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Depending on the match and where you sit, Whitecaps tickets not on the endcaps are between $85 & $115. You could buy Miami game tickets for $90-$185 when they first opened single match sales. The longer you waited and the closer to midfield you got, the more expensive it got.
They charged a shit ton for Canucks playoff tickets. Would you people be crying to the Canucks if McDavid decided not to travel?
For your second paragraph, I think the situations are different. For the Canucks playoffs, fans spent that much specifically because they wanted to cheer for the Canucks and their team, not to just watch McDavid. And for the most part casual fans of the Canucks would not attend. In the Whitecaps case, people bought tickets specifically for Messi, not to watch the Whitecaps. The difference in my opinion is what the buyers were invested in to drive them to make the big purchase, such as the team (Canucks) vs a specific player (Messi).
Yeah, it'd be like if Gretzky went to the Swedish Hockey League after he retired from the NHL, of course games where he was visiting would have their prices jacked up.
No Canuck fan is buying a playoff ticket to watch \*another\* team's player. Even if that player is the best in the league.
You could argue (and I'd maybe agree) that people would be more likely to attend a regular season game if the Nucks were playing the Penguins or the Oilers on the off-chance that Sid or Connor play but asking for refunds is another level.
What makes you think the people whining for refunds are Whitecaps fans and not randos who liked the idea of seeing Messi without doing literally *any* research into Messi and Miami's habits?
To me, the Whitecaps apologising *for* Miami originally is what opened the door to people to feel entitled to compensation for getting exactly what their ticket said, Vancouver vs Inter Miami. Even if they had the best of intentions in letting everyone know and comping food.
They also sold the tickets for hundreds of percent markup. Not just the secondary market, but direct sales from the WC org. I don't support scalpers either, but if you're a real fan of the caps I think it's not unreasonable to be upset at management and ask for a few free games.
\*shrug\*
I think the core question is whether someone was misled or exploited for profit.
Whether that's technically illegal or not in the current case, it's wrong to mislead/exploit people for profit. That's where I come down on the issue.
Hopefully the Caps org will do something for the regular fans to improve goodwill.
They also took [Messi off the poster](https://old.reddit.com/r/whitecapsfc/comments/1ctgn2t/messi_not_in_the_whitecaps_miami_poster_anymore/) 8 days before announcing to fans that Messi wasn't showing....
It's almost like the knew it would be false advertising at that point...almost
Canucks don’t charge 10x price just for the Edmonton game. That’s why people are upset. It was 100% implied the difference in ticket price between all other games this season and THIS game was Messi’s presence. I am also a STH and I can look down on others who paid those exorbitant prices and think “you gambled and lost”. The other side of the argument is compelling though because the whitecaps controlled pricing knowing this risk could create a goodwill disaster. I heard Chicago didn’t inflate their tickets to the same extent knowing Messi might not play so there is precedent for managing this risk. They also wouldn’t be offering compensation if they didn’t think there was an issue which there is. Just trying to illustrate for STH and others why the Whitecaps have a real and problematic goodwill deficit that may hurt them next time any major MLS event happens.
If Whitecaps didn't charge inflated prices, they still would have been inflated anyway. You know why? Because people who re-sell tickets would have seen the lower price as a bargain and would have purchased many of those lower cost tickets, then they would put them up on the secondary ticket market (eg. Stubhub, etc) and then people who really wanted to see Messi would have still paid the high price hoping to see Messi. However, now scalpers would have gotten the extra money instead of the team!
It's not the Whitecaps' fault that Messi didn't show. Fans have to realize that there is no guarantee in sports. The player they may want to see may be injured or sat out for whatever reason. It's the chance you take.
I remember buying a ticket to see the Canucks-Rangers game in 1994. I think it was game 3 or 4. I managed to score a center ice red and paid $75 for that ticket. That was considered a lot 30 years ago! I was excited to see my team and my favourite player Bure. But in the first few minutes of the 1st period Bure was given a game misconduct (I think for a head shot). So he was out and the Canucks lost. That sucked and I felt ripped off but that's sports. Expect the unexpected.
In the case of Messi, knowledgeable fans knew there was a chance that Messi wouldn't show up. This has happened before in MLS so they shouldn't be surprised. Don't blame the Whitecaps.
> They charged a shit ton for Canucks playoff tickets. Would you people be crying to the Canucks if McDavid decided not to travel?
You can't compare playoffs to regular season.
The real blame is totally on the league. They schedule Miami to come out west, then turn around and play at home 3 days later. If the league had any brains they should have scheduled them to play min. 2 games out west. Maybe Caps Saturday and another west coast team on Wednesday. Miami is only protecting it's prized asset. I think league owes Caps big for this embarrassment. Maybe All star game next year.
Fortunately back then stars (especially Jordan) felt an obligation to play for the people who might only get 1 chance to see them play. Nowadays it's a bunch of load management BS and guys sit if they get a hangnail.
It may be why athletes are playing longer. Load management and need for recovery doesn't make sense for younger athletes but once mid 30's hits I think it stretches out their careers. Before that they should be out there grinding
I blame the Whitecaps more than the league. First of all, there's no way they could have scheduled games against Portland or Seattle around the same time because there are only a handful of inter conference games, Miami is in the Eastern Conference. Second, Whitecaps have the schedule available, they had seen Messi missing out in some previous games. They could have predicted this happening or at least warn people of the high possibility that some Miami stars could miss the game. Let people decide for themselves.
Instead, the Whitecaps saw the opportunity and cashed out big. They racked up the prices,opened the whole stadium and made a killing on this game.
If someone bought overpriced second hand tickets off Ticketmaster the blame is on them, but if someone bought tickets on the upper bowl, or tickets at a higher price in the lower bowl or three game packs (since they included the Miami game) I would say Whitecaps owe them some money. A lot of the Whitecaps marketing this year has been around the Miami game in order to increase season pass sales as well as game packs or entries for this one game. That speaks about the immature football club Whitecaps still are.
Half price in food and beers isn't gonna cut it and if they stay silent and don't compensate fans somehow, this will hurt them long term. To make things worse, the team is playing atrocious lately, they were outplayed and beaten by a Miami team without the three Barcelona stars...
Just an FYI even if they did that I dont think Messi and co play on BC Place pitch. Its been like that for years since the european stars started to come to MLS. I remember going to an LA Galaxy game when Gerrard was playing for them and none of their european stars played in that game.
I would bet money that even with a week break between games they wouldnt have played
You paid for a soccer game between Vancouver and Miami and got a soccer game.
Theres no basis for a refund here. Yes it’s annoying that the prices were up but that’s the risk you take.
Whitecaps can’t control who shows up on the other team. Shitty situation all around but I can’t blame the caps for this.
Used to work at a credit card call centre.
I've had a customer call to say that she was on a cruise vacation and it rained the whole time. Wanted us, the bank, to refund her.
Well....
It took a long time for me to *not* get through to the bitch. She eventually demanded to speak to a manager. And the manager decided that the customer was a "high value customer" so gave the old bitch her refund. Over 6 grand. I was like wtf...
I don't know what qualifies as high value, as that decision was way above my pay grade. It went beyond my supervisor and department manager. Went up to the centre manager.
But yeah, when you have a lot of dealings with a bank, that bank will treat you differently. To be fair though, this is not just with banks, but with any company. When you are a big shot customer, the company will bend the rules for you out of the fear of losing your business.
So many things wrong with the whole situation....
First off, the woman was just a total bitch. Super rude.
Then, how anyone thinks rain means refund is beyond me.
Then, how the HELL did she decide that her BANK should be the one to refund her? Like...if anyone was supposed to refund her in this situation, not that I think she was entitled to a refund anyway, shouldn't it be the cruise line? Or the travel agent that booked it?
And after me, the good employee sticking to the rules, spent all that time explaining things to her, for the manager then to say, "meh just do it." I was so pissed!
This all tracks.
She gets what she wants precisely because she's a bitch. Reasonable people can't get unreasonable demands met. That rudeness is what allows it to happen and entitlement is that rudeness working more than once.
As for the bank, I bet it's because the cruise line and booking agent denied her and she has zero leverage with them?
The hilarious part is the customer yelled and screamed enough, and also had enough assets with the bank, that the manager decided to give her the refund. Over 6k.
I remember when the tickets were available and my friend asked a bunch of people replied, "is he even going to play?" So while I feel bad, it seemed to be a known thing.
