Posted by Internet_Commentator at 1/27/2010 1:09 p.m.

Here's a great way to fill the stadium: have them play a sport other than soccer.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 1:26 p.m.

That is such a clever comment, Mr. Internet. It's lonely at the top isn't it?

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 1:28 p.m.

Word of Advice:

The Summertime Weekend games that start at 1:00 P.M. should be considered for expanded seating like the "friendlies".

Seattleites love their sunshine and getting a tan drinking a few brewskis while watching the Sounders is a great alternative to a day at the beach.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 1:30 p.m.

I know of a great way to fill the stadium: open it up & sell the tickets.

What other franchise has a 96% renewal rate? My guess is that the reason they haven't sold the allotted season tickets is that many, like myself, believed that there were no more available.

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 1:32 p.m.

Sounders could sellout Houston, Galaxy, and Colombus if they were scheduled as 1:00 P.M. weekend games in June, July or August.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 1:34 p.m.

It doesn't make sense to open the upper bowl since the Sounders wouldn't fill it execept on rare occasions, and stadium operations management doesn't want to deploy employees to work up there who would sit around doing nothing.

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 1:54 p.m.

Schedule weekend games when the Seahawks are in preseason as upper bowl personel would appreciate the work.

Schedule Beckham and the Galaxy in August at 1:00 P.M and open up the upper bowl.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 1:55 p.m.

Re: Internet_Commentator

BOO - HISS!!!!!!!

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 1:59 p.m.

Sounders could sell a 3 game, weekend afternoon upper bowl package.

example games could be:

3rd week in July vs Houston
1st week in August vs. Colombus
3rd week in August vs Galaxy

Posted by MinusTwenty at 1/27/2010 2:06 p.m.

So the goal is to stuff everybody in the lower (more expensive) seats and create an illusion of a packed (overpriced) stadium for the first 5 rows?

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 2:17 p.m.

Much like the marketing of a trendy toy at Christmastime, the product sellers are trying to inflate demand by limiting availablity and increasing hype for the product. There are plenty of suckers for this form of marketing, so don't expect it to change anytime soon.

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 2:28 p.m.

What's to lose in trying a 3 game upper bowl package?

At the bare minimum you shut these complaining ninnies up if it fails.

If it succeeds.........

Posted by Centrist at 1/27/2010 2:32 p.m.

In addition to the Seattle area, market the 3 game upper bowl package to Portland OR and Vancouver BC.

The 2011 upper bowl package could be Porland, Vancouver, and whomever the Sounder beat in the MLS finals.

Posted by katbird_27 at 1/27/2010 3:04 p.m.

why are the u.s open cup games at starfire?????? that place only holds a few thousand tops, if we get portland again we would be forced to give up the home game top them again! why not have 2 sections open up top?? and if they sell it open another one! have it available day of game only at the stadium only so you know its not sold out if you are willing to go 2-3 hours early.

Posted by NYFLWA at 1/27/2010 3:09 p.m.

I tried to attend a few matches last season but found tickets to be grossly overpriced. I'll commit that $ to more Mariners games this summer. Hopefully, prices will be reasonable once the luster is gone.

Posted by nickoroni at 1/27/2010 3:09 p.m.

Re: Opening up the upper bowl during the summer afternoon - The most empty seats I saw last year were those afternoon July and August games. There is so much competition for your time during the summer.

It would be interesting to know how many people went to those games and how many of those people were season ticket holders. As a diehard Sounders fan, it is nearly impossible to go to every game. Especially during the summer. Weddings and funerals will always mess things up.

Posted by Kal_el2000 at 1/27/2010 3:19 p.m.

Zzzzz... Who cares? Wake me when pitchers and catchers report.

Posted by rezzor at 1/27/2010 3:28 p.m.

@Kal_el2000 - since you read the article and then even left a comment, I would say you care.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 3:33 p.m.

Two things to remember - they do not create the schedule. The Sounders are at the mercy of the Seahawks and MLS so they can't just decide to have Saturday afternoon games every week (though I'd prefer it). Plus, with the shutdown for the World Cup you can expect more weeknight games to make up for the missed weekends.

