News of Manchester United coming to California for their pre-season match against San Jose Earthquakes would usually create enough buzz to have soccer fans lined-up out the door for tickets. Yet it was the exact opposite in San Jose.
The Avaya Stadium in California, host of the 6th match in the International Champions Cup, only holds a capacity of 18,000, but there were plenty of seats up for grabs heading into Tuesday's match. So, the Earthquakes ran a promotional offer with United to give away free Nike kits with the purchase of two tickets. Pretty good deal, if you’re a United fan, but the shirts are soon to be outdated.
You can’t blame San Jose for scrambling to sell tickets as quickly as possible. The venue was changed last minute to better accommodate Manchester United’s travel plans. After all, the Red Devils do bring a bigger presence than the Earthquakes.