So why is Forge FC now giving away all the tickets for the inaugural game of the Canadian Premier League, including the thousands they'd already sold?

There are a small handful of answers, but the primary one is simple: Bob Young wants them to do it — and he owns the team.

"It is very much a gesture toward the community of Hamilton," Young told The Spectator Wednesday, from a business trip in England. "Without the support of the community, there would have been no Tim Hortons Field; and without Tim Hortons Field, there would have been no CPL.

"This will be a historic moment, like the Grey Cup in Hamilton in 1972. Years from now people will say 'I was at the Forge's opening game' and nobody will believe them. We want to make it so people do believe them."

The Hamilton entry in the nascent professional league will not sell tickets to the league's inaugural game on Saturday April 27, when Forge FC will play host to York9 FC. Instead, it's holding a contest to win the tickets that remain after their Co-Founders — those who have bought season tickets or have paid a deposit to do so —exercise their options to receive extra no-charge tickets to the opener.

Team president Matt Afinec confirms that Forge has sold more than 4,000 season tickets and "is trending toward 5-6,000 by Opening Day." Even if all the Co-Founders exercise their full options for extra tickets, there are likely to be at least 15,000 free seats available to the general public, because Tim Hortons Field's soccer capacity will be more than doubled for that game only.

Those tickets are available via a first-come, first-served contest, requiring entrants to leave their names and email addresses at forgefc.canpl.ca/socceruniteshamilton. At the game, fans can make a voluntary donation to support youth soccer in the area.

As well as satisfying Young's wish to commemorate Hamilton as the CPL's nuclear reactor, the no-charge opening day also gives Forge FC a chance to break the record for the largest crowd for a sports event (currently the 24,512 who saw the Ticats' 2016 Labour Day game against the Toronto Argonauts) at Tim Hortons Field.

And it provides a massive loss-leader opportunity to market the new team to a broader audience.

With season tickets, flex packs and one-offs, the team likely would have reached close to 10,000 paid tickets for the opener — at an average price of $25 — so there will be an immediate financial hit for this promotion.

"No question," conceded Young, who said because sales were already going very well that it's not the same as the Arizona franchise in the pro football AAF giving away tickets to offset poor attendance.

"But we see it as delayed revenue as opposed to lost revenue."

Afinec called it a marketing opportunity, "to people who may not be interested in (CFL) football or haven't been to the stadium in the past, but are engaged in soccer." He believes the level of play and a positive experience at the game will bring them back for more.

Additionally, a large crowd would benefit the CPL which, through its business arm just worked out a 10-year, $200-million deal with a Spanish multimedia company for broadcast rights to CPL and Canadian national men's and women's national team games. No decision has yet been made on which platform the Forge vs. York 9 FC match will be broadcast.

Forge will open up all sections of the stadium for the home opener, while for the rest of the season soccer capacity will be limited to the 10,016 seats comprising the lower stands, club seats and suites. 'Social viewing' tickets, for areas of the stadium where there is just standing room and no seats, will also be sold for the first game, but not during the CPL season.

The official seating capacity for football is 23,218 and social viewing can add roughly 2,000 standees, so there are just over 25,000 potential tickets available for the league opener.

"I don't care if all we get is a stadium full of 12-year-olds because they can't afford the tickets," Young said. "We're thinking ahead. In 10 years, they'll be 22-year-old ticket buyers."

smilton@thespec.com

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