Posted by Orkan at 1/27/2010 3:35 p.m.

Please do not have as many 1:00pm starts this year.

I hate waking up so early to get to the stadium that early. I want as many 7:00pm kick-off times as possible.

Posted by Brian P at 1/27/2010 3:45 p.m.

So when do we get a schedule! I'm anxious to schedule my summer. I'm hoping for more weeknight games as I work right across the street from the stadium.

Posted by Seattleite of Love at 1/27/2010 3:48 p.m.

Hey Internet Commentator, how many professional Seattle sports teams made the playoffs in their respective leagues this year? Other than the Seattle Mist in the lingerie league?

How about we schedule the Seahawks games at ShoWare Arena during the Seattle Mist halftime show and give the entire Qwest Field over to the only winning team in town?

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 3:49 p.m.

Internet_Commentator = Gold Medalist at Special Olympics, Self-Debate competition

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 3:50 p.m.

Not a soccer fan, but if the demand is there, why not open select upper sections bring the cost of tickets down some while giving more opportunity for more people to see a fun game as well as a few more jobs.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 4:09 p.m.

I'm sure management know what they're doing. The way the Hawks are crashing, they may have to close the upper bowl to make it look like they have 32,000 in attendance!

Posted by stonecannon at 1/27/2010 4:20 p.m.

"Less than 1,000 season tickets"

FEWER than 1,000 season tickets...

sheesh.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 5:05 p.m.

no its lesser than....get it right...geeesh

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 5:16 p.m.

Hey Sounders:

My family and I are big soccer fans. Last year, we went to the Barca and Chelsea matches, the MLS Cup, and one regular-season game where we got season tickets from a friend.

We would love to go to a few Sounders games a year, but our schedule's too busy to justify buying season tickets. We would absolutely buy single game tickets if there were a reasonable number available. We are the market that would buy another few thousand of the seats in the upper deck, if you'd sell them. I really think you're missing a middle ground... and if you make it so that only season ticket holders can attend, it makes it a lot harder to pick up the casual fan, who might try it if there were more single-game tickets. How about it?

Posted by High Desert Coug at 1/27/2010 5:34 p.m.

To follow up on the preceding comment, our family of six bought the half-season package last year.

Those packages weren't offered this year so they could sell more season tickets.

I understand that selling a season ticket is the ultimate goal, but I hope we can get a few single game tickets or I'll have to explain to my soccer-fanatic kids why we have to watch on TV.

Posted by Clark W. Griswold at 1/27/2010 5:42 p.m.

Posted by Seattleite of Love at 1/27/2010 3:48 p.m.

How about we schedule the Seahawks games at ShoWare Arena during the Seattle Mist halftime show and give the entire Qwest Field over to the only winning team in town?
----------
"We" won't because it's simple economics: The Seahawks sell 67,000 tickets per game, or approx 670,000 a season. In 20 home games, the Sounders sold approx 620,000.

Winning doesn't really matter to the bean-counters.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 5:43 p.m.

Obviously ,no one learned from the previous Sounders
that folded..Why the same name???All sports tickets are getting expensive ..Buy cable/Sat packages watch it sitting on a nice sofa...

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 5:44 p.m.

I say do the "open it up for 3 games or so and see what happens" test. Sounders tickets are the cheapest way to get into Qwest field, thats for sure.Once the hipster doofuses find something else new and edgy,they may have trouble selling these.I would wager that, of the supposed 96% season ticket renewal rate, 50% are ticket brokers buying seats to resell them.Check the Craigslist and you'll see its true.

Posted by Ajas at 1/27/2010 5:54 p.m.

"We" won't because it's simple economics: The Seahawks sell 67,000 tickets per game, or approx 670,000 a season. In 20 home games, the Sounders sold approx 620,000.
------------------------------------------------
15 regular season @ 30.9k each +
Chelsea and Barca @ 66k each +
Playoff vs Houston @ 36k +
MLS Cup Finals @ 46k = 677,500

People who are worried about sellouts: There are always tickets available on stubhub, if you don't get tickets before the game sells out. There's no excuse for not going to a game if you want to go!