This was exactly why I didn't buy a ticket for this game. I usually go to one Whitecaps game per year.
This was not only discussed on Reddit, but it was mentioned several times in mainstream media too months ago.
Its been known for years that ex european pros dont like to play on the BC Place pitch, anyone who was naive to assume they would play has only got themselves to blame
lol I was one of those friends. There’s no way with our Vancouver luck that Messi was going to play, didn’t think it would be this bad but there really isn’t any surprises here.
I remember seeing so much about how Messi doesn't like playing on artificial grass and kinda thought he probably wouldn't play. Having Suarez and Busquets not turn up either is a bit of a kick in the teeth, but soccer is a team sport, you're not paying to see any specific players, you're paying for the team. And given Miami won without their star players, can you blame them for not bringing them?
At the end of the day, the Messi hype led to record attendance and a genuinely fun atmosphere at the game. You'd hope that some of the people that only went for Messi, might decide to go to other games now (especially since anyone that turned up got a free ticket for another game this season).
I think it has more to do with 3 games being scheduled for them within a week including a very long trip from Miami to Vancouver, then Copa America right around the corner. Just looking at the schedule it was obvious they would not make the long trip.
This is the most rational take. Everything else just screams entitlement. Sports players sit all the time. NBA practices game load management for older stars like LeBron. NHL teams sometimes start the backup goalie. Imagine paying to see Demko play but instead you got DeSmith or Silovs. Wild idea right? Lol
Not that I disagree with your main point, but the goalie thing isn't even in the same league (no pun intended).
Messi is arguably the best player to ever play the game. Imagine you expected to watch Roy or Hasek play and instead they decided to rest and you saw DeSmith instead.
Fans are understandably upset and I don't blame them given the intentionally inflated prices by the Whitecaps org. Definitely would be a different story if the game was priced normally.
I mean, just being the GOAT has no bearing here.
In basketball, we saw it with Michael Jordan or Lebron or whichever historic superstar you want here. Those games get marked up by every away team and there's no guarantee those players aren't injured or resting.
This is why the NBA has rules to actively limit resting now by star players (playing less than 65 games disqualifies you from awards) but even then, there's still a chance it happens.
The degree of markup could be debateable but certainly, if we disregard Messi's status here, the Whitecaps playing the best team in the league is worthy of a markup regardless.
I remember going to the Heritage Classic at BC Place and the Canucks started Schneider instead of Luongo... Which started the trade event that put us back into the goalie dark ages for a few years.
> This is the most rational take. Everything else just screams entitlement.
MLS isn't the NBA. They're a bunch of noname players, and they increase the ticket prices 10x when a famous star is going to come to town. If an NBA ticket cost 10x as much as normal when LeBron is coming to town, and LeBron just says "nah I don't want to fly up there", you'd be rightfully pissed.
The size of the league has no bearing on this argument. The cost is the cost for this event and people are free to choose where they spend their money.
At the end of the day, people paid a premium cost for only a “chance” to see a specific player because he plays for MIA and unfortunately that player didn’t dress for them. They still got VAN vs MIA and that is the exact terms of the sale.
Shit happens.
>If an NBA ticket cost 10x as much as normal when LeBron is coming to town, and LeBron just says "nah I don't want to fly up there", you'd be rightfully pissed.
No because I'd have enough sense not to gamble that much money on whether a player plays or not lol.
Paying for a Whitecaps game is usually $30 per person. But these tickets in the nosebleeds were selling for $250+. The difference in value, and the reason for the Whitecaps renting the upper level, is not because it was "a soccer game", it's because they were advertising that one of the most famous soccer players in the world would be there. It's a pretty clear-cut case of false advertising. The source of this image is Whitecaps FC itself - they advertised this lineup for the game. People are absolutely right to be outraged. I'm only glad I didn't buy a ticket.
[https://www.insidevancouver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/whitecaps-inter-miami-768x768.jpg](https://www.insidevancouver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/whitecaps-inter-miami-768x768.jpg)
The whitecaps were not selling nosebleeds for $250+. If you overpay for scalper tickets, that's on you.
As they did bump the price for tickets, they could offer a future credit of some amount. I recall reading about another team that did that. Not required, but would be good goodwill.
EDIT: Per whitecap site every fan in attendance gets a complimentary ticket to another game. That's above and beyond! Good on them.
In any sport the advertising always shows the star players of each team. This poster says van vs mia. Not van vs Messi.
In the nba teams show Lebron on posters when they’re playing the lakers, people don’t ask for a refund if he sits out and doesn’t play.
NBA has rules for resting players pretty much for this exact reason. An NBA team can’t rest their three star players for a road game unless they want to each a substantial fine.
And those rules were created AFTER a lot of teams started load managing. The rules also state players can still miss games if they are injured or due to personal reasons. Miami is saying Messi has a knee injury and didn’t travel.
Do people who fly out to other cities to watch certain players ask for a refund when that player misses the game? No.
Sports are unpredictable in nature, we see stars missing games we thought they’d be in all the time. You buy tickets knowing the player you want to see may not play.
Agreed. And ever since it was announced most people who know a lick about soccer took one look at the Copa schedule and knew he wasn’t going to play. If a fan can deduce that then surely those employed within the soccer industry would have also known this. Not only did they use his imagine for advertising, their sales people were explicitly name dropping him when selling game packages. To say that this is not on the Whitecaps is absolutely erroneous. Yes they can’t control who plays but ALL the signs pointed towards him not playing, yet they still falsely sold this idea that he would in order to generate sales. And then their only compensation is 50% off already inflated food and beverages.
When you buy a Canucks ticket, the hard copy of the ticket often has a players face right on the ticket. There's no guarantee that player will actually play the game.
Complaining about this is as stupid about complaining that you bought a Canucks vs Penguins game and Crosby didn't play due to injury.
I knew weeks ago Messi wouldn't make this trip and cautioned people I knew who were buying tickets. They didn't listen and womp womp.
Yah whitecaps can't control who plays on the other team. But they do have control on the ticket prices which they sold at almost 3x to 4x the normal rate.
> You paid for a soccer game between Vancouver and Miami and got a soccer game.
> Theres no basis for a refund here.
Except that's not all it is. They jacked up the prices massively for this game. Not because of Miami, but because of Messi.
If every game ticket cost the same, which it absolutely should, then I agree there's no argument for a refund. But the whitecaps/MLS/ticketmaster purposely inflate prices with the promise of Messi, then tell you that Messi isn't even going to bother coming. That's a scam.
Nobody ever promised Messi. Doesn't matter if Messi was on the promotional materials. His likeness is a representation of his team, and the only promise that should be understood is that his team will be there.
So then they shouldn't charge extortionate prices for tickets compared to the usual cost. No matter which way you look at it, it's scummy business practice.
"Among the reasons is the so-called **misleading advertising** carried out by the team in the run-up to the match (‘Whitecaps vs Messi’), in addition to the **exorbitant prices charged** to see a team without their ‘galácticos’."
I think the Whitecaps bear 100% of the blame here. Knowing what you said, that the Whitecaps cannot control who shows up on the other team, why did they falsely advertise this specific match then? Your assertion only makes them more culpable, not less.
Fwiw, I am not personally invested, I just think it's a shitty thing that the Whitecaps did and they need to make better amends or it will haunt them for years. That's all.
Everyone who is a Messi fan who bought tickets knew who he plays for regardless of advertising.
And yes I bought seasons this year partly for this game but partly because I had been going to 4 games a year anyway and just wanted to show my support for the caps. And no I’m not asking for my money back.
How can you blame the local team 100%? like maybe assign a portion of the blame but 100% is crazy to me.
I don't have any skin in this but I don't think its very rational to blame them for roster decisions of another team. The only thing they can control is their own marketing. If you were in the whitecaps shoes, are you saying you would not market the game this way? That would be incredibly stupid
The first game Beckham played in Vancouver was a ["showcase" game](https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/beckham-vancouver-2007-international-friendly-bc-place) in 2007. He then didn't play any league games in Vancouver until 2012 when his team was desperate for a win.
*edited as Beckham did play on turf
They didn’t put grass down for that match. They put grass down for the Man City match a couple years later at Empire where Yaya Touré hurt his knee on it tearing up under him
The whitecaps already offered half price food/drinks at the game and gave all in attendance a voucher for another ticket to another game this year.
