Copa America Centenario 2016

[agibson]

Anybody else getting excited for the Copa America this summer?

Aaron Leavitt and I were kibbitzing on twitter about the disaster of an ordering process, but both got tickets for the Chicago games.

It'll be the first time I've seen the US Men's National Team (USMNT) in person.  They don't come to Chicago so often, more often favoring places with... better climates? ... fewer Latinos?  And better home crowds for the games we play most often like CONCACAF (Caribbean, North and Central America) World Cup qualifiers.

[VULB#62]

I have seen the USMNT on a couple of occasions in Foxboro, MA (my son was a ball boy when the US Beat England 2-0 in a friendly). The level of soccer is so much above what we normally see here in the MLS (duh!).  The games are so much more technical and no where near the run and gun we see in college or the MLS. You'll love it.

[bbtds]

Liam Ridgewell, who just won the MLS Cup with the Portland Timbers in December, was loaned out by MLS to a second division (Football League Championship) English football team, Brighton and Hove Albion, till March when he must report back to the Timbers. Ridgewell, who is English and loves playing back in his native country, is totally average in the English second division. The Premier League (English first division) is the best in the world but with the exception of a few stars (Steven Gerrard, formerly with Liverpool and others) MLS players are still pretty average in other leagues. There has been no real push from B&H Albion fans to keep Ridgewell past the March deadline and buy out his MLS contract.

Unfortunately $145 is still too pricey for top deck seats for the US Men's National Team at Soldier Field on June 7th.

[agibson]

They've now opened up "venue pass" sales (e.g. all four games at Soldier Field) to the general public, so it's somewhat easier to see what's actually available.

I'm pleased that their messy initial-phase ordering process seems not to have hurt me as much as I'd feared. _Maybe_ I'd have preferred some of the $240 options to what I got at the $280 level, but what I got doesn't feel too bad.

Interesting now to be able to see the full range of ticket options, prices, etc.  A fair lot have been sold, but there are still a lot left.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/copa-america-centenario-chicago-venue-chicago-illinois/event/0400502B7B260CA9?artistid=2179595&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=11&tm_link=artist_msg-0_0400502B7B260CA9

Some areas are pretty clearly _not_ open for general sale.  E.g. behind the south end zone is where they're putting the American Outlaws for the US game (they got a pretty attractive-looking deal, even if the details were late to be announced).

I'm not sure what's going on in the 300 level on the east or north sides.

It'll be interesting to see how sales go, what's left to be sold as individual game tickets, etc.

Rumors seem to be flowing in the direction of "Messi's going to play".  (It was announced that he'll _not_ play in the Olympics, though I don't who ever thought that likely, and the Copa America was mentioned specifically as a reason.)  Argentina's got one game at Soldier Field, and one of the semi-finals is there as well.

[agibson]

Unfortunately $145 is still too pricey for top deck seats for the US Men's National Team at Soldier Field on June 7th.

I'm curious, where did you see that price?

The AO deal, in the end, looks pretty good to me.  Just $75.  Plus ticketmaster fees.  And the ($25?) AO Membership.

The cheapest venue passes (4 games) are $240 at Soldier Field, plus ticketmaster fees ($25?). 

[agibson]

It all starts tonight! US vs. Colombia, on FS1.

I'll get to at least the US vs. Costa Rica game at Soldier Field. I'm still working on Argentina vs. Panama. The logistics are a little tricky.

Maybe sometime I'll come back and go off on Ticketmaster.

[agibson]

The facilities, by way of fan comfort, at Soldier Field weren't that impressive. Pretty long bathroom lines at key times. Not enough food vendors open. Food selection even less impressive than the ARC, and fairly expensive. A lot of not-good beer. Nominal wifi was effectively a useless distraction.

