My oh my what a day yesterday.
I feel bad for this organization. They can’t get out of their own way.
I feel bad that I’m not telling you about the Hurricane Relief community stuff they did yesterday. Normally this blog and the other blogs would have been all over that. Instead they started Opening Day pricing at $63.
I’d love to share with you the pictures of Mr. Met at the mall the other day. Instead we’re going to talk about $63.
I’d love to be singing the praises of the blue jerseys. Instead we’re going to talk about $63.
I feel bad that Dave Howard was the one who had to talk to Adam Rubin about the ticket pricing. Jeff was available yesterday for comments. I read on other blogs that Jeff had something to say about Dickey and Wright. As far as I can tell the Chief Operating Officer did not speak about the issue. So we’re going to keep bringing up $63.
Maybe the COO didn’t know about the issue. Well, then that’s a problem because his staff may not be doing a good job of reporting up. Since I have met most if not all of these folks I find that hard to believe.
Maybe the COO does know about the issue. Does he choose not to address it?
Did Jeff know about the pricing options in advance? Did Jeff find out by reading tweets? Maybe Jeff still doesn’t know how much his people are charging for his product? I guess that is possible.
Maybe Jeff found out, was as wigged out as I am and yelled at everyone behind the scenes. I don’t know.
Maybe he hi-fived them and giggled with his assistant Smithers. Does he have an assistant named Smithers? I don’t know.
Maybe Jeff was the one that picked the price point. I don’t know.
No matter how I look at it, Jeff Wilpon is the Chief Operating Officer and I’d like to know his thoughts on the subject. If it’s as simple as “supply and demand” then just tell your customers it’s supply and demand.
Then we’ll know how you think and we can behave however we choose.
…
I’d like to blog about nice things. I caught a lot of grief in 2012 because I wrote about nice things, but I like blogging about nice things.
I have said all along I wasn’t about making up crap to complain about, and that this blog was about my feelings. In 2012 I enjoyed the ride. Many of us had a fun season. Loyal to the last out, right?
Today, instead of thinking about community service and nice uniforms I keep thinking about what $63 (plus fees) gets you.
Here’s the Opening Day product as far as I can tell. An infield of Ike, Murph, Tejada and Wright. Not bad at all. Dickey on the mound and somebody will catch.
Then I think of the outfield. Duda, Nieuwenhuis and Baxter? Maybe they re-sign Torres? Duda, Nieuwenhuis and Baxter? Really? Baxter has 56 career hits and Kirk has 71. Sixty-three dollars?
What exactly is the plan here? Grab whatever money you can on Opening Day because nobody is coming to see this crap until the Yankees fans invade?
…
Albert emailed me his 2012 invoice. If it’s a forgery then Albert has done a great job of punking me for 5 years so he could make me look like a fool.
Well, that’s interesting. I checked my handy Mets Seating Chart and see that Section 138 is in “Left Field Reserved” (that’s on the LOWER deck just so nobody gets confused here.) How much do you suppose that will go for in 2013 on Opening Day?
I see..seats that were $56 are now $130.
So Mr. Wilpon the COO I am looking to you again.
Someone in your organization decided that following a season where the Mets attendance was reported at 2.242 million…..
….which is down from 2011’s reported 2.378M
….which was down from 2010’s 2.559M
….which was down from 2009’s 3.154million
And following a 74-88 season
…which followed a 77-85 season in 2011
….which followed a 79-83 season in 2010
…which followed a 70-92 season in 2009
….Someone took all that data, and a starting OF of Duda, Nieuwenhuis and Baxter (and whoa maybe Andres Torres in the mix if we’re lucky) with someone catching…someone took all that data and said lets take the $56 seats and charge $130.
Jeff you’re the COO. You either made the decision, approved the decision, or someone in the organization made the decision without running it past you.