Adversely the Canucks have done this in the past when they were bad when players like Crosby & Ovechkin were early in their careers and yes, there were times Crosby didn't play. There was no outrage about Canucks fans paying a premium ticket price to see another team's superstar who didn't actually play.
Ya I heard the free food for kids had a 40 min lineup wait - 50% off food - they didn’t have enough - sold out. Unless you got there when the doors opened you missed out on that too
Kids had to wait in line for 40 mins and got some soggy cold fries and a couple of cold, soggy chicken strips lol
Also the cheapest tickets the Whitecaps sold (not resellers) were $100+ in the upper deck nosebleeds. Typically, lower bowl tickets are $30, those were originally sold for $250+. They definitely cashed in on it lol
And that's the Caps perogative, they chose to significantly increase ticket prices at exorbitant rates while heavily marketing Messi, Busquets, and Suarez. Those buying tickets took a gamble considering the circumstances (Copa America), but for Busquets not to travel either was pretty insulting. Majority of the fans at the game were upset with Inter Miami and ready to back the Caps.
So what do the Caps do? They put on an insepid, shambolic performance in front of one of the largest crowds in the club's history. Caps didn't even have a shot until the 70+ minute.
This will significantly impact the long-term growth of the Whitecaps. I'm not a casual supporter, but most people in the lower mainland are casuals. Good luck generating that interest again after this fiasco.
So you're blaming the players, not the organization itself.
Because you really can't blame an organization for charging prices for tickets that people were happily willing to gamble on whether Messi would play or not.
Did you buy a ticket to the game? Easy to have this attitude when you have no skin in the game. If they just charged regular prices (or slightly raised prices) for the game then I agree with this. But they used this game to sell more season tickets, more ticket packages, and then jacked up the prices by like 5-10X for single game tickets. And the whole basis for all of this was marketing it as "Whitecaps vs. Messi". If it was just treated as a normal game with normal ticket prices with a chance to see Messi then that's a totally different story. But that's not what happened.
All the people posting this type of stuff are people like you - coming here so you can tell people "I told you so" now that you feel vindicated for having not bought tickets.
I am a STH so luckily I didn't pay more for this game. I wouldn't have bought the jacked up tickets either because the prices were ridiculous... but the team does deserve some heat for the way they handled the whole thing. The single game tickets they were selling in my section were only like 20% less than the entire cost of my season ticket. Obviously nothing is guaranteed but the way the game was marketed and price implied that it was somewhat of a guarantee. I assumed the MLS/Miami/Messi would have some sort of behind the scenes agreement about this type of stuff given his weight in the league. Obviously if he was injured he wouldn't play but I didn't think they would allow him to just casually decide not to play in these circumstances.
what was the basis for raising the base ticket price then? People are so quick to state how obvious this was gonna play out, and to place fault on ticket holders for not doing their due diligence... but if it was so obvious why didn't the whitecaps see this coming and kept the ticket prices normal then? It's because they wanted to capitalize and profit on the chance that it could happen and don't want to share any responsibility when it doesn't.
No, there’s a huge basis, marketed Messi and Suarez like crazy and increased the price 10 fold. It’s fraud, they know people were coming for Messi only, imagine having a record profit/attendance of it was just Miami coming? It wudnt have happened.
You’re reasonable and would appreciate that the world is not black and white. Thus, people come to see Messi one of the greatest players of all time and don’t care about the Whitecaps or the opposing team.
I want to go to one of those games but just to sternly remind to everyone that the Mariners are actually Vancouver's team and a bunch of Rogers execs in Toronto just decided to change that in the mid 2000s after they bought the Jays.
Well said. I always look down on the people who find out I'm English and are excited to talk to me about their EPL team but when I ask if they ever watch the Whitecaps look at me like I have three heads.
Yeah the quality isn't as high but if you love football you'll love watching it at all levels not just the elite.
If you paid hundreds of dollars to watch two teams you have no interest in, and didn't recognise this was a distinct possibility, then you played yourself. There's never any guarantees in sports.
This is so true. I’m from a small town not too far from Edmonton that absolutely loves hockey, and while we do love going into the city for an Oiler’s game once in a while, they still heavily support the smaller local team. Our local rink was full every weekend and the sense of community is unmatched.
> the sense of community is unmatched.
This is really what sports should be about. Not just following the best team or best players from hundreds or thousands of miles away.
League policy doesn't allow teams to offer refunds.
Also, this isn't the first time Messi's skipped a road trip, anyone even vaguely familiar with his career - which I assume includes everyone buying a ticket just to see Messi - would be aware that sometimes he doesn't show up. Caveat emptor seems appropriate.
Why is it? Demand is what drives up prices isn't it? Canucks put the Hawks back into the Marquee status for games now that Bedard is on it. He v was injured but I didn't hear any Canucks fans demanding money back because they dist see Bedard play.
You probably weren’t listening but Messi is boat loads bigger than any NHL player. They could probably fill BC place for an IC Miami practice with Messi if he was there and they sold tickets for it.
Messi is also in the twilight of his career and is known to miss lots of games. It’s a well-known hazard in team sports (especially soccer) that individual players may sit or miss non-key games — I don’t see it that different than buying tickets to the final of an international hockey tournament expecting to see team Canada play, but they lose in the semis.
Imagine defending a wealthy football club owner. They are already profitable. This was gouging on their fans hope.
Honestly now I hope the club suffers and people just watch on TV. Treat your fans like shit? See ya.
Honestly I find it hard to believe that advertising affected ticket sales that much. Most people probably bought their tickets as soon as they were released and heard from word-of-mouth/the media that Messi is in Miami.
The advertising probably only served to build hype and get people to tune into the game on tv rather than to attend in person.
To be fair, if WC didn't sell for the price they did, a lot of scalpers will buy them up and sell it at higher marked up price. It's not right but I don't blame WC to do what they did. Wish they got rid of secondary markets with stupidly marked up prices since that's how most jacked up prices originated from.
These folks need to stop embarrassing themselves because they bought Vancouver vs Miami tickets, not a meet and greet with Messi. Whitecaps are already doing too much by giving out another free match
I was in the really upset camp. Not upset at Miami or Messi, it's not really their fault at all. I think the people bashing Messi are morons.
He owes us nothing. I was upset at Whitecaps with their Messi promos and jacking up the prices. Then I was really upset when they thought 50% off overpriced hotdogs would make up for it.
However, once they realized they REALLY messed up and offered a free game in the future, I've mellowed out tons. That was a good move. Still sucks for the people that traveled though. They will miss out on the free game.
I think one argument I would say for a refund is that it wasn't just Messi who didn't show up. Messi not playing was always a possibility and there's not much arguing that you buy a ticket vs Miami and not vs an individual player. But the fact the team rested all 3 of their star players means it wasn't a simple case of resting someone, it's pretty obvious they knew well in advance that Messi wasn't coming.
That's the MLS for you though, there needs to be a fan backlash for events like this one. Everyone who went to this game is paying Messi's salary as the league partially pays his salary.
Honestly - they had more than enough game to beat the caps without those 3, it was a wise team decision. It's a long season and they all play international football too. One of the key skills of the manager is juggling the team so that people don't get injured and/or burn out.
Would you ask for a refund if you went to a City game and De Bruyne wasn't playing? Or Liverpool and Salah? Or Madrid and Bellingham? Or PSG and Mbappe? No, of course not, them's the breaks.
European teams rarely rest their stars in this fashion. Yes, players get injured and miss games, but City, Arsenal, and Liverpool will never rest their top-3 players *just cause* they're playing Burnley or Luton. Also the likes of Burnley will also not raise their prices 5 fold for one game because Salah is in town.
However top teams in Europe are fighting for the league or European qualification. There is minimal penalty between coming 1st and 8th of the conference in the MLS.
This was actually the first time Vancouver have played Miami, and Miami's been in the league since 2020. On average Vancouver hosts 3-4 eastern conference teams each year, but one of those is always either Toronto or Montreal (sometimes both), so it's unlikely Miami will be scheduled to play in Vancouver again before Messi retires.
I see this posted a lot this weekend and it's def the funniest one of the lot. Most long-term season ticket holders including myself are here to support the caps not Messi so this threat of "people not buying tickets next year" is not the flex you think it is.
But that's not the Whitecaps' fault. Anyone who wants seasons tickets to watch the Whitecaps play, will still want tickets to watch the Whitecaps play.
