Shambles!

[NaitchB Niner]

Originally Posted by paulwebster09

Yellow was slow, maybe I just arrived at the wrong time - 4.50 from memory. It didn't help that the girl running our queue said the only thing that couldn't go through the scanner was phones and when we got to the front they wanted everything metal including belts!

Weird. I didn't see anyone in our section having to take off belts. In fact, it said on the scanners you could keep them on didn't it? I try to bring the bare minimal with me to events anyway; I just had phone and keys (I kept my watch on), didn't have a bag. I was through in a breeze. Preferred it to the awkward "pat down" lol

[NaitchB Niner]

Originally Posted by stocksy

Fanatics - not intent with running the online shop badly have taken over the stall on match days and this year was by far and away the worse for anyone wanting merchandise, and whilst I will agree most things you can buy online, a lot of stuff is unique to the day and the queues were far far worse than usual - none of the tents that are usually round the stadium were open, the ones inside were then swamped, people were queuing missing the game. They just got it wrong - then by half time people were still wanting items but the event items were sold out. - its turning down money and the NFL don't like that.

Where did the tents around the stadium disappear to? That's where I usually get any stuff. I was annoyed at that. Did the security zones have an impact on them? I wasn't desperate for anything this year but I told my friend from Seattle I'd try to get her a game-specific cap/bobble hat. They sold out fast online so no choice but to check at the game. I started queuing around 4:30 I guess. I stopped looking at my watch so no idea how long I was there for; I lost count of the number of people who wanted to walk straight through the middle of the queue to pass. At least offer me some of your chips if you're going to be too lazy to walk around When I reached the front the cap had sold out...but the sweet girl let me have the one on display. I've never seen the queues like that inside the stadium before.

Originally Posted by stocksy

I had to give up a pack of chewing gum - as it was "food". ha. ok.

For real? lol I feel like a criminal sneaking in my pack of mints

Originally Posted by stocksy

From the minute you got to Wembley you could just see it was a massive backwards step for how it felt, the energy, set and everything was different.

The energy and atmosphere was due to the changes.

Funnily enough, the guy behind me in the merchandise queue mentioned this about the energy and atmosphere.

[paulwebster09]

Originally Posted by stocksy

Before I start I will say I have been to all 22 IS games and most will know from year on year I have be a big defender and fan of the IS games - so I can comment with some experience - and it was definitely a backward step. In America, going to the football is an experience, I know there are certain long term members that think the IS should be a game and that's all - but that is the opposite of what it is in America, and whilst we unfortunately cannot replicate the NFL experience here easily - I believe we should keep in an experience that is more than just 60 minutes of football.

The issues Sunday though reach far further than stripping back the experience, everything was worse.

Fanatics - not intent with running the online shop badly have taken over the stall on match days and this year was by far and away the worse for anyone wanting merchandise, and whilst I will agree most things you can buy online, a lot of stuff is unique to the day and the queues were far far worse than usual - none of the tents that are usually round the stadium were open, the ones inside were then swamped, people were queuing missing the game. They just got it wrong - then by half time people were still wanting items but the event items were sold out. - its turning down money and the NFL don't like that.

The programmes was a similar story - I don't usually buy mine before the game and in attempt to keep it nice buy towards the end, its never been an issue before - this year that option was gone. I wasn't too upset as in recent years I have not bought one for every game but its another small change that I don't really get - again seems like turning down money.

Tailgate security was laughable. Pepsi give you a can on the walk up, you start to drink it, get near tailgate - "cant bring that in here" - walk through security - pepsi guy gives you another can.. go to leave tailgate with another one open and drinking it - "cant leave here with that" - walk through back out and guy gives you another one... hahaha that's just stupid.

The American couple in front had a baby - security didn't want to let the baby milk and baby food in... that's just insulting to us as a nation.

I had to give up a pack of chewing gum - as it was "food". ha. ok.

From the minute you got to Wembley you could just see it was a massive backwards step for how it felt, the energy, set and everything was different.

The energy and atmosphere was due to the changes.

The seahawks fans papered over the cracks somewhat as they were fantastic but all in all in was a badly organised shambles compared to previous years and they should be getting better not worse.

I know resident "niche sports" guy BuffaloG will be on hand like in every thread to tell us why our opinion and the evidence we prove is wrong but that's just white noise now.

I am glad I am not the only one who felt exactly like this (this was my 19th game). I had not realised that Fanatics had taken over the Merch. They really need to employ more staff inside if they are not going to open outside. As I have previously mentioned, have some programme sellers inside. There are enough booths that weren't even open in the lower tiers. Surely NFLUK knows how much merch they shift on game day yet they could not cope!

I think (hope) that the entrance queues will reduce as people get used to the "airport style" checks.