I’d love to hear your comments. I think we all would.
great job, shannon. and i know this is a larger issue, but “order processing” fees are such garbage. order processing? what is that exactly? i love when they charge me 2.50 to print tickets on my own computer (i know this isn’t exactly exclusive to the mets, but while we’re at it). what’s the 2.50 for? the printer paper that i buy? the funny thing is the 2.50 seems like a bargain compared to having the tickets shipped to you. (funny side note: my folks live in sarasota. go to a bunch of orioles ST games at ed smith stadium. free is you let them mail you tickets, 2.50 if you want to print them at home. tell me that makes sense).
i know some people view this as the team “maximizing” what will be their biggest gate of the year. that’s BS. how did everyone feel when gas station owners “maximized” their profits when gas was in short supply? i think we called that gouging and made it illegal. fact of the matter is this: opening day is one of the purest things about a baseball season. take a vacation day, call in sick, see the good luck floral arrangement, watch player intros, go wildwith the first strike (even if an 8 run inning follows like it did with glavine in 2003). maybe kids who haven’t lost the monday after easter are in attendance. maybe they say, “dad, that was fun. i’d like to do that more.” now dad says, “maybe…” because he knows he just paid $136 for nosebleeds plus parking/train, shake shack, and a beer.
all that said, i always yell at my grandpa when he tells me the mets “priced him out of the ballpark.” i think it’s silly. if you want to go, use the money you’d use to go out to one dinner and spend it on that one night instead. after all, going to a game isn’t a birthright. but this is different. at the very worst, it’s “let’s hammer ’em while we got ’em.” at the very best, it’s a really crummy job of external communications.
will i still be there on my own dime? yes. will i wait as long as possible and grab a secondary market deal? you betcha.
I know I keep harping on the fact of dynamic pricing, but this is “floor”, (well, the floor is set at I believe whatever the plan holders pay, which is no more than 10% off face). So regardless of what Mr. Howard said, dynamic pricing does not work for the lowly fans, only in the team’s favor. Therefore, my 2012 $56 seats (yes, that is my invoice above) will be no cheaper than $117 on 2013 Opening Day…thats still more than DOUBLE! Now, lets add the dynamic pricing to the mix. By gameday, my $56 seats were I believe $110 and the the PromResOF were $55. This gameday price seems to be more in line with the starting point for 2013. Therefore, if this trend holds true, FORGET $63 for the worst seat in the house, we’re looking at ~$110 for the worst seat in the house, and my $56 seats will be closer to $250! Compound all of that with the fact that the 2013 Mets have yet to sign any new players of note, have yet to extend Dickey (I won’t mention Wright cuz we all know my feelings on this), finished 4th in 2012, are playing a 4th-place San Diego team who isn’t exactly a rival and someone needs to explain to me the rationale. I’ve gone to a decade’s worth of consecutive Opening Days, complete with my traditional tailgate, but this year I will not cave. I have watched my desire to financially support the team go from a 15 game plan down to only Opening Day and a Yankee game last year…and I worded it that way because it is about financial support at this point. They need to put a competitive product on the field to get me back in the stadium….that being said, the Opening Day tailgate will be on, and we can watch the game streamed on an iPad of something. Lets Go Mets!
Really? Dickey on the mound on Opening Day? Sorry, I beg to differ. The ace of the staff, and we’re not necessarily talking pitching performance but leadership, is Johan Santana. The work ethic, the grittiness, the playing while hurt, all of it screams “Opening Day Pitcher.” This is probably Johan’s last season with the Mets as I don’t see them picking up his option in 2014, and who knows? he could end up traded during the season. The no-hitter is an added incentive and I think even Dickey would defer to Santana as the ace of the staff. One Cy Young award does not afford an automatic ace replacement.
As far as the increase in ticket prices, this is typical Wilpon behavior. They breeze through everything with their eyes half shut, apologizing when called on the carpet, all the while spewing excuses like “expenses have gone up, like everywhere else.” I’ve been a Mets fan since 1970 and stick with them through thick and thin. What I am sick of is inept ownership with cheapness thrown in. If they’re not able to justify increased ticket prices by putting a winning team on the field — in New York, no less — they ought to do us all a favor and sell the team. And Selig is a wimp for not forcing them to do it.
” …seats that were $56 are now $130.” That’s an increase of 232%, if my math is correct.
Never has such a loyal fan base been treated with total disregard and contempt. Fans that has lived through utter disappointment, fans who share a city with the Yankees, and fans who wish their team be sold.
Hey Wilpons…..the idea is to make your customers happy, give them a break considering your crappy product, keep them coming…don’t drive them away, and most importantly….don’t insult them.