We are all Slave now.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

They've done a great job with Fenway, expanding it with a bit of style while keeping most of the old classic feel, but at some point we're going to realize that if we had a park with twice as many seats it wouldn't be necessary to charge two left nuts to get an obstructed view seat. I mean, it's a great park for those of us who are willing to shell out a grand or two for the experience.

But we've lost the old feel of the bleachers, where every 18 year old from Southie could get some sun and suds for $1.50 entrance and $1 a cup back in the day. I remember being 23 in Boston living on shit wages and calling around to get a dozen of us to cut work and head to the park on a summer afternoon - good times! Doesn't happen now.

My platform, if elected, will be to bring baseball back to the people. Bleachers Creatures 4 evah!

If Fenway's owners are rational profit-maximizers, they are OK with having a too-small park that lets them charge high prices. When I lived in DC I used to go see DC United matches at RFK, and there was never a need to buy tickets in advance because you could always show up and buy a ticket.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

It would happen quickly at Fenway because we just have a really severe supply/demand imbalance.

Tomorrow is the day the regular ticket sales open for the season, and they will all be gone by noon. After that, you won't get a ticket without paying at least a couple hundred for a bleachers seat, unless the team shits the bed by July, in which case prices will go down. And good seats for a Yankees game? $2000 per ticket, easy.

If you can get seats in the scramble tomorrow, do. You'll be able to resell at a markup immediately.

Sounds like prices in the primary market are much too low.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

If Fenway's owners are rational profit-maximizers, they are OK with having a too-small park that lets them charge high prices. When I lived in DC I used to go see DC United matches at RFK, and there was never a need to buy tickets in advance because you could always show up and buy a ticket.

I would bet the % of the team's income from images of fenway exceeds the ticket income from the seats by a large margin?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I would bet the % of the team's income from images of fenway exceeds the ticket income from the seats by a large margin?

I think they really cleaned up developing real estate around the park.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

I think they really cleaned up developing real estate around the park.

The arenas around here make more from parking lots than seats.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I’d also move Yankee up if you can discount what they did with the seats behind home. Of course as a Tigers’ fan I was happy with being in a 50% Tigers’ section behind home for several playoff games. Thurgreed, are those seats all still corporate/half empty? I can’t help but think it hurts the team.

Yes. It's disgusting what they've done. I don't even go anymore. It was bad enough when they pumped prices up and then posted sentries at every lower level to keep people from coming down and sitting with the rich people at the end of complete blowouts. And, yes, that happened decades ago and I get it.

But the idea that you can and should try to squeeze every fucking nickel out of someone going to a game by creating a completely different stadium experience for the hyper-wealthy--different entry, different food, different service--is despicable. And then they jacked up prices to an amount even rich people won't pay such that >50% of those seats remain unfilled.

It's an embarrassment. The Steinbrenners should be shamed in the streets like Cersei. I wouldn't pay face-value for a ticket (hell, I wouldn't pay at all) if we were in the World Series. And I'm exactly the type of person they should be trying to keep in the mix--lifelong fan, professional with a kid who loves sports. Fuck 'em.

TM

[Adder]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

And then they jacked up prices to an amount even rich people won't pay such that >50% of those seats remain unfilled.

They're unsold? Or just unused?

If the former, they sounds even worse at pricing than Sox.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Adder

They're unsold? Or just unused?

If the former, they sounds even worse at pricing than Sox.

I actually think they're unsold. They cut a lot of the prices of the seats in the super elite section in half from their original outrageous number and they still can't sell them.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I actually think they're unsold. They cut a lot of the prices of the seats in the super elite section in half from their original outrageous number and they still can't sell them.

TM

yes, I would go on stubhub and get seats right behind the plate- it was half empty for playoff games but the "club" (with those seats it was free food and drinks inside) was packed- where the most rabid fans should be instead there were empty seats and rich old guys. people around me said they were all sold to corps that sell them.

and the sadder thing was there was a mob of people leaning on the rail that led into that area, looking through the empty seats to the field.

Contrast that to a game at the Garden. Rabid fans for a team that has sucked for a long while.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

The arenas around here make more from parking lots than seats.

How the hell does Atlanta sell out its NFL stadium for MLS games?

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Yes. It's disgusting what they've done. I don't even go anymore. It was bad enough when they pumped prices up and then posted sentries at every lower level to keep people from coming down and sitting with the rich people at the end of complete blowouts. And, yes, that happened decades ago and I get it.

But the idea that you can and should try to squeeze every fucking nickel out of someone going to a game by creating a completely different stadium experience for the hyper-wealthy--different entry, different food, different service--is despicable. And then they jacked up prices to an amount even rich people won't pay such that >50% of those seats remain unfilled.

It's an embarrassment. The Steinbrenners should be shamed in the streets like Cersei. I wouldn't pay face-value for a ticket (hell, I wouldn't pay at all) if we were in the World Series. And I'm exactly the type of person they should be trying to keep in the mix--lifelong fan, professional with a kid who loves sports. Fuck 'em.

TM

I went there once and got something to eat on the lower level that was messy and went to sit down at one of the stools -- just for a second to like nibble the edge off my cheeseburger or something before I went to the upper deck -- and security jumped on me like I was this girl.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshuagmora...-jewelry-prank

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

If Fenway's owners are rational profit-maximizers, they are OK with having a too-small park that lets them charge high prices. When I lived in DC I used to go see DC United matches at RFK, and there was never a need to buy tickets in advance because you could always show up and buy a ticket.

Nothing is more fun than creating shortages when you have a monopoly.

