Vic Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Second that, it was a superb post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamo Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 The only **** up on their part is to make the tickets behind the goal more expensive than the ones in the corners. Switch the pricing for the Green and Supporters sections and it would make sense. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joepaco Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 I really feel for you guys ... I seriolusly thought your management had done everything right so far. This is just balls and an abvious cash grab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Corner supporter groups are not really it, I have seen them and they are alright, and true, often view of play is great, but you in fact need way more fans to make an impact there than at the end. Behind the goal is the place to be, with a few hundred fans minimum, ideally some 500. What you need more than anything else to generate noise is a roof over the terracing or seated area where the hardcore congregate and their alignment with the field is of secondary importance to that. In the absence of a roof a corner helps in getting chants to spread because noise is projected in both directions in a way that other nearby sections can easily hear. One small group facing the field of play behind the goal in a open bowl type stadium will barely be heard one section of seats over or even a few rows back in the same section if they are down at the front. Have to say looking at the price chart again it stands out a mile that there is no designated "supporters section" even in the corners, which is completely out of step with recent expansion team launches in MLS. Can remember reading elsewhere that Whitecaps front office types met sought out RPB people at Shoeless Joe's after a Canadian Championship game a couple of seasons ago to find out how the group started and that one of things that was alleged to have been stated is that they were thinking of cutting ties with the Southsiders and basically starting fresh in an MLS context. Looks like they might be trying to achieve that sneakily in a way that avoids any negative PR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingEleven Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Can remember reading elsewhere that Whitecaps front office types met sought out RPB people at Shoeless Joe's after a Canadian Championship game a couple of seasons ago to find out how the group started and that one of things that was alleged to have been stated is that they were thinking of cutting ties with the Southsiders and basically starting fresh in an MLS context. Looks like they might be trying to achieve that sneakily in a way that avoids any negative PR. This is exactly what i have been trying to rationalize since the ticket price announcements, now before you all jump on me for "slagging the southsiders" its not what I intend to do by posting this, I'm just trying to make sense of why the club would so blatantly try to price out the Southsiders. IMHO the group is just not big enough and therein lies the long and short of it, the Southsiders are such a minor player in terms of the revenue generated that the club may have already decided that they should in fact find themselves in the corners instead of behind the net. This is all just speculation of course and I don't really know why this is happening, but what I can see is that this seems to be quite a deliberate move by the club. As to the reasons why? ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue and White Army Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 ...the Southsiders are such a minor player in terms of the revenue generated that the club may have already decided that they should in fact find themselves in the corners instead of behind the net. Your assumption is that the Southsiders will remain the same in size when the Whitecaps start playing in MLS. If you look to Seattle as a comparison, their USL-1 "ECS" supporters group was significantly smaller than the Southsiders are now, and yet look at the support in Seattle as of year one (2009) in MLS. It grew almost exponentially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Has the Caps FO released any statements regarding the backlash towards the ultra-high supporters tix prices? I'd be interested in hearing their rationalization towards such a ridiculous price. You guys have worked with them over the years, and yet this is what you get for it? I'm sorry, but someone in the FO has vastly different ideas than the people you guys have been working with over the last few years. From what I've read, it was a bit of a struggle, but nothing like this. I won't lie, I think Barber has everything to do with this latest move. He comes from an ultra-expensive league, and perhaps is trying to employ something of the like in Vancouver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 No statements from the Whitecaps but there is a meeting scheduled between the Southsiders executive board and the club FO to find solutions. Southsiders' President on Whitecaps Season Ticket Pricing - Updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 I'd like to bring some clarity to the reason for the outrage in Vancouver. This is also posted on the Southsiders board, but I think it is worth sharing with supporters across Canada. In our view.... The Vancouver Southsiders do not claim to be entitled to any discounts, kickbacks, obligations, special favours or prices. Our money is as good as anyone else's when it comes to supporting the Whitecaps. We are not "owed" anything for supporting the club up to this point, nor are we claiming to be. The current uproar within our membership is largely due to the