A guest post from frequent contributor JMF:
There was no gun to my head. The Mets didn’t force me to buy season’s tickets. I could have said NO. I attempted to downgrade my tix but my nice Mets salesman customer service was not real helpful as regards a downgrade. When I asked him about moving to tix about 40% less expensive, i.e. Promenade gold right behind home plate he said they were all spoken for. I’m sure had I told him that it was take it or leave it, or that I was NOT going to renew that he would have been more helpful. Also, the Mets were smart in NOT letting me sit in my seats, because the truth is that they are not as close to the action as I had thought or expected.
Regardless, I figured that with a brand spanking new stadium and a reasonably interesting team that the worst that would happen with those tickets or games that I would not attend that I could, at least get back my cost or face value.
WRONG!
I have tix in Excelsior Silver or Caeser’s Silver, not sure what it is, and my average ticket is $125.00 a ticket, or $10,000+ per ticket for the entire season. In previous years I had two partners, this year one backed out, and again, assuming I’d get back at least face value, I ended up with say 20 or so unaccounted for and now unsold games, beginning with a Phillies game in early June.
The face value of those Phillies tix coming up are $150.00 per ticket, and they sit on StubHub at around 15% higher in hopes of recouping my cost of face value, and I can’t say I’m optimistic about that sale. I have them on Craig’s List at $150.00 per ticket, and so far no takers. The point here is…
If a June game against the Mets rivals can’t get face value, then what hope is there (in recouping my cost) for that $150 game this summer versus the DBACKS and the GIANTS?
I know two Season’s Ticket holders that have many unsold games in Excelsior or Caeser’s GOLD and are even worse off.
I drank the Kool-Aid, but I promise that next year, NO WAY am I going to renew my tix and I bet there are a massive amount of Mets season’s ticket holders that are probably thinking the same thing, all the way down to even the cheaper seats because I’m crushed to say that Mets tickets still do not command any premium.
There will probably me a massive revolt (unless the Mets do incredible and get into The World Series) and exodus from overpriced Mets tix where season’s ticket holders lose money on any resale.
I also made the mistake of buying an Opening Day Plan, and paid fees because I ordered online, whereas had I called there would not have been fees.
What happened? Wasn’t there supposed to be tremendous interest in this new ballpark? I guess the overpriced tickets and the economy have corrected this commodity.
Like I said, I think that many of my fellow season’s ticket holders will be rethinking in 2010, and so should the Mets reconsider ticket prices as well.
I agree with JMF. I know I have too many tickets (real life gets in the way) and I keep giving them away. You would have thought there would have been demand – new stadium, good team, smaller park – but there’s none. I’m not sure we all got greedy – I just wanted to make sure I was at Opening Day (cough, night) – so I bought tickets to 14 other games I didn’t really want. I went alone and sold the other seat for $200 which offset most of the package. In 2008 I was able to “go for free” by selling off many games.
What will you do in 2010? Will you buy as many games? I bet attendance goes down next year, even if they win it all and bring back Tom Seaver at age 25.
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2010 season tickets should be interesting. sport imitates life with people using ticket packages like a real estate investment and the market suddenly crashing.
i got into a group of about 20 people in 2006 that pooled together for season tickets – 4 games for each person – and it’s not a great expense (about $35 per game to see all but RF). it got me in for the playoffs in ’06 and the final 2 seasons at Shea, but I’m even thinking of dropping it while the demand is low since I get stuck with parking and an extra ticket to try to shake. i bring it up because we never went into this to make a profit (or break even), it was all about getting people through the demand.
While I live near mass transit, and there’s access to affordable good seats (an oxymoron?), I may continue going to 6 or 7, but if any of that changes, it may be back to 2 (or 4 if I stay with the group on the season tix).