Yankees Cut Premium Ticket Prices From "Exorbitant" To "Expensive"
For some reason, the New York Yankees are having trouble selling the most expensive seats in the new Yankee Stadium. Especially the ones in the front rows that are noticeably empty on TV. The New York Times has a rundown of the pricing changes.
The full-season, front-row $2,500 tickets behind the dugouts will be reduced to $1,250, and those who have already purchased such tickets will get a refund or a credit. Still, at $1,250, those tickets will remain roughly twice as expensive as the highest-priced seat at Citi Field, the Mets' new home.
Tickets along the first- and third-base lines that cost $1,000 a game will be cut to $650. Refunds and credits will apply as well.
Fans who have purchased $2,500 front-row season tickets behind and to the sides of home plate will not get a price cut. Instead, they will receive an equal number of front-row seats, for free, for the rest of the season, in what may be an attempt by the Yankees to fill up the empty spaces so visible on TV.
Well, that's awfully gracious of them in a taxpayer-funded stadium.
Yankees Slash the Price of Top Tickets [New York Times] (Thanks, Molly!)
(Photo: cali4niadreamn23)
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Baseball needs a reboot. Way too expensive. I would love to take my wife (since she has never been) but between us and getting there and tickets, it's an easy $300 for maybe 2 hours. I do not think that includes food.
I am happy that prices are somewhat coming down back to earth.
No one but the rich can now afford to see "events" (professional sports, Broadway plays, big-name concerts) in person. The rest of us are soooo out of luck. Extreme capitalism turns out to be fun only for the wealthy.
Tax subsidized sporting arenas are definitely a giant scam, but that's an entirely different issue. Now that they've gotten away with it, its up to them to sell tickets at a reasonable price (whatever the market will bear), which they seem to have exceeded in this here economy.
If only they had the technology to digitally add in more fans to fill the empty seats. That way they could go on charging whatever they want without having to worry about looking bad on TV.
I now refuse to attend hockey games. I used to go every once in a while, but now it's gotten out of hand, so I watch at home. The food's better, and the beer is cheaper/colder.
Now if EVERYBODY stayed out of the stadiums (not just Yankee, but the corporately-named ones) then, and maybe then, the prices might (I say might) come down to somewhat reasonable numbers. I am not holding my breath waiting for any of that to happen. I know people will still go, especially if they get $10 seats (or whatever bleacher seats cost).
I'm just wondering what _would_ happen if literally no one came to a game? That would be an interesting number in the box score the next day. Attendance: 0. Which league counts paid attendance vs actually attended?
@ludwigk: The green screen technology wouldn't work (I'm not saying you suggested it) since the green screen shows up during replays or anytime the centerfield camera is not used.
I guess it's time to get the visual effects companies to start looking at the problem so that they could come up with a way to do exactly what you suggested. All those crowd scenes in movies would then be replicated in baseball games.
Tell you the Gods honest truth, I have been to Yankee Stadium, and I have also been to "Blueclaw" Stadium nearby my house, which is a minor league team. For the money people spend on one GAME at a "major" stadium, they can see a season's worth at a minor league park, and the baseball is just as good.
Ah, the joys of having the godawful and relatively cheap Orioles and Nationals a short distance away.
Although I hate being an annoying away team fan, I love being able to see a Red Sox series at Camden for the price of one ticket at Fenway. Also nice: Camden and Nats stadiums let you bring your own food in.
This is why I love my minor league team. There's plenty of parking, the tickets are cheap, they have $2 beer/pop night once a week and the park recently lowered the prices on a lot of food and drinks. A family of four could go to a game and eat for about $50-$60.
@LegoMan322: Find a minor league team. The games are just as fun and it's much cheaper. Sometimes they have $1 admission or free admission with canned food donations.
When I was younger we could only afford to go to games when they offered free tickets. The White Sox and Cubs often gave out free bleacher seats if you turned in cereal box tops or candy bar wrappers. Those were good times.
@ElizabethD: Extreme capitalism turns out to be fun only for the wealthy.
So you want to do what? Socialize professional sports attendance so it will be "fair" for everyone?
Holy cow those are outrageous. I can get tickets along the third base line to see the Yankees at Safeco field for $70. If you want cheap seats how about $7 for the outfield? You can take the whole family of 4 and eat for under $100... probably under $50 if you really tried.
Well I am happy to say I live in a town where going to the theater, concerts, or a ball game don't break the bank. Granted I paid $70 a ticket to go see Lion King a few months ago but those were 12 row back seats. I could have paid $20 for the upper balcony. Which to me is affordable for a nice evening out.
