One Picture You Won’t Find Hanging In Lonn Trost’s Yankee Stadium Office
As some of this blog’s readers have been quick to point out to me, the 2009 Yankees are among the leaders in highest home attendance this season – to date. And, the 2009 Yankees are among the leaders with respect to home game attendance “percentage of capacity.” That’s great. However, sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words and numbers.
Here’s a snapshot of the seating area directly behind home plate at Yankee Stadium taken during the game of May 17, 2009.
Note: This picture was taken at 2:35 pm ET – less than 90 minutes into the game. At that time, Ramiro Pena was batting for the Yankees in the bottom of the 5th inning – with the game scoreless. Oh, and, by the way, the skies were rain-free and it was Bat Day at the Stadium – where the first 10,000 fans attending the game, ages 14 and under, recieved a free Yankee Stadium Inaugural Season Bat.
[Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image.]
Just look at all those empty blue seats. And, now, please, tell me how this is not an embarrassment to the Yankees organization? When you’re doing something right, with respect to ticket sales, there’s no way that you should see a picture like this, taken during a Sunday day-game, in May, in good weather, in the middle of a fast moving and close game, on the day of a major fan give-away event. No way…whatsoever…should you see a picture like this one.
Yes…sure…quote the stats. I’m sure Randy Levine and Lonn Trost, in the Yankees front office, are doing the same. But, again, a picture is worth a thousand words and numbers…and this picture, above, tells the story of the new Yankee Stadium…and the poor job the Yankees have done…allowing a visual like this to happen…over and over again.
and the poor job the Yankees have done…allowing a visual like this to happen…over and over again
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Would lowering ticket prices in those sections really change anything though?
Steve, it was similar on Friday night. It looks like they did a mass upgrade for the people in those field level seats, and moved many of them to the Legends seats. At any rate, I agree with you that it’s an embarrassment.
Maybe they can upgrade everybody up to the next level of seating.
Having just gotten back from tonight’s game (by the way – Phil Coke for a four-out save? Really? That’s the Mo backup plan?) I’m going to say yawn.
The printed (but not announced, oddly) attendance was just about 44,000 and I didn’t see a ton of empty seats. I did see a lot of people milling about in the concourses, going up and down the rows and generally moving about the stadium.
I understand as a fan I’m supposed to be outraged at the fact there’s a relative handful of empty seats, but I just can’t find the umbrage. There’s more important things in the world, let alone baseball, let alone the on-field product the Yankees run out there to worry about this.
MJ wrote:
I’ll answer that question with two other questions.
Look at the picture again. Last season, in the old Yankee Stadium, did you ever see the area behind home plate look like that in a regularly scheduled game?
Related, don’t you think, if the prices this season were lower – meaning at the same price they were last season – for those sections, that we would see those seats filled just as they were last season?
sean mcnally wrote:
FWIW, I’ve been to four games this season – including one of the pre-season jobs against the Cubs. And, I don’t recall the Yankees announcing the attendance at any of them – like they did at the old Stadium with that “Guess the attendance?” multiple choice game on the scoreboard. Now, there’s a good chance that I just missed it – because I try not to look at the CF screen during games at the new Stadium – because it’s distracting. But, if I didn’t miss it – what’s up with that? You bring over YMCA from the old place but not the guess the attendance thing? Sounds like, if true, that someone in the front office doesn’t want to be reminded that they’re not sniffing anything near 50,000 a game in the new digs…again, if it’s true that they are not announcing the crowd at the games.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
I dont think they would be as full due to the economy, but there would certainly be more people there than there are now.
lisaswan wrote:
Pete Abe hinted about that upgrade two weeks ago:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/05/07/yankees-resorting-to-upgrades/
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
While I won’t insult you by saying that this claim is “bogus” or “ludicrous”
I will say that it’s my opinion that the economy excuse is weak. In April 2008, my job was eliminated. And, I was out of work from June 2008 through October 2008. Being out on the job market for six months, I can tell you that the economy was in trouble last year too – in serious trouble with an extremely high unemployment rate and fewer jobs available. And, yet, the Yankees sold out just about EVERY home game in 2008. So, if that could happen in the bad economy of 2008, there’s no reason why the Yankees should have all those empty seats behind home plate in 2009 – outside of the insane prices the Yankees elected to charge for those seats. Again, it’s a stupid move by the Yankees that brought this on – and anyone claiming that it’s the economy to blame is just looking for an excuse to pin it on something else.
Does anyone really care if the stadium is totally filled up??? I just want to see the Yankees win everyday. The rest will take care of itself, one way or the other.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
The economy has gotten significantly worse since late August of 2008, particularly in the financial sector that often buys up these kind of seats. Like I said, the seats would be fuller if cheaper, but I highly doubt they would be full. You are underestimating the impact of the economy on the sale of a luxury item like front row seats, especially in a city that is the hub of the finance world.
Related, don’t you think, if the prices this season were lower – meaning at the same price they were last season – for those sections, that we would see those seats filled just as they were last season?
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But since that was never going to happen, it’s a pointless question to ask. Never, in the recent history of new stadiums, have teams failed to raise prices. Why would the Yanks keep 2008 prices at the 2009 stadium? The new stadium is “better” (in terms of amenities) so they should price it accordingly.
I will certainly agree that they didn’t price the premium sections appropriately, given the empty seats in the “moat” section, but I don’t think dropping prices beyond what they’ve already done will really change anything. The economy is a factor for the people who would sit in those seats, as well as other factors.
It might be “embarassing” (although I’m not sure about that) but ultimately this is going on at most, if not all, MLB parks.
Of course if the prices were lower, then more of those seats would be sold.
And, if it keeps going like this, they will be lowered.
Oh, just reading the tea leaves, I would think that Brian Cashman’s statement last week that the Yanks have to start playing better now?
I would think that it comes from pressure above caused by anger over these empty seats in the belief that if the Yanks are in the race, as they should be after the three big free agents signings over the winter (or if they were just playing better), those seats will fill up at they always have.
This would also explain the more aggresive use of Mariano over the weekend (2 innings on Saturday, followed by no day off Sunday), and no day off for A-Rod, as was originally planned, and the speeded-up rehabs of Bruney and Wang.
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Of course, that explanation could just as easily, if not moreso, be total B.S.
UNC Tarheel wrote:
Yes, those empty seats are embarassing. Would I rather see the Yanks win than have those seats filled? Of course, but having a stadium that is close to capacity allows the stadium to get loud, especially in big situations. I’m a believer that this type of energy boosts our team and intimidates opposing teams. I know we’ve already talked about the upper decks being pushed back as being a factor in crowd noise, but attendance is certainly a factor as well.
You know what it reminds me of? Legends Field in Tampa.
I am not “embarassed” that they can’t fill those few hundred seats…the rest of the stadium seems pretty full most of the time. Sure it is good for the stadium to get loud, but having 1000 or so more people there isn’t going to make that much difference in the noise level.
The only reason this is a story is because it is the “rich, greedy” Yankees. Look around at the other stadiums in MLB this year. They are much more empty than in New York except in a couple of cases.
And anyone who thinks that the economy doesn’t have something to do with it is losing their mind. Even if someone has a job and can afford to go to the game, there are reasons not to want to go…fear of future job loss, fear of being seen there on TV when so many are feeling anger towards “rich” people right now, etc.