September 23, 2006
Yankees Get Greedier
The New York Yankees are revoking season ticket rights of holders who resell on the internet.
The Yankees are revoking the season tickets of fans who have sold their unused tickets on StubHub.com and other Web sites and are looking to start their own entity to sell tickets in the lucrative secondary market.
"Why pick on me?" said Orlando Bautista, a doctor in Smithtown, N.Y., who was told by the team in August that his upper-deck and bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium would be revoked after the season.
He added: "I'm a good fan. I don't drink. I don't curse."
Another fan whose tickets were revoked, and who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to imperil any chance he had of reclaiming his seats, said: "I'm contemplating being a Mets fan. I'm really hurt. You feel like you're trying to fight City Hall, but this is worse."
I've never understood anti-scalping laws. In fact, in this age of computer information, I don't understand fixed price tickets at all. Tickets are essentially game futures. Teams could then make markets in their tickets and set the price at an attractive level that would insure good attendance.
But revoking season ticket rights? Who are these people hurting? It's very counter productive. They're just going to drive away their best fans.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:39 PM
|
Tickets
|
TrackBack (0)
Sounds typical of the Yankees. The great thing about baseball is that games are played in series, so that if you are a season ticket holder you can see every opponent at home as many times as you like and then sell off the tickets you can't use while still getting to see all the other teams. Unlike basketball where some teams out of division are only played one time at your home arena. It is not possible for very many fans to be able to attend 81 games a year so fans buy season tickets with the idea of selling some games. Yankees are never happy with enough, always looking for a way to screw the little guy, even if it is their loyal fans.
I remember Artie Lange bragging on the Howard Stern Show about how he would pay for his season tickets this way. This would have been back in 2003, and supposedly he would turn over enough tickets to a scalping service to pay for the original season ticket price. Then, if the Yankees made the playoffs, he would do it again, and make more money.
Supposedly he seats are near the third bas side, close to the field. Apparently he would bank the money from the playoff years to help pay for his tickets if the Yankees had a poor season.
I'm sure now he has enough money to pay for the tickets outright.
What I'm curious to know is if the Yankees will pursue all the fans that do this. Not counting the "C-List" celebrity above, I'm sure there's plenty of true celebrities who do the same thing because they don't have the time to go to all the games. Who know...maybe even Rudy Gulliani is doing it.
Only the Yankee$.
More flexible pricing is a good idea. Better to sell a ticket for three bucks than not at all. You get a body in the park who will buy concessions, maybe pay for parking, and become a new fan or possibly a bigger fan. And if you're Tampa Bay, wouldn't you rather fill the park with fans cheering for you rather than for the Yankees when they're in town? I think the sport has hurt itself with the trend towards smaller parks with more expensive seats.
Big $tein needs to rain his minions in. This is sloppy, and it will be adjudicated in short order.
A penalty on its most loyal customers? Well, Baseball is, after all, the institution that attempted to freeze out some of its most devoted, enthusiastic fans (fantasy baseball players) by trying to charge multimillion dollar licensing fees in order for diehard fans to use box score information that is already reported in every media outlet, has already been ruled as within public domain, and is already readily available in any daily newspaper in the country. So nothing they do should surprise us -- no matter how close it comes to killing the golden goose.
Well, obviously it's just a case of the Yankees wanting more money. A lot of teams want to be the broker for fans reselling tickets.
And seriously, do the best fans sell their playoff tickets? No. So they shouldn't be crying.
A $200+ million doesnt come cheap. Who is gonna feed A-rod and Jeter? Some of these players even have families. We should all contribute to the poor Yankees charity fund.
Everybody always gripes about the Yankees and what they do...yet they continually do these things and still sell out darn near every game (if not every game). If people are truly tired of what ole George is letting go on, then quit bitchin' and do something. Hit 'em where it hurts and quit going to the games. I bet a season with attendance like Florida just had would open his eyes. I've always wanted to visit New York. When I do, I'll make sure to see the Mets!