I am not sure how they sort the food queues out as these seem to be better some games than others. This wont be a concern to me anymore as they have priced me out!

[paulwebster09]

Originally Posted by NaitchB Niner

Weird. I didn't see anyone in our section having to take off belts. In fact, it said on the scanners you could keep them on didn't it? I try to bring the bare minimal with me to events anyway; I just had phone and keys (I kept my watch on), didn't have a bag. I was through in a breeze. Preferred it to the awkward "pat down" lol

Maybe I look dodgy, I got the pat down as well!!!

[NaitchB Niner]

Originally Posted by paulwebster09

Maybe I look dodgy, I got the pat down as well!!!

Hahahaha no way! That's how I got my illegal pack of mints through I guess

[jamesd37]

A lot of things already acknowledged, but want to agree that it was quite a shambles this year.

Security

Security wise, it was pretty disruptive and felt way over the top. It was also inconsistent, one checkpoint told me to remove my belt and watch, the next one didn't. They made it hard for fans to freely move around and it felt pretty intrusive compared to previous years.

The top part of the concourse was normally accessible before the game and gave people more space to move, food, drink and toilets but now it was all closed off until security opened it when the stadium gates opened, thus confining people to less space in the meantime.

Food

Food outside the stadium, seems like there was far less then usual years. Official tailgate area was completely packed with people and massive queues for every food stand. Around the outer stadium concourse, all the usual food stands were closed.

Merch

The merch shop seemed far worse. Instead of having things on display so you could see from a distance, you now had to actually queue and go inside to see what they had as it was all closed off. Again, massive queues.

They could sell so much more merch if they made it easier. I don't know why they can't have separate pop up stands selling just hats etc, or why they got rid of all the smaller merch stores around the concourse.

Construction

The fact that the whole area is a building site also ruined things slightly. If you're looking for a iconic view of the stadium, it doesn't really exist anymore as there are luxury apartment buildings going up all around it.

A good thing though is that there is now bud served throughout the stadium instead of carlsberg, and all the serving staff were polite and friendly.

[Scorpion]

Interesting to read everyone's comments. My wife and I attended games at Twickenham and Wembley last year and my wife was very clear that she was not setting foot in Wembley stadium again as she found the organisation, range of food and drink on offer and general experience to be grossly inferior to Twickenham.

Echoing an earlier point I have been lucky enough to attend a few games in the USA in St.Louis, Minneapolis, Green Bay and New Orleans. I agree that I don't think we've yet managed to match the American game experience. A lot of that I think is down to Wembley as a venue - I've never enjoyed Wembley as a venue for football (soccer) either. I'm actually hoping it IS sold, because I think Mr Khan would do a better job of running it.

[stuntman_mike]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

Interesting to read everyone's comments. My wife and I attended games at Twickenham and Wembley last year and my wife was very clear that she was not setting foot in Wembley stadium again as she found the organisation, range of food and drink on offer and general experience to be grossly inferior to Twickenham.

Echoing an earlier point I have been lucky enough to attend a few games in the USA in St.Louis, Minneapolis, Green Bay and New Orleans. I agree that I don't think we've yet managed to match the American game experience. A lot of that I think is down to Wembley as a venue - I've never enjoyed Wembley as a venue for football (soccer) either. I'm actually hoping it IS sold, because I think Mr Khan would do a better job of running it.

Interestingly I didn't enjoy the Twickenham experience much at all. From the walk from the station, the lack of decent pubs around the ground and then the ridiculous idea of having fans queue up and have to show their tickets for the Tailgate and there not being enough entrances for this, they did this in the early years at Wembley but that was when games kicked off at 6pm and the gates were open from 10am. Two hours before kick off is just silly and asking for mania. That's before you get me started on the after-game party which was just redzone on a big screen in the rain...

We're not even close to the American game experience, and we probably never will be to be fair. The cultures are too different. I've attended NFL and Division I/II games in the states and the tailgate, for example, is completely different. It's much more of a community/state fair, especially during college games, with localised communities taking part. That isn't going to happen a a major international venue for obvious reasons. What the Tailgate could benefit from in this country and attract more interest is what you find during test match lunch breaks in cricket, and that's NFL personnel (current, former players, execs, famous people within game etc) Q and A's, autograph sessions, the Super Bowl being here for every game for photo sessions etc. At the moment it is basically a huge merchandising tent and a bunch of food and drink trucks that are typical for any major sporting event. That's not a tailgate, that's what you'd expect anyway.

