The poll should be pretty straight-forward. I'm just curious to see what people around here are thinking of doing next year.
Went to my first MLS games this year, getting 2 STs for next year as long as they are reasonably comparable to last year. I understand there's 2 more games next year and obviously the DPs will probably warrant higer cost as well...but as long as it's not crazy i'm in. May not be able to attent every game, but i have enough friends and family to sahre the rest with.
I dont have a ST, but I may as well have because I've been to about 10 games, including NY Challenge. I intend to get 2 ST for 2011, and I know friends who will likely do the same. I think the past few weeks have shown NYRB that the attendance will regularly be around 19-21k, and big games will be 23-25k. ST sales should be pretty good next season, especially if we get a trophy this year.
In 2010 I shared 4 St's with a colleague at work. This was my first year as a ST holder. We are thinking about increasing it to 6 or 8 for next year especially if we can upgrade from current low 226 to high 126. Any thoughts about whether those might become available because they are not picked up by current holders? I have mixed feelings about ST's. It's good to have them because if you want good seats at face or close to face you can't get them. At the same time, if you need to sell seats to a certain game, it's hard to get face for them. Weird. I am thinking that they should be able to sell more ST's next year than this year. If 2010 was at 8-9k, then I would hope and expect that 2011 will be at 12k, provided that thet do some marketing (i.e. people outside of these boards will hear about it).
Some will probably think I'm ridiculous for suggesting this; so feel free to ignore this or shoot it down. I've heard rumblings about RBNY ticket prices going up (more than just because of the two extra games) and haven't liked what I've heard about how TFC prices have dramatically gone up. Now this could be totally premature and it could be possible that RB really has its head on straight, but I feel like preemptive action is the way to go. It's not even for mostly selfish reasons; I just really like the way this team and league are heading and want it to remain a passionate experience for the masses. There has to be a culture established and real relationship between the organization and the fans. i.e. supporters treated as desirables and not hassled. I'd much rather see RBNY and MLS evolve into something like the Bundesliga in terms of supporter experience than the NFL or Premier League (not a comment on American football or English soccer--I just think they treat their fans like shit). It's not just ticket prices either http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/11/bundesliga-premier-league . It can be done. Whether this leads to a petition telling RB how much we appreciate their efforts to this point and beseeching them to keep it an affordable fan friendly experience, or people telling me I'm an ass, or just starting a dialogue, thought I'd throw it out there in this thread.
I think this is a totally legit concern. A big part of why i started following MLS this year, and going to a few games is that my 2 favorite teams (Mets and Jets) have made concerted efforts to price the average fan out of their parks. I'm not even talking concessions and souveniers. The basic ticket price with parking is out of control, and the football teams want you to spend thousands of dollars just to have the right to buy the tickets. MLS and Army football are the only sports i can afford to go to anymore. The thing is, i'll be bringing my kids to MLS games, which will lead to them being fans as adults, which will lead to more revenue for RBNY in the future.
absolutely legit concern. I dont know what MLB and NFL are thinking, but I dont need to go to live games at any cost. I have a household budget, like most normal people, and live sports is a luxury, not a necessity. Sure, they may take that into account and figure I'll at least just stay home and boost their TV numbers, but they're wrong there too. When a team pisses me off by trying to fleece me and turn live viewing into an elites-only experience, I trun off from them completely. MLS is too young to even think about going that route, and NYRB needs to realize that. Keep prices at this level, and work on selling out more games. If they raise the prices too high, they will drop down and struggle to recover their numbers.
This is going to be one of the biggest problems with MLS. All the fans want tremendous growth in the quality of players, salary cap, etc. But we don't want to pay for it for some reason.
Anyone know when STs go on sale for 2011? I spoke with a ticket rep earlier in the week, and they said they were making adjustments to existing STs next week (Upgrades, increases, and section moves), but was not comittal to when the new STs would be on sale.
I am going to renew unless the price goes up. I have 4 midfield tickets with great sight lines. I do have a concern about pricing. I expect ticket prices to go up, but it has to be reasonable. Hopefully Red Bull noticed what happened when the Jets and Giants re-priced their season tickets so that they were out of reach of the middle class. I think the Mets experienced similar season ticket attrition, but that may have as much to do with the Mets on field performance as ticket pricing. I do have personal experience with second tier sports franchises alienating hardcore long time fans by over pricing season tickets. I was a Hartford Whalers season ticket holder. The Whalers stunk for a long time, but made the playoffs a few seasons in a row, and had succesive double digit price increases, and then stunk again. Despite desperate discounting, I never renewed my full season tickets. If a business is not going to consider my loyalty to them as a customer, I have trouble being loyal myself. I contrast that to a neighborhood Mexican restaurant that my family frequents. We were there when thy opened 10+ years ago. The owner has gone out of his way to consistently treat us well through his good times and bad. I appreciate that.
