July 06, 2009

Yankee Stadium slam book, Tiger Woods edition

We're almost at the All-Star break, and people still can't seem to get enough of hating on New Yankee Stadium, or at least the ticket prices therein. The latest tally:

• Tiger Woods promoted free admission for kids at a Bethesda golf tournament by saying: "We don't want to have what happened at Yankee Stadium. Tickets are so overpriced that you can't bring the family. We want to have everyone come out and enjoy being in a family atmosphere, walk around, have a good time and not have it cost an arm and a leg."
• PoliticsDaily's Walter Shapiro writes after his first visit to the new Yankees home that "it reminded me of the oversized buildings in Islamabad that were designed to give an aura of authority to a shaky government." That said, he said he had a great time at the game (the Yanks won in extra innings), but won't likely be repeating it anytime soon, given that he had to shell out $266.35 for a field-level seat: "There are things in life, like visiting the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids, that you just have to do. Too bad that a day at Yankee Stadium has become a bucket-list extravaganza — something you do once and savor the memory."
• ESPN's Ultimate Franchise Rankings, which cobble together a poll of 1,000 fans nationwide with things like fan cost data, dropped the Yankees to 107th out of 122 major sports franchises, which the New York Post couldn't help noting was the result of their new stadium: "The Yankees took the biggest hit in affordability (121 of 122) and bang for the buck (119 of 122) thanks to their flashy new digs. And it would be one thing if fans were enjoying games more at the new Yankee Stadium, but in the stadium experience category the team dropped from 47 to 84."

On the bright side, Derek Jeter is finally starting to feel at home there. And who can put a price on that?