Going To Games In The Future
Maury Brown’s great feature at BP today regarding baseball team’s emphasis on season ticket sales these days includes this on the Yankees:
The Yankees are trying to get fans to stop reselling on StubHub, who is also a major radio sponsor for the club. The club has stated that they will revoke season tickets from those that resell on not only StubHub, but eBay as well. The reason? The Yankees are considering launching their own company to sell secondary tickets. A New York assistant attorney general believes that the Yankees have the legal right to prevent the secondary sales while in the midst of creating their own online site designed for secondary sales; Pinstripe Marketplace is listed as ‘coming soon’ on Yankees.com. Those that purchase season tickets with the Yankees sign a contract stating it is in violation of the Yankees policy to resell tickets. If the Yankees find a season ticket holder in violation of the policy, the Yankees can revoke postseason, as well as season ticket licenses for the 2007 season, and beyond.
This whole thing has me thinking that, when the new Stadium is open, you’re only going to be able to get a ticket to a game if you’re a season ticket holder already or if you want to buy someone’s tickets – but you’ll have to do the latter through the Yankees.
Well, that’s if you want to do it legally.
When the new system is in place, look for the “Pssssst! Buddy! Wanna buy a ticket? system to really take off.
When you outlaw re-sales on tickets, only outlaws will be re-selling tickets, no?
I used to deal with a broker in Boston who bought over 100 (100!!!) Yankee season ticket plans each year just so he could sell the tickets at a ridiculous mark up. There are so many fans out there who buy season ticket plans with the intent of going to only 10 or 20 games and profiting off of the rest. These actions are what the Yankees are cracking down on. Yes, you’re right that it will force more side-street ticket deals, but it may also reduce the number of brokers and hoarders who buy tickets, which will leave more tickets available for fans who only plan on attending a handful of games a year.
Another thing I’d like to see the Yankees do is allow more customization with the season ticket plans. That will also reduce the number of people who buy complete plans with no intention of attending every game.
I also wonder how long we have until the Yankees start using variable ticket prices, like the Mets do. That would stink.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Yanks will use variable pricing as well as customizable ticket plans in order to have the broadest reach to all potential purchasers.
I’ve found that the Yankees have a rather diverse selection of ticket options compared to other teams. There are 3 different “season” plans that let you get those same seats for the post-season. There are Friday, Saturday and Sunday plans. A 20-game Flex plan. A mid-week plan. 3 different 10 game plans. Plus they also have packages available early in the season for premium games. You usually get at least 1 Boston game, 1 Mets game, and 1 premium inter-league game.
I think part of the reason people buy the 81-, 61, and 46-game plans is so that they can get all of the post-season games as well. They’ll sell most of the regular season tickets but keep the playoff games for themselves.
I also wonder how long we have until the Yankees start using variable ticket prices, like the Mets do. That would stink.
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I thought they did already, with the $5 upper deck seats…
I read somewhere the Cubs do something like this but making it worse is the Cubs withold tickets from ever making it to the public to begin with. With the decrease in capacity in a few years that will make it akin to NY football Giants tickets unless the Yankees go down the toilet.
~~~I think part of the reason people buy the 81-, 61, and 46-game plans is so that they can get all of the post-season games as well. They’ll sell most of the regular season tickets but keep the playoff games for themselves.~~~
I confess!
I thought they did already, with the $5 upper deck seats…
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Those aren’t technically “tiered” pricing though. Those are just specials…I think they are only for 3 games during the season.
I was highly amused that a Yankee Tiger game was a $5 game. Just shows that NOBODY thought the Tigers would be good this season, and they would have trouble selling out when they came into town.