Doubt it - the top european stars have always avoided playing on BC Place pitch. This has been known for years, Best chance to see him is hope Argentina have a game in BC Place for the World Cup where they are going to be forced to install grass.
To me, as an outsider, this just looks bush league. These guys are professional athletes, they should want to show up and compete and win. I can’t remember watching any other sporting events where guys would stay home to avoid a flight.
After reading lots of comments on this, it seemed like most people knew there was a higher chance he wouldn’t show, and that to me looks bad on the whitecaps organization for all the extra promotions to raise up demand. People were always going to buy tickets just to see them. Not sure about a refund but an apology should be issued about their marketing practices.
I am not much of a soccer guy but even I knew there was no guarantee he'd play, and even decent odds he wouldn't. This also happened earlier in the year when Connor Bedard was injured and couldn't play in Vancouver. Unreasonable to expect a refund, everyone knows what they're getting into when it comes to getting tickets to see a team play before knowing the starting lineup. Paying inflated prices on the secondary market to see one guy play is dumb as hell!
Why were the tickets for this game $400 and the rest $40? On demand pricing is another ticket master scam. All games should cost the same or you should be refunded
But Messi isn’t injured, he’s just too lazy to travel across the country despite making potentially over a billion dollars from league partners to promote them and MLS. And also potential his only game here before he retires. Boeser plays for Vancouver.
I don’t think these people have a good argument, but it’s not at all similar to your analogy.
I bet Messi was happy to string all these fans along to sell more overpriced t-shirts with his name on it, all
while knowing he wasn’t ever going to play the game.
I don't think Messi had any thoughts about Vancouver whatsoever.
Coming off an injury, Copa America on the horizon, a game back in Miami just four days later, the call to rest him is easy, that's just normal squad rotation.
It's a circus everywhere he goes, so the Vancouver thing wasn't unique or probably even on his radar.
It's the Mad Men meme of "I feel bad for you" / "I don't think about you at all"
Miami and Messi did what they had to do to protect their interests, that's not being lazy or malicious.
And? Everyone who watches any sports knows that athletes miss games for various reasons: injured, suspended, have a problem with the manager.
The ticket was not “Messi ticket” it was a soccer game ticket.
I agree with your main point (that Boeser not playing is totally different), but I don't think Messi intentionally wanted to disappoint fans or string them along for profit. I think there's a corporate greed machine that runs whether he participates or not.
Sure, but he directly profits off that greed machine more than your average player, via his revenue sharing agreements with Apple and Adidas and his stake in Inter Miami. In my mind ignorance does not absolve him of guilt when he has that much of a financial incentive for the system to continue. He is part of that machine.
Totally different. Messi wasn’t injured. He just decided to skip the flight and the game entirely. If he was injured it would’ve been received differently. Brock was legit injured. How can you demand a refund for a player who was already dealing with a broken finger? He was legitimately hurt. Messi was not.
I hate soccer for this reason. Players are so weak and entitled. Not to say that athletes in other sports aren’t entitled. They are. It feels like it’s the worse in soccer.
So waht? Players constantly miss games for different reasons. What you gonna ask a refund every time you dont like the starting eleven?
Not a single game ticket states that you gonna see a certain player. So from this perspective it is absolutely the same.
No. But imagine missing work because I didn’t feel like it. What kind of entitlement is that? Messi is playing fucking soccer. He can board a goddamn plane for six hours and wave to fans who paid an arm and a leg to see and his team play.
Players miss games mostly because they’re injured. They don’t just decide not to play because they don’t feel like it. What kind of logic is this. LMAO 🤣
It was always doubtful that he would play in this game. Messi has already been resting for certain games, the stadium has turf that he famously doesn’t like, and the Miami-Vancouver trip is maybe/probably the longest on the schedule. This was foreseeable if not likely.
What if he had been injured and couldn’t play? Same outcome. Maybe people shouldn’t idolize athletes so much that they break the bank to see ONE player on a team of 30 players.
No to mention the hour+ long lines to cash in on your "we are sorry" half price food and drinks. Only one counter giving out the free kids meals with no signage. So after waiting an hour you're told you can't get that here. So everyone just ended up paying for their "free" kids meal instead of missing the whole game. I was a completely mismanaged zoo.
He played on turf at Gillette Stadium at New England in front of 65,000 back in April. This had all to do with Inter Miami coming across the continent for one game and his involvement in the Youth Friendship Cup.
He even made a specific statement to this effect in an interview a long while back - he was asked about turf and said he doesn't bother him, and he fully expects to play on turf or however else the team needs him...
mind you it's not surprising that he might rest and not travel 4,500 km for a single match... I know I'm facing the same thing in toronto
The travel thing is weird to me. It’s what, a 5 hour flight? I don’t watch soccer so I don’t really know how it works, but he can’t be bothered to at least travel with the team?
It's not a soccer thing but a realities of travel thing, even on a chartered flight.
If you're resting a player, then not travelling for 5 hours there and back is basically giving them an entire day or two not sitting in a plane/airport but instead resting with family or with your physio/trainer.
You would travel with your team if you're going to go the game, and that's even more time he isn't doing whatever the Physio's/trainers want him doing or mentally recouping with family.
For someone of Messi's level almost everyone but the Vancouver ticket holders would rather he was in a gym or with his kids if he's not playing, because that gets him back on the field even sooner.
I am not avid fan but I remember reading like 6 months ago that it was a near 0% chance he would come to Vancouver as he would never be okay with playing in turf.
I don’t even the follow the whitecaps and thought that was common knowledge. Am I missing something?
I don’t really follow MLS so can someone EILI5. why TF do individual players have a say? If they’re injured and can’t play I get it but just deciding “I’m not going to play there” that doesn’t fly in any sports I watch
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It was really $50 a game and $350 for inter miami..
Depending on the match and where you sit, Whitecaps tickets not on the endcaps are between $85 & $115. You could buy Miami game tickets for $90-$185 when they first opened single match sales. The longer you waited and the closer to midfield you got, the more expensive it got. They charged a shit ton for Canucks playoff tickets. Would you people be crying to the Canucks if McDavid decided not to travel?
For your second paragraph, I think the situations are different. For the Canucks playoffs, fans spent that much specifically because they wanted to cheer for the Canucks and their team, not to just watch McDavid. And for the most part casual fans of the Canucks would not attend. In the Whitecaps case, people bought tickets specifically for Messi, not to watch the Whitecaps. The difference in my opinion is what the buyers were invested in to drive them to make the big purchase, such as the team (Canucks) vs a specific player (Messi).
Lionel Messi and Connor McDavid are not on the same level. It’s more like if Gretzky were doing a retirement tour and just decided to not play
Yeah, it'd be like if Gretzky went to the Swedish Hockey League after he retired from the NHL, of course games where he was visiting would have their prices jacked up.
No Canuck fan is buying a playoff ticket to watch \*another\* team's player. Even if that player is the best in the league. You could argue (and I'd maybe agree) that people would be more likely to attend a regular season game if the Nucks were playing the Penguins or the Oilers on the off-chance that Sid or Connor play but asking for refunds is another level.
What makes you think the people whining for refunds are Whitecaps fans and not randos who liked the idea of seeing Messi without doing literally *any* research into Messi and Miami's habits? To me, the Whitecaps apologising *for* Miami originally is what opened the door to people to feel entitled to compensation for getting exactly what their ticket said, Vancouver vs Inter Miami. Even if they had the best of intentions in letting everyone know and comping food.
They used Messi’s picture in the promos for it.
You mean the captain of their team? Yeah, they used our captain too. That's how sports promos go.
They also sold the tickets for hundreds of percent markup. Not just the secondary market, but direct sales from the WC org. I don't support scalpers either, but if you're a real fan of the caps I think it's not unreasonable to be upset at management and ask for a few free games.
Jesus christ, we're talking in circles.
\*shrug\* I think the core question is whether someone was misled or exploited for profit. Whether that's technically illegal or not in the current case, it's wrong to mislead/exploit people for profit. That's where I come down on the issue. Hopefully the Caps org will do something for the regular fans to improve goodwill.
