...one day you are a marketing expert advising a 50% slash in revenues from the gates, next you are advising that there should be a drive towards marketing to the cheapest buying group in the city- students.

The demand isn't there right now, sorry. Its easy to get a ticket. And cheap.

 

[RL RCD]

We don't know what you are...one day you are a marketing expert advising a 50% slash in revenues from the gates, next you are advising that there should be a drive towards marketing to the cheapest buying group in the city- students. The demand isn't there right now, sorry. Its easy to get a ticket. And cheap.

As said numerous times: cheap (very, very cheap SEASON TICKETS) should have been introduced before inaugural season (in order to build a very, very large fan base). I admit that it is too late for that now.
Aggressive marketing (at this point of time) towards the cheapest (as you said) buying group (students) is a link between what should have been done (before inaugural season) and now - that is just an idea. Do you have better idea?

Finally (and repeatedly said), I could understand covering (closing) upper bowl but covering (with tarps) 7,000 lower bowl seats is ridiculous and when I heard Bobaduzzi why they did it (basically to force soccer fans to purchase season tickets and "fight" for tickets) that was it for me (and a lot of other people I spoke to). That "marketing philosophy" was wrong from the day one and still goes on. To what effect?

As far as I know, the number of season ticket holders has been going down every single year. Is that because "the demand isn't there" (as you said) or no one has a clue what to do? The goal should be to have, at least, lower bowl full (28,000). Do Whitecaps do anything (or enough) to reach that goal (if that is their goal, of course)?

The infamous game vs Galaxy (which I used as an example a couple of years ago) proves my points. If a casual fan wanted a ticket for that game he/she could have purchased scattered tickets at $100+ per ticket!!!??? Now, you tell me how you are going to popularize a soccer game in a hockey crazy city with ticket prices like that? What did Whitecaps accomplish? They turned away hundreds (if not thousands) casual fans who potentially could have become regular visitors to Whitecaps soccer games.

I promise this is my last comment re this issue. I admit that I lost the "battle" because, obviously, that "intimate atmosphere" is more important than anything else to a lot of Whitecaps soccer fans (not to me, of course).

 

[STD]

"For the third consecutive year, in support of Whitecaps FC’s commitment to youth soccer, the club announced that an additional 1,500 young fans and their families will be at the match on March 28"

Like I said for the TFC game I think they are opening up more seats just not announcing anything above 21,000 except for the cascadia matches where I think I saw they announced 22,500. I have noticed this with a few games in the past where one sell looks to have more people then other sell outs. I have never actually counted the people but if one of the games is slow I'll get on it.

Here is my take on it.

Can the Whitecaps do better?
Sure they could have modestly better numbers with better pricing and marketing.

Are they doing as bad as you say and can we see 30 plus thousand regularly at games?
No it not as simple as you say and with your marketing strategy I might cancel my season tickets and look for cheap tickets that will be available on game days. I thought about it in year one when you could get tickets from the secondary market for $5. So their marketing strategy may not attract new season ticket holders but it helped to retain at least one.

Does a casual fan going to a game for cheap or free mean they are going to buy tickets in the future?
No I brought at least a dozen different casual fans in year one to games who all enjoyed the game and only one has bought one ticket since and he only bought it because I bought the guys tickets who sit next to me and he wanted to get out of the house.

 

[STD]

I promise this is my last comment re this issue. I admit that I lost the "battle" because, obviously, that "intimate atmosphere" is more important than anything else to a lot of Whitecaps soccer fans (not to me, of course).

If I had a dollar every time you said this I could buy you a ticket to a game.

 

[mtkb]

Apparently the Caps plane was late and they got held up in Dallas.... I'd say they're in deep Kaka tomorrow...

 

[STD]

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-cut-training-short-lineup-remains-game-time-

Apparently Kaka and Orlando shite themselves when they heard the had to play the caps.

 

[Regs]

Octavio!

 

[djones]

Poor Sam! That looked like it really, really hurt! Rookie mistake. He should have known how big Ricketts is and that he will never win that battle. Props for a gutsy attempt.

Speedy recovery!

 

[Regs]

Yeah, that didn't look good at all

 

[mtkb]

No Teibert and very little of Harvey... it's really pretty simple... what a finish from Rivero...

 

[Yoda]

Here is our saviour!

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/s...oal+scorer+Octavio+Rivero/10671852/story.html

So far so good!

 

[Reds-16]

Octavio!

Enough said !

 

[club_i_champ]

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2015/03/whitecaps-fc-add-striker-robert-earnshaw

 

[akslop]

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2015/03/whitecaps-fc-add-striker-robert-earnshaw

5'8''

Is that with or with out his boots on? I hope he is still growing.

 

[RL RCD]

Does that signing also speak volumes about what Whitecaps really think about Manneh, Mattocks, and Hurtado? It looks to me that the management finally started realizing their mistakes with those speedy forwards they drafted over the last few years.
I think that Octavio Rivero actually opened their eyes (just watching how he moves without the ball is enough to understand perfectly well that Manneh, Mattock, and Hurtado are nowhere near that level and actually will never be).

 

[bandcamp]

Certainly sounds like an upgrade on Mattocks and Hurtado. I'm not writing off Manneh yet.

 

[Dude]

Certainly sounds like an upgrade on Mattocks and Hurtado. I'm not writing off Manneh yet.

Seconded.

Manneh is a legit talent. The other two...

 

[dezza]

Welcome Cristian Techera. 5'2" from Uruguay!

 

[Regs]

Who?