Werner Park - Sarpy County/Royals Stadium

omaha79 · Post by **omaha79** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:38 pm

Didn't know where to put this. This will probably end up as a stream of consciousness to an extent.

The Omaha Storm Chasers 50th season just came to a close. I found it extremely enjoyable and I know the staff put their heart and soul into making it an exciting season. Still, attendance remained relatively flat this year at roughly 5,300 per game barely down from last year. The team is in 11th of 16 in the PCL in attendance (up from 12th last year) and 23/30 in AAA baseball.

I can't help thinking about the changing landscape of AAA baseball. The Colorado Springs Sky Sox are off to San Antonio. No doubt, they will likely move closer to the top of the PCL attendance instead of last place this year. There are rumors that New Orleans will be moving to Wichita as early as 2020. Their stadium plans and viability would be a bit more unclear than San Antonio.

One thing is certain: in a time of revenue maximization, I don't feel comfortable long term (20 years from now) being in the bottom 5-7 in terms of AAA attendance. Southern cities, flush with cash, are willing to pony up for new stadiums. Yes, Omaha has had a wonderful relationship with Kansas City and has proximity, but the idea of AAA baseball in Wichita scares me a bit should a team take off there and attendance flourish. Omaha would no longer have the certainty of a AAA monopoly in KC's backyard. Moving the affiliation, once thought unthinkable, could make sense if Wichita is seen as a viable option.

I'm blanking on the terms of the Werner Park lease. I believe that it was something like 20 years. We are now through 8 seasons. So, any concerns are still far off, but it's worth taking a long view. IN some sense, I still believe the community has failed AAA baseball in this city whether it was in South Omaha or Sarpy County. We've struggled to support the franchise in the way that similar cities like Des Moines have embraced their team. I would feel much more comfortable if Omaha was drawing 7k per game like Des Moines.

Just a few random thoughts. I don't want to see us back in the same scenario thinking we might lose the team like we almost did in the early 90's and late 00's.

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:08 am

When it comes to attendance I wonder how the prom's impact this. The Chasers do not do nearly as much in the way of free or discounted tickets as they did when they were at the much larger Blatt. That is fine with me but is that the same case as say Des Moines, or any of a number of other places? Can impact the attendance greatly but not the $$. Another benchmark would be revenue but I image those numbers are hard to get esp if you wanted to be sire they were apples to apples.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:26 am

nebugeater wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:08 am When it comes to attendance I wonder how the prom's impact this. The Chasers do not do nearly as much in the way of free or discounted tickets as they did when they were at the much larger Blatt. That is fine with me but is that the same case as say Des Moines, or any of a number of other places? Can impact the attendance greatly but not the $$. Another benchmark would be revenue but I image those numbers are hard to get esp if you wanted to be sire they were apples to apples.

You are spot on with regards to freebies, and greatly reduced tickets. The O Royals used to do that a ton back in the day. I know they last few owners of the Chasers have moved away from this practice and it's still done in quite a few markets.

I used to be in charge of company events and such and back in the 90's a ticket rep would call me and we'd get 100 tickets for 50 bucks to give to our employees to go to O Royals games. We'd take that deal all the time.

I can tell you I have zero worries about the Chasers and Werner Park. That location continues to get more valuable each year. Crazy all the nice homes that are going up all around it and on the other side of 370.

One thing I have always wondered about Omaha and baseball. How do you get people to come out on a Sunday? It seems to be the main struggle point for the team and always has been. They build through out the homestand then Sunday games come around and there just always seems to be smaller crowds? I've always wished Sunday games started at 5. Curious on thoughts?

Greg

Fort Calhoun · Post by **Fort Calhoun** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:55 am

In addition to fewer freebies and reduced price tickets there is more incentive to purchase the higher priced tickets at Werner. Rosenblatt had too many seats and the general admission seats were located behind the reserved seats. Many people bought the general admission seats instead of the higher priced reserved seats. The cheaper seats at Werner are the home run porch and the berm seats in the outfield. People who bought the general admission seats at Rosenblatt (myself included) now buy the higher priced tickets at Werner.

The ticket prices have also increased at Werner and that provides additional income.

Also, the larger team store and the name change has increased the merchandise sales. The Chasers have been among the top minor league teams in terms of merchandise sales the last few years.

