The Yanks: NYC's Best Deal?

You might think, with the monster payroll, that tickets to see a ballgame at Yankee Stadium must be pretty outrageous. You'd be even more convinced of this if you followed the news reports that squak about the annual bump in the average price of a seat each year. It is true that the very best seats in the House of Ruth are expensive ($115 this year, $8,910 for the season--though the plan is sold out).

But looking through the Yankee ticket information guide, we're impressed by what a good job the team does in making the game accessible at reasonable prices (though we certainly wish they were more reasonable). Yankee Stadium is a big place, so to some extent this just reflects the difficulty of filling it. (Whether this would be true at a new, smaller stadium is an important question for planners and fans alike.) Even still, the team provides a great deal of opportunity for fans to watch the team at rates that compare with other entertainment options in the city, especially for those fans who are willing to plan ahead. (Keep in mind that a movie ticket is now upward of $10). Some of the options, after the jump....

Plans:

Full season of bleacher tickets: $810 (that's 81 games!)
Friday night plan, tier reserved: $234 for 13 games
Weekday plan, tier reserved: $80 for 8 games
20 game flex plan, tier reserved: $360 ($18 per game)

Special Discounts
11 games with tier reserved tickets at $5
15 "family games" with $16 tier reserved tickets
Every Tuesday (except for "premium games"): $16 tier reserved tickets

Granted, this is a long way from the .25 cent admission of days of yore. But in those days there was no television coverage, so opportunity to see the team was far more restricted.

Comments

[SF]

I can think of a few better ways to spend 810 bucks.

- 625 Papaya dogs - that's almost two years of lunch!

- 60 months of Sirius Satellite Radio - that's like 6000 hours of Howard Stern, one of my favorite New Yorkers, as opposed to 250 hours of 9 of my least favorite

- Dinner at Masa (not including wine, sadly)

- two and a half months of parking for the family truckster

- an hour or two at Scores (don't tell Mrs. SF, please)

[pstar]

I bet you could buy 20 shots of HGH for $810...

[Hudson]

It's a lot easier to make tickets more affordable when you've got about 50,000 seats as opposed to less than 35,000.

And when your city is about to hand huge tax breaks and financing to a team which is already the richest in baseball to build a *new* stadium.

It is now common knowledge among planners, economists and other experts that giving away tax dollars to build stadiums is terrible for urban economies. It is mind-boggling that this still goes on.

Let Steinbrenner pay his own way.

[lp]

Hudson,

Most Sox fans I know, when pressed on why Boston doesn’t seek a bigger stadium, brag about the quaintness of Fenway before they bring up that Boston won’t approve public money for a new stadium.

I know you’re oozing with jealousy but the deal for the stadium works for everyone concerned. You bring up the tax break as if EVERY single major developer in this city isn’t extended a similar incentive. Moreover, the city picks up a revenue stream in that it will own the surrounding parking.

I’m well aware of the current backlash against new stadiums and urban economies. If you have any specific economic projections about Yankee Stadium and the surrounding South Bronx, please share. Otherwise, it’s just your opinion at this point.

You’ll be hard pressed to convince small business owners in that area that they don’t benefit from Yankee Stadium. What about all of the summer employees who work there like the vendors, ticket takers, parking lot attendants? If the Yanks were to move to NJ, that extra money for those guys would be lost and then you can tell them that it doesn’t make a difference.

And SF, you forgot to list one Sox home game ticket in your list of better ways to blow $810.

[SF]

No, I didn't. I am blessed to live in a family with season tickets (since the 1940s, even). So I go to my games for "free".

[NickYF]

I seem to remember Larry Luchinno, current member of Sox management, getting public moneys for the construction of Petco and Camden Yards in his previous incarnations. Hudson, I think your post implicitly suggests that Sox ownership is somehow more interested in working for the public good than the Boss. I might be reading too much into what you wrote, but if, in fact, that is what you were suggesting, you should look at Larry's history as a lobbyists for new stadium construction. If Boston would approve giving public money to the Sox, you'd be looking at a 50,000 seater where the Citgo sign once glowed.

[Earl]

Well, of course all owners are businesspeople and would love taxpayer money (even those who claim to be small-government, anti-tax Republicans). I don't blame Steinbrenner or Lucchino for trying to get public funds, but it's probably a bad deal for the cities involved.

Nick mentions PETCO, but I think San Diego is trying a new approach -- the city owns 70% of the stadium, roughly the percentage of the cost they contributed. Moreover they required the developer to invest heavily in the neighborhood (rather than do what cities like Baltimore did, which was simply hope the neighborhood would revitalize on its own). It'll be interesting to see if it works.

[NickYF]

I forgot NYC's obvious best deal: The recession special at Gray's Papaya.

[SF]

That's the first one on my "Yankee alternatives list", Nick! See above.

[NickYF]

oops! I missed that. Great appetites think alike.