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 6:17 p.m.

all the soccer haters who take the time to read soccer articles and then post comments are exactly like homophobes: closeted gay men who hate what they love so much they need to bash it constantly for fear of finally realizing it's better to love than to hate.

listen, internet_commenter and Kal_el2000...please, just come out of the closet and join the world. you know you love soccer. you can't stop reading about it. you think about it all day...

just saying, there is always room on the sounders bandwagon. when you're ready to admit what you really are, we will welcome you with open arms.

Posted by Clark W. Griswold at 1/27/2010 6:30 p.m.

Ajas, as far as I know, the average attendance of 30,943 factors in ALL home games, not just the regular season. Do you have individual game figures that show evidence to the contrary?

Posted by soundersfan at 1/27/2010 7:39 p.m.

ticket stats were for MLS regular season, they did not include playoffs, mls cup or the friendlies since these are not part of the regular season attendance figures as computed by MLS and used to compare teams apples to apples. However, some teams that hold double headers, i.e. San Jose hosted a Mexico friendly at candlestick or something and they are able to count the final attendance as theirs.

it was 32,523 for the opener and then down to 28.5k until mid season when they shifted to 32.5k by opening up the south end to the season opener levels for the second half of the season.

Posted by RationalThought at 1/27/2010 8:01 p.m.

This is a complete joke, and only serves to artificially inflate ticket prices. I will not take the Sounders seriously until they make the game more accessible to more fans and stop crowing about their fraudulent "sold-out games".

What a joke!

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 8:24 p.m.

I really wanted to go to a home game last year but was basically shut out. Instead, I had to drive my 6 year old and myself 2.5 hours to Portland to see a US Open Cup game. If this keeps up, I probably won't ever get to a home game.

Posted by Charles III at 1/27/2010 9:02 p.m.

the old adage, always leave them wanting more, applies here;

to keep from the boom and bust mindset, keep the number of tickets manageable and slowly grow it

see NFL blackout rule in existence still today.

Posted by Oranje at 1/27/2010 9:32 p.m.

Typical marketing lies

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 10:46 p.m.

"We would absolutely buy single game tickets if there were a reasonable number available."

Why, how many do you need?

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 10:48 p.m.

Anyone who makes a statement like the above loses the right to call themself "RationalThought."

Posted by unregistered user at 1/27/2010 10:53 p.m.

Why the heck are CONCACAF matches held at Starfire??? As a season ticketholder, I think it would be awesome to have them played at Qwest instead of a small venue like Starfire c'mon Sounders FC make it happen!!!

Posted by seattlemike at 1/28/2010 3:14 a.m.

Why not open a number of rows in the upper bowl rather than the entire sections?

Posted by jafabian at 1/28/2010 8:14 a.m.

I don't get why they play at Starfire at all. If they simply want a smaller venue they should play at the Tacoma Dome. Give people there an opportunity to see the team play.

I guess they don't open the Hawks Nest so people see that big XBox banner, but I think it'd be better for the club to see a Hawks Nest packed with fans instead.

Posted by Seattle Original at 1/28/2010 9:18 a.m.

This is amazing! 32,000 sesaon ticket holders is a lot for any sport. This just shows how popular the Sounders are. I can hardly wait for the upcoming season to start. Go Sounders!!!

A note to the haters: we have been hearing your tired anti-soccer comments for years and they are getting old. Why don't you comment about something that you understand in another forum and stop insisting on telling us the same thing over and over.

Posted by Will in Seattle at 1/28/2010 10:38 a.m.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

We need 40,000 seats!

MORE!

MORE!

MORE!

Posted by Will in Seattle at 1/28/2010 10:39 a.m.

p.s. if someone has goal end seats ....

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 10:58 a.m.

Go Sounders!!!

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 11:55 a.m.

CONCACAF at starfire?? Please tell me that's a typo.