Whitecaps' failure to adequately manage the expectations of its supporters. The Whitecaps' entire marketing campaign to date has been centred around the $319 price point as the proverbial "cheap seats." When you look at EVERY team in MLS (and most football leagues in the UK and Europe, for that matter) the cheapest seats are nosebleeds and the seats behind the goal. It's an obstructed view for most down there, which makes it affordable, and that is why your most active supporters groups tend to congregate there. To those fans it's not about the view, it's about the experience. It is therefore not at all surprising that members of the Southsiders (and others in Vancouver who are interested in "supporting" as opposed to "watching") arrived at the conclusion that the cheap seats would be behind the net. However, when taxes and fees are included, seats behind the net are **$200 more** than what the vast majority were anticipating as result of the marketing campaign. That's quite a shock to the system, let alone the wallet. Here's the behind the net pricing for the big teams in MLS to illustrate a point: Whitecaps $560 LA Galaxy $400 Seattle Sounders $400 Portland Timbers $369 Toronto FC $361 NY Red Bulls $272 The pricing for Toronto and Seatlle sparked chaos with their supporters this year... and here we are, set to play in a temporary tin-can venue (Empire Field) with no signings, charging $160 more than Seattle and $200 more than TFC. The Galaxy have David Beckham, and their package includes 3 - 5 major friendlies. Last year they hosted Real Madrid and Boca Juniors. We will be paying more than Galaxy fans just to see FC Edmonton and Montreal. The Red Bulls are in the most expensive and most lucrative market in North America, with the league's arguably highest profile signing in Thierry Henry. Those fans are paying exactly what I paid to stand at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium last year for division two football. Which brings me to this: Last year, I paid $270 for the "privilege" of standing on metal bleachers, pissing in port-a-loos, waiting in line at substandard concessions and arriving 2.5 hrs early to ensure I could get a parking space. Next year I will be at Empire, probably for the entire season. Once again, I will stand on metal bleachers, piss in a port-a-loo, tough it out in long lines for overpriced concessions and pay $30 for parking... and if I want the "privilege" of standing where I have since 1999, I have to pay $300 more more for my ticket than I did last year. It is absolutely inconceivable that we should be forced to pay the same exorbitant prices for Empire Field as we will at BC Place. There is absolutely no justification for that, not even if we stocked our team with stars in their prime from the likes of Real Madrid. Speaking of which... Vancouverites will pay more for their seats behind the net than fans of Real Madrid do. And here's a kick in the ass - we only get two Canadian Championship matches in our package. They pay less than we do, and they get three matches to the UEFA Champions League! I'm not so daft as not to know that Canada and Spain's economies are apples and oranges. I do however think there is an important lesson there though. The Whitecaps have a stated goal of becoming a top-25 club on the global stage. Real Madrid has to rank in the top 3 on that list easily. I would suggest that the Whitecaps should be looking to learn from the best before attempting to climb the ranks on the wallets of the supporters who kept them afloat through the dark days of the 1990s and 2000s. Hell, they can even look at the bottom feeding dregs of the MLS for some wisdom. DC United's supporters group, the Screaming Eagles, are paying less than what Vancouverites will to stand behind the net. In return, their club provides the supporters group with a financial kickback estimated at around $75 per member. This allows the Screaming Eagles to provide their members fans with a free jersey every year, and free beer at tailgate parties before every match. On a price-per-match analysis, I will concede that the $560 "Aqua" supporters section isn't too high, especially for the Vancouver's vastly overpriced sports market. It certainly pales in comparison to prices for the Canucks. Unfortunately, Vancouver's fans don't have the option of paying on a price-per-match basis. It's an all or nothing deal, with half due in November, and half due in February.... that's right before Christmas, and right after. The Whitecaps couldn't have dropped this news at a worse time, although I acknowledge that the renovations at BC Place have played a role in this timing. A more comprehensive and accessible payment plan would do wonders to quell this uproar. Almost every team in MLS has one, save for a few, and none of those exceptions are in markets as pricey as we are. I also question this: - Why do end zone seats for BC Lions games at BC Place cost 40% less than the corner seats... but at a Whitecaps match they will cost 55% more than the same corners? - Why are the sections priced in a way so that two people with an aisle between them have a pricing differential of nearly $200? It's a Mickey Mouse pricing plan, plain and simple. The Vancouver Southsiders should have been the Whitecaps' easiest customers to sell this experience to, and now we have several long-time members questioning whether this is a club worth supporting. Sigh. Welcome to "modern football," Vancouver! post of the year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort York Redcoat1555362293 Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 I feel for you SSers. Those corners don't seem very big to me and those Teal sections are a joke. Year Zero in MLS and it looks like Vancouver is trying to diminish the impact of of it's best supporters. Shame, really. Good