Comments on: The Yankees continue to complain about StubHub

By: dexterismyhero

dexterismyhero — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:32:10 +0000

Touche……Agrred………..

What does Hank think?

By: basedrum777

basedrum777 — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:14:58 +0000

I know you’re going to say its not the usual answer but my tickets to Yankees games are $20/seat in the bleachers with it having been $12/seat up until this year. I don’t go to the game to eat or drink I go to watch baseball. I do eat occasionally but its at my own disgression.

I think the Yankees complaining about Stubhub is pretty ridiculous as they’re basically saying that they want you to buy a 20 game pack even if you can only attend 12 games and that those 8 games are not to be sold because that will prevent another person from buying 20 games. I think its kind of like a older person complaining about their work being replaced by a computer.

By: natslady

natslady — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:42:32 +0000

Really? Has that ever happened? At least in DC, as long as they are not over-aggressive, everyone and anyone can buy or sell a ticket from the guys on 1/2 Street.

By: 24missed

24missed — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 03:04:30 +0000

Last season, there was a mix-up between the stubhubber (is that a word?) and I. We both had the tickets to the same seats. He really meant for two of the four tickets to be sold and two for him. It worked out just fine and everyone was cool.

And yes, to the poster below, the games cost a fortune. If you can get $150 per person, you are good to go, throw in fees, etc. I always try to bring a power bar and down a water or two. You can save $$ that way even though I know most people don’t find it as fun.

Are the Yankees the only ones commenting on Stubhub? I haven’t heard this from other teams. You’d think other teams would have some comments.

By: mybrunoblog

mybrunoblog — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:15:20 +0000

Attendance for 19 teams is up but the numbers are not super encouraging. Less than 2000 fans per game on average is the improvement. Nothing to jump for joy over. Factors like the Marlins new ballpark, Bryce Harper hysteria, and a few teams that are playing well that haven’t played well in a while have pumped up some numbers.
Big market teams like Yankees, Mets and White sox are down. Boston sell out streak is over and they are up less than 150 fans per game which essentially means the Red Sox attendance is statistically flat.
I guess we could look at as the glass is Ether half full or half empty…..I choose to fill the glass with some ice cold adult beverage and watch some baseball.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:50:47 +0000

Have some intern check StubHub listings against season ticket seats.

By: blazertop

blazertop — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:30:28 +0000

Wow, I’m reading about $1000, and $500, etc…. For one baseball game?? Are you kidding me?? Something very wrong here.

By: foodforthesoul28

foodforthesoul28 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:37:46 +0000

Here’s an idea, Don’t spend a billion bucks on a new ballpark.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:31:15 +0000

I’ll go with Door Number One.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:30:28 +0000

Question is, how would the Yankees KNOW if a season ticket holder sold seats on StubHub? How would they enforce that?

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:29:23 +0000

Very well said, Craig. I remember when the new Yankee Stadium hosted games in it’s first year, and I kept seeing empty seats behind home plate, for all the TV audience to see. Who wants to pay $1,000 a seat or more? Especially in this economy.

By: millmannj

millmannj — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:05:06 +0000

The Yankees will create their own “secondary market” ticket selling website in 2013. You will be unable to post your tickets for less than face value. They will also threaten any season ticket holder who sells their tickets on StubHub with the revocation of their seats. This is what Randy Levine means by “fan-friendly alternatives.”

By: jlovenotjlo

jlovenotjlo — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:52:32 +0000

F*CK the Yankees. That is all

By: footballisking

footballisking — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:40:07 +0000

Got to love how he is hiding his greed of wanting to monopolize the fan into paying the over priced rate they charge as oppossed to a cheaper rate online (which is more fan friendly, and the yankees already get their money either way, and has no bearing on lowering attendance it obviously raises it because allows more fans to purchase tickets)…but no worries yankee fans he wants you to be backed into a corner and pay the over-priced rate becasue it is “fan friendly”……but by all means keep trying to use the p.r spin that you are doing the fans a favor..how dumb do the yankees think people are, that they say dumb stuff like this

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:25:22 +0000

Point #6: Attendance is up for 19 of the 30 teams.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml

Don’t you ever get tired of being completely wrong?

By: snowbirdgothic

snowbirdgothic — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:18:50 +0000

I explain.

No, is too much. I sum up.

Let’s say Joe Fan wants to go to a Yankees game with his kid. He looks at Yankees.com and sees that a pair of good seats costs $500. Hey, it’s a couple of car payments, but it’s good seats, right, and Junior gets to enjoy the game.
Next, Joe looks at Stubhub.com, where a season ticket holder who can’t go to the game is re-selling his seats in that same section for $300. This, clearly, is a better deal for Joe. It’s the same seats, but 40% cheaper. So, buys from Stubhub.
Joe wins, because he got the same good for less money. The season ticket holder wins, because he got $300 (less fees) of his $500 back, which is better than getting $0 back. And the Yankees, in this case, lose, because what they want is for the season ticket holder to eat his ticket and force Joe to shell out that $500 directly to them. That’s what Levine is complaining about – the fact that there’s now a semi-free market for those tickets that no longer guarantees them first/best crack at your wallet.
Now, the model was /supposed/ to work such that every game would sell out, and demand for a scarce good (tickets) would drive up prices at the secondary retailer (Stubhub). This would drive consumers to the cheaper alternative: the Yankees. Unfortunately for Levine, that model only works if you are in fact selling out every game and demand becomes greater than supply. Right now, that is most emphatically not the case. Blame whatever you want – idiotic pricing schemes by the Yankees, the economy, rumors that ‘cepts was living in the steam tunnels under the stadium or whatever, but this is what’s called a market correction, and blaming Stubhub is a lot like blaming Moog for putting player piano manufacturers out of business.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:17:28 +0000