WBR_Tom · Post by **WBR_Tom** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:46 am

Greg S wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:26 amOne thing I have always wondered about Omaha and baseball. How do you get people to come out on a Sunday? It seems to be the main struggle point for the team and always has been. They build through out the homestand then Sunday games come around and there just always seems to be smaller crowds? I've always wished Sunday games started at 5. Curious on thoughts?

Greg

This is a great point. The small crowds on Sunday drag down their average attendance for sure. Often they'll draw 6 or 7K for the Friday/Saturday games and then get half that on Sunday...and just like that the average is blown to bits. Look at June 8/9/10 -- they were over 6,500 for both Friday and Saturday, and then 3,800 on Sunday. Or July 20/21/22 -- they had 7,200 on Friday night, 7,650 on Saturday, and then 4,700 on Sunday. Lots of examples like that.

Average attendance is a good data point, but there's a lot more nuance needed to find the full story. Some of the teams in the PCL juice their attendance numbers by handing out tons of free and deeply-discounted tickets. The old Omaha Royals under previous ownership groups did that in spades -- and if you look at the historical data, their average attendance was in the same ballpark (no pun intended) as their current numbers, meaning they had far fewer tickets sold. Add in the fact that merchandise sales were a fraction of what they are now after the rebrand (for all the traditionalists who still lament the loss of the O-Royals name, it's hard to deny the popularity of the Storm Chasers brand in terms of sales), and they're far more profitable now than they were 10 or 15 years ago. I don't really worry too much about their future in this market.

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:03 pm

The Storm Chasers seemed to fill the stadium just fine when they were winning.

omaha79 · Post by **omaha79** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:20 pm

WBR_Tom wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:46 am
Greg S wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:26 amOne thing I have always wondered about Omaha and baseball. How do you get people to come out on a Sunday? It seems to be the main struggle point for the team and always has been. They build through out the homestand then Sunday games come around and there just always seems to be smaller crowds? I've always wished Sunday games started at 5. Curious on thoughts?

Greg
This is a great point. The small crowds on Sunday drag down their average attendance for sure. Often they'll draw 6 or 7K for the Friday/Saturday games and then get half that on Sunday...and just like that the average is blown to bits. Look at June 8/9/10 -- they were over 6,500 for both Friday and Saturday, and then 3,800 on Sunday. Or July 20/21/22 -- they had 7,200 on Friday night, 7,650 on Saturday, and then 4,700 on Sunday. Lots of examples like that.

Average attendance is a good data point, but there's a lot more nuance needed to find the full story. Some of the teams in the PCL juice their attendance numbers by handing out tons of free and deeply-discounted tickets. The old Omaha Royals under previous ownership groups did that in spades -- and if you look at the historical data, their average attendance was in the same ballpark (no pun intended) as their current numbers, meaning they had far fewer tickets sold. Add in the fact that merchandise sales were a fraction of what they are now after the rebrand (for all the traditionalists who still lament the loss of the O-Royals name, it's hard to deny the popularity of the Storm Chasers brand in terms of sales), and they're far more profitable now than they were 10 or 15 years ago. I don't really worry too much about their future in this market.

I would need to see solid data (which will be impossible to find) to believe that the majority of AAA teams are handing out freebies to pad their attendance numbers while Omaha is somehow in a select few that aren't.

I tend to believe that this is likely a practice that is not happening to a large degree anymore. Look around the league. Most franchises now have new ballparks built in the last 10-15 years. Many of those ballparks are real gems. Look at ballparks like Charlotte, Nashville, and El Paso. These ballparks compare favorably, if not better, than Werner. Look at Nashville specifically. They went from a total dump of a stadium to one of the nicest in AAA and their attendance jumped from under 5k a game to over 8k a game. With that new facility, tend to believe that was interest in the new ballpark vs. "freebies". They used to be well behind Omaha in attendance, but the new ballpark created a significant bump...a bump Omaha never saw when they moved to Werner.

I might believe a few franchises are giving out freebies here and there, heck, Omaha essentially does it on Sundays with canned food day, but unless I find something tangible, I have a hard time believing this is going on large scale at the AAA level like it was in the 1980's and 1990's.

The Storm Chasers are certainly more profitable now and that's great. I just say that we need to be vigilant and continue to read the tea leaves going forward. Never underestimate the greed of MLB, rich men looking to make a buck, and overzealous municipalities.

omaha79 · Post by **omaha79** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:23 pm

jessep28 wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:03 pm The Storm Chasers seemed to fill the stadium just fine when they were winning.