The price for midfield season tickets for 2011 is $720 (up from $585). Yes, we get two more games next season, but money is money. Add in the price of parking, tolls, gas, food, beer, etc. and it's getting to be a rather costly commitment for 17 nights/days a year. Other prices: 2011/2010 Premium Midfield: $1,000/$695 Sideline: $530/$425 Corner: $400/$335 Endline: $340/$299 Supporter: $320/$272
Guys, there is no reason to panic and complain, We don't even know how much they will be raising by. However, if the cost is a huge concern, then even if there were to raise prices by 25% (I doubt it). $18 tickets would be come $22.50. You can't tell me that this is expensive. And in this stadium, if you are in the 200 sections, you still have a great view for that price.
Um, yes we do: 2011/2010 Premium Midfield: $1,000/$695 Midfield: $720/$585 Sideline: $530/$425 Corner: $400/$335 Endline: $340/$299 Supporter: $320/$272 Per game the increase is not that much, but overall it ranges from 30% (premium midfield) to 12% (endline). The "cheap" seats are still a good deal. Midfield? Not so much.
The bright spot here is that the price per game didn't go up much, except for the Premium Midfield seats: 2011/2010 Premium Midfield: $58.82/$46.33 Midfield: $42.35/$39.00 Sideline: $31.17/$28.33 Corner: $23.52/$22.33 Endline: $20.00/$19.93 Supporter: $18.82/$18.13 The price increase for the cheapest seats - Supporter, Endline and Corner - is as negligible as it gets, per game. I have three corner flag seats, which actually cost me $272, as they gave us the 2009 season prices if we renewed for this year, but I've watched most of the games from the GSS section (133). I'm going to get my tix in that section for next year so I'm only looking at a $48 per season ticket increase, with two more home games. Corner flag would have cost $400 this season, so I'll be saving $80 per season ticket, or $240 overall (with two more home games). I'm very satisfied with this! Also, go see what TFC is charging and they don't have JPA (or whatever major star replaces him next season), TH14 and Rafa Marquez. Thank You Uncle Dietrich! Also, the free gift/s looks to be a free Red Bulls Corner membership, plus a private Red Bulls training session, if you renew by Dec 10th. Edit: I just read the letter again and it says: Season Ticket Holder Gift (one per seat). So we're getting something, be it a scarf, shirt, whatever, but we're getting something. Thank You Uncle Dietrich!
Didn't see this before my last message. So, the per game cost stayed the same for endline and up by no more than 10% for all others except the useless premium mid-field. Don't get why anyone would pay more for 111 than 126.
Didn't existing STHs get a lower locked in increase for 2011 though? So it shouldn't be as bad for them next year right?
There's no lower locked in/discount deal this year (I just got my renewal packet in the mail and have bought season tickets for the last five seasons). The increase affects everyone. Also the child discount is a thing of the past, so if you have season tickets for your kids you'll be paying a lot more as well.
I wasn't counting on getting the 2009 season price ($272), for my corner flag seats, this year anyway. That was a nice little one yr perk for 2009 season ticket holder that renewed for 2010. As an example, everyone else paid $335 for a corner section season ticket. If you take the increase $65 per season ticket in a corner flag section (if you were a brand new season ticket holder in 2010), the big increase there is the two extra home games. The price per game only went from $22.33 to $23.52. The child discount was only for season tickets in the sideline and midfield sections, so If you have a child you'll be playing full price in those sections. The child discount did not apply to the corner, endline or supporters sections this season.
well just got my ticket renew in the mail today.. almost a $150 price jump per seat, not to bad..gotta pay for those new DPs I suppose. I was actually thinking of moving my seats but I am not sure yet. It all depends whats available.
Being a long time STH, I paid around $750 last year for two. This year it is $1,060 a 40% increase. My tickets went from $25 to $31. That is a lot of money.
Ok, but you only paid around $750 last year (for two) because they gave us the 2009 season price, if we renewed for the 2010 season. Everyone else paid $850 (for two). The prize freeze was a one season deal, and even I didn't expect it again for next season. Next season, those same sideline seats are, as you point out, $1,060 (for two). So, if you take the prize freeze out of the equation, there was only a $105 increase for those sideline seats. The only reason this seems like alot is because there are two extra home games next season. The per game increase is as follows: 2010 Sideline: $425 15 Home Games, per game: $28.33 2011 Sideline: $530 17 Home Games, per game: $31.18 That's an increase of $2.85 per game, which (in my opinion) is very, very minimal considering the DP talent we have. Suggestion: Corner Flag seats are $400, and, believe me, are just as good.
That is a 10% increase which in today's world is a lot. In 10 years my tickets have gone up 50% not good. Sorry to say, but the corner flag seats are not nearly as good. I bought those seats for a friend for the last match and today he sat with me and he said there was a big difference.