I agree that ticket prices can be outrageous and I wouldn't mind seeing people stand up against it at the ballparks but I don't see it happening with the super-fans out there.
@LegoMan322: Ouch! My wife and I try to go at least once a year. A Braves game for the two of us runs about $20 without food. With food, probably $40. But... it's a Braves game...
Still, it's cheaper than a movie.
@LegoMan322: Not sure what your cost of "getting there" is (perhaps you live hundreds of miles away), but otherwise there's absolutely no need to spend "an easy $300," except maybe at Fenway Park because it's always sold out and you have to deal with scalpers or ticket brokers (which are the same thing...).
In the vast majority of parks you can get a decent seat for $25. If you require the front row or some special club seats where you have wine and cheese delivered to your seat, well, that's a different story.
$1,250 for one baseball game? That is obscene!
@LegoMan322: Baseball is one of the cheapest sports to see in person. Maybe don't buy such expensive tickets? I can get a decent seat at the Dodgers for under $30.
I've been to three or four baseball games in my life, and the one thing in common about every single one of those experiences has been the fact that all the players on the field are about two inches tall, there's a lot of lull between pitches, and it's just overall not nearly as exciting (or easy to watch) as it is on TV. Ahh, the magic of multiple camera angles.
That said, I really do enjoy being at baseball games. I'm only schooled in the basics of baseball, and couldn't tell you what RBI actually means, but I get the concept, and that makes it enjoyable enough. But I draw the line at spending an outrageous amount of money on tickets. At the same time, even $5 spent on nosebleed tickets is a waste if all I'm doing is watching a screen. I can just as easily stay home and watch it on a screen.
i think the problem is that there is so much space required to play baseball that unless you've spent money on pretty decent seats, you're going to have a hard time tracking that little white ball without the help of the big screens. And if I'm going to a baseball game to focus on the screens to tell me what's going on, why didn't I just stay home?
Oh I know why...the hot dogs.
@Canino: I second this. Minor league teams FTW!
I've probably had more fun at a Bowie Baysox game than I ever had watching the Orioles at Camden Yards. Not only were the beer and hot dogs cheap, they also featured a decent fireworks display at the end of the game, and free parking.
I thought the stadium was funded by the Yankees and not subsidized. Well I guess it depends on whether you include the tax free bonds.
@ElizabethD: The funny part about it is that the super rich -- the only people who can afford the tickets -- are afraid to go to the games because of the public lashings that took place after the AIG bonus fiasco.
@Spero: Are you joking? Lowering prices of tickets to popular events equals "socialism" to you?
No, actually it shows that "extreme capitalism" works.
Maybe you should ask ElizabethD why she thinks "Extreme capitalism turns out to be fun only for the wealthy" because to me that sounds like a call to regulate something.
And on top of the expensive prices, the frackin' loud ads they play between innings destroys any motivation to go
@Alex Chasick: Nats stadium has really good food inside though. 5 guys, Red Hot and Blue, Ben's Chilli Bowl...
I remember they were complaining that the Nats were charging 300 a seat for these seats...granted the Nats are terrible...
I normally troll in support of the companies, but the consumerist editors got this one right on.
We tax payers shouldn't be paying a dime for these sporting arenas. But some in local governments think it helps the city (and it probably does) so they throw money at them.
But what are we getting back? If we are to invest in these arenas, we have demands dammit!
@nybiker: because of the swine flu, high school sports and some professional soccer games are being played without audiences. They could use that tech. now.
@Raekwon: They give out free tickets to the Orioles to try to get you to donate to the Fire department.
@pecan 3.14159265: You need to go to more baseball games. I had 20 for the Nats last season that were $20 a ticket (I'm not even a real baseball fan...). We were a row back from right center field. You could see everything perfectly.
Could it possibly be with Joe Torre out of the picture, the Yankees are entering a long, dark era of suck? As far as I know, Fenway Park is sold out every game.
How about getting rid of the 5$ cokes and hot dogs or the 10-15$ parking or reducing the 3$ T shirt with printing on it from 30 to like 15 or something .
This is a big duh - it's a fracking game .
@Alex Chasick: You gotta be an away team fan if you move away from your team. ;) I spent the first 25 years of my life in Boston but now that I live in NoVA, I'm psyched about the Sox series at Nats stadium in June and looking forward to going with my college roommate. :)
I can understand why Fenway tix are so expensive -- supply and demand is definitely on the team's side up there -- but I am very glad for (relatively) cheap Nationals tickets.