The stats do not back up this claim. In 2013 and 2014 (the back to back AAA National Title years), they didn't see a significant bump in attendance because they were in first place. They also didn't see a bump in attendance in 2016 and 2017 when KC was in the midst of and coming off of their World Series appearances and win. They've averaged between 5,300-5,600 per game every year since 2013. They were in the 5,900 range in 2011 and 2012 when the new stadium was a novelty, but even that wasn't as much of a "new stadium bump" as other cities (like Nashville) have seen.

I used to think winning created attendance at the minor league level. I learn more and more, it's all about the experience, ballpark, and other viable entertainment options in the city.

jsheets · Post by **jsheets** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:38 am

Sunday tickets are already nearly free -- donating two cans of Hy-Vee food gets a free ticket. And then signup for a Centris card and kids get the free funzone too. On nice weather days that is a great family day. Feels like they don't advertise the Hy-Vee free tickets enough, in my opinion, to really draw on Sundays.

The Fortnite game was huge even in extremely poor weather. Attendance was nuts in a basically rainy game. But whoever decided to schedule the Harry Potter hogwarts game on a weeknight the 2nd day of school really messed up that one.

For weeknights the Uber/Lyft price to get to the game isn't bad, but if they could advertise $5 Lyfts on Thirsty Thursdays it would definitely drive a crowd.

Once the spark ignites on commercial development on 370 from 114th to 132nd in the next year it will help. Can't wait to have a Blatt or DJ's in walking distance from the ballpark.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:34 pm

Good to know about the Centris Fun Zone. My kids always want to go in there, but I don't feel like paying $5-7 each to go down a slide and ride a carousel.

jsheets · Post by **jsheets** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:47 pm

skinzfan23 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:34 pm Good to know about the Centris Fun Zone. My kids always want to go in there, but I don't feel like paying $5-7 each to go down a slide and ride a carousel.

Unfortunately you can't signup at the game, but you can signup for an account online and they send you a debit card in a few days.... Now watch they'll change it next year - but it worked the last couple years

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:11 pm

jsheets wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:47 pm
skinzfan23 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:34 pm Good to know about the Centris Fun Zone. My kids always want to go in there, but I don't feel like paying $5-7 each to go down a slide and ride a carousel.
Unfortunately you can't signup at the game, but you can signup for an account online and they send you a debit card in a few days.... Now watch they'll change it next year - but it worked the last couple years

Do you have to sign up every single year? You would think they would have a booth there to sign you up and entice you with the free promotion.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:13 pm

jsheets wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:47 pm
skinzfan23 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:34 pm Good to know about the Centris Fun Zone. My kids always want to go in there, but I don't feel like paying $5-7 each to go down a slide and ride a carousel.
Unfortunately you can't signup at the game, but you can signup for an account online and they send you a debit card in a few days.... Now watch they'll change it next year - but it worked the last couple years

Centris has the best accounts for kids. You can open it for as little as $5 or $10, no fees, and it earns interest. Everytime a kid makes a deposit they get a little gift. The kids accounts qualify for free entry too. They also do other kids related stuff through out the year.

My kids have outgrown the fun zone but thanks to Centris it was always free and they loved it.

Greg

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:43 pm

They just added a smaller 2nd team store this year down 3rd base line, now expanding the original (and will house Sarpy County tourism) and adding more hospitality space behind home plate:

https://www.milb.com/omaha/news/chasers ... -294194136

Greg

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:48 am

Royals Chasers set new park attendance record last night, 9,351.

Very cool event.

Greg

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am

There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:57 am

Coyote wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?

Contract to stick with the Royals for however many years I would guess. Current one expires after 2020 season I think.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:13 am

iamjacobm wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:57 am
Coyote wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?
Contract to stick with the Royals for however many years I would guess. Current one expires after 2020 season I think.

They announced a 2 year extension (through 2022) at the exhibition game with KC last month.

My money is on minor league soccer.

Greg

Post by **nebugeater** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:22 am

Here is my guess. It will announce and extension of the name rights with Werner. Believe the current agreement ends in 2020.

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:59 pm

Greg S wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:13 am
iamjacobm wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:57 am
Coyote wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?
Contract to stick with the Royals for however many years I would guess. Current one expires after 2020 season I think.
They announced a 2 year extension (through 2022) at the exhibition game with KC last month.

