Loge13 pal John sent along this excellent link...Mets season ticket holder Rob Feldman received a call from the Mets about his 2009 seating plan in Citi Field. Feldman was so shocked by the plan changes, he wrote
a letter to Newsday to vent his emotions:
My Mets tickets cost more than diamonds
BY ROB FELDMAN
Rob Feldman lives in Commack.
August 23, 2008
The telephone call I had anxiously awaited finally came. I had a
message on my answering machine from John, a New York Mets relocation
ticket representative. He followed up with an e-mail with a link to
views from the seats in the new ballpark, pricing plans and an
explanation of the amenities at the different price levels.
My current seats (four of us share four inner loge box seats just to
the first base side of home plate) cost us $27,000 - not a small sum.
But this was a new ballpark so we were prepared to pay a little more. I
discovered my seats were equivalent to the new Excelsior Club Gold
seats. The price: $48,600 without parking! That's an average of $150
per seat per game.
It didn't sink in right away. I had
anticipated an increase, but 80 percent? I called John back. Did I miss
something? Did he forget to tell me it included a condo or a timeshare
in Port St. Lucie? I repeated, "$48,600?"
"Remember, this is a
brand-new stadium with terrific amenities," John said. This got me
thinking. I have been to all the ballparks, many of them brand new and
with terrific amenities. I was just at the new Nationals ballpark to
see the Mets play there in April. My box seats between home plate and
third base cost $60. I watched the Mets play the Arizona Diamondbacks
in May at Chase Field - my favorite stadium - a domed gem in Phoenix.
My seats cost $70 for infield box the first night and $42 for box seats
just past third base the following night. The least expensive
field-level seats at Citi Field will be $125 for the outfield. Seats
behind home plate will cost $495.
I was astonished. I asked
John what our options were as season ticket holders for 20 years.
"Suppose we were to move upstairs or toward first or third base?" I
asked. He explained that season ticket holders already in those seats
have priority; that offerings were matched by location. The fact that
the newly assigned seats were out of our price range didn't matter.
The invoice came the next day. A 10 percent ($4,860) nonrefundable
deposit was due in 10 days and the balance of $43,740 would be due in
November.
I did some math. On the average, I would be paying
$600 per game plus parking, food and gas - OK, let's say $700 per
baseball game.
Skipping one game would cover the increase in gas expenses for a year.
Two games and I could afford the annual increase in the cost of heating and cooling my house.
Three games and I could spring for a brand-new high-definition TV with
surround sound and a fancy popcorn maker so I could watch the games
from the comfort of my climate-controlled home, where there's never a
line for the bathroom and the food is much more reasonably priced.
Forgo four games and a family could have a wonderful Caribbean or Disney vacation.
What would I be giving up? Thirteen games - one sixth of the entire
schedule - played on cold, windy and often damp nights in April and
early May. Imagine how I'd feel paying such big bucks to see a game
like the Pirates' 13-1 drubbing of the Mets on Thursday afternoon,
April 30. What? No refund?
Who will be able to buy these high-priced tickets?
We hear the new Citi Field will be fan friendly. Will the actual fans
be able to afford games at Citi Field or will the attendees be guests
of various corporations? With Citigroup losing billions, how long
before it becomes Dubai Field?
Miniature golf, anyone?What a fantastic letter. As for the new stadium's name,
we pondered the same question last November and rallied our primitive Photoshop skills to explore the possibility...
Comments
Where are those DairyLee Coupons on the back of the milk cartons when you need them?