Jonathan Ellgen attended Minnesota United games in a pretty typical way back when the minor league club played at the National Sports Center in Blaine: He bought an about $10 Groupon deal for him and his mother that included a free pair of Zubaz.
That, combined with free parking, cheap concessions and quality time with his mom, convinced him to become a season ticket-holder then and there. But after three years, there might be an expiration date on Ellgen's time as one of United's original fans.
The new season-ticket pricing for 2019 — when the Loons move into the privately financed $150 million Allianz Field — has priced Ellgen and some other fans out of what they feel are comparable seats to their current TCF Bank Stadium spots. But that hasn't deterred everyone, as United capped its season tickets at 14,500 about a month ago and already has a waiting list of just under 500 people, according to the club.
"The rhetoric that's been passed around at all the season ticket-holder events and meetings and picnics and everything like that was really kind of the sense of how important the supporters are to the club and how they want to take care of their supporters, and they want to make things affordable for people," Ellgen said. "We always felt that in the past. … There's really a sense of community and family. But now some of these things like this increase in ticket price, it's hard to swallow."
But ire over ticket price increases for a state-of-the-art stadium, which promises improved views from those in the team's two-season home at TCF Bank Stadium, are part of the growing pains for a burgeoning club and possibly exacerbated by United's two stadium moves within three years.
Ellgen said when he first bought a season-ticket package about halfway through the 2015 North American Soccer League season, he paid $229.16 per ticket. In 2017 at the Gophers' stadium, he paid $446 per ticket and then $520 per ticket for this season.
From where Ellgen and his mother sit in the college stadium, he said he anticipates the comparable purple section 35 in Allianz Field will cost him between $875 to $1,050 per ticket. That's a significant increase for Ellgen, who works two jobs, and his mother, who is retired and living on a fixed income.
That, though, might be where the problem lies. The entirety of Allianz Field would fit inside the lower bowl of TCF Bank Stadium, said Bryant Pfeiffer, United executive vice president and chief revenue officer. And the design of Allianz Field, including the steepness of the stands, makes the views a lot better. In fact, the stadium architect firm Populous deemed the best seats in the stadium to be the first 10 rows on the east side second level, Pfeiffer said.
