If they tank it, will you come?

By: Colman | October 1st, 2008

It’s that time of year again, folks – season ticket renewals are due on Friday. While TFC had an astonishing renewal rate of 94% last year, methinks that after only marginal improvement during the second season, this number may drop.

In the last couple home games (yes, I know the weather may have been a factor for some of them) we have seen significantly lower attendance than early in the season when things were going well. While there was an announced attendance of 20 074 against Houston, one look into the stands tells a very different story.

Factor in MLSE raising the ticket prices again (Is the product suddenly a lot more attractive in October 2008 than it was in October 2007?) as well as the poor performances on the field, and there is much more tentativeness to buy season tickets for the 2009 season than there was one year ago. Having talked to other fans, I have gained the sense that many are considering either not renewing their season tickets at all, or only renewing some of them.

What’s the short term effect? None whatsoever. The 5000+ people on the season ticket waiting list will happily snatch up any open seats, and TFC will again be able to happily announce that they have sold their entire contingent of season tickets. In the long term however, the effects could be drastic. As any economics student will tell you, decreasing demand combined with increasing price will lead to a decreased quantity sold. In English, TFC needs to improve on the field in 2009 to stop the possible loss of interest in the team becoming a trend over the coming seasons.

It seems as though the fans’ frustration hasn’t gone unnoticed among the suits at MLSE. There are rumours floating around about several important improvements to the Reds this winter:

1) Mo Johnston has promised us a designated player for next year. While the success of various DPs in MLS has been varied (Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Juan Pablo Angel on the one hand, Denilson and Claudio Lopez on the other), any international player who is brought in up front (a Toronto DP’s most likely position) will be an improvement over Ruiz and Barrett.

2) Mo is also still trying to convince his bosses that natural grass is a necessity at BMO. This isn’t just because it is more aesthetically pleasing the Field Turf, but also because there is a much reduced risk of injury. If we had natural grass this season, Darren Huckerby would not be scoring his goals in San Jose, and we would be in the playoffs. The list of players who have turned down TFC due to BMO Field’s turf is long and filled with players who certainly would have helped this team win a couple more games. It would be huge for TFC if this problem could be addressed in the winter.

However, before the dreaded offseason begins, we still have a couple games remaining. The first one of these is on Saturday in New York. Check back here tomorrow for a preview!

Come on you Reds!