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Notes from Dave Howard’s call to WFAN

Megathanks to Ceetar from Optimistic Mets Fan for covering me today on Dave Howard’s call with Francesa.

I have not heard the call myself but Ceetar has awesome street cred with me.

As with all things Mets Police I leave it to you decide if you find the site reliable. Please visit Ceetar’s site as a Thank You

There is so much going on that it’s hard to keep up. I have at least two amazing things I haven’t shared yet, and I haven’t commented on today’s press release yet.

Plenty to come but in the meantime here is what Ceetar jotted down.

…

Large, 14% decrease in average ticket price.

Season Ticket holders, Plan holders, group sales, 10% off.

Believe customers will enjoy the perks.

change relationship, treat them in an extradordinary manner. Believe it’s among the best in professional sports in treating customers as if they are corporate sponsors.

increases: did market research, looked at data. secondary market data, talked to fans, etc..
large segment selling above face in secondary market. was surprising. Promenade level $12-$25 seats were selling for more, sometimes substantially more. Season ticket/plan will still be less for these seats, factoring in 10%

Embracing the reality of the secondary market, and helping season ticket holdesr interface with stubhub. (“sell” back to the Mets, reprint for stubhub buyer)

“Entire Season Ticket fanbase collapsing” not true. But disappointing. 94% full in 2009, to 2.6million in 2010.

36-38% reductions. club levels, field levels. 16% reduction average on field , 20% reduction average on excelsior.

the “dump to stubhub accusition”. Howard: “We don’t do that. wouldn’t do that.”

They know that “Price and quality” are the biggest things they need to address to woo back the expired season ticket holders. Sandy Alderson will address the quality part, and they’re confident it will approve.

pricing tiers: “season ticket holders like it” they share sometimes, among fans. And that helps with people in choosing games from the same set of season tickets. Peak versus offpeak. Summer and Weekends versus cold months and weekdays. Helps make some tickets available at a very affordable rate. 30 value dates versus 10. Helps season ticket holders on secondary market (the crap games they want to resell are more affordable, I guess)

Plans: Most plans/packs will have a Yankee or Opener. They are very important. It’s a lot of accounts and fans. See more individual fans versus corporations in season ticket seats. Talking about what to do to add benefits and perks to plans. 10% is included.

Expecting some to trade up on plans to more expensive or more seats because of discounts and reductions.

learned from season ticket holders: “in a nutshell “love the ballpark, love ameneities, comfort, food…but #1, just win.”

undiscussed: “Marked up all the sections/rows. but not obstructions”
“plans, will there be weekend/peak plans?”
“didn’t discuss the payment plans (which is new if I recall)”

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The e-blast version of the Mets ticket news

What i posted earlier is the official press release.  This is the email version.

METS REDUCE TICKET PRICES FOR 2011

Full Range of Adjustments Includes Average Price Decrease of 14% from 2010

Season Ticket Holders to Receive 10% Discount Off of Lower 2011 Prices, Increased Exclusive Benefits and Services, Unique Experiences

FLUSHING, N.Y., November 3, 2010 – The New York Mets today announced a restructured ticket pricing program for 2011 that includes a reduction of ticket prices by an average of more than 14% from last season. In addition, season ticket, ticket plan and group ticket customers receive an additional 10% discount.

Within the 14%-plus average price decrease, the Mets have made a full range of market-based adjustments to Citi Field’s 41,800 seats:

  • Ticket prices for 62% of the ballpark have been reduced
  • More than half of all seats have double-digit price reductions
  • 18% of the seats have been cut by 20% or more
  • 8% of seats have price decreases of 30% or more
  • Several seat categories have modest increases that average approximately 5%

Season Ticket Holders will begin receiving their invoices – which reflect their additional 10% discounts – by next week.

Season Ticket Holders also will have access to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities through the new “Amazin’ Mets Perks” (AMP) program of unique benefits and experiences. Season Ticket Holders who pay in full by December 15 will automatically be eligible for the “30-Day Amazin’ Mets Perks” Daily Awards. Hundreds of winners will be chosen overall, with awards starting on November 21 and continuing daily to December 20.

The Mets have revised their variable pricing plan to four tiers named as followed: Marquee (four games), Premium (22), Classic (25) and Value (30).

The Mets have increased the number of tickets that cost $15 or less by 45% to 384,000 from 264,206 last season. Almost 2 million tickets, or 61% of total capacity, cost $50 or less, up from 54% in 2010. Single game tickets start at $12.

“The Mets are committed to providing quality and value to our fans,” said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations. “We reduced ticket prices for 2011 based on fan feedback and marketplace information. We introduced Season Ticket Holder discounts and the ‘Amazin’ Mets Perks’ program as a way to thank and reward them for their loyalty and commitment.”