My money is on minor league soccer.

Greg

I’d believe that. Here’s an interesting article from 2017 with some more information on why it would make sense.

https://www.soctakes.com/2017/07/01/opi ... or-soccer/

damonhynes · Post by **damonhynes** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 3:30 pm

Coyote wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?

At one time Werner was rumored to be up for sale, wonder if the naming rights are safe?

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:15 pm

Greg S wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:13 am
iamjacobm wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:57 am
Coyote wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 am There is supposed to be an announcement coming from Werner Park tomorrow. Any guesses?
Contract to stick with the Royals for however many years I would guess. Current one expires after 2020 season I think.
They announced a 2 year extension (through 2022) at the exhibition game with KC last month.

My money is on minor league soccer.

Greg

You are most likely right. Some twitter action that a USL League One franchise will be announced for Omaha tomorrow.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed May 01, 2019 9:50 am

They are hinting real strong about soccer on 1620
Martie Cordero is on next hour to announce...

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:02 am

Coyote wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:50 am They are hinting real strong about soccer on 1620
Martie Cordero is on next hour to announce...

It's definitely soccer. They have the USL logo in the background where they press conference is getting ready to get started.

Greg

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:19 am

Omaha has been awarded a USL League One soccer franchise to start playing at Werner Park in 2020..

Great get for the Omaha metro

...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:21 am

No offense, but I doubt that this succeeds. Haven't they tried soccer in Omaha quite a few times already and failed? I just don't think there is much backing to support it. Sure, there are a ton of soccer fans in the area, but are they willing to shell out $ on a regular basis to support it? We have one of the best college soccer programs and stadiums in the country with Creighton and they struggle to get people for a lot of the games.

WBR_Tom · Post by **WBR_Tom** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:23 am

Sounds like Werner Park is going to undergo renovations to make it work for soccer. From the press release:

Werner Park will undergo construction beginning in the Fall of 2019 to ready the stadium for soccer. The stadium upgrades, being funded by Sarpy County, will include additional locker rooms, field enhancements, and offices for the organization’s new soccer staff. Renderings of the new field layout are available.

Is it just me or do these two renderings show different field orientations? Might just be the perspective, but they don't look the same to me.

ScrattyB · Post by **ScrattyB** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:27 am

It depends on the definition of succeeds.

As it sits, Werner Park would be the third largest stadium for the league. They still have a couple more new city announcements to make though.
So even if the stadium only sells 40% of the seats, it will still have more people in the stands than many of the other stadiums.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USL_League_One#Clubs

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:29 am

1. Bummer that it isn't a top level USL (USL Championship). It's the 3rd tier of US Soccer. It is one tier above Des Moines Menace.

2. Played at a baseball stadium? Oh boy, ehhh...

3. Is there a soccer fanbase in Suburban Omaha? Might be a tough draw but maybe they'll play it like they do the Storm Chasers and turn it into more of an event than the sport itself. Still, I have my doubts.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:41 am

At least the ticket prices are only $15-22, but that usually happens in early years of a league to try to draw people. Then, once ticket prices go up, people aren't going to pay double that for 20 games a year.

I saw that Martie Cordaro is going to be the GM....if anyone can make it succeed it would be him, but in the end, I still highly doubt there is enough interest to keep this going beyond 3 years.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:43 am

One more quote from the World Herald article:

A retractable pitching mound will be installed this fall. The grounds crew will then cover the diamond with grass for soccer matches.

Improvements to the stadium are estimated at $2.2 million, which initially will be funded by Sarpy County but will be repaid by the team through increased rent.

Interesting how those arrangements work with a city. Its crazy that the county is paying for the $2 Million without a public vote.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:51 am

skinzfan23 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:43 am One more quote from the World Herald article:

A retractable pitching mound will be installed this fall. The grounds crew will then cover the diamond with grass for soccer matches.

Improvements to the stadium are estimated at $2.2 million, which initially will be funded by Sarpy County but will be repaid by the team through increased rent.
Interesting how those arrangements work with a city. Its crazy that the county is paying for the $2 Million without a public vote.

I'm not sure the $2 million is a big deal considering the team is repaying it.

Greg

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:04 am

I missed most of Martin's interview, but heard they will have their own locker rooms, the pitch will be E/W orientation... will they be associated with a MLS team?

