Chicago Fire offer free US Open Cup tickets to season ticket holders | OneFootball

There is no such thing as a free lunch, but for Chicago Fire FC season ticket holders, there are now free tickets, according to a post on X/Twitter from one season ticket member.

According to the post, the Fire are permitting season ticket members to acquire up to eight free tickets for the Fire's fourth-round U.S. Open Cup clash against Detroit City FC, to be played early next month at SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Bridgeview, Ill. (The Fire did not immediately return a request for confirmation of the offer.)

Season Ticket members in possession of two or more full-season tickets will also have the opportunity to redeem a voucher for free parking.

The gesture certainly reflects that the game could otherwise be a tough sell, given that the suburban location is a 14-mile drive from the Fire's original-turned-current home of Soldier Field, and without a direct link on the Chicago L. (When the Fire previously called the venue their permanent home, there were matchday shuttle busses from the L station at Midway Airport.)

It's also a weeknight during the school year, likely limiting the appeal for families with kids.

Still, it's also a laudable -- if sadly rare -- recognition by an MLS club front office that the best use of the Open Cup for MLS clubs is as a vehicle to grow their profile and the greater professional game.

While it isn't likely to result in a crowd similar to regular-season levels, it will almost certainly bring out hundreds of friends of season ticket holders who might not be willing to spend on regular season tickets before they are familiar with the experience of watching high-level pro soccer in person.

And perhaps a reasonable portion of them turn into people willing to invest in an MLS regular season experience periodically, in front of an even bigger crowd at a bigger, more accessible venue.

The Open Cup should be an MLS 'loss leader'

In business parlance, this is known as a "loss leader," an unprofitable way to get potential new clientel in the door, in the hope of building loyalty that turns profitable over time.

And despite the increasing wealth among the cadre of MLS ownership, it's disappointing how rarely teams offer fans the kind of loss-leading opportunity like this one.

To be clear, that's not the case most places in the football world. Many of the top cup competitions -- both domestic and international -- in Europe feature ticket prices that are more affordable than league games, sometimes as a requirement of their national or continental federations.

Closer to home, Liga MX sides have at times offered discounted tickets for Concacaf Champions Cup games to improve home atmosphere, particularly against MLS opponents.

To be fair, the Fire have one motivation a lot of other MLS clubs don't: the potential to fill many more seats than most others regularly while playing in an NFL-size stadium. A team that plays in a 20,000-seat ground and sells out nearly all the time isn't as pressingly concerned about growing its fanbase.