General Admission and the North End go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. Like avocado and toast. Like Sinc and Tobin or Diego and Diego. 

The North End should stay General Admission. In 2012, the 107ist board wrote down a long list of reasons why it is vital that the Timbers Army sections remain General Admission. Since 2013, the Riveters have also been rooted in the General Admission sections of the North End. When the North End is full to the rafters, our singing makes it easy for the whole stadium to join in. 

Please take a few minutes to read the blog post and the comments.

Today the Timbers & Thorns sent out a “July Supporter* Survey” inside the June Gate E newsletter. The Front Office is looking to learn more about Annual Members’ feelings regarding Safe Standing terraces. 

The 107ist board recommends that every season ticket holder fill out the survey and use this opportunity to let the Front Office know your interest in Safe Standing, like what is available in 8 other MLS & NWSL stadiums. In each one of these stadiums, the terraces have either been added or built to create a different kind of home field advantage and a unique supporter experience. 

The 107ist board also wants to provide some additional context as to why we think the this survey is targeting your preference with regards to Reserved Seating as opposed to adding Safe Standing to the General Admission North End. 

While the survey is being presented to inquire about how Annual Members feel about Safe Standing, many of the questions also relate to your future ticketing preferences, which also means ticket pricing. These topics are not new to the 107ist board, as Safe Standing has been discussed with the Front Office since 2013. Their original proposals for terraces called for the North End sections of the lower bowl (100 level) to be converted and then specific sections of the upper bowl (200 level) would become Reserved Seats. The board opposed the loss of General Admission seats. And Reserved Seats also means more expensive tickets. See below for the price breakdown for 2020 season tickets for Thorns and Timbers:

• 2020 Thorns General Admission season tickets: $150

• 2020 Thorns Reserve Seat season ticket, lowest price: $215

• 2020 Timbers General Admission season tickets: $475

• 2020 Timbers Reserve Seat season ticket, lowest price: $600

The 107ist board has been advocating for Safe Standing in the North End since 2013. Safe Standing should not equal more Reserved tickets as it would make it harder for new fans to experience their first Timbers or Thorns match. We already have issues with scalpers around Providence Park, and this would make General Admission tickets even more valuable on the secondary market. Most importantly, shrinking the number of General Admission sections would severely impact the gameday atmosphere for which Providence Park has become known. Safe Standing should not be an either/or argument. Safe Standing can happen while the North End remains General Admission. 

We want Providence Park to have Safe Standing Terraces. But not at the expense of pricing out our current members or new fans. It is as important today as it was in 2012 that the Supporters sections remain General Admission. 

*Note: while the survey is listed as a “supporter survey”, the survey was not administered in partnership with the 107ist board.