Renewing or Not Renewing

[craigtfc]

Desperate times calls for desperate measures! Got this e-mail just now.

TFC - No Fee Frenzy!

No Fee Frenzy! For 48 hours starting Thursday, September 27th at 10:00 a.m., we're removing all ticketing fees for the last two Toronto FC home games of the season. Join us at BMO Field and witness the authentic football experience, the atmosphere & share the passion and the chants.
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/promo/ejx87e?brand=torontofc

You buy the tickets Craig, we cover all of the fees! The No Fee Frenzy is only available for 48 hours . When you purchase tickets for the last two home games of the season during this timeframe, we'll cover all service and ordering fees. Your No Fee Frenzy begins Thursday, September 27th at 10:00 a.m. through to Saturday, September 29th at 10:00 a.m. Use the password SAVE to claim this offer. Take in the action at BMO Field with the last two remaining matches this season. Come early for our pre-game party and cheer on your Reds as they wrap up the season. Toronto FC //ALL FOR ONE

[trane]

If I here this shit again, from MLSE

"Join us at BMO Field and witness the authentic football experience, the atmosphere & share the passion and the chants"

I will obliage them and go down to give them an "authentic football experience, the atmosphere & share the passion and the chants" experience as in Grobari v Delije.

[Couchy81]

For a second I thought they were making the last two games free when I first saw this advertised on FB. Even then I didn't think they could fill the stadium. This promotion won't work, it's too little.

[Thomas]

You mean direct via GO, right?

I can be at the game from Main & Danforth in under 20 minutes using transit...it's a 45 minute drive...so it's all relative...

[Ajax TFC]

we should all file a class action lawsuit against MLSE for false advertising

[trane]

^ For five seasons at least they have been selling the atmosphere that the supporters create as the reason for the supporters to come down. Its fraud. We should just do it in the parking lot next to the stadium.

FOR THE TWO LAST GAMES STADIUM SHOULD BE EMPTY AND THE SUPPORTERS SHOULD SURROUND THE STADIUM.

[tfcleeds]

Yay! No ticketing fees from TicketBastard! That's it, sign me up for 100 tickets.

[PAOK17]

^ For five seasons at least they have been selling the atmosphere that the supporters create as the reason for the supporters to come down. Its fraud. We should just do it in the parking lot next to the stadium.

FOR THE TWO LAST GAMES STADIUM SHOULD BE EMPTY AND THE SUPPORTERS SHOULD SURROUND THE STADIUM.

I actually like this idea. It's unprecedented in Toronto sports. The media would be all over...oh wait. Larson would just right a piece about us being ungrateful and whiny. Whatever, I'd still participate! We could even make up our own mock-ads "Come experience a true Football atmosphere at BMO's Field's...parking lot! Tickets as high as $0!"

[tfcleeds]

There is so much wrong with this promotion, I don't know where to begin - I just find it hilarious that they actually think people are gullible enough to be excited about this.

[DangerRed]

Don't want to be "that guy" and pseudomoderate, but already being discussed here just FYI: http://redpatchboys.ca/forums/showth...enewing/page14

[nfitz]

You mean direct via GO, right?

He said direct via transit. GO Transit is transit.

Though it's a 22-minute train ride, so 25-minutes via transit is more reasonable.

That's my route too ... plus a 15-20 minute walk to Danforth station, quicker if I jump on a 506.

But when I miss the train, it's not exactly the end of the world to just take the subway to Ossington, and then the Ossington bus down. It's only 40 minutes to Atlantic/Liberty.

I think there's some exaggeration from those saying it takes 60 minutes on transit from Yonge/Eglinton. If it's really taking that long, they are not taking the best route for a particular time of day, or considering the various construction projects going on around the city. 45-minutes is more reasonable ... though it's only about 20-minutes from Eglinton station to Ossington station, and about 15-minutes from Ossington to Liberty/Atlantic ... so hard to see how it would take an hour.

