And now a guest post from @theteacherchris who started a friendly discussion on twitter over the weekend. I invited Chris to write something up which, as you will read, provides a different point of view from what you get from @mediagoon and I.
My Experiences As a Mets Season Ticket Holder (They May Shock You)
To start off, I have a been a full season ticket holder since 2005. In Shea I was located
in Field Level 169 Box H and at Citi Field I am in section 135 row 1. I am far from a large
client as my account has never been more than $6500 a year. Despite my modest bankroll, I
am made to feel like I am the most important thing by the folks in the ticket offices at Citi.
Bottom line, in my opinion, the Mets have gotten bad reputation when it comes to public
relations with the fans and maybe I can change some people’s minds with this post.
Every year my friends ask me if i have renewed my seats, and most follow up with one
word, “Why?”. Well, there are several reasons and most of them have nothing to do with the
mostly lackluster on field talent.
I’m a 32 year old teacher and father of two boys (3 and 5) and have been a Met fan my entire life. I have seen them play in 16 different stadiums (will be 18 at summer’s end after trips to St. Louis and Tampa). My schedule allows me to get a lot of
games and my children have an absolutely awesome day every time we go (regardless of the
outcome). It is a challenge for my family and I to come up with our money every year, but I
have no intention of ever letting my seats go. Let me explain why…
Reason 1: Discounted Pricing
I have seen a lot of posts lately slamming the Mets for their recent promotions and how that
may hurt people like myself who paid “full price” up front. This is simply untrue. About four
years ago the Mets gave a serious discount to season ticket holders. As a result, I pay about
60% of the box office price for every single game. This is incredibly helpful to me. It helps
tremendously with resale. If someone who is not a season ticket holder wants to go to a
game, they have an actual REASON to buy from me. I can offer it to them cheaper than the
box office price and make back my money for that game. They get a deal, I make my money
back and everyone is happy. Additionally, if I ever need extra tickets to a game, I get them at
the SEASON TICKET HOLDER PRICE, not the normal box office price (a savings of about
40%) and am subject to no exorbitant convenience fees that I find decidedly inconvenient.
Finally, the Mets have created awesome interest free payment schedules that help break my
lump sum payment up into six monthly installments at no extra charge.
Reason 2: Perks
As a season ticket holder I am given approximately 5 vouchers every year that are
good for 4 seats to any game (except premium dates like opening day, subway series, Red
Sox series this August). You may be pessimistically thinking about where the seats are good for. The seats are AWESOME. They are field level seats along the foul lines and dugouts
about 15 rows back. The face value for the seats is usually about 80$ meaning each voucher is about 320$ worth of tickets.
In addition to the vouchers, I get a free meal card from the Mets loaded with $250 that
can be used at any concession stand or team store at Citi Field. This covers my food and
drinks and has actually already been used up this year.
I also get priority access to presales for any event that Citi Field hosts. I will be seeing Zac Brown Band (I know nothing about them, this is all for my wife) in August and the Foo Fighters in June (More my style)
Reason 3: Cool Events
I know it seems like a long time ago, but the All Star game at Citi field was FANTASTIC.
The prices for the tickets were not too bad (prices set for this event by MLB, not Mets). With
my seats I was able to snag a homer during the Home Run Derby.
Annually I am invited to two or three cool events at Citi Field. Some events in the past
were Q and A sessions with Players and Front Office members, meet and greets, exclusive
autograph sessions and even a wine tasting party during a game in a luxury suite celebrating
Tom Seaver’s wine vineyard.
Reason 4: Above and beyond Dedicated Customer Service
Last summer, my older son son had an accident and broke his arm. He was really
bummed out about being sidelined for most of the summer. My ticket services representative
heard about it and within a week shipped him a really nice care package. It included a signed
baseball from his favorite player, a couple of bobbleheads, and a handwritten note expressing
the Mets best wishes for my son to have a speedy recovery. My son still tells people about
this to this day.
More recently, a friend of mine’s 3 year old was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He too loves
the Mets. I was casually discussing how sad it was with one of my ticket reps and they took it
upon themselves to send an amazing package of stuff to the house, another handwritten note
and a significant donation to his fundraiser in the name of the New York Mets.
The above two actions may not make headlines, but they make it certain that I will continue
to be renewing my account annually because they make it more than worth it.