The Crew put together two solid games against college competition today. It gives some hope that the team may have found some of the answers on offense. It was was also the first chance to see at least some of the much anticipated game day improvements around Crew Stadium.
While many are still under wraps or haven't been fully rolled out, such as the LCD signboards. The Crewzers were nowhere in sight of course, but I did notice some interesting new details.
The team was installing privacy screens underneath the stands. These were laid over the chain link fencing that lines the lower concourse. These screens were branded with the Crew logo, the "Dare to Be Massive" slogan and the #BeMassive twitter hashtag. Even if they were unbranded, it would have been a great improvement over the high school football field ambiance that usually pervades the lower concourse area. It's a small detail, but one that had been overlooked.
The team also had a few food stands open. These were sporting an improved menu of burgers, hot dogs, and other standard fair. These seemed several cuts above what they had last year and it appeared they were also setting up other specialty carts for a wider variety of food options. No signs of any outside food carts yet, but the full assortment of improved Sodexho offerings will be avalable for the home opener next week.
I did happen to run into some of the team officials as they took in the game. While always reticent about season ticket numbers, they did say they were very pleased with where they are. While it appears they haven't reached the Goal 10k number, they have easily outpaced last year's total.
It also appears that the team is already over the 13,000 ticket number for next week's game against Montreal. They are expecting strong sales this week and good weather would add even more walkup sales. This will probably will be the biggest opener since 20,818 took in a Mid-April opener against Chicago in 2006.
The on the field product still has some kinks to work out; Crew faithful hope that it's as soon as next week. The front office is hoping that many of those game day issue are in the past as well. A strong offseason off the field has lead to more people in the stands. The team is hoping they like what they see both on and off the field.