Personally if I was starting at Eglinton station I'd be tempted (say for the next 1 pm kickoff) to simply take the subway to Union, and jump on the 12:43 train that arrives at Exhibition at 12:49. It's 15-minutes travel time on the subway from Eglinton to Union ... so that's a total travel time of 21 minutes. Say 30-35 minutes by the time you wait for the GO train, walk to the stadium, etc. Sure, you have to pay an extra $4.15 ... but cheaper than parking, and less frustrating than the bus/streetcar.

[TFC Tifoso]

TFC.....no fees, no wins, no pants.........

[narduch]

TFC.....no fees, no wins, no pants.........

No Frills!

[ag futbol]

If I here this shit again, from MLSE

"Join us at BMO Field and witness the authentic football experience, the atmosphere & share the passion and the chants"

I will obliage them and go down to give them an "authentic football experience, the atmosphere & share the passion and the chants" experience as in Grobari v Delije.

Why don't we make it like Genoa, except instead of forcing the players to take their shirts off, we can get the finance department to toss out their pocket calculators.

[Yagbod]

Sorry, off of the general topic, but: is Ossington Bus better than Dufferin? The Duff bus is a massive pain, but drops off at king/dufferin. Thanks.

[TFC Tifoso]

No Frills!

yes I forgot about that......

no fees, no wins, no frills, no pants.......forza TFC!........

[TOBOR !]

Well, yes, but I didn't want to get any car fans all rev'd up. Decided to stick to arguments that more people can agree with. I'm not expecting MLSE to think about or help Toronto transportation planning issues, they have trouble frying MUCH smaller fish.

MLSE making parking cheaper & more popular at BMO isn't going to help anyone in the big picture either, unless they are also planning to pay to increase the road capacity all around the Ex grounds & Liberty Village. Traffic is already precarious in the whole area, adding hundreds more cars will make it worse for everyone in all modes. If somebody finds a good way to make it through with their vehicle & a good place to park at a reasonable price, more power to them. But no need to entice a portion of fans with lower parking costs, since they couldn't handle increased car demand anyway, and the other fans get nothing from it (other than possibly a harder time getting to the stadium themselves).

How about this, then :

Renew your season tickets by [dd/mm] and select from the following list of rewards :

• complimentary jersey
• free parking / parking discount
• 2 seat upgrades
• concessions discounts / coupons
• tickets to Marlie games
• tickets to Raptor games

[Auzzy]

yes I forgot about that......

no fees, no wins, no frills, no pants.......forza TFC!........

That would look good in that TFC Facebook thread!

[Auzzy]

How about this, then :

Renew your season tickets by [dd/mm] and select from the following list of rewards :

• complimentary jersey
• free parking / parking discount
• 2 seat upgrades
• concessions discounts / coupons
• tickets to Marlie games
• tickets to Raptor games

The man's gotta plan! Err, I mean the robot.

In addition, for lots of European sport events, even for concerts etc, the ticket includes the transit fare to the stadium. But considering TTC's lack of capacity, difficulty organizing service, need to recover over 80% at the fare box, etc... not sure how well that would work here. Maybe after Queens Quay has been rebuilt & they have the new higher-capacity streetcars on the 509 route.

[Dave67]

If you really want to gauge how fans feel outside of the supporter groups I would strongly suggest you go here https://www.facebook.com/torontofc and read the comments posted under the announcement of this deal. There are some exceptionally well written posts from fans about this offer.

I like this post, I don't know this person but they could be on any of the boards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just a hollow 'victory'. Some may call us fans 'spoiled' or 'brats'. Others may say that we are a bunch of silver spooned children. But this is just pointless. What marketing did they do, to determine that the service fee was the deciding factor on buying tickets to a TFC game???

