Can you say backfire? From FoxSports.com:
NEW YORK (AP) - At new Yankee Stadium, the best seats in the park have turned out to be the emptiest.
The most expensive spots in America’s costliest ballpark have become an embarrassment packing a financial sting to the proud New York Yankees, as the Legends Suite section in the infield has been filled only once in the six games since the $1.5 billion stadium opened last week.
On most days, the 1,895 seats that cost $500-$2,500 as part of season tickets and go up to $2,625 for individual games haven’t been close to full. And as TV cameras pick up the patchy attendance with every pitch, it serves as a little tweak to America’s richest baseball team.
“We’re done talking about seats,” Yankees president Randy Levine said on Wednesday. “We’re not talking about seats.”
But fans sure notice.
“I remember watching and you couldn’t find an empty seat at Yankee Stadium. And now right behind home plate there’s 15 to 20,” said Aaron Feldstein, who scored a free ticket from a friend for Wednesday’s game behind home plate - an area that costs $325 as part of season tickets.
The Legend Suite section was about 80 percent empty, and the upper decks - which have been mostly full - were a quarter empty for the game against the Oakland Athletics on a showery, cold afternoon.
Yet another sign of how the best seats have been overpriced is their resale level.
Legends Suite seats in section 27B, row 2, down the left-field line that originally sold for $500 were available for $225 early Wednesday on the online ticket broker StubHub.com. Tickets in section 23, row 7, behind the visitors’ dugout could be had for $263, down from their $850 original price.
“Yeah, we understand it’s not full. We actually understand why it’s not,” left fielder Johnny Damon said. “It’s tough for, you know, business owners to justify those seats. It’s either have those seats or lay off people from work, and I think that during this tough time, people are going to want to put it back into their companies and put it back into people instead of spending that type of money for seats.”
A stadium built in boom times - with top-end seats that give fans access to private clubs and an upscale duplex buffet from white-toqued chefs at carving stations - the Yankees’ front office doesn’t seem to have counted on the recession dampening enthusiasm for the storied franchise.
The team refuses to talk about the financial impact of the empty seats, but if every spot in the Legends Suite were sold, the club would gross $1.63 million per game, according to AP’s calculation.
“I think if anybody in any business had known where this economy was going to go, they would have done things differently,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said on April 2.
“Look, there’s no doubt small amounts of our tickets might be overpriced. You know, we’re continuing to look into that. But the bottom line is, the vast majority of them, it seems like they’re right on because we’ve sold 35,000 full season equivalents, and a lot of the tickets have, you know, sold quite well.”
So what do the Yankees do until the economy rebounds? Drop prices now and anger fans who paid (very) top dollar? Or wait, endure the jokes, and wonder what the effect on the actual game is?
All those empty cushioned seats with teak armrests translate to less crowd noise, making Yankee Stadium a less-intimidating place to play.
Oakland’s Jason Giambi, who spent seven seasons with the Yankees, said the new stadium was “kind of bigger and more spread out than the other one.”
In the old ballpark, it felt as if the fans “were on top of you,” he said. “That made old Yankee Stadium so great.”
In honor of this years March Madness tournament we’re revisiting the Top Ten Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time as decided by WatchMojo.com. Check it out in convenient YouTube playlist format:
The $1.1 billion stadium, in Arlington, is now 3-for-3 in bids for mega-sporting events!
Then announced Wednesday that it willhost the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball Final Four. The stadium, which opens in 2009, is already home to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game and the 2011 Super Bowl.
With its stars coming back, North Carolina received all 31 first-place votes as the unanimous No. 1 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
This is the first time, since ESPN has participated in the coaches’ poll, that the North Carolina Tar Heels have been the unanimous preseason No. 1. They’re also the top-ranked team for the second straight preseason.
After her father was murdered during halftime at one of her games Tierra Rogers questions her love of basketball.
Terray Rogers, an anti-violence activist and a constant and visible presence at Tierra’s basketball games, was shot while smoking a cigarette outside during halftime. Police feel Terray was targetted since his friend was not harmed.
Tierra told a writer from ESPN that she has ” her own inner conflict to deal with, and it had to do with basketball. One option was just flat-out quitting, and her coach at Sacred Heart, Harrigan, says he wouldn’t have blamed her. Terray had been slain 100 yards from the gym, and many times Harrigan imagined Tierra turning in her uniform, imagined her saying, Coach, I don’t know if I can walk through these doors every day, knowing my father was killed across the street.
Maybe it will take weeks, maybe months, maybe years. She already has committed to play collegiately at Cal because when she visited campus alone on parents’ weekend — breaking down in tears — she appreciated the way coach Joanne Boyle comforted her. She just tries to plod forward. She still takes the Muni bus to Guy’s gym.”
Nine months later, the motive behind her father’s murder remains a mystery and the police investigation continues.
The Chicago Bulls selected Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.
Rose, a Chicago native, led the Tigers to the national championship game in his lone college season. The Bulls opted for the point guard’s playmaking ability over the scoring and rebounding of Beasley, who ranked in the top three in the nation in both categories as a freshman.
Rose is the Bulls’ first No. 1 overall selection since they grabbed Elton Brand in 1999. He’s the second straight freshman taken with the top pick, following Portland’s Greg Oden last year.
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