Good article in the WSJ today on decline in baseball attendance. Down9%overalland about7% on a per game basis factoring in
rained out games. So it’s not only the NFL that is dealing with fan interest decline.
I used to go to 5-10 games a year before I had a plan. Then I did a 13 game Friday night plan with friends for a few years in the 90s until the prices started to get out of hand. Now, they are way too expensive. I take my boys to one game when I can get a deal. This year I got $15 seats. But, once in the crappy new tinbox of a stadium in the Bronx, it will cost a fortune without bringing my own arsenal of food and drinks. This is also the first or second year the Yankees went to premium pricing, so there is no chance I will see a good team either.
I had upper deck box seats on my plan, 8th row behind home plate in the old Stadium. We started at $12, then $15, then $18, then $21. So, in 4 seasons, the price nearly doubled. The equivalent of those seats in the new stadium are the 3rd deck and they are over $75 for a "regular" game.
If I went with my whole family, without discounted pricing, we are looking at a minimum of $200 just to walk in the door and sit in the upper deck in the OF.
guess the players better start standing for the anthem! Â
$40 all in? That's what it costs just to park at alot of these stadiums.
According to this link, almost every team can be attended for less than $40 per person, with one hot dog and one beer, and two people splitting parking. That said, they're taking the cheapest seats (and presumably cheapest beers and hot dogs as well). Obviously lots of fans don't like the cheap seats, though on the flip side, they're taking face value. Even at YS, it's typically pretty easy to find seats below face in the secondary market. link - ( New Window )
1. Most teams have gone to variable based pricing. So those ticket prices reflect Tuesday night April games against Tampa.
2. I dont really see a point in spending one's own money to meet up with an adult friend on a Tuesday night to watch 1 of 162 games and get home at 12:30am if the game doesnt go to extra innings. For me, its about taking my kids -- and then if I have the worst seats in the stadium or the upper deck.. whats the point, the players all look like ants.
3. That website claims beers are $5 each. Where? did they split the price of beer in half and you're sharing with your buddy?
Even when I lived in Miami - one of the cheaper stadiums around given their product and zero fan interest - to sit in the 100 level between the bags and not way down the line .. a family of four with tickets, parking, food, beer, souvenir for the kids - would run by $400+. I imagine its hard to do better than $600 for the same family at a Yankees game.
If my company isnt giving me the seats... I'm not going.
Also the article bases it off season ticket prices... Â
but those prices are way below gameday prices (as they should be for season ticket holders) -- and stubhub and ticketexchange charge up to 35% of the transaction price in fees to both buyer/seller... so you arent getting close to those prices listed unless you're braving it on craigslist or personally know the seller.
as others have said, some awful weather throughout large swaths of the country. The number of teams that are tanking or no longer seem to be going for it has increased and it's not surprising to see a number of them at the very bottom of attendance (Miami's home attendance has nearly halved; Tampa, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Pittsburgh are all doing poorly). Among competitive teams attendance is still very good, and likely to get even better with warmer weather.
but if I buy my family tickets to a matinee at the local movie theater and get them the "discounted" snack packs I'm out roughly $84. Entertainment is extraordinarily expensive nowadays.
It was a treat to go to a baseball or football game when the alternative was my 25" TV. Now it's a treat to stay home and avoid the cost, travel time, weather and hassle.
+1
Hard to justify the costs and spending a full day driving to, sitting through and driving back from a game. Watching from home, I'm done in 3 hours.
but those prices are way below gameday prices (as they should be for season ticket holders) -- and stubhub and ticketexchange charge up to 35% of the transaction price in fees to both buyer/seller... so you arent getting close to those prices listed unless you're braving it on craigslist or personally know the seller.
You don't have to use StubHub (or any other secondary site). Just walk up to the box office; there are tickets available.
And you're also dismissing the fact that "gameday" prices are often way below face as the inventory becomes distressed.
would be huge. Not sure if the NY teams allow that (?)
NYCFC allows bringing food into the stadium if everything is carried in a clear plastic bag. Water bottles have to be 1 liter or smaller. I would imagine the same rules pertain to Yankee games too.
between work, kids' activities, the headache of getting from Long Island to Yankee Stadium, overpriced tickets and food, and the relative unimportance of one out of 162 regular season games, I have almost no time or desire to go.
Couple those things with the way the Yankees have conducted business at the new Yankee Stadium, and it's all been a huge turnoff for me. It's all about maximizing every last dollar at the expense of a positive and affordable experience for their fans. It's just galling to turn on a game and see empty seats right behind the plate because the people with those tickets, if anyone even used them, are inside at the various restaurants or bars. Overall, it's led to me following the team less and caring about them less.
I went from being a die-hard fan 15 years ago to almost not giving a shit at all about the Yankees.
I despise the new Stadium. The fan experience is 100% about luxury/club seats. They don't care about anyone else, the staff is rude and not helpful, the big scoreboard is distracting, it is insulting that there are seats in the bleachers that have such obstructed views if the OF, they need TVs in the wall, the seats are further away from the action on the 3rd/4th levels, the food offerings are sub-par and way over-priced
between work, kids' activities, the headache of getting from Long Island to Yankee Stadium, overpriced tickets and food, and the relative unimportance of one out of 162 regular season games, I have almost no time or desire to go.
