It doesn’t cost that much to go Il Mulino!

The Sports Industry would like to believe they are immune to the economic downturn, but even they have to confront the brutal facts: ticket sales and advertising dollars are slowing down. It is back to earth for every sport across the board.

In Baseball, headlines are in the form of Citi being challenged on its $400M sponsorship of the new NY Mets Stadium despite the company essentially being (all but in name) nationalized by the US Govt.

NASCAR is facing contraction in ticket sales (Daytona prices had to be dropped to sell out) and racing teams (many are merging to cut costs).

In football, this past weekend Ultimatenyg got the email from the NY Giants:

Dear New York Giants Wait-list Member,

As you may know, the Giants will be moving into a new state-of-the-art stadium scheduled to open for the 2010 season. The new stadium will provide Giants players, coaches and, most importantly, Giants fans with the first class facility, services and amenities they deserve.

Our records indicate that you have been a Giants wait-list member for a number of years. Please call us at (deleted) to update your contact information and to discuss your opportunity to become a Giants season ticket holder in the new stadium.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,
(deleted)

I never thought it would be this fast. I have been on the wait-list since 1998. I’ve got the big screen hdtv giving me plenty of football enjoyment. You think they are going to get me out there for the December night games and the flex-screwed schedule games and then ask me for a license fee on top of that? VOTE WITH YOUR FEET. Send a message with ONE SINGLE VOTE. The fact that I got the notification from the Giants surprises me, but then again it really should not. IT IS BROWNING AWFUL OUT THERE, FOLKS. This economic downturn is not a drill. This is the real deal. Many people are clueless to how real and severe this is, and for fans to shell out the money for this entertainment “right” when they can still go to individual games on a pay-as-you-go basis is nothing but a luxury.

Considering that fans in attendance at Giants games are in the NY Metro area and that Wall Street has imploded, why BID? The landscape has changed. Time for the Giants, who wore the risk the entire time (no crying, season’s tickets holders who cannot afford this!), to feel it and make the players back off on salaries and give the fans something a little (how about a lot) less costly. VOTE WITH YOUR FEET. If you want to support the Giants owners and buy a license, go ahead. I would suspect that there will be enough people who will end up going for it. Let’s look at what is still available: go to the NY Giants New Stadium site. Click on “Seat Allocation,” tab to “Pricing and Seat Views.” Before you look at the PSL prices, look at the ticket price column. There are essentially two groups of seats, those for $85-160/ticket, and those for $400,$500, and $700/ticket. Would it shock you that all the premium tickets are still available?!! Those “clubs” have corporate written all over them. For an extra four hundred to five hundred dollars per game they feed you! It doesn’t cost that much to go to Il Mulino!! And let’s not forget that the tailgating is one of the most important parts of going to the game. But wait, we cannot eat, we have to wait until we get inside to eat the Club food. Huh? That these seats are still available is not only not surprising, it is completely logical. Oh, and one more small minor item, those seats also come with the $7500, $12500 and $20000 personal seat license price tag. So if you are going to be rich enough to spend $20G’s on a seat license, you go to Field 1 and pay $160 per game instead of the Coach’s Club, where they basically charge you another $540 to get all you can eat.

There was one other location that was still available besides the 3 Club locations.. Field 3. While they only carry the $120/ticket price per game, they are imo the worst seats in the stadium. I do not like the end zone and the end zone on the first level also has no perspective once they get past the 30-40 yard line. Logical once again that these seats are still around. No thanks.

I am sure there are plenty of people still behind me who are chomping at the bit to buy. But the resale market is going to change now because by the time they are done there will not be the pent up demand BEHIND THE CURRENT BUYERS. So the secondary market in coming years (when, fyi, this economic downturn is worse than it is now… we are just getting started) is going to be where the real opportunities will be. Two years from now when that emotional purchase of a seat license needs cash, you will see the secondary market seek the TRUE level of what these licenses are worth. A chunk of people who were contacted and made commitments months ago are already regretting their purchases.

Summary: Sit back and let the secondary marketplace determine the value of a seat license. The economy is going nowhere for a while, so consider it a short hedge vs Gilbrown and the Giants to be on the sidelines in cash while this water seeks its level. The secondary market will offer you precise locations for what you want instead of these dregs of SuperPriced Club seats and 5K end-zone seats. And if the PSLs and ticket prices are not attractive, do the Ultimatenyg Seat Plan- 1 big screen hdtv for $1K and $0 for each game, $0 for parking, temperature controlled, no parking lot traffic after the game. With the money you save, you can go to Il Mulino, and I guarantee the food will be better.