The calm before the storm at La Beaujoire. This Wednesday evening looms one of the most enticing posters of the FC Nantes season. A semi-final of the Coupe de France, at home, moreover against Monaco, does not happen every day. The Yellow and Green supporters were not mistaken. “We had between 10,000 and 15,000 people in line when we opened the general public ticket officeexplains Benoît Guillou, head of the club’s ticket office. From noon to midnight, the site was saturated. Everything was sold in less than 24 hours.” With, in that time, major problems connecting to the website of the triple winner of the “Old Lady”.It was a bit difficult over the last few days and a big technical challenge, but we reacted well.“, he asserts.
“Everyone logged in at the same time, we couldn’t have expected it”
The quack was long enough for the club to be criticized on social networks. “Very very good performance of the FC Nantes website“, quips Thomas on Twitter. “The site has been down for hours“, gets annoyed for her part Lucette. “It’s a story of proportion and timejustifies the head of the ticket office. For other matches such as the reception of Marseille, also sold out, there was no problem since sales had been opened more than a month before. There, for Monaco, everyone connected at the same time, we could not expect it. We therefore reacted urgently with the technical service provider to absorb the traffic on the site and allow everyone to buy their tickets under good conditions.”
The enthusiasm was even stronger than for the reception in Paris.
For the first Coupe de France semi-final since 2006 at home – defeat against Paris Saint-Germain -, the people of Nantes responded. Some 34,000 people will be at Beaujoire, including around 300 Monegasques. “The demand for both games has been incredibleis satisfied Benoît Guilloi. We haven’t seen such traffic on the ticketing site for years. The enthusiasm was even stronger than for the reception in Paris.” The second sold-out game of the season after hosting Olympique de Marseille in December.
FC Nantes hopes to surf on this dynamic
La Maison Jaune, which worked with a local subcontractor on “the support and customer service part“when the tickets go on sale claims to have learned from his mistakes. And points to a rather rare set of circumstances.”Between January and March, the Cup matches follow one another very quicklypoints to the one also in charge of customer relationship management. Between the reception of Vitré and the semi-final against Monaco, only two months. It goes very quickly, in addition all the meetings took place at La Beaujoire, except the 32nd final.“A chance for the supporters finally back in the stadiums after two difficult years and who can enjoy a much more enjoyable season than the previous one. A boon for the club’s cash desks too.
“Now, we hope that, behind, this craze carries us until the end of the seasonconfides the one who arrived at FC Nantes, about five years ago. We have an interesting calendar until the end with the receptions of Angers, Bordeaux, Rennes and Saint-Étienne, four superb posters with derbies.” What may compensate for a subscription campaign as express as it is disappointing with only 5,000 aficionados who responded. An equation with several unknowns starting with that of the performance of Antoine Kombouaré’s men by May. A qualification for the final of the Coupe de France, this Wednesday evening, would certainly boost the crowds at La Beaujoire for the next few weeks.
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