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April 28, 2009
Yanks field-level seats now a mere $1250!
CNBC's Darren Rovell reports that the New York Yankees have cut prices on some of their highest-priced seats in an attempt to fill those embarassing empty sections at their new stadium:
The $2,500 per game seats, that weren't selling as the Yanks had hoped, will now cost $1,250 per game.
The $1,000 per game seats will now cost $650 per game.
Fans who already purchased these seats on a season basis at their old value can either get a credit on the difference or a refund.
Rovell says "about 600" seats are affected, so it's safe to assume that most of the muckety-mucks in the "Legends Suites" won't be looking at refunds, only those who until now had bare plastic for neighbors. (The official press release seems to confirm this, but I'm not gonna be the one to sit with a seating chart and decode it.) It remains to be seen whether the blizzard of press attention this is sure to get helps the Yanks look less greedy, or merely feeds the fire of the public's schadenfreude.
Meanwhile, New Stadium Insider, which posted the press release above, also analyzed the available Yankees seats listed on FanSnap.com and came up with this:
Doing math based on the rounded numbers of tickets available according to the site (which does not include all ticket brokers, or Craigs List), an average of 16,900 Yankee tickets are available on the secondary market for each game. In other words, 35% of the per-game inventory sold by the Yankees is now back on the market, presumably with the intent of making a profit.
Whether the buyers will be able to make their money back is as yet unclear; NSI notes that some tickets are selling at above face value, but also that plenty of other people are dumping tickets for next to nothing. Too bad there's no way to see "Completed Sales" on StubHub.
What do you call it when a "snob good" gets turned into a "sap good"?
Posted by floormaster squeeze on April 28, 2009 05:52 PM
That's actually pretty smart on the Yankees part. The complimentary tickets are sure to help fill in the empty "TV" seats.
In the end I guess the Yanks found out exactly what the market could bare in premium seat purchases.
Thanks as always for your amazing site Neil. One of the most informative and entertaining places on the Web. You should def have FoS hats and t-shirts for sale.
Posted by Thomas on April 28, 2009 10:58 PM
How fair is it that many great fans have been moved to the outfield and upper tiers? Now less loyal fans who don't have season plans will be able to buy at a big discount in those very sections that the loyal fans were moved out of.
Posted by Sad Yankee Fan on April 29, 2009 01:13 AM
So silly. So sad. Who cares if the price is $2,000 or $1,000. As our economy crumbles before us, these prices seem vicious insults. But, really, the building stands as a disaster, and it's all irrelevant now. Sadly, the ridiculous spectacle of these "discounts" only highlights what has been lost. Beauty. Integrity. Excitement. Poetry. Soul.
Oh Man, the glory that once was Rome...
Posted by Barry Allen on April 29, 2009 02:41 AM
Neil -
You can see completed sales from your sellers tool for FUTURE games. Anyone can do this by going through the process of putting tickets for sale - even if you don't have any to sell. Stubhub has an awesome price comparison tool so you can make sure you are putting your tickets on sale for an accurate price.
Posted by Ross on April 29, 2009 01:11 PM
Well, the Phillies proved that you can win a championship even with a bandbox for a ballpark. And the Red Sox the year before that. So the Yankees, theoretically, could find a way to win #27 with the weird quirks that have manifested itself so far.
Still, it doesn't detract from the sentiment that something was lost, indeed, in the move from RYS to NYS. You could call it majesty, aura, mystique, integrity, gravitas or whatever cliche you want to use. We won't really know, for sure, until a few years have passed. Already, though, you hear the grumblings of those who have lived through the glory days of what used to be the Team of the Century. What happens when the bandwagoners find out that it's five years later and the Yanks still haven't won in the new place, making it more than a decade since the last parade down Broadway? Who will be left should they join the old fans who left in disgust? Heaven forbid the Yankees should start marketing to people in the actual neighborhood for real because they need fans in the seats. I'd want to be alive to witness that. ;0)
In the meantime, I have an idea. As part of the new pricing scheme, the Yankees should give those lucky fans complementary used batteries to chuck at the players when they don't perform to their standards. ;0)
Posted by Transic on April 30, 2009 05:16 AM
Am I the only one who remembers that when that one fan chucked a 9-volt at Dusty Baker in the 1981 World Series, the Yankee fans around him pointed him out to the cops so he'd get arrested?
Hurling Reggie Bars, now that was a mass phenomenon.
Posted by Neil on April 30, 2009 07:44 AM
There was a certain beauty in the fact that people of all class,race, and religion were forced to interact at the old stadium. I believe that the united spirit of the fans along with the many great players are what created the aura at Yankee Stadium. I can't believe there is a whole section that is insulated by concrete and security guards.
Yankee Management were arrogant with their loyal fans right until the season started with their relocation plan. In fact they led season ticketholders to believe that they were fortunate over the last many years to be seated in the locations that they were in, and also for the price that they had been allowed to pay. Really? I don't get into the whole rich/poor thing. Its more complex than that and there are plenty of fine rich people who are good human beings. However, the spoiled Yankee VP's get no sympathy and its great to see them fall on their faces!
Posted by Sad Yankee Fan on April 30, 2009 11:34 AM
For the amount of money they were paying, I hope they got to look at bare leather rather than bare plastic.
Posted by Greg on May 1, 2009 01:12 AM
Neil,
As a Royals' fan I do remember before the bottom of the ninth in game 5 of the '76 playoffs that fans threw stuff on the field delaying the game for ten minutes right before Chambliss hit his series-winning home run.
I'll give the Yankee fans credit, they do have a sense of timing.
As for the Reggie bars I do remember in Sparky Lyle's "The Bronx Zoo" that Chicago mgr Bob Lemon said that they should advertise it as the candy bar made to throw.
Posted by Chris on May 1, 2009 03:16 PM