There's no reason why we shouldn't play those matches at qwest.

what a bunch of fools our front office are.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 1:31 p.m.

i already emailed the sounders, but they need to hear from more of us, and MOVE THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GAMES TO QWEST!

we're guaranteed one game...why not make it "International Friendly Game A" as part of season tickets? i'm pretty confident we'll sell out qwest for a CL game. i mean come on sounders! you said you wanted to be a regional power, so why show concacaf our little crappy training grounds stadium? embarassing.

and last time i chekced, USL-1 Montreal got 55,000 in olympic stadium for a CCL game. so...man i'm so confused why they have such a love-affair with starfire. this is crazy.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 1:46 p.m.

Open the upper deck & sell $5 tickets through the youth soccer leagues.

Get the youth out to a LIVE game. Court your fan base to build it up. If even 10% of the kids playing youth soccer in the Seattle area went to just one game I think that would be more than enough to fill the stadium for the 20 game regular season.

Just wouldn't have room for the season ticket holders...

Posted by Taly at 1/28/2010 2:09 p.m.

@Kal_el2000 - Baseball? What an exciting sport. Fans have to be told by the PA announcer or piped-music when to cheer. How hilarious.

Posted by Concorde at 1/28/2010 2:11 p.m.

Good for the Sounders. The belly-achers just don't get it: Having the lower bowl packed adds to the excitement of the game/match.

That goes for any sport - not just soccer. It's the main reason the T-Birds no longer play hockey at the Key. When the stands were made basketball-friendly during the remodel, the T-Birds could only sell about 10,500 of the 17,000 seats because of sight restrictions. Even the few 'sell-outs' they had left the building looking 1/3 empty, with all the fans at one end of the rink. Totally lop-sided. Coliseum crowds in the early '90s regularly topped 10,000+ on weekends. In the Key, the crowds dropped off steadily, til 6,000 was considered a huge turnout.

In short, crowd seating does matter.

Also, it probably keeps the Sounders' costs under control, by not having to have extra ushers, vendors, security, etc to work the upper stands, when there might be 20,000 extra fans on a good night, but maybe only 5,000 roaming around a big area on a typical night.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 5:10 p.m.

#451145: Marketing to youth doesn't work. They're at the mercy of grownups to drive them. MLS seems to be putting more effort into attracting a younger, rowdier crowd.

Having the upper deck open will make things no different than the USL days at Qwest. If you wanted a ticket show up.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/28/2010 10:32 p.m.

Well, as an avid soccer fan from the East Bay (CA) I'm starting to see why the Sounders are able to draw so many fans.

The above posts were a nice balance between people who love the game but also understand the economics.

It would be nice to have more of you down here. Microsoft has some nice offices in the area. Google is hiring....

Seriously though, good job showing the rest of the country how to be a class soccer community.

GS

Posted by unregistered user at 1/29/2010 6:36 a.m.

Hi guys TFC fan here. Great job! For those of you stating that theys should open up all the tickets for the one or two time a uear you want to show up, put yourself on a watinging list for season tickets and force them to open more tickets. If 32K has another 10K on a waiting list then they will open up more tickets for sure.

Posted by unregistered user at 1/29/2010 9:33 a.m.

CCL in Tukwila?

Is that a joke?

Posted by unregistered user at 1/29/2010 6:45 p.m.

THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV

SATURDAY

9:15am- Setanta USA- Liverpool vs. Bolton

9:25am- GoltV- Bayern Munich vs. Mainz 05

10am- ESPN2- Fulham vs. Aston Villa

10am- FSC/FSE- Birmingham City vs. Tottenham

10am- No TV- Wigan vs. Everton

11am- No TV- Algeria vs. Nigeria (African Cup of Nations-3rd Place)

11:55am- GolTV- Espanyol vs. Athletic Bilbao

Noon- ESPN360.com/RAI- AS Bari vs. Palermo

12:20pm- ESPN360.com/Setanta USA- Leicester City vs. Newcastle

12:30pm- ESPND/ESPN360.com- Schalke 04 vs. Hoffenheim

12:30pm- FSC/FSE- Burnley vs. Chelsea

2pm- GolTV- Sporting Gijon vs. Barcelona

2pm- Telemundo- Argentina vs. Costa Rica (Tape Delayed)

