This is an excerpt from the Atlanta United Fan TV's writers room discussion on the 2027 sprint season price announcement. Please read the original post here.
The price drop and the concession credits are a genuine sign of good will from Arthur Morris Blank Sports & Entertainment (AMBSE), and that should be applauded. If you’re not a member and were considering becoming one, these lower prices apply to members new and old. You can see a full copy of the supporters announcement at the bottom of this page. That’s the good news. But in typical AMBSE fashion, they couldn’t get out of their own way and make things feel impassive.
Communication for this one was weird. The club made every member a personalized renewal portal. It reeked of consultant-guided drivel. It looked and navigated like a PowerPoint presentation. To make matters more convoluted, there was a 4-part YouTube series explaining the same information. The worst part of this was the information presented was not accurate. The YouTube video that was the first thing people were asked to watch today explaining the pricing explicitly said that the legacy prices only applied to the 7-game sprint season. It did not say that supporters were getting a better deal. I’m a supporter. I bring my 8-year-old next to the drums every match and try to teach her how to love this club as I do. This discount benefits me, and while I’m grateful for it, I’m disappointed that they are not providing the same benefits to everyone. I’ve written this before, the club needs to treat its fans equally.
I’m a bit concerned about what this means for supporters. I should repeat, we’re happy supporters will be paying less. My concern is that this will bring people who are not supporters into the supporter section for cheaper tickets. The culture in 101 is already strange. We’re inundated with people who want to have an ultras-like experience without the respect for the culture that entails. I’m talking about people throwing cups, refusing to sing chants, sitting for extended parts of the game, etc. There is an unwritten contract about being in the supporters section, and the people who normally are there to enforce it have been slowly diminishing in numbers for years now. Some of this leadership void falls on the supporter groups, a few hardly have any presence in 101.
Lastly, the club used the wording price freeze multiple times in their announcement. I’m happy so many of you put that on your surveys. This is not a price freeze. We were explicit that we wanted the club to lock prices for multiple years. Lowering the prices and not raising them one time is a nice gesture, but it’s not what we asked for. They know that. They are counting on you to forget when, hopefully, the club begins to win soccer games again and the price gouging continues. The club made a point of saying that $17 a ticket is among the cheapest supporter tickets in MLS. When the tickets go back to the normal price, they will be $37 per ticket. Think about that. They are admitting they have doubled prices on us in 10 years with this promotion. Trust me, my wallet feels it. That’s why we wanted these ticket prices frozen in time for many years. Don’t give up fighting for that.