Couple those things with the way the Yankees have conducted business at the new Yankee Stadium, and it's all been a huge turnoff for me. It's all about maximizing every last dollar at the expense of a positive and affordable experience for their fans. It's just galling to turn on a game and see empty seats right behind the plate because the people with those tickets, if anyone even used them, are inside at the various restaurants or bars. Overall, it's led to me following the team less and caring about them less.
I went from being a die-hard fan 15 years ago to almost not giving a shit at all about the Yankees.
I despise the new Stadium. The fan experience is 100% about luxury/club seats. They don't care about anyone else, the staff is rude and not helpful, the big scoreboard is distracting, it is insulting that there are seats in the bleachers that have such obstructed views if the OF, they need TVs in the wall, the seats are further away from the action on the 3rd/4th levels, the food offerings are sub-par and way over-priced
Fuckers dont even sell ice cream anywhere except at ben & jerry and the line Was 30 deep. The food is too generic. Its not worth it to sit in the 300/400 seats, when the view is too far from the action.
I had upper deck box seats on my plan, 8th row behind home plate in the old Stadium. We started at $12, then $15, then $18, then $21. So, in 4 seasons, the price nearly doubled. The equivalent of those seats in the new stadium are the 3rd deck and they are over $75 for a "regular" game.
If I went with my whole family, without discounted pricing, we are looking at a minimum of $200 just to walk in the door and sit in the upper deck in the OF.
Quote:
$40 all in? That's what it costs just to park at alot of these stadiums.
According to this link, almost every team can be attended for less than $40 per person, with one hot dog and one beer, and two people splitting parking. That said, they're taking the cheapest seats (and presumably cheapest beers and hot dogs as well). Obviously lots of fans don't like the cheap seats, though on the flip side, they're taking face value. Even at YS, it's typically pretty easy to find seats below face in the secondary market. link - ( New Window )
1. Most teams have gone to variable based pricing. So those ticket prices reflect Tuesday night April games against Tampa.
2. I dont really see a point in spending one's own money to meet up with an adult friend on a Tuesday night to watch 1 of 162 games and get home at 12:30am if the game doesnt go to extra innings. For me, its about taking my kids -- and then if I have the worst seats in the stadium or the upper deck.. whats the point, the players all look like ants.
3. That website claims beers are $5 each. Where? did they split the price of beer in half and you're sharing with your buddy?
Even when I lived in Miami - one of the cheaper stadiums around given their product and zero fan interest - to sit in the 100 level between the bags and not way down the line .. a family of four with tickets, parking, food, beer, souvenir for the kids - would run by $400+. I imagine its hard to do better than $600 for the same family at a Yankees game.
If my company isnt giving me the seats... I'm not going.
Can bring food and drink (this is allowed)
Parking $15
Total cost = $107.
1 ballpark food item each would bring it up around $140.
+1
Hard to justify the costs and spending a full day driving to, sitting through and driving back from a game. Watching from home, I'm done in 3 hours.
Smallball sucks
You don't have to use StubHub (or any other secondary site). Just walk up to the box office; there are tickets available.
And you're also dismissing the fact that "gameday" prices are often way below face as the inventory becomes distressed.
NYCFC allows bringing food into the stadium if everything is carried in a clear plastic bag. Water bottles have to be 1 liter or smaller. I would imagine the same rules pertain to Yankee games too.
Quote:
hardly any steals, hit and runs,. I saw a squeeze play the other night and it was rare and beautiful to watch
Smallball sucks
any positives to small ball are immediately negated by requiring pitchers to hit or even bunt. It's awful.
Couple those things with the way the Yankees have conducted business at the new Yankee Stadium, and it's all been a huge turnoff for me. It's all about maximizing every last dollar at the expense of a positive and affordable experience for their fans. It's just galling to turn on a game and see empty seats right behind the plate because the people with those tickets, if anyone even used them, are inside at the various restaurants or bars. Overall, it's led to me following the team less and caring about them less.
I went from being a die-hard fan 15 years ago to almost not giving a shit at all about the Yankees.
Quote:
between work, kids' activities, the headache of getting from Long Island to Yankee Stadium, overpriced tickets and food, and the relative unimportance of one out of 162 regular season games, I have almost no time or desire to go.
Couple those things with the way the Yankees have conducted business at the new Yankee Stadium, and it's all been a huge turnoff for me. It's all about maximizing every last dollar at the expense of a positive and affordable experience for their fans. It's just galling to turn on a game and see empty seats right behind the plate because the people with those tickets, if anyone even used them, are inside at the various restaurants or bars. Overall, it's led to me following the team less and caring about them less.
I went from being a die-hard fan 15 years ago to almost not giving a shit at all about the Yankees.
I despise the new Stadium. The fan experience is 100% about luxury/club seats. They don't care about anyone else, the staff is rude and not helpful, the big scoreboard is distracting, it is insulting that there are seats in the bleachers that have such obstructed views if the OF, they need TVs in the wall, the seats are further away from the action on the 3rd/4th levels, the food offerings are sub-par and way over-priced
Fuckers dont even sell ice cream anywhere except at ben & jerry and the line Was 30 deep. The food is too generic. Its not worth it to sit in the 300/400 seats, when the view is too far from the action.