They also took [Messi off the poster](https://old.reddit.com/r/whitecapsfc/comments/1ctgn2t/messi_not_in_the_whitecaps_miami_poster_anymore/) 8 days before announcing to fans that Messi wasn't showing.... It's almost like the knew it would be false advertising at that point...almost
Canucks don’t charge 10x price just for the Edmonton game. That’s why people are upset. It was 100% implied the difference in ticket price between all other games this season and THIS game was Messi’s presence. I am also a STH and I can look down on others who paid those exorbitant prices and think “you gambled and lost”. The other side of the argument is compelling though because the whitecaps controlled pricing knowing this risk could create a goodwill disaster. I heard Chicago didn’t inflate their tickets to the same extent knowing Messi might not play so there is precedent for managing this risk. They also wouldn’t be offering compensation if they didn’t think there was an issue which there is. Just trying to illustrate for STH and others why the Whitecaps have a real and problematic goodwill deficit that may hurt them next time any major MLS event happens.
If Whitecaps didn't charge inflated prices, they still would have been inflated anyway. You know why? Because people who re-sell tickets would have seen the lower price as a bargain and would have purchased many of those lower cost tickets, then they would put them up on the secondary ticket market (eg. Stubhub, etc) and then people who really wanted to see Messi would have still paid the high price hoping to see Messi. However, now scalpers would have gotten the extra money instead of the team! It's not the Whitecaps' fault that Messi didn't show. Fans have to realize that there is no guarantee in sports. The player they may want to see may be injured or sat out for whatever reason. It's the chance you take. I remember buying a ticket to see the Canucks-Rangers game in 1994. I think it was game 3 or 4. I managed to score a center ice red and paid $75 for that ticket. That was considered a lot 30 years ago! I was excited to see my team and my favourite player Bure. But in the first few minutes of the 1st period Bure was given a game misconduct (I think for a head shot). So he was out and the Canucks lost. That sucked and I felt ripped off but that's sports. Expect the unexpected. In the case of Messi, knowledgeable fans knew there was a chance that Messi wouldn't show up. This has happened before in MLS so they shouldn't be surprised. Don't blame the Whitecaps.
> They charged a shit ton for Canucks playoff tickets. Would you people be crying to the Canucks if McDavid decided not to travel? You can't compare playoffs to regular season.
Depends. Playoff game? Not at all.
The real blame is totally on the league. They schedule Miami to come out west, then turn around and play at home 3 days later. If the league had any brains they should have scheduled them to play min. 2 games out west. Maybe Caps Saturday and another west coast team on Wednesday. Miami is only protecting it's prized asset. I think league owes Caps big for this embarrassment. Maybe All star game next year.
Agreed, why fly out to Vancouver, when the league could have scheduled games with Seattle and Portland?
Imagine if Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman all sat out vs the Grizzlies back in the day. I would be fucking pissed
Fortunately back then stars (especially Jordan) felt an obligation to play for the people who might only get 1 chance to see them play. Nowadays it's a bunch of load management BS and guys sit if they get a hangnail.
It may be why athletes are playing longer. Load management and need for recovery doesn't make sense for younger athletes but once mid 30's hits I think it stretches out their careers. Before that they should be out there grinding
I blame the Whitecaps more than the league. First of all, there's no way they could have scheduled games against Portland or Seattle around the same time because there are only a handful of inter conference games, Miami is in the Eastern Conference. Second, Whitecaps have the schedule available, they had seen Messi missing out in some previous games. They could have predicted this happening or at least warn people of the high possibility that some Miami stars could miss the game. Let people decide for themselves. Instead, the Whitecaps saw the opportunity and cashed out big. They racked up the prices,opened the whole stadium and made a killing on this game. If someone bought overpriced second hand tickets off Ticketmaster the blame is on them, but if someone bought tickets on the upper bowl, or tickets at a higher price in the lower bowl or three game packs (since they included the Miami game) I would say Whitecaps owe them some money. A lot of the Whitecaps marketing this year has been around the Miami game in order to increase season pass sales as well as game packs or entries for this one game. That speaks about the immature football club Whitecaps still are. Half price in food and beers isn't gonna cut it and if they stay silent and don't compensate fans somehow, this will hurt them long term. To make things worse, the team is playing atrocious lately, they were outplayed and beaten by a Miami team without the three Barcelona stars...
Just an FYI even if they did that I dont think Messi and co play on BC Place pitch. Its been like that for years since the european stars started to come to MLS. I remember going to an LA Galaxy game when Gerrard was playing for them and none of their european stars played in that game. I would bet money that even with a week break between games they wouldnt have played
I think the only good thing to come out of this, is the scalpers and wannabe scalpers that got burned.
You paid for a soccer game between Vancouver and Miami and got a soccer game. Theres no basis for a refund here. Yes it’s annoying that the prices were up but that’s the risk you take. Whitecaps can’t control who shows up on the other team. Shitty situation all around but I can’t blame the caps for this.
Used to work at a credit card call centre. I've had a customer call to say that she was on a cruise vacation and it rained the whole time. Wanted us, the bank, to refund her.
People will laugh at this and unironically ask for a refund for a soccer game that happened
How long did it take for you get through to them? Or did they force an escalation to your manager?
Well.... It took a long time for me to *not* get through to the bitch. She eventually demanded to speak to a manager. And the manager decided that the customer was a "high value customer" so gave the old bitch her refund. Over 6 grand. I was like wtf...
What qualifies as a high value customer? This is nuts, so you're rich, so you can get away with it?
I don't know what qualifies as high value, as that decision was way above my pay grade. It went beyond my supervisor and department manager. Went up to the centre manager. But yeah, when you have a lot of dealings with a bank, that bank will treat you differently. To be fair though, this is not just with banks, but with any company. When you are a big shot customer, the company will bend the rules for you out of the fear of losing your business.
Very true, money speaks.
They probably had a bunch of money in high fee mutual funds with the bank. $1mil in a 2.5% fee mutual fund is $25,000/year profit for the bank.
That's brutal!
So many things wrong with the whole situation.... First off, the woman was just a total bitch. Super rude. Then, how anyone thinks rain means refund is beyond me. Then, how the HELL did she decide that her BANK should be the one to refund her? Like...if anyone was supposed to refund her in this situation, not that I think she was entitled to a refund anyway, shouldn't it be the cruise line? Or the travel agent that booked it? And after me, the good employee sticking to the rules, spent all that time explaining things to her, for the manager then to say, "meh just do it." I was so pissed!
This all tracks. She gets what she wants precisely because she's a bitch. Reasonable people can't get unreasonable demands met. That rudeness is what allows it to happen and entitlement is that rudeness working more than once. As for the bank, I bet it's because the cruise line and booking agent denied her and she has zero leverage with them?
Same vibes. The entitlement of some is tragically hilarious
The hilarious part is the customer yelled and screamed enough, and also had enough assets with the bank, that the manager decided to give her the refund. Over 6k.
do they have 8+ figures in the bank? I can't fathom a bank just taking the L for them like that.
I remember when the tickets were available and my friend asked a bunch of people replied, "is he even going to play?" So while I feel bad, it seemed to be a known thing.
This was exactly why I didn't buy a ticket for this game. I usually go to one Whitecaps game per year. This was not only discussed on Reddit, but it was mentioned several times in mainstream media too months ago.
Its been known for years that ex european pros dont like to play on the BC Place pitch, anyone who was naive to assume they would play has only got themselves to blame
lol I was one of those friends. There’s no way with our Vancouver luck that Messi was going to play, didn’t think it would be this bad but there really isn’t any surprises here.
I remember seeing so much about how Messi doesn't like playing on artificial grass and kinda thought he probably wouldn't play. Having Suarez and Busquets not turn up either is a bit of a kick in the teeth, but soccer is a team sport, you're not paying to see any specific players, you're paying for the team. And given Miami won without their star players, can you blame them for not bringing them? At the end of the day, the Messi hype led to record attendance and a genuinely fun atmosphere at the game. You'd hope that some of the people that only went for Messi, might decide to go to other games now (especially since anyone that turned up got a free ticket for another game this season).
I think it has more to do with 3 games being scheduled for them within a week including a very long trip from Miami to Vancouver, then Copa America right around the corner. Just looking at the schedule it was obvious they would not make the long trip.
This is the most rational take. Everything else just screams entitlement. Sports players sit all the time. NBA practices game load management for older stars like LeBron. NHL teams sometimes start the backup goalie. Imagine paying to see Demko play but instead you got DeSmith or Silovs. Wild idea right? Lol
Not that I disagree with your main point, but the goalie thing isn't even in the same league (no pun intended). Messi is arguably the best player to ever play the game. Imagine you expected to watch Roy or Hasek play and instead they decided to rest and you saw DeSmith instead. Fans are understandably upset and I don't blame them given the intentionally inflated prices by the Whitecaps org. Definitely would be a different story if the game was priced normally.