Wembley is indeed a mess, it's currently a huge financial burden on the FA. England don't make anywhere near enough to cover it's overheads and it racked up huge debt with the delayed completion on the stadium. That won't be cleared until 2024 and it's interesting that a potential sale and complete handover would potentially take up to six years. That means the FA knows it's not a profitable venture to run. The big problem with major venues in London is that now there's too many of them. The Olympic Park is start to picking up music gigs again, you've got the o2 which is completely integrated into the music and live entertainment industry and it's relationship with AEG, who are the largest music promoter in the world, means they are the go-to option now for the world's largest stars when touring the UK. Throw in Wembley arena and the multiude of medium to small arenas, it's now infested and there's simply not enough money to go around and the FA are ditching Wembley and clinging onto it's direct profit asset, Club Wembley.

[AfcBOli27]

My take may differ to the majority somewhat.
Been going to the games since 2013 and only missed 2, so 14 games.

In the past we got to Wembley approx 1.5-2.5 hours before kick-off. This has been due to new people within the group wanting an extensive look round or due to the state of the public transport we use to get across London.
Sunday i almost miss judged our groups leaving time from home (partly cos its a few years since a 6pm start at wembley) and despite much panic on my part we arrived at Wembley Central just after 17.00.
Not really an issue its a 10 min walk to the stadium, down the high street and past the station.
Get to the road where we normally turn right up to the turnstile area (we then turn left and are at our turnstile) but its only access for a colour zone that isnt ours (which is yellow). Luckily i read the tickets when they arrived so had pre-empted this funneling of people so just followed the signs for "yellow".
The signed route seemed to take us half way round the stadium, passing 2 closed sets of steps that have been used in the past for access higher up. Eventually got to the security gate bit where everyone seemed to be queuing for the first few scanners despite 3 stewards stating there were much shorter queues further down (ours had 3 people in front of us).
Through the security in minutes as we only had to remove phones, then had walk a quarter of the way back the way we came round the stadium to our gate.
Mad crush of people in the concourse getting food etc. but were in our seats with 25mins still left on the kick-off countdown clock.


To many, that all may seem rushed and chaotic (especially if you have kids) and in some ways it was. However, all of our group (late 20s-late 30s) have been going to soccer matches at our respective clubs for years so are used to crowds and arriving shortly before kick off.
The building work around the stadium is a joke and i imagine eventual resident will moan about the stadium being there but that seems to London for you, if there is space theyre building on it.
I used to enjoy being able to wander round the upper walkway around the stadium as its was less chaotic and the merch stalls they used to have there were really useful.
I think having the security before the walkway was better than having it inside the stadium after the turnstiles as this used to cause big hold ups and was more akin to the Twickenham setup, however the space its too confined with all the building work happening.
If people thought getting through security and turnstiles was bad, its nothing compared to what i have every other weekend at Bournemouth (yes bournemouth with its tiny 11,000 capacity stadium) where it takes 10-20 mins to get through the (now) electronic turnstiles. It used to be half that when they were manned and im sure we are the only PL club that searches its own home supporters
Dont do food and drink within any stadium unless im desperately thirsty so prices dont affect me, or the people around me its seems, who came back with multiple drinks and food 2 or 3 times during the game.

Sunday reminded me that i still despise Wembley and that (selfishly) Twickenham is better (we can walk from the car to the stadium which is less confined and chaotic).

As another poster said, perhaps things would be better run if Wembley is sold to Khan though my concern from a soccer point of view is the FA will trouser the money without the reinvestment into the grass roots of the sport.

[dannyh1991]

Been going since 2014 and agree that it's getting worse.

It used to be nice, open and felt special having a drink in the tailgate or watching the stage with the stadium behind you. It just felt better. People used to sit on the grass and benches having a drink where its now cranes and the concrete buildings..

Now it feels like a claustrophobic building site. We had a couple of drinks that we took with us in the raider fan area, we started walking towards the tailgate but gave up after walking most the way down a busy road with building fences each side.
I started queuing for beer with a little left to play in the 2nd quarter, card machines in the stadium went down and they ran out of budweiser and everyone was still waiting halfway into the 3rd quarter so I gave up and went back to the game. How can they promote only 35% of the stadium accepts cash and then have a card machine failure.

Earlier this year I changed my mind on going to the IS this year and sold my Wembley season tickets to use the money towards going to Boston at the end of September and see the Patriots play at Gillette Stadium... One of the best decisions Iv made, you can clearly see how better set up the stadiums are over there for games.... Tailgate, bars, fan areas, bud light deck overlooking the field and players warming up, never had to wait for a beer as it was so avaliable and people serving actually wanted to serve you, never saw a queue (apart from having a photo with cheerleaders aha) ...And we smashed the Dolphins aha

Maybe going to watch an authentic game has ruined the IS for me or made me realise how tacky or poor it actually is... I hope Mr Khan does but Wembley and improve the way the stadium operates, but also hope they never bring a franchise here.

Side note - it was nice of the raiders to give the Seahawkes an extra home game this season lol