Dear Jeff Wilpon,
You are the Chief Executive Officer of the New York Mets. I could call out Dave or someone in the ticket office but I’m calling out you.
I want to know why you signed off on tickets starting at $63 for Opening Day.
Your answer may be as simple as “supply and demand” and if so, fine. Then we will all know where we stand with each other and your customers can decide if you are gouging us or not. Then we’ll know that your intention is to grab every last nickel from us every time.
Your fanbase is angry again. Don’t hide. You can get 5 minutes with WFAN if you want. I’m sure Matt Cerrone would publish a letter from you. If neither of them will give you a voice you’re welcome to have a letter published here.
Why did you sign off on a $63 Opening Day ticket? Your customers need to know.
Mets are setting prices according to market value. If you don’t want to pay you don’t have to, nobody is forcing you. Someone else will buy them. Why should the Mets sell tickets for less than they are worth?
Because something is only “worth” what someone is willing to pay regardless of what the Mets put on the stub. They could very well sell out opening day completely, or, like many things this awfully run franchise does, it could blow up in their face.
The author is arguing that Mets fans are already angry and bitter, and charging huge prices for opening day of what will most likely be another awful season, probably is not the smartest of ideas.
The Mets know the situation. They also know they can muster up about 40K fans (not a large number) who are willing to pay for the “opening day experience”. They aren’t worried about anyone else, because they can just point to a fairly full stadium and say “what did you want us to do, charge half as much as we could have for no good reason?”. Lowering the opening day ticket price to $29 wouldn’t add an ounce of goodwill from fans … it really wouldn’t. Some fans will lie to themselves and deny what I just said, but the only thing that will change the goodwill from the fanbase is winning baseball. I know this. You know this. The Mets know this. Shannon knows this.
This has nothing to do with goodwill, this fan or that fan, this is purely weak scheme to be ahead of StubHub.
The ticket prices were insane before this bit of double down on insanity.
Do you have sex fantasies that involve Ayn Rand and Nathan Branden, Mets Fan? And would even they be as stupid to pay $64 for OF seats with an obstructed view, Mister Free Market? I doubt it, dumb and dangerous as they were. Anyhow, the miraculous free market will deliver 20,000 giveaway tickets for charity write-offs on April; Fools Day.
Prove that the market value for opening tickets start at $63 for the crappiest seats. Don’t just tell me they do, prove it. Show me where that math came from.
This is not market value.