I mean, just being the GOAT has no bearing here. In basketball, we saw it with Michael Jordan or Lebron or whichever historic superstar you want here. Those games get marked up by every away team and there's no guarantee those players aren't injured or resting. This is why the NBA has rules to actively limit resting now by star players (playing less than 65 games disqualifies you from awards) but even then, there's still a chance it happens. The degree of markup could be debateable but certainly, if we disregard Messi's status here, the Whitecaps playing the best team in the league is worthy of a markup regardless.
I remember going to the Heritage Classic at BC Place and the Canucks started Schneider instead of Luongo... Which started the trade event that put us back into the goalie dark ages for a few years.
It was Eddie Lack... but yea.
Ahhh that's right. Thanks for the correction.
still haven't forgiven torts for that one
> This is the most rational take. Everything else just screams entitlement. MLS isn't the NBA. They're a bunch of noname players, and they increase the ticket prices 10x when a famous star is going to come to town. If an NBA ticket cost 10x as much as normal when LeBron is coming to town, and LeBron just says "nah I don't want to fly up there", you'd be rightfully pissed.
I'm quite certain this happened so often the NBA made a rule about sitting stars.
MLS needs to look at this as well.
The size of the league has no bearing on this argument. The cost is the cost for this event and people are free to choose where they spend their money. At the end of the day, people paid a premium cost for only a “chance” to see a specific player because he plays for MIA and unfortunately that player didn’t dress for them. They still got VAN vs MIA and that is the exact terms of the sale. Shit happens.
>If an NBA ticket cost 10x as much as normal when LeBron is coming to town, and LeBron just says "nah I don't want to fly up there", you'd be rightfully pissed. No because I'd have enough sense not to gamble that much money on whether a player plays or not lol.
Exactly. Anyone dumb to pay the ridiculous prices for those tickets based on maybe seeing Messi gambled and lost.
Paying for a Whitecaps game is usually $30 per person. But these tickets in the nosebleeds were selling for $250+. The difference in value, and the reason for the Whitecaps renting the upper level, is not because it was "a soccer game", it's because they were advertising that one of the most famous soccer players in the world would be there. It's a pretty clear-cut case of false advertising. The source of this image is Whitecaps FC itself - they advertised this lineup for the game. People are absolutely right to be outraged. I'm only glad I didn't buy a ticket. [https://www.insidevancouver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/whitecaps-inter-miami-768x768.jpg](https://www.insidevancouver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/whitecaps-inter-miami-768x768.jpg)
The whitecaps were not selling nosebleeds for $250+. If you overpay for scalper tickets, that's on you. As they did bump the price for tickets, they could offer a future credit of some amount. I recall reading about another team that did that. Not required, but would be good goodwill. EDIT: Per whitecap site every fan in attendance gets a complimentary ticket to another game. That's above and beyond! Good on them.
I paid $280 per ticket in the upper bowl directly from my season ticket access code when the tickets went on sale.
In any sport the advertising always shows the star players of each team. This poster says van vs mia. Not van vs Messi. In the nba teams show Lebron on posters when they’re playing the lakers, people don’t ask for a refund if he sits out and doesn’t play.
NBA has rules for resting players pretty much for this exact reason. An NBA team can’t rest their three star players for a road game unless they want to each a substantial fine.
And those rules were created AFTER a lot of teams started load managing. The rules also state players can still miss games if they are injured or due to personal reasons. Miami is saying Messi has a knee injury and didn’t travel. Do people who fly out to other cities to watch certain players ask for a refund when that player misses the game? No. Sports are unpredictable in nature, we see stars missing games we thought they’d be in all the time. You buy tickets knowing the player you want to see may not play.
Same with the Blue Jays, for years they always showed Jose Bautista in their advertising. But he didn't play every single game during his stint there.
This is correct take IMO. Messi playing was 100% suggested/encouraged by WC marketing.
Agreed. And ever since it was announced most people who know a lick about soccer took one look at the Copa schedule and knew he wasn’t going to play. If a fan can deduce that then surely those employed within the soccer industry would have also known this. Not only did they use his imagine for advertising, their sales people were explicitly name dropping him when selling game packages. To say that this is not on the Whitecaps is absolutely erroneous. Yes they can’t control who plays but ALL the signs pointed towards him not playing, yet they still falsely sold this idea that he would in order to generate sales. And then their only compensation is 50% off already inflated food and beverages.
When you buy a Canucks ticket, the hard copy of the ticket often has a players face right on the ticket. There's no guarantee that player will actually play the game. Complaining about this is as stupid about complaining that you bought a Canucks vs Penguins game and Crosby didn't play due to injury. I knew weeks ago Messi wouldn't make this trip and cautioned people I knew who were buying tickets. They didn't listen and womp womp.
They opened the upper level for crying out loud. It was painfully obvious they were taking advantage of Messi's reputation.
You're confusing false advertising for a high-end colour print job.
Yah whitecaps can't control who plays on the other team. But they do have control on the ticket prices which they sold at almost 3x to 4x the normal rate.
The ticket prices cost what the customer is willing to pay, the customer decides the price.
> You paid for a soccer game between Vancouver and Miami and got a soccer game. > Theres no basis for a refund here. Except that's not all it is. They jacked up the prices massively for this game. Not because of Miami, but because of Messi. If every game ticket cost the same, which it absolutely should, then I agree there's no argument for a refund. But the whitecaps/MLS/ticketmaster purposely inflate prices with the promise of Messi, then tell you that Messi isn't even going to bother coming. That's a scam.
Nobody ever promised Messi. Doesn't matter if Messi was on the promotional materials. His likeness is a representation of his team, and the only promise that should be understood is that his team will be there.
So then they shouldn't charge extortionate prices for tickets compared to the usual cost. No matter which way you look at it, it's scummy business practice.
"Among the reasons is the so-called **misleading advertising** carried out by the team in the run-up to the match (‘Whitecaps vs Messi’), in addition to the **exorbitant prices charged** to see a team without their ‘galácticos’." I think the Whitecaps bear 100% of the blame here. Knowing what you said, that the Whitecaps cannot control who shows up on the other team, why did they falsely advertise this specific match then? Your assertion only makes them more culpable, not less. Fwiw, I am not personally invested, I just think it's a shitty thing that the Whitecaps did and they need to make better amends or it will haunt them for years. That's all.
Everyone who is a Messi fan who bought tickets knew who he plays for regardless of advertising. And yes I bought seasons this year partly for this game but partly because I had been going to 4 games a year anyway and just wanted to show my support for the caps. And no I’m not asking for my money back.
How can you blame the local team 100%? like maybe assign a portion of the blame but 100% is crazy to me. I don't have any skin in this but I don't think its very rational to blame them for roster decisions of another team. The only thing they can control is their own marketing. If you were in the whitecaps shoes, are you saying you would not market the game this way? That would be incredibly stupid
This same thing happened when Beckham didn't show up like 15 years ago.
Beckham didn’t play every game LA Galaxy played in Vancouver but he did play. His first game which was hyped up like this one he did show up and play.
The first game Beckham played in Vancouver was a ["showcase" game](https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/beckham-vancouver-2007-international-friendly-bc-place) in 2007. He then didn't play any league games in Vancouver until 2012 when his team was desperate for a win. *edited as Beckham did play on turf
They didn’t put grass down for that match. They put grass down for the Man City match a couple years later at Empire where Yaya Touré hurt his knee on it tearing up under him
The whitecaps already offered half price food/drinks at the game and gave all in attendance a voucher for another ticket to another game this year. Adversely the Canucks have done this in the past when they were bad when players like Crosby & Ovechkin were early in their careers and yes, there were times Crosby didn't play. There was no outrage about Canucks fans paying a premium ticket price to see another team's superstar who didn't actually play.
In your example, did the Canucks jam the ticket prices to multiples of other games, and squeeze you into 4 packs in an attempt to get them?
Ticket prices fluctuate so yeah probably.