My platform, if elected, remains bringing baseball back to the masses. I think we levy a tax on them to recover all the infrastructure and other costs put into supporting Fenway, and then only backoff if they bridge back a sub-$5 price tag on bleachers with a sub$2 price for beer.

And we pass a state statute imposing anti-trust rules on them.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Yes. It's disgusting what they've done. I don't even go anymore. It was bad enough when they pumped prices up and then posted sentries at every lower level to keep people from coming down and sitting with the rich people at the end of complete blowouts. And, yes, that happened decades ago and I get it.

But the idea that you can and should try to squeeze every fucking nickel out of someone going to a game by creating a completely different stadium experience for the hyper-wealthy--different entry, different food, different service--is despicable. And then they jacked up prices to an amount even rich people won't pay such that >50% of those seats remain unfilled.

It's an embarrassment. The Steinbrenners should be shamed in the streets like Cersei. I wouldn't pay face-value for a ticket (hell, I wouldn't pay at all) if we were in the World Series. And I'm exactly the type of person they should be trying to keep in the mix--lifelong fan, professional with a kid who loves sports. Fuck 'em.

TM

This is happening with everything. I just heard Springsteen on Broadway tickets are going for $8k at orchestra level.

If you've been to any big name classic rock concert in the past seven or eight years, it's pretty obvious most of the best seats are bought with corporate money.

US Open (tennis)? First rows are mostly corporate.

This obviously distorts prices.

Then you get into something else that's a bit creepy: Paying to jump the line. Don't want to wait with the poors at Disney? Get that $200 pass that allows you to jump the lines. Same goes for the airport. Why wait with everyone else when for a few bucks they can't spare, you can jump the line and have your own lounge? (I understand this for business travel, but it feels a bit icky using it for a common ski trip.)

In the race to find revenue streams in our service economy, we're developing into a two tiered society. If you work for a big corporation or are a client of one, you've got a chance to get to the front row hear David Gilmour sing "Money" to you ("Dogs" would provide the best irony, but he hated Animals.) If you're a professional with the modest cash on hand to join an airline's "exclusive" lounge program, you don't ever have to hang with the proles during a layover.

These things have always existed, of course, but they take some of the charm out of the experiences. They also cut away at the idea that we're all in this together on some level. I'm not giving any of these things up, of course, because comfort is comfort. But I don't want to eat a gourmet cheesesteak on a truffle-oiled bun at the baseball game. A gross, boiled hot dog is preferred. It's part of the real experience. (I also don't want to see the pitcher hit a line drive home run, as I did a few years back at a World Series game, because the fences have been brought so far, to allow for more home runs to make the games more dramatic and exciting, but that's another story.)

The Stones are playing again this summer, and if you've seen them, you know the only way to see them is up close, because from a distance, the sound gets muddy real fast. I heard tickets close to the stage are going for $2-4k. I won't spend that kind of money on any ticket, but more importantly, I don't need to go to a concert to hang out with corporate ciphers and rich douches. I have to do that for a living already.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

This is happening with everything. I just heard Springsteen on Broadway tickets are going for $8k at orchestra level.

If you've been to any big name classic rock concert in the past seven or eight years, it's pretty obvious most of the best seats are bought with corporate money.

US Open (tennis)? First rows are mostly corporate.

This obviously distorts prices.

Then you get into something else that's a bit creepy: Paying to jump the line. Don't want to wait with the poors at Disney? Get that $200 pass that allows you to jump the lines. Same goes for the airport. Why wait with everyone else when for a few bucks they can't spare, you can jump the line and have your own lounge? (I understand this for business travel, but it feels a bit icky using it for a common ski trip.)

In the race to find revenue streams in our service economy, we're developing into a two tiered society. If you work for a big corporation or are a client of one, you've got a chance to get to the front row hear David Gilmour sing "Money" to you ("Dogs" would provide the best irony, but he hated Animals.) If you're a professional with the modest cash on hand to join an airline's "exclusive" lounge program, you don't ever have to hang with the proles during a layover.

These things have always existed, of course, but they take some of the charm out of the experiences. They also cut away at the idea that we're all in this together on some level. I'm not giving any of these things up, of course, because comfort is comfort. But I don't want to eat a gourmet cheesesteak on a truffle-oiled bun at the baseball game. A gross, boiled hot dog is preferred. It's part of the real experience. (I also don't want to see the pitcher hit a line drive home run, as I did a few years back at a World Series game, because the fences have been brought so far, to allow for more home runs to make the games more dramatic and exciting, but that's another story.)

The Stones are playing again this summer, and if you've seen them, you know the only way to see them is up close, because from a distance, the sound gets muddy real fast. I heard tickets close to the stage are going for $2-4k. I won't spend that kind of money on any ticket, but more importantly, I don't need to go to a concert to hang out with corporate ciphers and rich douches. I have to do that for a living already.

In our neck of the woods, it's housing. During the boom years of the recession, O&G was giving insane housing allowances to the square state recent grads, driving up rents all over the city. Totally changed the housing market. The price of oil nose dive in 14-16 didn't seem to have much of an effect once those prices went up. And now they're more or less recovered, so it's getting even more insane.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Nothing is more fun than creating shortages when you have a monopoly.

My platform, if elected, remains bringing baseball back to the masses. I think we levy a tax on them to recover all the infrastructure and other costs put into supporting Fenway, and then only backoff if they bridge back a sub-$5 price tag on bleachers with a sub$2 price for beer.

And we pass a state statute imposing anti-trust rules on them.

If the team sucked, it would be easy to get tickets. Be careful what you ask for.