But, for watching a soccer game, I was impressed. Field seemed big enough. The grass looked pretty good. Maybe the redesign in 2003 had soccer in mind? Possibly retractable lower level seating? The touch lines/sidelines seemed pretty close to the field, and the 400-level seats on the west side had a nice "on top of the pitch" feel. Restricted viewing to the near corner from my seat, but the jumbotrons were good enough for those rare occasions.

Lots of fun! And a rollicking US win in the end. Fun to be there to join in on the anthem (even if the 400-level fans weren't much good for singing). The chants of the US fans leaving the game - descending the ramps at Soldier Field, going through any tunnel in Grant Park, where they'd echo, were fun.

Definitely good to be there in person to watch things like the extremely high press of Costa Rica in the first half - very hard to pick up on from a TV broadcast.

And, the US lives! Need a result, but not necessarily a win, on Saturday.

[VULB#62]

Watched it on the tube and was thrilled with the scores and the team's intensity throughout.  Was kind of disappointed in the fan turnout, though those who were there cheered knowledgeably, frequently and loud.  This is the USMNT who sold out Levi stadium earlier in the tournament. Chicago is better than that.

[agibson]

Was kind of disappointed in the fan turnout, though those who were there cheered knowledgeably, frequently and loud. 

Good! Glad to hear that we sounded decent, at least. I considered recording it, in large part just to get an idea of how the fans sounded. On FS1 I don't think I have easy access to replays... (One advantage of ESPN, maybe? Even if the ESPN3 player stinks.)

This is the USMNT who sold out Levi stadium earlier in the tournament. Chicago is better than that.

Yeah, it was a little disappointing. The usual Valpo excuses do come to mind, like "Well, it was a Tuesday...".

I'll be curious to see if Argentina sells better on Friday. A weekend, but with Messi maybe not so likely to play, so maybe the circumstances wash.  Alas, I won't be surprised if Argentina sells better.

Costa Rican fans were very visible in the pre-game Fan Area, walking to the stadium, etc. Not so evident, or loud, in the stadium. And, I saw very few post-game - maybe they left early!

If there's any explanation for the poor attendance, it may be that Chicago just doesn't get very many USMNT games. So, maybe the local/regional fans aren't in the habit of going. Sort of a chicken and egg problem?

The Gold Cup final was here two Gold Cups back, but not much else... I missed that game, and have otherwise been waiting five years to see a game. _Some_ members of the Valpo soccer community were going, but not as many as I'd expected.

[usc4valpo]

On WSCR, they were ripping the attendance. Soccer is such a wonderful sport, but can never really gel with American culture.

[VULB#62]

My guess is that this game might have sold out or been close to capacity at other venues -- e.g., NYC, Boston.  Chicago is a good soccer town, so it puzzles me.

[Valpo89]

I looked up ticket prices for Friday's game at Soldier Field. The least expensive tickets are $95 in the 400 level, upper corners. No thanks. That's why attendance stinks.

[agibson]

The price point really was tough.

Supposedly more than for the Euro championship starting Friday.

The first Soldier Field game, with Jamaican, prices fell trough the floor on the secondary market. Retail started from probably about $60 (plus ticketmaster fees). Tickets were eventually going for $12 on stub hub, including all fees and 2 day delivery. Sellers must have been just about giving them away - either speculators or people like me suckered into buying "venue passes". I tried moderately hard to give away my Jamaica ticket, in Valpo, and couldn't manage (transportation, parking).

I did manage to sell my ticket for the semifinal for a bit more than retail (and, with the middleman, he paid more than 50% above retail). I'll bensore of the U.S. makes the semis, and I sold my ticket! But I'll be out of town.

I saw that U.S. Costa Rica had 2.5M viewers on UniMas, only 1.5M on FS1. Seems very low, but is FS1's market penetration not so good? I think it's on basic cable here, more or less, but in the 400's. Maybe the USMNT, in a major tournament, should be on the FOX mothership...

[VULB#62]

FS1 is premium where I live.

[agibson]

FS1 is premium where I live.