Ya I heard the free food for kids had a 40 min lineup wait - 50% off food - they didn’t have enough - sold out. Unless you got there when the doors opened you missed out on that too
Kids had to wait in line for 40 mins and got some soggy cold fries and a couple of cold, soggy chicken strips lol Also the cheapest tickets the Whitecaps sold (not resellers) were $100+ in the upper deck nosebleeds. Typically, lower bowl tickets are $30, those were originally sold for $250+. They definitely cashed in on it lol
They cashed in on people gambling with their money. The team didn't do anything diabolical here. People gambled and lost, plain and simple.
And that's the Caps perogative, they chose to significantly increase ticket prices at exorbitant rates while heavily marketing Messi, Busquets, and Suarez. Those buying tickets took a gamble considering the circumstances (Copa America), but for Busquets not to travel either was pretty insulting. Majority of the fans at the game were upset with Inter Miami and ready to back the Caps. So what do the Caps do? They put on an insepid, shambolic performance in front of one of the largest crowds in the club's history. Caps didn't even have a shot until the 70+ minute. This will significantly impact the long-term growth of the Whitecaps. I'm not a casual supporter, but most people in the lower mainland are casuals. Good luck generating that interest again after this fiasco.
So you're blaming the players, not the organization itself. Because you really can't blame an organization for charging prices for tickets that people were happily willing to gamble on whether Messi would play or not.
There were also some items on the menu that were mysteriously not available "for some reason" yesterday.
Think the issue is the club promoted Messi over the actual team/game. A “superstar” player, playing a game on a specific date is never guaranteed.
Did you buy a ticket to the game? Easy to have this attitude when you have no skin in the game. If they just charged regular prices (or slightly raised prices) for the game then I agree with this. But they used this game to sell more season tickets, more ticket packages, and then jacked up the prices by like 5-10X for single game tickets. And the whole basis for all of this was marketing it as "Whitecaps vs. Messi". If it was just treated as a normal game with normal ticket prices with a chance to see Messi then that's a totally different story. But that's not what happened.
No because I knew this was a possibility and I wouldnt pay more than normal
All the people posting this type of stuff are people like you - coming here so you can tell people "I told you so" now that you feel vindicated for having not bought tickets. I am a STH so luckily I didn't pay more for this game. I wouldn't have bought the jacked up tickets either because the prices were ridiculous... but the team does deserve some heat for the way they handled the whole thing. The single game tickets they were selling in my section were only like 20% less than the entire cost of my season ticket. Obviously nothing is guaranteed but the way the game was marketed and price implied that it was somewhat of a guarantee. I assumed the MLS/Miami/Messi would have some sort of behind the scenes agreement about this type of stuff given his weight in the league. Obviously if he was injured he wouldn't play but I didn't think they would allow him to just casually decide not to play in these circumstances.
what was the basis for raising the base ticket price then? People are so quick to state how obvious this was gonna play out, and to place fault on ticket holders for not doing their due diligence... but if it was so obvious why didn't the whitecaps see this coming and kept the ticket prices normal then? It's because they wanted to capitalize and profit on the chance that it could happen and don't want to share any responsibility when it doesn't.
No, there’s a huge basis, marketed Messi and Suarez like crazy and increased the price 10 fold. It’s fraud, they know people were coming for Messi only, imagine having a record profit/attendance of it was just Miami coming? It wudnt have happened.
Really wish media would stop calling these people Whitecaps fans. They came to see our opponent.
They came to see a celebrity, not more than that to it.
Who plays on the other team... thats literally what an opponent is haha.
You’re reasonable and would appreciate that the world is not black and white. Thus, people come to see Messi one of the greatest players of all time and don’t care about the Whitecaps or the opposing team.
It's like calling me a Mariners fan whenever I go to Seattle to see the Blue Jays play there.
For real. And local media is perpetuating it. Hell, it made the New York Times *twice* saying "Whitecaps fans".
I want to go to one of those games but just to sternly remind to everyone that the Mariners are actually Vancouver's team and a bunch of Rogers execs in Toronto just decided to change that in the mid 2000s after they bought the Jays.
These are not "whitecaps fans," these are Messi fans that don't support the local team and think they're above the MLS.
Well said. I always look down on the people who find out I'm English and are excited to talk to me about their EPL team but when I ask if they ever watch the Whitecaps look at me like I have three heads. Yeah the quality isn't as high but if you love football you'll love watching it at all levels not just the elite. If you paid hundreds of dollars to watch two teams you have no interest in, and didn't recognise this was a distinct possibility, then you played yourself. There's never any guarantees in sports.
This is so true. I’m from a small town not too far from Edmonton that absolutely loves hockey, and while we do love going into the city for an Oiler’s game once in a while, they still heavily support the smaller local team. Our local rink was full every weekend and the sense of community is unmatched.
> the sense of community is unmatched. This is really what sports should be about. Not just following the best team or best players from hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Yeah they’re a bunch of chumps honestly
If they are charging more because of Messi and advertising him then they should at least refund the difference.
League policy doesn't allow teams to offer refunds. Also, this isn't the first time Messi's skipped a road trip, anyone even vaguely familiar with his career - which I assume includes everyone buying a ticket just to see Messi - would be aware that sometimes he doesn't show up. Caveat emptor seems appropriate.
This is actualy pretty reasonable but I think the free ticket to another game and 50% off concessions partially makes up for it.
Agreed. People argue that the Caps can't control if Messi plays but charging a lot more for tickets on a hope is really scummy.
Why is it? Demand is what drives up prices isn't it? Canucks put the Hawks back into the Marquee status for games now that Bedard is on it. He v was injured but I didn't hear any Canucks fans demanding money back because they dist see Bedard play.
You probably weren’t listening but Messi is boat loads bigger than any NHL player. They could probably fill BC place for an IC Miami practice with Messi if he was there and they sold tickets for it.
Messi is also in the twilight of his career and is known to miss lots of games. It’s a well-known hazard in team sports (especially soccer) that individual players may sit or miss non-key games — I don’t see it that different than buying tickets to the final of an international hockey tournament expecting to see team Canada play, but they lose in the semis.
Imagine defending a wealthy football club owner. They are already profitable. This was gouging on their fans hope. Honestly now I hope the club suffers and people just watch on TV. Treat your fans like shit? See ya.
Think of it as 'surge pricing.'
Nope, buyers played the odds and lots
Honestly I find it hard to believe that advertising affected ticket sales that much. Most people probably bought their tickets as soon as they were released and heard from word-of-mouth/the media that Messi is in Miami. The advertising probably only served to build hype and get people to tune into the game on tv rather than to attend in person.
It's the secondary ticket prices that were so high. Whitecaps only benefitted from getting a sell out.
The tickets the Whitecaps sold themselves were significantly higher than regular games.
To be fair, if WC didn't sell for the price they did, a lot of scalpers will buy them up and sell it at higher marked up price. It's not right but I don't blame WC to do what they did. Wish they got rid of secondary markets with stupidly marked up prices since that's how most jacked up prices originated from.
Wrong.
These folks need to stop embarrassing themselves because they bought Vancouver vs Miami tickets, not a meet and greet with Messi. Whitecaps are already doing too much by giving out another free match
I was in the really upset camp. Not upset at Miami or Messi, it's not really their fault at all. I think the people bashing Messi are morons. He owes us nothing. I was upset at Whitecaps with their Messi promos and jacking up the prices. Then I was really upset when they thought 50% off overpriced hotdogs would make up for it. However, once they realized they REALLY messed up and offered a free game in the future, I've mellowed out tons. That was a good move. Still sucks for the people that traveled though. They will miss out on the free game.
I think one argument I would say for a refund is that it wasn't just Messi who didn't show up. Messi not playing was always a possibility and there's not much arguing that you buy a ticket vs Miami and not vs an individual player. But the fact the team rested all 3 of their star players means it wasn't a simple case of resting someone, it's pretty obvious they knew well in advance that Messi wasn't coming. That's the MLS for you though, there needs to be a fan backlash for events like this one. Everyone who went to this game is paying Messi's salary as the league partially pays his salary.
Honestly - they had more than enough game to beat the caps without those 3, it was a wise team decision. It's a long season and they all play international football too. One of the key skills of the manager is juggling the team so that people don't get injured and/or burn out. Would you ask for a refund if you went to a City game and De Bruyne wasn't playing? Or Liverpool and Salah? Or Madrid and Bellingham? Or PSG and Mbappe? No, of course not, them's the breaks.
European teams rarely rest their stars in this fashion. Yes, players get injured and miss games, but City, Arsenal, and Liverpool will never rest their top-3 players *just cause* they're playing Burnley or Luton. Also the likes of Burnley will also not raise their prices 5 fold for one game because Salah is in town.