2:30pm- FSC/FSE/ESPN360.com- Napoli vs. Genoa

3pm- Setanta USA- Montpelier vs. Marseille

4pm- ESPND/ESPN360.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Madrid

4:30pm- GolTV- Santos vs. Oeste

5pm- Setanta USA- West Ham vs. Blackburn (Delayed)

5pm- FSC- AS Bari vs. Palermo (Delayed)

6pm- Azteca America- Chiapas vs. UANL Tigres

6pm- Telemundo- Monterrey vs. Cruz Azul

6:20pm- GolTV- Millonarios vs. Medellin

7pm- FSC- Wigan vs. Everton (Delayed)

8pm- Telemundo- Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Estudiantes Tecos

8pm- Telefutura- Pachuca vs. Atlante

8pm- FSE- AS Bari vs. Palermo

8:15pm- GolTV- Independiente Medellin vs. Independiente Santa Fe

8:30pm- Setanta USA- Hull City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

3am- FSC- Perth Glory vs. Central Coast Mariners

SUNDAY

6:30am- ESPN360.com- Feyenoord vs. Ajax

8:15am- Setanta USA- Manchester City vs. Portsmouth

8:30am- ESPN360.com- Vitesse Arnhem vs. PSV Eindhoven

9am- FSC/FSE- AC Milan vs. Livorno

9am- ESPN360.com- Parma vs. Inter Milan

10:45am- No TV- Ghana vs. Egypt (African Cup of Nations Final)

10:55am- FSC/FSE- Arsenal vs. Manchester United

11am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Getafe vs. Racing Santander

11am- DirecTV- Tenerife vs. Real Zaragoza

11am- DirecTV- Villarreal vs. Osasuna

11am- DirecTV- Xerez vs. Mallorca

11am- Setanta USA- Auxerre vs. St. Etienne

11:30am- GolTV- Bayer Leverkusen vs. SC Freiburg

1pm- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Atletico Madrid vs. Malaga

1pm- Telemundo- UNAM Pumas vs. CD Toluca

1pm- Azteca America- Puebla vs. Queretaro FC

2pm- GolTV- Corinthians vs. Palmeiras

2:30pm- FSC/FSE- Juventus vs. Lazio

3pm- GolTV- Sevilla vs. Valencia

3pm- Setanta USA- Lyon vs. Paris St. Germain

5pm- Univision- Club America vs. Indios

5pm- Telefutura- Santos Laguna vs. Atlas

10pm- Setanta USA- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)

11pm- FSC- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)

Posted by unregistered user at 1/29/2010 6:46 p.m.

I would rather count 3 leaf clovers in a 40 acre field filled with them then watch the most boring game in the history of the world.

I am currently watching Durantula destroy the Denver Nuggets.
Clay Bennett rocks.

Posted by Amaysing at 1/30/2010 2:30 a.m.

Geez, here we go again.... Once again, this is a sport of the worlds past time choosing...

fisrt of all , all this 'amosphere' b.s. You got the illusionary sellout going already! 32,000 season tix sold...

the bowl is sopld out. you have your atmosphere thingy. Open up the seats and get the walk up. It does not cost any more money to open up the upper decks. well, about a hundred ticket sales would pay for all that actually.

Tell ya what. tarp off 15,000 seats at Safeco so the Mariners can call it a sell out. Look, that does nothing to improve this atmosphere stuff you talk about.

the atmosphere is built in. we have been playing soccer in this town on highly organized levels for over 50 years here.

WE ARE THE ATMOSPHERE. the non atmosphere is this idiot level pathological corporate business mentality creating some some delusion.

It is all about money. you got the seats but are basically telling alot of people they cannot go. make some real money, idiots! We have too good of a team to insult them with this idiot level wimp out wet your pants business strategy.