luck guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreverthursday Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 The Galaxy have David Beckham, and their package includes 3 - 5 major friendlies. Last year they hosted Real Madrid and Boca Juniors. We will be paying more than Galaxy fans just to see FC Edmonton and Montreal. But I might go to Vancouver to watch the FC Edmonton match and just having me in town for one day is worth the couple hundred bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tovan1 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/breakingnews/whitecaps-fans-can-hit-the-road-under-ticket-deal-with-portland-seattle-111962709.html The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION Whitecaps fans can hit the road under ticket deal with Portland, Seattle By: Jim Morris, The Canadian Press VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps have reached a unique agreement with their historic Pacific Northwest rivals which will make it easier for fans to travel to away Major League Soccer games. Under the plan, the Whitecaps, Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders will make up to 500 tickets available for visiting fans. This will allow the away supporters to sit in the same section and cheer on their teams. Paul Barber, Vancouver's chief executive officer, said the ticket arrangement made sense because of the close proximity of the three cities and the rivalries built in previous leagues. "We've been working very closely with Portland and Seattle over the last couple of months, and also with the league, to make sure we have a policy that is not only consistent for our three clubs, but the league could adapt and roll out across the rest of the league as well,'' Barber said in an interview Wednesday. Dan Courtemanche, the MLS's executive vice-president, said the league currently has no set policy for tickets for visiting supporters. "Prior to the start of the 2011 season, MLS will announce league-wide guidelines for travelling supporters,'' Courtemanche said in an email to The Canadian Press. Barber said the Whitecaps should know before Christmas when the team will play its inaugural MLS game, and if the match will be at home. "We are pretty relaxed about who we play, as long as it's a home game," he said. "If it's a home game we will be delighted. "If it's a home game against one of our big rivals, we will be even more delighted." The demand for Whitecaps season tickets is also approaching the 16,500 cap set by the team. "We have to make a big decision early in the new year whether we raise the cap on the number of season tickets we were originally prepared to sell," said Barber. Under the ticket plan, host clubs will make the 500 seats available in advance to the visiting team. The visiting club will sell those tickets, at face value, directly to their own fans, Barber said. The idea is to help create a good atmosphere for games while also trying to keep a lid on rowdy behaviour by travelling fans. Travelling fans who cause problems wouldn't be sold tickets for future matches. Barber agreed North American soccer matches don't normally have the violence that sometimes erupts between fans in other countries. "The atmosphere at games here is different," he said. "The rivalries are not quite as intense, the history is not quite as long. "Never the less, this is high level sport. Emotions run high. It's important that if we have fans from visiting teams in the same building as the home fans that we manage it properly . . . that we make sure everyone knows what is expected of them. If there are any issues we will be dealing with them promptly and very efficiently." Currently the arrangement is between just the three clubs. It could be extended to other teams in the future, like Toronto FC or Montreal, when they join MLS in 2012, said Barber. A spokesman for the Toronto FC said the club does not have an formal agreement with other teams. Toronto supporters usually travel in groups to games in Columbus or New England where tickets are easily obtained. Toronto does hold back some tickets for visiting fans. If those tickets are not used, they are released to the general public. Courtemanche said D.C. United regularly has hundreds of supporters travel to New York and Philadelphia for away matches. Barber said the high demand for season tickets in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland could make it difficult to purchase a game-day ticket. The three cities all had teams in the old North American Soccer League and United Soccer Leagues. The Whitecaps will start their MLS season at Empire Field, a 27,500-seat temporary facility located on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds in East Vancouver. They will move to B.C. Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver once the $565 million in renovations are completed on the building. The soccer configuration for B.C. Place will be around 25,000. The MLS season will begin in mid March. The Whitecaps currently have 11 players signed to a 30-man roster. "We have a lot of work to do," said Barber. "The final pieces of the jigsaw have to come together now in pretty short order." The MLS has a salary cap of US$2.6 million. Each team can have up to three designated players. Only a portion of those players' salaries count against the salary cap. Whitecaps management still hasn't decided if they will try to sign a big name as a designated player. "The priority for us is to get the core roster absolutely right," said Barber. "There is no point in bringing in one designated player if you haven't got the core roster in good shape. "One player is not going to win you a soccer game, no matter how good he is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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