Empty seats at the new stadium

4/21/09 01:53 pm

I've heard the topic of empty seats at the New Yankee Stadium being discussed on radio, in forums, etc. If you've watched any Yankee games so far (past opening day), you've definitely noticed non-sell out crowds at every home game so far. It's kind of obvious why this is (the prices of these empty seats are through the roof), but is it a huge deal to have these big gaps in the Stadium during games?

I think it looks terrible to see complete empty sections in a stadium that the Yanks play in. I've heard a some solutions, to filling in these seats, mainly which have the Yankees severely reducing the prices and letting fans just rush to buy them up. Sounds great, but what about the people who had already spent hundreds of dollars on their tickets, knowing they're sitting next to someone who spent a fraction that they did. This would force the Yankees to either refund the difference to the originally purchasers, or face losing their business in future games/seasons. I think that idea would cost the franchise money in the long-run, and is a bad idea.

I have an idea of a solution, maybe I can hear some of your thoughts:

Start by offering the unsold tickets at discounts to those who have already purchased tickets of similar value. Give the opportunity to those who spent 500 bucks on a ticket to buy more at say, half price. What they do with these tickets is their business (whether they decide to sell them off, or bring more fans with them). It will show appreciation towards those who have already bought expensive tickets, and nobody can really take offense to this. Will this help sell off many tickets? It's hard to say.. but it's a thought.

Then, with the remaining tickets, sell them in an auction style off of the Yankees website. Have some sort of minimum (that way fans aren't getting 2500 seats for 30 bucks) for each ticket, and advertise the auctions in the broadcast and constantly on YES network. Maybe even give some of the auction proceeds towards charity and such for good PR.


So please, leave your comments, let me know if I'm crazy, or if I might be on to something good!