(Harrisburg, PA, April 1, 2007) - The Harrisburg City Islanders professional soccer team announced today that a limited number of tickets are on sale for a Match that probably won't ever occur. The City Islanders of the United Soccer Leagues' Second Division are selling 5,000 tickets at $1 apiece for a potential U.S. Open Cup home match against the Los Angeles Galaxy (Major League Soccer) featuring English soccer icon David Beckham.The City Islanders will sell the tickets exclusively via their website www.cityislanders.com until midnight April 23 or until the supply is depleted. The L.A. Galaxy are scheduled to play the Columbus Crew in an U.S. Open Cup qualifying match on April 24.
Fans who purchase tickets will receive an email confirmation and will be notified either when the match is scheduled or when it is determined that the match will not occur. If the match is ultimately scheduled the fans will receive an actual ticket valid for the event. If it is determined that the match will not occur, then 100% of all revenues raised will be donated in the name of David Beckham to the Harrisburg Parks Partnership, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose purpose is to assist the City of Harrisburg's Department of Parks and Recreation in the preservation, maintenance, expansion and development of the parks and city playgrounds.
"We may be the first professional sports team to sell tickets for an event that most likely won't ever happen," said General Manager Joe Sierko, "but we see it as a win-win situation. It's an opportunity to highlight our sport, our team, our city and a great cause. We would prefer to play the Galaxy but the odds are probably one in a million against it. So what I'm saying is, there is a chance."
Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is an 90-year-old single-elimination tournament. In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country's league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer. Additional information about the U.S. Open Cup is available at www.usopencup.com.
The Harrisburg City Islanders are one of just 31 professional outdoor soccer teams competing in the United States this season and they will begin their fourth season of play in the United Soccer Leagues' Second Division on April 21. The City Islanders have never qualified for the U.S. Open Cup in their brief history and their first seven League matches of the 2007 season will serve as qualifiers. The Islanders play their home matches at Skyline Sports Complex located on City Island in downtown Harrisburg. City Island is an island in the Susquehanna River between Harrisburg and Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania. The mile-long island is also the home of the Harrisburg Senators minor league baseball team and provides family based amusements such as a miniature steam railroad, carousel, riverboat, children's playground, batting cages, miniature golf, a riverside village, and a concrete beach.
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