'04 Altanta Nationals

[kara]

Does anyone know when tickets went on sale? Thanks!

[Spinner]

I believe last year, but not sure exactly when. Most of the 'good' seats are already gone, so your best bet (if you want to attend) is to wait until a month or so before the event when many people with tickets are unable to attend and post them for sale online (here, SkateFans mailing list, etc). That's how Adrian and I got front row for Nat's in LA!

Good luck!
Spinner

[adrianchew]

Stop giving away the secrets - we need to get 2 more of those for Atlanta! :!:

[mikey]

LOL!

But I really don't get all the hype... for Nationals in LA, I was able to get VIP tickets in the 4th row behind the judges, right next to the Kiss and Cry area, and I only ordered online about 6 months before the event.

Maybe I am just lucky, but I have always managed to get pretty good seats without ordering years in advance. Best of all, I had front row all-event seats right behind the judges at Europeans 2 years in a row- Vienna, and Bratislava!

That being said, I just now ordered all-event tickets for DC Worlds online... I guess it'll test my theory by seeing how bad THOSE seats turn out to be 8)

[Scott]

I think that getting tickets in places like LA is easier because these are not figure skating towns. If the Events are in places like Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, etc tikets are generally harder to get. I am not sure what the situation will be in Dallas or Atlanta as I don't really know how popular the sport is there. I wonder how tickets will sell for the Worlds competition in DC this year?

[IgglesII]

[quote:a1aae6b747="Scott"]I wonder how tickets will sell for the Worlds competition in DC this year?[/quote:a1aae6b747]

Well, considering how popular figure skating is in the surrounding states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware (!!!), and Pennsylvania, I'd have to say they won't have much problem.

Plus, factoring the large multinational population of DC (diplomats and their families), members of Congress and the Executive branch and their families, and I'd say there's a real good chance every event in DC is going to be a sellout.

[Trillian]

[quote:b4ad1d2851="Scott"]I think that getting tickets in places like LA is easier because these are not figure skating towns.[/quote:b4ad1d2851]

We-ell...that may be true of the general public, but personally, LA would be one of the first places that would come to my mind if you asked me to name skating-heavy areas around the country. There are a lot of clubs in the general area that send numerous skaters to nationals every year, after all, plus lots of coaches and a fair-sized group of international skaters. Skating may not be the most popular sport with the general public, but the LA area has one of the biggest communities in the country when it comes to people within the sport (a lot of whom, frankly, have money) and I'd imagine that sells quite a few tickets.

I certainly wouldn't characterize Dallas or Atlanta as "figure skating towns", though--both have decent sized communities with a handful of top notch coaches and/or competitors, but nothing on LA's scale. And they're not places where the general public typically goes crazy over figure skating, either.

[adrianchew]

[quote:842790f5de="Trillian"]We-ell...that may be true of the general public, but personally, LA would be one of the first places that would come to my mind if you asked me to name skating-heavy areas around the country. There are a lot of clubs in the general area that send numerous skaters to nationals every year, after all, plus lots of coaches and a fair-sized group of international skaters.[/quote:842790f5de]

I was both in LA and Boston for Nationals. The makeup of the crowd was totally different in LA. While they were present there seemed to be far fewer young girls in LA that were present at Boston. For the most part the crowd for the first few days were more the out of towners. I doubt that even despite the strong showing of clubs - that LA has nearly the skating strength of New England.

[Scott]

Adrian, you made a good point. I noticed that the level of crowd excitment at LA didn't compare to Boston. I don't think that the city was anywhere as well tuned into th event as in Boston and I think that the reason for this is that LA is just so big that the general public wasn't paying attention. Also, the downtown area of LA is devoid of a population and is not really that accessible due to the lack of public transportation.

[kara]

I see that I never responded to this...sorry and thanks for your comments! I waited until the end for LA and through some great internet people got awesome seats and other good stuff all at a reasonable price. This time, I ended up buying for Atlanta after I posted this thread b/c I didn't want the stress of organizing everything at the last minute. I guess I won't have quite as good seats, but, oh well:) ...

[liljimeo]

I know how to get to Atlanta! heehee
I am too scared to fly, didn't use to be but yea, and we were going to go to Skate America tickets were already paid for. But I couldn't get on the plane. Atlanta is a long drive... but at least I have been there before. I wanna go!
I think that Nationals might be in Nashville soon... sometime before 2010... If it is I am there faster than you'll never know!

[jkl]

Well,liljimeo, Nationals won't be in Nashville any time soon. We were eliminated for the 2006 Nationals before a site visit was ever made. Seems money/sponsorship was hard to come by.:(

[Beth2000]

Adrian and Spinner if y'all really want to save money my husband and I are opening our home to out of towner's.

The way they have it set up for Nationals here in GA is really neat and very simple. The Senior Nationals will be at Phillips Arena and the Junior Nationals will be right across the street at the World of Congress(GA). They have the auto show there all the time. It is a really big place. But, no one will have to catch a bus. They are right across the street from each other.

I still need to buy some tickets.

[speedy]

I've got my tickets for Dallas and Atlanta, ordered VIP's the day they went on sale so they better be good seats! Would you happen to know what the official hotel will be in Atlanta? I for one am loving the fact that it's in the South for 2 years! ;)

[Beth2000]

Speedy I am not sure what the official hotel is but, if I have to make a guess it is probably the Omini b/c that is in the same building or right next to the Phillips Arena.

[speedy]

Cool, thanks.