Dundee hoping for 'virtual' sell-out in Scottish Cup against Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic after implementing scheme which saw German third-tier club Dynamo Dresden recently sell over 70,000 tickets

Dundee have announced an imaginative plan to try and sell out Dens Park for this weekend’s Scottish Cup second round tie against Lowland League side Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic.

Dens Park, home of Dundee. The Championship club want to 'sell-out' the ground for this weekend's Scottish Cup tie against Bonnyrigg Athletic Rose. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

The Championship club are hoping to announce a virtual ‘sell-out’ in order to raise funds amid the current pandemic.

Using the vehicle of the 1893 Foundation – a supporter subscription scheme conceived last summer – Dundee are issuing ‘virtual’ souvenir tickets for £2.50 ahead of the closed doors fixture, which is being televised live by BBC Scotland on Saturday night.

The souvenir tickets, which will be emailed out to those who purchase them, will come with a link to an exclusive video message from manager James McPake ahead of the game.

The marketing ploy is similar to that successfully employed by the financially-stricken German third-tier club Dynamo Dresden last month. They sold 72,000 tickets for a German Cup clash against Darmstadt which was played inside an empty stadium. This was more than double the capacity of Dresden’s stadium. Only two games in the club’s history, both away from home, have had bigger attendances.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Dundee had already sold around 600 virtual briefs with the aim to sell-out the home sections at Dens Park initially. That would require around 7,000 sales, contributing nearly £20,000 to the club’s finances at a time when fans are looking no nearer returning to games following the Scottish Government’s decision to announce another lockdown on Monday.

A Dundee spokesman also expressed the hope that Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic fans may wish to buy a ticket as a souvenir of the occasion.

https://dundeefc.co.uk/news/help-virtually-sell-out-the-kilmac-stadium1/

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