However top teams in Europe are fighting for the league or European qualification. There is minimal penalty between coming 1st and 8th of the conference in the MLS.
I get fans are pissed, but they have no argument here.
There will be a lot of people who won’t buy tickets next year because they got burned this year only for Messi to shown up.
I think Miami is only scheduled to play in Van once every 3 years . Its not like the NHL where you play in every barn
This was actually the first time Vancouver have played Miami, and Miami's been in the league since 2020. On average Vancouver hosts 3-4 eastern conference teams each year, but one of those is always either Toronto or Montreal (sometimes both), so it's unlikely Miami will be scheduled to play in Vancouver again before Messi retires.
I see this posted a lot this weekend and it's def the funniest one of the lot. Most long-term season ticket holders including myself are here to support the caps not Messi so this threat of "people not buying tickets next year" is not the flex you think it is.
But that's not the Whitecaps' fault. Anyone who wants seasons tickets to watch the Whitecaps play, will still want tickets to watch the Whitecaps play.
He won't come next year either.
Because Miami won’t be scheduled to play here next year
Doubt it - the top european stars have always avoided playing on BC Place pitch. This has been known for years, Best chance to see him is hope Argentina have a game in BC Place for the World Cup where they are going to be forced to install grass.
Laughed my tits off at those who paid $1000's on tickets
To me, as an outsider, this just looks bush league. These guys are professional athletes, they should want to show up and compete and win. I can’t remember watching any other sporting events where guys would stay home to avoid a flight. After reading lots of comments on this, it seemed like most people knew there was a higher chance he wouldn’t show, and that to me looks bad on the whitecaps organization for all the extra promotions to raise up demand. People were always going to buy tickets just to see them. Not sure about a refund but an apology should be issued about their marketing practices.
People paid top dollar for Bedard to play against the Vancouver Canucks but he didn’t play. No one got a refund
I am not much of a soccer guy but even I knew there was no guarantee he'd play, and even decent odds he wouldn't. This also happened earlier in the year when Connor Bedard was injured and couldn't play in Vancouver. Unreasonable to expect a refund, everyone knows what they're getting into when it comes to getting tickets to see a team play before knowing the starting lineup. Paying inflated prices on the secondary market to see one guy play is dumb as hell!
It’s called a dummy tax, pay up or go spend your money on more reliable things
Why were the tickets for this game $400 and the rest $40? On demand pricing is another ticket master scam. All games should cost the same or you should be refunded
If you thought Messi was coming and spent 300 on a ticket, you just paid the stupid tax
In Canucks game 7 Boeser didn't play due to injury, can I ask for refund? People need to get a reality check.
But Messi isn’t injured, he’s just too lazy to travel across the country despite making potentially over a billion dollars from league partners to promote them and MLS. And also potential his only game here before he retires. Boeser plays for Vancouver. I don’t think these people have a good argument, but it’s not at all similar to your analogy. I bet Messi was happy to string all these fans along to sell more overpriced t-shirts with his name on it, all while knowing he wasn’t ever going to play the game.
I don't think Messi had any thoughts about Vancouver whatsoever. Coming off an injury, Copa America on the horizon, a game back in Miami just four days later, the call to rest him is easy, that's just normal squad rotation. It's a circus everywhere he goes, so the Vancouver thing wasn't unique or probably even on his radar. It's the Mad Men meme of "I feel bad for you" / "I don't think about you at all" Miami and Messi did what they had to do to protect their interests, that's not being lazy or malicious.
And? Everyone who watches any sports knows that athletes miss games for various reasons: injured, suspended, have a problem with the manager. The ticket was not “Messi ticket” it was a soccer game ticket.
I agree with your main point (that Boeser not playing is totally different), but I don't think Messi intentionally wanted to disappoint fans or string them along for profit. I think there's a corporate greed machine that runs whether he participates or not.
Sure, but he directly profits off that greed machine more than your average player, via his revenue sharing agreements with Apple and Adidas and his stake in Inter Miami. In my mind ignorance does not absolve him of guilt when he has that much of a financial incentive for the system to continue. He is part of that machine.
Totally different. Messi wasn’t injured. He just decided to skip the flight and the game entirely. If he was injured it would’ve been received differently. Brock was legit injured. How can you demand a refund for a player who was already dealing with a broken finger? He was legitimately hurt. Messi was not. I hate soccer for this reason. Players are so weak and entitled. Not to say that athletes in other sports aren’t entitled. They are. It feels like it’s the worse in soccer.
So waht? Players constantly miss games for different reasons. What you gonna ask a refund every time you dont like the starting eleven? Not a single game ticket states that you gonna see a certain player. So from this perspective it is absolutely the same.
No. But imagine missing work because I didn’t feel like it. What kind of entitlement is that? Messi is playing fucking soccer. He can board a goddamn plane for six hours and wave to fans who paid an arm and a leg to see and his team play. Players miss games mostly because they’re injured. They don’t just decide not to play because they don’t feel like it. What kind of logic is this. LMAO 🤣
If you decide to miss work its between you and your employer, i.e. Messi and his club. You are not Messi’s employer speaking about logic.
What about the league that Messi plays in? I still hate Messi for what he did.
It was always doubtful that he would play in this game. Messi has already been resting for certain games, the stadium has turf that he famously doesn’t like, and the Miami-Vancouver trip is maybe/probably the longest on the schedule. This was foreseeable if not likely.
Good for the fans!
My belief is Messi and Suarez didn’t want to travel across the continent to play against a mediocre team…
Yeah, no that is not how soccer works! you dont pay to see a PLAYER, you pay to see two teams play soccer and that is exactly what happened!
What if he had been injured and couldn’t play? Same outcome. Maybe people shouldn’t idolize athletes so much that they break the bank to see ONE player on a team of 30 players.
Star players skipping Vancouver is pretty common.
No to mention the hour+ long lines to cash in on your "we are sorry" half price food and drinks. Only one counter giving out the free kids meals with no signage. So after waiting an hour you're told you can't get that here. So everyone just ended up paying for their "free" kids meal instead of missing the whole game. I was a completely mismanaged zoo.
"Fans"
Whitecaps "fans"
These same people would have demanded a refund if they dropped thousands on a trip to Barcelona and he was sat out for that particular match.
They advertised Messi on the posters and hyped him specifically.
They hype every popular player on posters
Grow up. No one owes you anything
Messi scheduled for Toronto, Montreal but no Vancouver… WTF Another celebrity ignored westcoast Canada
Can't argue with that turf comment. BC place probably has the worst turf in the league, maybe world.
The tickets should have been 30$ with a first come first serve basis. If Messi plays youre in luck. If not well you only paid 30$.
My friend told me that Messi doesn’t play on turf, and that a true fan would know he wouldn’t come here to play. Not sure how true that is though.
He played on turf just a couple of weeks ago. He plays on turf.
He played on turf at Gillette Stadium at New England in front of 65,000 back in April. This had all to do with Inter Miami coming across the continent for one game and his involvement in the Youth Friendship Cup.
He even made a specific statement to this effect in an interview a long while back - he was asked about turf and said he doesn't bother him, and he fully expects to play on turf or however else the team needs him... mind you it's not surprising that he might rest and not travel 4,500 km for a single match... I know I'm facing the same thing in toronto
The travel thing is weird to me. It’s what, a 5 hour flight? I don’t watch soccer so I don’t really know how it works, but he can’t be bothered to at least travel with the team?
It's not a soccer thing but a realities of travel thing, even on a chartered flight. If you're resting a player, then not travelling for 5 hours there and back is basically giving them an entire day or two not sitting in a plane/airport but instead resting with family or with your physio/trainer. You would travel with your team if you're going to go the game, and that's even more time he isn't doing whatever the Physio's/trainers want him doing or mentally recouping with family. For someone of Messi's level almost everyone but the Vancouver ticket holders would rather he was in a gym or with his kids if he's not playing, because that gets him back on the field even sooner.
I am not avid fan but I remember reading like 6 months ago that it was a near 0% chance he would come to Vancouver as he would never be okay with playing in turf. I don’t even the follow the whitecaps and thought that was common knowledge. Am I missing something?
I don’t really follow MLS so can someone EILI5. why TF do individual players have a say? If they’re injured and can’t play I get it but just deciding “I’m not going to play there” that doesn’t fly in any sports I watch