Loyal Fans Are Batting Cleanup

The Wall Street Journal reminded us on Thursday that Loyal Fans Are Batting Cleanup.

“The season-ticket holder represents an annuity that is the life blood of the organization.”

“I’ve never seen so many longtime customers — some with season tickets dating back to 1969 — saying they have no choice but to bow out this year,” says Mark Tilson, Royals vice president of marketing and sales. Adds Terry Loose, a season-ticket salesman for the team, “I’ve literally had my customers say it came down to buying the tickets or feeding their families. I told them to feed their families.”

It is encouraging for sports organizations to respect their customers anew. Better late than never. Kansas City is a start. Considering all of the economic hardship in the Greater NY area, perhaps the fan will get some common courtesy from the Giants down the road. John Mara has the decency and tact to keep his mouth shut. Steve Tisch is another story. He wants those PSLs sold, and the moment they are, then you’ll start seeing him ‘behaving’ better. Which will likely be more duplicitousness on his behalf. What a difference 4 years makes- we lost the Duke and got Steve Tisch. Bad trade.

Addendum Saturday morning 830AM- Phil Mushnick reminds us that the Yankee seat pricing which failed over a year ago gives them no ability to use the economy as cover for their greed. The only unfortunate thing about the Yankee story is that Tisch probably thinks he is a charitable saint, giving away his PSLs in comparision.

Separately, the only PSLs which were NOT priced egregiously were the 1K terrace seats. But we have a warning from someone who is a consultant on the new Meadowlands Stadium- those seats in the upper tier are much higher up than they were for the 3rd tier in the current stadium. We checked the panorama exterior webcam, and you can see that the top of the seats from the old stadium is below while the top tier of the new stadium is still extending higher. Hey, they have to put those suites on FOUR separate levels. In 16 months from now we’ll get reports from fans in the upper deck who are not happy with how far up they are. “You get what you pay for?” Apparently you can run up to the terrace but you cannot hide.