Impact, Sounders set to go head-to-head this weekend
2004 a-league final. Ticket prices for game will remain the same
RANDY PHILLIPS
The Gazette
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Soccer fans will pay the same price for tickets as they did during the regular season to see the Impact try to win the A-League championship for the second time in franchise history.
The Impact will play host to the Seattle Sounders in the league final Saturday at Claude Robillard Stadium (7 p.m., Fox Sports World, RDS, CKAC radio).
Club president Joey Saputo said it was an easy decision to keep ticket prices for the game at $15 for reserved seating, and $10 and $5 for general admission.
"The decision not to raise ticket prices was a conscious one," Saputo said yesterday. "Our philosophy is that we want to do things for the long term. We're not going to take an event like this and try to make a buck out of it.
"This is the championship game, something we're giving back to our fans who have supported us all year. Why should we try to gouge them?" Saputo said.
The Impact captured the Eastern Conference to advance to the final for the first time in a decade by eliminating the Syracuse Salty Dogs in a two-game, total-goal series that concluded Sunday at Claude Robillard. Later that night, Seattle tied the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1, sending the Sounders into the final with a 2-1 aggregate score.
It's anticipated Saturday's final will attract 11,000 spectators and might surpass the franchise record of 11,019 set last month in a regular-season game against Vancouver.
Impact management spent yesterday working with City of Montreal officials to try to secure additional temporary seating in the 9,003-seat stadium. The team attracted a club-record average of 9,279 spectators per home game during the regular season, with the overflow permitted to sit on the grass portions near the playing field.
A crowd of 8,169 at Claude Robillard saw the Impact win the league title in 1994 with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Foxes.
Saputo said 500 to 1,000 extra seats would probably be brought in to limit, if not eliminate, the need for people to sit on the grass to watch the final.
"It's not something we like to do. We like to assure that everyone who has a ticket, has a seat," he said. "But what we also don't like to do is turn people away.
"What we'll have is better control over the situation. I want people to know before they buy a ticket exactly where they will be sitting."
League officials decided late Sunday to award the championship game to Montreal after a review of proposals by teams with the best potential to host the final. Had the Whitecaps won, the game would have been in Vancouver.
"We're ecstatic," Saputo said. "This gives us the opportunity to really show the league the way things should be done."
The Impact's proposal included paying the cost of finalists for the league's major individual honour to come to Montreal to attend an awards banquet Thursday night.
"In the past, the league has had an awards luncheon on the Friday before the game and the players aren't even there," Saputo said. "We want to do things the same way they (other pro leagues) do. We want to really create a championship weekend."
Tickets for the final are on sale at the Impact office. Call (514) 328-3668 for more information. They are also available at Reseau Admission at (514) 790-1245.
rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com