@bilups: Well, as much as I will always carry a torch for the Red Sox (born in Boston, and it's in the water up there), part of the reason Fenway's always sold out is because it's the smallest major league ballpark left. ;) Low supply + high demand...
Here in Minnesota Twins tickets are the cheapest in the major leagues. I'm sure it has something to do with having an enormous capacity since we share the HHH Metrodome with the Vikings, but the cheap seats are $7, half-price on student nights with $1 dome dogs. Seriously. Going to a game is about the same as going to a movie and it makes for a great grassroots love of the game. I wish more teams operated on this model.
@snowburnt: Dear God, why can't I avoid the Nats stadium food? Last time I was there, I had the giant cheese steak...it was dripping with grease, and I felt sick the entire afternoon..but it was delicious.
I think the seats I had were maybe $60 a ticket? We got a pretty good view too. Of course, it's not as awesome as being in the second row, but for $60 it wasn't bad. I am speculating on the price, though, as we scored free tickets.
@Etoiles: How much do you think they're going to increase ticket prices for that? I'd love to see the Sox play the Nationals, as I like both teams.
When i go to an Oakland Athletics game it costs me $1.40 to take BART go in with food from wherever i like as your allowed to bring in outside food so lets say $10 at the most for food. I buy these $40 cards at Costco that let you buy four $24 tickets, that's a savings of $14 a ticket, more then half off! So let's add up my cost, $21.40 is what it costs me to go to a game. Now I know some people like to sit behind home plate for whatever reason. But that will only cost you $48 for a seat in Oakland. I think the problem here is "overly" profitable teams don't care about the fans or tradition they only care about there bottom line. Stop supporting the Evil Empire that is the Yankees. BTW Giants ticket prices are pretty bad, but not Yankees bad.
@pecan 3.14159265: They had a lotto for the chance to buy tickets, because a lot of people want to see that one, hehe. As far as I could tell ticket prices were normal; I splurged a bit and bought a pair of $38 (I think) seats because I haven't been to a ballgame with my friend in 6 or 7 years, but there were less expensive ones available.
They just e-mailed me that they had another round of the lotto so maybe there are still some tickets to be had? :)
Supply and demand has spoken. Please, don't tell Obama. He will get a baseball czar to control ticket prices, too.
@ElizabethD: This is about a monopoly and bribery. The sports franchises are, in effect a monopoly: they set the prices, there is no competition and the sports complexes are paid for mostly with tax dollars. The franchise owners "convince" the local officials to spend tax money on a sport complex so they can control it make a ton 'O money off of it and the tax payers foot the bill. I won't pay the fare to watch a live game for many reasons, but I'm not happy about paying for the venue with my tax dollars.
@snowburnt: True. They also allegedly have an amazing beer selection although it seems like each beer place only has a couple kinds and I don't feel like walking around the whole stadium.
@pecan 3.14159265:
@Etoiles: The Nats' marketing for the Sox series has been ridiculous. Thus far, the tickets were only available to season ticket holders. That obviously didn't sell them out, so they had a lottery to buy them. Still didn't sell out, so they had a second chance lottery (which is when I got them) a couple weeks ago. Then this week I got an email about a last chance lottery to get the tickets. I guess last chance before they go on sale to the general public? In any case, if you decide to get tickets, I'd suggest calling their box office and buying that way, as you don't get charged a convenience fee and they'll have the tickets available at will call that day for free. When I did the lottery they were charging per ticket for printing them out yourself. I understand this will probably be the big draw of the season for the Nats, but they have to understand that the Sox are playing like 15 games 45 minutes north of them just like they do every year, and those tickets aren't jacked up.
@H1N1_GitEmSteveDave: I've heard rumors that fans can bring Sparks or flasks or whatever in if they stow them in the hood of their jacket.
There's also the old standby of hiding something under lady products and going to a male security person.
@Desk_hack: Food, beer, parking, driving there. Just to get into a stadium by me that is $50 tickets per. NY teams are just too expensive to enjoy
@gggtur: Seriously? You gotta cut back on the crazy a little, there... no need to have a freezing cold beer. :P
Guinness is best, in my opinion, about 55 degrees.
Recession, a bad team, steroids and overpriced seats = bad news for baseball
It is a larger problem than just an expensive price tier of seats. Imagine a family of four, making $50,000 a year, trying to go to the ballgame. $6 hot dogs, $4 sodas, $4 peanuts, tickets, parking and souvenirs for the kids, it's just not feasible anymore.