There is a long list of things that MLSE could do to improve the fan experience to draw people into games that mean nothing for the squad, the city or the sport. How about subsidizing the costs of parking at the lot on the CNE ground, so that everyone parks for free (turn OFF the meter) or pre-buy passes for all the parking spots around the stadium for these games. They SURELY have done research to see how much of the fan base walks there, drives there, takes transit there or even BIKES to BMO so they can pre pay for enough spots...or maybe that's asking too much that they KNOW the fans. I digress, getting off point here.

The next step would be to offer tickets that are not held by season ticket holder, FOR FREE. Yes, I know this creates a small issue with us folks that already bought the tickets. Solution: How about a MASS credit to all of the accounts, so that we have INCENTIVE to pony up for 2013 since we'll have those dollars sitting on account to put more money into LOWER 2013 season ticket prices.

You are still going to make concession money on beer, snacks, food and merchandise (one would hope) and the people that are suffering from the low attendance and put up with the crowds (when we had them) the heat and the cold...the concession staff, have a chance to make tips and a few extra bucks. Lord help them for trying to make an honest wage at a place that once was a shrine and a goldmine.

I also, truly feel sorry for the folks that update this page as well as the Twitter account. The bile that is being spat in TFC's direction must be biblical....but the fact of the matter is, it's all deserved, as long as we, the fans and paying public remain constructive towards how to IMPROVE the situation at this time. The amount of people that actually CARE about the drivel that gets posted and all the nonsensical and fabricated meaning it has in the grand scheme of things is probably neigh on zero.

I implore and DARE MLSE and TFC to create a dedicated fan board of directors, made up of the general public (season ticket holders, supporter groups and the like) that has influence, sway and a direct line of communication to sympathetic, passionate and ACCOUNTABLE owners, that will produce immediate results with the team. Not duck behind walls of silence, or perched in ivory towers high above things...

The fan base is shrinking. The fans are speaking. Toronto Football Club...are you prepared to invest financially now or suffer financially shortly?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This one too.


"The problem Gary, is that despite how bad this club has performed in all areas, they've made bank. That's why Tom goes up the food chain, he's making money off literal garbage.

Stop paying for this crap. If you absolutely must attend then do the poor souls stuck with tickets a favour and buy it from them, don't fuel this beast any further and help someone out.

MLSE doesn't care much for the pennies TFC makes in comparison to their other assets. They just think eventually they'll luck into wins and everything will be okay. Oblivious to the fact that supporter culture is dead because the south end is infected with families and scalpers. Then again, that's what they want, families spend more on concessions and demand less in terms of performance."

[narduch]

I think there's some exaggeration from those saying it takes 60 minutes on transit from Yonge/Eglinton.

I could totally see it taking that long for a weekday game. You aren't accounting for transfer wait times and rush hour traffic.

Driving vs. public transit is different for everyone.

I live in Vaughan, for weekend games, I can drive to the stadium in about 30 minutes (45 if there's construction), but it takes me around an hour and a half to use the TTC (drive to Yorkdale, subway down).

[brad]

The man's gotta plan! Err, I mean the robot.

In addition, for lots of European sport events, even for concerts etc, the ticket includes the transit fare to the stadium. But considering TTC's lack of capacity, difficulty organizing service, need to recover over 80% at the fare box, etc... not sure how well that would work here. Maybe after Queens Quay has been rebuilt & they have the new higher-capacity streetcars on the 509 route.

When the team first started playing and was super popular, the TTC ran express buses to and from BMO from Bathurst station just for TFC games. It was fantastic.

[Oldtimer]

Don't want to be "that guy" and pseudomoderate, but already being discussed here just FYI: http://redpatchboys.ca/forums/showth...enewing/page14

merged threads.

[brad]

this comment is great as well

"call the ticket reps or buy on the day at the stadium and there is no fee anyway- wow - great promo, TFC. How is that 'hottest party in town" marketing spin going?"

Sleight of hand promotion.

[Oldtimer]

^ buy from a desperate SSH and get it even cheaper, also no Ticketmaster fees involved!