I'm not even sure FS2 is _available_ for me. I was surprised to see the late Copa game last night pushed to FS2 (available elsewhere in Spanish; I did watch a few minutes).

[agibson]

I looked up ticket prices for Friday's game at Soldier Field. The least expensive tickets are $95 in the 400 level, upper corners. No thanks. That's why attendance stinks.

Looks like it _is_ selling better than the US game... And Messi making some noise about playing - apparently he did join in full training... yesterday? At UIC or UIUC or some place.

Hopefully we get to see him Friday.

Glancing at Ticketmaster, if you go _all the way_ to the corners you can still get tickets for $75, $84 with fees. But not cheap.

Looks like my section (430) is sold out... (Apart from the secondary market, of course.)

As I probably already mentioned, for "cheapest in the house seats" (first seven rows of the cheapest section) I was pretty impressed. Not nearly as bad as I'd feared.

[VULB#62]

Found out the attendance was "just under 40k".  Soldiers Field holds 61K.

[agibson]

Well, if any US game is going to sell out before the semis, it would probably be in Seattle. I bet it has a fair chance. USA vs. Ecuador on Thursday. And we beat them 1-0 in a friendly just a few weeks ago.

Tickets from $84 on Ticketmaster - but not so many left, at least in the cheap seats, and higher than that on Stubub.

Brazil was widely seen as weak, or at least a lot weaker than usual, but what a way to go out!

[VULB#62]

Looks like both USA and Columbia lucked out.

[agibson]

Well, if any US game is going to sell out before the semis, it would probably be in Seattle.

They've opened up some blocks of tickets that weren't previously for sale (including some of the "cheap" seats e.g. sections 327 and 328).

Surprisingly, the American Outlaws supporter sections (121, 122, 123 password required, but not very secret) don't seem to be selling all that well. Hopefully they fill as people confirm their travel plans, etc.

Lots of expensive seats down low seem open, and may make it difficult to actually sell out the stadium.

[agibson]

Big game tonight! US in the knockout rounds! Seattle's not going to sell out, but should be a very good crowd. 8:30 PM central, FS1.

[valpotx]

Fun to watch, and off to play Argentina (most likely)

[agibson]

Fun to watch, and off to play Argentina (most likely)

A win's _got_ to be more likely, on home soil, than the 2009 win 2-0 over Spain, right?

It's soccer - surely anything can happen in 90 minutes. (or 90 minutes + PK's)

Should be a good one! Will be interesting to see how we reinvent without Wood, Jones, Bedoya. Big losses.

Argentina misses Di Maria due to injury, I think, at least. And you wonder how they are on yellow cards; there were a _lot_ in the Panama game at Soldier Field. Counting yellows was practically the main pass time at Soldier Field, when we weren't chanting for Messi to come. Albeit most of the yellows were for Panama - but Argentina got a share.

Probably Argentina has a deeper bench of "big" players.

The US was cheered for finally keeping a stable rotation. But, now we're going to have to rely on some not-recently-tested bench players... (If Beckerman comes in, does that push Bradley up? Has that been a failed experiment already? Zusi in is probably relatively safe. Does Pulisic or Nagbe finally get a long run of minutes, as some kind of effort t replace Wood?).

[VULB#62]

We are without Germaine Jones (red card) -- big loss there. Anyone else pick up a second yellow and will be out (Bedoya?)?  But we get Yedlin back.

UPDATE:
Answering my own question.

From SI Soccer:
"The U.S. will have to play in the semis without the suspended Jermaine Jones (red card Thursday), Alejandro Bedoya (yellow card accumulation) and Bobby Wood (yellow card accumulation)."

All big losses.  Klinsman should have subbed out Bedoya much earlier with a 2-0 lead to protect him -- he was gassed.  I was wondering when he would start subbing out the at-risk players.  Couldn't have guessed that Jones would do such a stupid thing, though.

[valpotx]

It would be great if Venezuela upsets Argentina, but they haven't struggled like Brazil did.