Dear Vermont Green FC community,
As we head into the USL League Two Playoffs, we felt it necessary to write to you all about ticketing and capacity at Virtue Field, our matchday experience, and–of course–the future.
We could not be more proud of this community. What this collective of Vermont soccer lovers has built in just four summer seasons is one of the great success stories in the American soccer landscape, and the credit belongs to you passionate Vermonters, near and far. Friday night’s playoff match sold out in seconds, and it took less than four minutes to sell out Sunday’s match, which is unprecedented.
While we celebrate our victories, on- and off-the-pitch, we feel it’s important for our club management to always have a dialogue with fans on how we can improve. We believe that one of the most important conversations to have with the fans is about the in-stadium experience and ticketing, so we can continue to maintain the joyous, celebratory, and now world-famous Virtue Field atmosphere.
So what are the problems that need to be solved?
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- Demand. Once again, due to the passion of Vermont soccer fans, we are currently facing an acute problem: the demand for tickets is far, far greater than the number of seats at Virtue Field. We will get back to this one later on in this letter, but as you can imagine, there are really no immediate, substantial solutions for upgrading capacity. Virtue Field is an awesome facility that we love dearly, and the University of Vermont’s support staff go out of their way to help us make it the best possible home, but no one has a quick and easy fix for more bleachers. They’re expensive, have to go through a University approval process, and take a lot of work to install and maintain.
- The in-stadium experience. Vermont Green fans have shown a desire to be kind, supportive, and mission-engaged supporters. As enthusiasm for the game heats up, the number of people in the stands, coupled with the general admission nature of the bleachers, can at times lead to discomfort, bad sightlines, or even a lack of space for folks who spent money on tickets.
- Secondary markets. Another unexpected growing pain. The secondary market of re-sold tickets, especially with season tickets, has made it much more difficult for us to track and predict expected turnout at each match. On top of that, it means fans need to be cautious of scammers and bad actors on the resell market. We’ve never allowed more than 2,500 individuals into a match, but the introduction of the secondary market has disrupted how we approach ticketing and capacity.
- Food and beverage lines. Perhaps the biggest piece of feedback we’ve received is around food and beverage lines. We want you to know that we hear you. In our current setup, the number of food trucks that are permitted on the concourse simply can’t satisfy the number of people who want to quickly grab food or a beverage. The local food trucks and their staff are incredible, and they do an awesome job providing some of the area’s best eats at these games, but even the best of the best have trouble keeping up with this level of demand. In the playoffs, we will be expanding the offering and welcoming another food truck.
- Construction on the north end hill. If you’re a regular, you’ll have noticed the construction in the north end. The University of Vermont is adding a building with a ticketing window, locker rooms, concessions, and bathrooms to the northeast corner of the venue. This is a huge net positive for Virtue Field, but we understand that in the short term it’s been a slight discomfort. We all miss the hill, especially these days where even the overflow sections are overflowing, and we thank you for your patience and understanding.
What are the solutions? Well, we think there are many solutions, in both the short- and long-term. Here is how you can help us in the short term:
- Always be courteous. This community is highly conscious and compassionate, so we’re already doing this at a high level, but we can always do more! Please make an honest attempt to not take up more space on the bleachers than you and your party need, and to not block sightlines by standing on the railing or in the walkways. Be cautious of your neighbors, and please respect the ADA seating at the bottom of each section. Everyone deserves a space, so let’s not overextend.
- Find the spot that’s best for you! Reminder: if you want to stand and be rowdy, there’s a WHOLE SECTION on the south stand where the Green Mountain Bhoys encourage a more boisterous environment. You can stand, jump, sing, clap, and be just a bit more exuberant than in other sections of the bleachers. If you’re up for it, especially on these big playoff match days, consider heading to the south stand! In this designated area, fans are allowed to stand up against the railing.
- Please, for now, avoid engaging in the secondary market. There are a few reasons we believe this is a slippery slope that could create longer term equity and access issues at our matches. We want to avoid Vermont Green tickets becoming re-sale items and we want to avoid scammers preying on ticket-seekers. Our hope is that no one has to pay more than the cost of a ticket to access a match.
- If you are not using your season tickets, please reach out to [email protected] and we will handle re-distribution.
- We cannot guarantee the authenticity of tickets that are not purchased on our website. We don’t want anyone getting scammed, so unless you are getting tickets transferred from a trusted individual, avoid the secondary market. In the future, we may consider an “unused ticket marketplace.”
- Have patience. Whether it be our incredible staff, interns, local food truck staff, or volunteers, please just remember that we’re all human. We want to make these matches the best they can be, and if you can be patient with us, we promise we’ll follow through with solutions whenever problems arise.
That’s how we can handle this in the short term. But what about the long term?
Well, this is the fun part. We believe that this soccer community–not just our organization–desperately needs to expand its soccer infrastructure. There are simply not enough pitches to play on, for semi-pro teams, youth teams, adult leagues, individual training sessions, or anything else. It’s not just football pitches, we need more green spaces that are accessible to everyone. We’re particularly inspired by the model the Football Association of Iceland used to transform their country’s relationship with the game.
As wonderful as Virtue Field is, 2,500 seats is no longer enough for what has proven to be a soccer-obsessed state. Whether we attempt to expand Virtue alongside the University, or earnestly begin the search for our own accessible, community-oriented, environmentally-conscious soccer-specific stadium, this offseason will entail many hours considering our next steps.
While we don’t have a plan to share yet, we’re not afraid to say that it’s time to make this our off-season priority. We hope that fans, partners, friends, and soccer lovers will let us know their thoughts. We are still a scrappy, boot-strapped small business. We don’t have billionaire owners or a financial entity backing us. We don’t have a real estate or construction team, but we believe that as a community, we can find a solution that will serve generations to come.
Vermont is a soccer state. Thank you all for writing this story with us, week in, week out.
Up the Green.
With gratitude,
Matthew Wolff, Sam Glickman, Patrick Infurna
Vermont Green FC Co-founders
P.S. Fans who’ve attended a match this season are encouraged to share their matchday experience in our fan feedback form. We read every single submission.