Comments on: Restricting Away Support in MLS — The Reaction http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/ Exploring football culture around the world. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:53:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: probek http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3722 probek Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:35:51 +0000 http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3722 <blockquote>How do the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Dutch League, French League and other top leagues handle this matter?</blockquote> In my league, the Bundesliga, almost all clubs allocate a specific part of their stadium and a reasonable number of tickets for the visiting fans - and if these are not sold, the tickets are sent back to the home team. Take my* stadium, the Allianz Arena of Bayern Munich, and a recent game as an example for the numbers. For the last German Cup game, when the visiting team was local rival 1860 Munich, the home club (Bayern) doubled the number of tickets for the visiting team from the normal number reserved for cup game visitors of about 8,000 tickets to 16,000 (the Arena has a capacity of 69,000), which the visiting team sold through their club organisation. In a normal Bundesliga or European Cup game, the number of tickets reserved for visiting teams are smaller, but almost certainly around 2,000 or 3,000 tickets (about 5,000 tickets were sold to Aberdeen supporters in a recent UEFA Cup game). There even exists a small but noticable group of season tickets for away game supporters ("Auswärts-Jahreskarten") sold through the home team (I recall that about 400 Bayern supporters own those visitor tickets for a whole season). *I am a club member

How do the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Dutch League, French League and other top leagues handle this matter?

In my league, the Bundesliga, almost all clubs allocate a specific part of their stadium and a reasonable number of tickets for the visiting fans - and if these are not sold, the tickets are sent back to the home team. Take my* stadium, the Allianz Arena of Bayern Munich, and a recent game as an example for the numbers. For the last German Cup game, when the visiting team was local rival 1860 Munich, the home club (Bayern) doubled the number of tickets for the visiting team from the normal number reserved for cup game visitors of about 8,000 tickets to 16,000 (the Arena has a capacity of 69,000), which the visiting team sold through their club organisation. In a normal Bundesliga or European Cup game, the number of tickets reserved for visiting teams are smaller, but almost certainly around 2,000 or 3,000 tickets (about 5,000 tickets were sold to Aberdeen supporters in a recent UEFA Cup game). There even exists a small but noticable group of season tickets for away game supporters (”Auswärts-Jahreskarten”) sold through the home team (I recall that about 400 Bayern supporters own those visitor tickets for a whole season).

*I am a club member

]]> By: Kevin http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3673 Kevin Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:53:00 +0000 http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3673 As a guy living in hopefully the soon to be 17th franchise in MLS (St. Louis), I gotta voice my agreement with joejoejoe...a designated number or percentage of available seats should be made available FIRST to traveling fans of the opponent. If those fans will not buy, then the home team gets to turn around and sell those tickets. With the marketing of David Beckham's first FULL SEASON upcoming, you'd think MLS would want to create something where diehard Galaxy fans could travel to different cities...and opponents' could visit the Home Depot Center knowing they had a group of a couple hundred fans in tow to cheer them on (and snap pics of Beckham in action). How do the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Dutch League, French League and other top leagues handle this matter? As a guy living in hopefully the soon to be 17th franchise in MLS (St. Louis), I gotta voice my agreement with joejoejoe…a designated number or percentage of available seats should be made available FIRST to traveling fans of the opponent. If those fans will not buy, then the home team gets to turn around and sell those tickets.

With the marketing of David Beckham’s first FULL SEASON upcoming, you’d think MLS would want to create something where diehard Galaxy fans could travel to different cities…and opponents’ could visit the Home Depot Center knowing they had a group of a couple hundred fans in tow to cheer them on (and snap pics of Beckham in action).

How do the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Dutch League, French League and other top leagues handle this matter?

]]> By: Sean http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3605 Sean Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:27:46 +0000 http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3605 I agree Joe Westhead, it's sort-of a "democracy-in-action." This certainly can't be bad for MLS. I agree Joe Westhead, it’s sort-of a “democracy-in-action.” This certainly can’t be bad for MLS.

]]> By: Joe Westhead http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3603 Joe Westhead Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:15:54 +0000 http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3603 It can only be good for blogs such as Pitch Invasion that the articles that are most popular/contentious are the ones that result in action. We all like to play the pundit but sometimes we have to step out onto the field as well. Great stuff. It can only be good for blogs such as Pitch Invasion that the articles that are most popular/contentious are the ones that result in action. We all like to play the pundit but sometimes we have to step out onto the field as well.

Great stuff.

]]> By: joejoejoe http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3593 joejoejoe Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:08:57 +0000 http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/03/12/restricting-away-support-in-mls-the-reaction/#comment-3593 Is it really so complicated? MLS should require 500 seats be set aside for road supporters and if they go unsold release them for sale for the home team at some predetermined interval -- say two weeks before the game date. If there is no demand from road supporters for seats and great demand from home supporters the tickets will still be sold. It takes 5 seconds of understanding and empathy for travelling supporters to craft a policy, not untold man-hours of study. Is it really so complicated? MLS should require 500 seats be set aside for road supporters and if they go unsold release them for sale for the home team at some predetermined interval — say two weeks before the game date. If there is no demand from road supporters for seats and great demand from home supporters the tickets will still be sold. It takes 5 seconds of understanding and empathy for travelling supporters to craft a policy, not untold man-hours of study.

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