Major League Soccer announced their year-end awards for excellence in season ticket sales and retention on Sunday, and Sporting Kansas City was well-represented.
Sporting Kansas City earned plaudits for both season ticket sales for LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, as well as the League’s highest honor in season ticket holder retention. Several members of the Sporting Kansas City ticket staff were also recognized in the awards ceremony that took place just before kickoff to MLS Cup.
"We are very proud of the hard work of everyone in our organization this year and are thankful to all who helped make 2011 such a memorable and historic season," said Sporting Kansas City Director of Ticket Sales Jake Reid. "We look forward to improving on our performance in 2012 and making LIVESTRONG Sporting Park the most intimidating place to play in MLS."
As a team, Sporting Kansas City earned President’s Club recognition as one of the only teams in the league to build a season ticket base of over 7,500 for 2011. From an individual perspective, Jordan Kelsey, Emily Hanover, Chris Flynn, Jim McCollum, Ashley Green and James Krajsa were all recognized by MLS for their outstanding work in 2011.
Kelsey and Hanover were honored as Gold Level ticket representatives as being part of a small group across the League to generate over 400 new season tickets for the 2011 season. Flynn earned Silver Level honors (>299 new season ticket sales) while McCollum, Green and Krajsa all earned their place on the All-Rookie (>125 new season ticket sales) team for ticket sales across the League.
Sporting Kansas City also earned accolades for season ticket retention, being named into the Commissioner’s Club for outstanding season ticket retention, having renewed over 90% of their existing season ticket base in 2011.
These awards come on the heels of a landmark season off the field for Sporting Kansas City with the opening of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. In total, Sporting KC saw a 97% increase in ticket sales for the 2011 season, highlighted by 11 sell-out crowds throughout the year. The dramatic increase was buoyed by a record generation in new season tickets (over 6,000) as well as a nearly 8,000-person increase in average attendance from 2010.