[ensco]

I think there's some exaggeration from those saying it takes 60 minutes on transit from Yonge/Eglinton.

I live near there.

TTC: It takes about 45-50 minutes either way once you get on the train at Eglinton, 25 mins to Union, 5 minute wait, 15-20 mins on LRT, walk to BMO. If you have a 10 min walk to Yonge and Eglinton, it's an hour, any time of day or week.

Driving: 25-30 mins there (longer on weeknights, more like 40-45 mins). 30-40 mins back, depending on traffic in and around BMO. The drive home was close to an hour in the early years (as getting out of Ex grounds or Liberty Village was much worse with a full stadium)

[Whoop]

I drive to BMO because from where I live (near Downsview Park) I can make it in about 25-30 minutes tops. Given that transit isn't the best in the area, it would take me an hour or more to get to BMO via TTC.

As for parking, given that TFC games aren't as popular these days you have a lot of parking options. I haven't parked on CNE grounds in about 6 years now.

If it's a night game say 7:30, you can park on King Street for example, and just pay up to 9 p.m. After 9 p.m. parking is free. The 8 pm CCL starts are fantastic for this as parking ends up being even cheaper.

The Liberty parking lot is also inexpensive but fills up fast, especially on weekends.

Lamport used to be great because for night games it used to be like $2 for parking, they've jacked up the prices now.

[nfitz]

Sorry, off of the general topic, but: is Ossington Bus better than Dufferin? The Duff bus is a massive pain, but drops off at king/dufferin. Thanks.

It's almost as frequent, but much more reliable, and less crowded - and less traffic jams. Liberty/Atlantic is closer to BMO than King/Dufferin - and still not far from Shoeless. And with the current construction on Dufferin, I thought most of the Dufferin buses were short-turning at Queen.

I'm always shocked how few people board the Ossington bus after a game - you might get there faster occasionally on the Dufferin bus, but your more likely to get their faster consistently on the Ossington bus.

I live near there.

TTC: It takes about 45-50 minutes either way once you get on the train at Eglinton, 25 mins to Union[

45 minutes total I could believe. But 25 minutes on the subway train to go 11 stations? Perhaps in the heart of rush-hour, when the system is failing because of crowding. I've found the TTC's old travel time calculator - http://web.archive.org/web/200709300...time_chart.pdf very accurate, and it says 15 minutes. Going home, I'd think you'd be faster to take the Ossington bus to the Bloor subway, given the line-ups for the 509 (which is a bus these days ...)

Sure, could probably drive faster ... but that does preclude drinking ... and is so stressful in comparison. The one time I tried it (because I was out-of-town until game-time, and driving past the stadium, it took me about 45 minutes just to get from the stadium, to the parking lot at Lamport, and drive from there down King to Bathurst Street (as I recall, I looked at the clock, and realized that I'd have long been home by then if I'd taken GO home). Might have been better parking at the Ex, but I've been stuck around the Ex in traffic before, and spent 30 minutes just parked on Lakeshore.

Now, driving home at midnight from the same location, I often drive instead of taking transit, as I can do it in 15 minutes or so, and parking is a breeze.

[ag futbol]

I lived within a few minutes of eglinton station for a while. To get to work at yonge - king during the morning rush my ballpark was usually 35 min. door to door. 20 to union on the weekend is probably reasonable.... If everything goes perfectly

For home to BMO it was easily 50 minutes with the odd WTF time when TTC would operate as advertised and I'd get there in 40 flat. If the travel times of actually taking the TTC matched the trip adviser 50% of the time I'd be shocked. The other thing is there is once in a while a real crap day when your trip time just explodes for some unknown reason.

My estimate: probably 50 min avg. range of trip times between 40 and 1:15 min ( excluding the real disaster days)

[69Chevy396]

For a second I thought they were making the last two games free when I first saw this advertised on FB. Even then I didn't think they could fill the stadium. This promotion won't work, it's too little.

Even free, they would have trouble attacting new fans.