UPDATE: It appears that reports of the the tickets being marked up may not be accurate. A Whitecaps official just told me that the tickets are being sold at essentially face value and that there’s no limit on the number of “ticket-only” packages being offered through Uniglobe. They stressed that they consider all of their season-ticket holders to be “supporters” and that this was their attempt to make sure everyone had an equal crack at the tickets.
Away Ticketing Flap In Vancouver Casts Shadow Over Impressive Debut
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By most public appearances, things couldn't be going much better with the launch of the MLS version of the Vancouver Whitecaps. They've apparently sold about 16,000 season tickets; just came off a First Kick in which a sellout crowd watched the home team crush their Canadian rivals; and have a host of previously unknown, but very intriguing players populating their roster. Now, it looks like the Whitecaps will have to cash in some of that goodwill as they address concerns over away-ticketing allocation for the game against the Seattle Sounders.
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The basics of the story are this: The Sounders, Whitecaps and Portland Timbers all agreed to give 500 tickets for Cascadia Cup matches to away supporters. While that has gone smoothly in Seattle and Portland, Whitecaps fans had yet to know details of how they'd be getting their tickets. That changed on Saturday when an ad from travel agency Uniglobe appeared to be hocking ticket-travel packages to Seattle. Now, the Whitecaps are answering questions from concerned supporters, who are worried about being shutout from the derby.
↵The only reason so many away tickets are even available to away supporters is because of those groups efforts. The Whitecaps have promised to rectify the situation, but it does show a certain hubris on their part that it has even gotten to this point. Their relationship with supporters has been strained throughout their move to MLS. Hopefully, this is the incident that finally forces them to treat supporters as more than an annoyance.
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