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:06 am

skinzfan23 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:21 am No offense, but I doubt that this succeeds. Haven't they tried soccer in Omaha quite a few times already and failed? I just don't think there is much backing to support it. Sure, there are a ton of soccer fans in the area, but are they willing to shell out $ on a regular basis to support it? We have one of the best college soccer programs and stadiums in the country with Creighton and they struggle to get people for a lot of the games.

Pro Soccer has been tried twice. First was the Omaha Flames from 1996 - 1998. Second was the Omaha Vipers in 2010. The Vipers averaged 2,708 attendance for indoor soccer, but folded due to problems with leasing agreements.

In 2017, Creighton averaged 2,005 people per mens soccer game. UNO averaged 1,069 per game.

By way of comparison, in 2017, the Omaha Storm Chasers averaged 5,355 per game.

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am

MadMartin8 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:29 am
3. Is there a soccer fanbase in Suburban Omaha? Might be a tough draw but maybe they'll play it like they do the Storm Chasers and turn it into more of an event than the sport itself. Still, I have my doubts.

I would think there might be a base in South O, but will they come to the suburbs? I think you're right, it will probably be an "event."

ScrattyB · Post by **ScrattyB** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am

And if you click that link I posted, as of right now, most of the stadiums for the league have a capacity of 5000 or less (6 out of 11).

I'd guess they are hoping for around 2000 per game at Werner Park.

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:25 am

ScrattyB wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am And if you click that link I posted, as of right now, most of the stadiums for the league have a capacity of 5000 or less (6 out of 11).

I'd guess they are hoping for around 2000 per game at Werner Park.

If they are they may be aiming a little low. Most of the teams are averaging over 2500 per game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_USL_ ... One_season

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:27 am

Padre wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am
MadMartin8 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:29 am
3. Is there a soccer fanbase in Suburban Omaha? Might be a tough draw but maybe they'll play it like they do the Storm Chasers and turn it into more of an event than the sport itself. Still, I have my doubts.
I would think there might be a base in South O, but will they come to the suburbs? I think you're right, it will probably be an "event."

Not even just South O, but the younger population that lives in the gentrified areas in the eastern part of town and downtown tend to like soccer as well.

ita · Post by **ita** » Wed May 01, 2019 11:34 am

Padre wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am
MadMartin8 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:29 am
3. Is there a soccer fanbase in Suburban Omaha? Might be a tough draw but maybe they'll play it like they do the Storm Chasers and turn it into more of an event than the sport itself. Still, I have my doubts.
I would think there might be a base in South O, but will they come to the suburbs? I think you're right, it will probably be an "event."

Soccer has growing popularity, even in the suburbs, particularly with children and teenagers involved in youth and club soccer. Couple that with the Hispanic (which doesn't just live in South O and I am sure wouldn't mind travelling to the suburbs) and growing immigrant community (soccer is much more popular internationally, then it is in the US), I think there is a solid existing fanbase. That's not considering Lincoln and how that could affect attendance. Additionally, they are only playing 14 times over a 7-8 month time period. That's not that many games to fill and it's done over a long period of time.

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Wed May 01, 2019 12:00 pm

ita wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:34 am
Padre wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:15 am
MadMartin8 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:29 am
3. Is there a soccer fanbase in Suburban Omaha? Might be a tough draw but maybe they'll play it like they do the Storm Chasers and turn it into more of an event than the sport itself. Still, I have my doubts.
I would think there might be a base in South O, but will they come to the suburbs? I think you're right, it will probably be an "event."
Soccer has growing popularity, even in the suburbs, particularly with children and teenagers involved in youth and club soccer. Couple that with the Hispanic (which doesn't just live in South O and I am sure wouldn't mind travelling to the suburbs) and growing immigrant community (soccer is much more popular internationally, then it is in the US), I think there is a solid existing fanbase. That's not considering Lincoln and how that could affect attendance. Additionally, they are only playing 14 times over a 7-8 month time period. That's not that many games to fill and it's done over a long period of time.

The "family with kids" fan is going to be different than a more hardcore soccer fan. All are indeed smattered throughout the city, but, how far will they travel for a Division 3 team? The key here will be to have Cordero do what he does with the Chasers, make it more of an event/atmosphere. He can do it, I am sure, but I am curious to see the numbers.

Time will tell, and I certainly will go to the games as I live decently close and love soccer.