A basketball tourney is a scalper’s delight. You buy all the tickets for the games your team will play if they make it to the finals. They get bounced early, you have no desire to watch the rest of the games you have tickets for, but somebody from Atlanta or Charlottesville really, really does.

By: The Rabbit

The Rabbit — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:05:40 +0000

They are complaining that season ticket holders who can’t go to all the games are seliing their tickets on Stub Hub for less than what the Yankees are currently charging for tickets for that game.
It’s the opposite of scalping…trying to get something for a ticket they can’t use rather than just throwing it away.
BTW-I always check Stub Hub first. Even if the tickets are the same price as the tickets offered from the team’s box office, season ticket holder seats are usually in a better location.

By: celauritz

celauritz — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:57:21 +0000

It seems his issue is that he wants people that want tickets to have to buy direct from the Yankees, basically wasting the tickets of the people that don’t want to go to the game.

He wants to make the tickets non-transferrable. Why not just put names on the tickets and check ID’s? See how many tickets get sold then. Dumbass.

By: mrwillie

mrwillie — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:32:43 +0000

I realize that scalping laws pretty much never enforced, but wow, that’s a large markup that NY allows for ticket resale. In NC it is illegal to sell for more than $3 above face value. The $3 being to offset any fees associated with them…..like $3 would even cover the ‘convenience fee’s’ these days.

The only time I have seen scalping laws enforced is the ACC basketball tourney in Greensboro. The actually run stings out there and arrest quite a bit of folks.

By: donniebb23

donniebb23 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:26:42 +0000

@hansob I guess it depends. I was a Yankee season ticket holder for 3 years and it was just the opposite. Even with $20 seats I could have bought them a la carte for cheaper than paying for the full season up front. The only advantage was the post season ticket option, but that’s a different discussion.

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:24:47 +0000

StubHub resells tickets. THAT MEANS THE TICKETS WERE ALREADY SOLD BY THE YANKEES! If he’s bitching about butts in the seats, that’s still not a StubHub problem as they only resell tickets that ARE ALREADY SOLD. (I almost never use caps, but it seems no one is getting this).

There are two scenarios I see from this:

1. Levine is an unadulterated moron that does not understand what StubHub is; or,
2. Levine is a shareholder in StubHub and is trying to get more visitors to the site to resell more tickets and increase commissions.

By: sdelmonte

sdelmonte — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:07:53 +0000

I can dispute point 5. We had some really nice days early in the season, and it seemed like we were getting an early summer.

By: brewcrewfan54

brewcrewfan54 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:58:44 +0000

People being able to purchase tickets at a lower price is something that should raise attendance. The Yankees need to quit blaming StubHub for their continuing falling attendance and figure out what THEY are doing wrong. And aren’t the tickets on StubHub usually just seats that are being resold after already having paid face value for them?

By: hisgirlgotburrelled

hisgirlgotburrelled — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:53:20 +0000

“We are reviewing more fan-friendly alternatives…”

What the hell is more fan-friendly than reduced/more affordable ticket prices, and filled seats?

By: djstat

djstat — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:53:15 +0000

I hate that stub hub can buy up hoops tickets and sell them at high prices!

By: purnellmeagrejr

purnellmeagrejr — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:49:28 +0000

ANother good column – increasingly I find myself in total agreement with Crag.

By: clydeserra

clydeserra — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:42:33 +0000

Deathmonkey, yes, the yankees have already gotten the ticket holders money. But not the would be ticket buyer’s. If the 21st century didn’t exist, the would be buyer would have to buy directly from the yankees.

By: jams56

jams56 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:42:17 +0000

@49ersgiants4life I don’t know what you’re talking about because I’m going to the Yankees game on sat I’m in sec 135 row 18 and for five tickets it was 435 and that was right from Yankees.com so I’m pretty sure you got ripped.

By: mybrunoblog

mybrunoblog — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:37:45 +0000

Levine and the Yankees hierarchy are not considering the other factors.
1. It is the 4th season of the new Yankee Stadium so the newness has worn off.
2. The Yankes have picked it up some lately but played pretty uninspired baseball the first 6 weeks of the season.
3. We are still in a recession. Disposable income is scarce for some folks.
4. The proliferation of HD tv’s in everyone’s house makes it a lot easier to stay home and watch the game.
5. The weather has been cold and rainy all spring in the NYC area.
6. If you take away the Marlins attendance numbers, then you would see attendance is mostly down as a whole for MLB this year.
7. Yankees tickets are overpriced!