I started in 2010. Prior to that, just went to games and bought tickets there unless I was taking a lot of people in which case I bought in advance.
How have they driven me away? Let me count the ways: 1) The only benefit of buying a season ticket package vs. individual seats is a guaranteed seat location. The previous (and dwindling) benefits are now "value added" packages that you are required to pay above and beyond the cost of the season ticket package. I could care less about a "free" gift or paying $200 for a bunch of worthless autographs and a crappy pre-season party. This is just a thinly veiled attempt to suck more money from fans while providing fewer services. 2) The one benefit beyond a guaranteed seat I used to enjoy as a STH was the free bonus friendly matches with guaranteed tickets in those same seats. There were zero this season, and will likely be zero next season. Even worse we have a crappy team that likely won't make the playoffs (and certainly won't play any home matches if they slip in as a wild card), so now you're getting even fewer matches for your dollar. Many teams that are charging similar prices as RBNY still provide STHs with several bonus matches. For example, Galaxy STHs got Man City and the MLS Cup (with the same seat locations - none of the MLS All Star bullshit we were told was out of the Red Bulls FO's control). 3) My ticket representative made a verbal promise to me last year that was a flat out lie to convince me renew. I've made a complaint about the person (who is now gone) and it was ignored. I personally feel like punishing the front office this season because of that. (A personal reason, but a valid one nonetheless.) 4) The organization made a bad decision in hiring Rafa Marquez, who I knew from the beginning would be an overpaid underachiever putting in minimum effort while collecting a massive paycheck. I don't want my money supporting an asshole like Marquez. 5) Getting to the stadium has remained a hassle two years in. The Harrison public service idiots keep changing procedures, so something that worked efficiently last time may not be applied the next. 6) The mandatory Stampede Membership bullshit. Maybe it's "free" this year if you pay in full before October (which I've always done), but what about next year? Tickets are already expensive enough - why should I be forced to pay extra money for a bunch of crap I don't want anyway? 7) I don't even know who my ticket rep is this year. I've spent probably $30,000+ supporting this team over the years, and not once have I received any kind of a courtesy call from whoever was my rep (most seasons I've never even known who that was) or anyone else in the front office. Except for last year, I've consistently renewed my tickets and paid in full within the first hour they've been made available, but no one in the office has ever communicated with me other than that. For the kind of money I've spent, I expect much better service. Hell, a store I bought two guitar straps from has treated me like more of a VIP than that. 8) The product that is on the field simply isn't worth the price. Even in 2009 the team managed to put in some entertaining performances and I had a good time going to games. This season the team has been blah, uninspired, and more often boring to watch than not. 9) Chris Heck's pandering to Cosmos expansion. Try filling up Red Bull Arena first and making this team an actual success on the field before you get on your knees to suckle Paul Kemsley's withered willy and wax poetic about an imaginary local rivalry. 10) Not taking the Open Cup competition more seriously. The Red Bulls had the easiest path to the final, and they pissed it away. If this organization cares about building a winning team now and in the future this action sure didn't show it. I could go on with another 20, 30, 50 reasons, but you get the picture.
I think those of us most upset are long time season ticket holders. I have friends who just started also who don't seem to totally understand why I'm angry.
I know that I am running a risk of someone starting to accuse me of working for RB. However, I don't really follow the frustration with the card. Many of you assyme that next year it won't be free, but what is it based on? Let's look at the average price of a ticket per game (real games, which was 17 last year including Santos and 17 games this year). I also immdiately subtract $100 credit because I strongly doubt that someone doesn't spend on average $6 per game on food/merch as is. So, average price per ticket was $37 in 2010, $42.50 in 2011 and $45.50 in 2012 (assuming 18 games realizing that it might be 17, but could also be 19 or 20). So, it's a 23% increase over 2 years or 11% per year. Is it justified by the economy? No. Are other sports teams in the area increasing prices at the same rate? It appears so. Have the Rangers/Knicks/Devils/Nets been more succesful than RBNY? No As upset as we are about the on-field performance right now, if you compare where things were in the Fall of 2009 when people signed up for 2010 tickets and now, the comparison will definitely be in favor of 2011. Also, I absolutely disagree with any complains about parking (not to be confused with complains about concessions or the Path). I usually get to the games 2 hours earlier, so perhaps not a fair comparison, but last Saturday, I came around 7, parked by the bridge right away and got out in under a minute after the game (I never leave even a second before the game ends and my kids know this well). What sporting event in thew area has a much better parking situation?
Thanks for providing these. I see your point on some of them, but some are striking me as a huge stretch. Especially Reason #8. I actually think that as frustrating as a lof these tie have been, they have also been highly entertaining with us ting at the ends and pushing for a winner. I presently quite hate Marquez and want him gone, but not supporting the team because they made a bad decision 15 months ago? The thread is about increase in prices, but your reasons are mostly different from the main theme. I am curious why none of the SG members are stepping in to provide some support because prices for them have been kept the same with perhaps more beneits being included now.
I am glad to know that I am not alone. Honestly, my hat is off to you for being a ST-holder at Giants Stadium. As much as someone can argue that they are taking away the benefits of being a ST-holder now, I don't know what the benefit was in 2004.
Can you explain the point of becoming a season ticket holder though? Discounts at the store? In my location there are a handful of people who are consistently at games (they aren't renewing) - I don't think I've missed one this year - but every game I am chasing people out of my seats or I'm surrounded by people who go to one game - get up and down for concessions and barely cheer for the team. I'm really happy with my seat location, but the only real incentive for me to have a season ticket is to a) have a card so I don't have to think about tickets before games, and b) to support the front office. So far, the front office hasn't given me any reason to want to support them. I don't think your comparisons with other sports really work - those teams have a market for their tickets in ways that Red Bull doesn't.
Ok. If they don't have the market and go overboard, they will be punished by the market and what you or I think about it doesn't matter - time wil tell. I honestly don't think that it makes any sense to be a ST-holder unless you have seats in 125-127, 108-111 or the bottom rows of 225-227. Once you get used to good seats (at this point 126 for me), it's hard to sit somewhere else and while most of 126 is empty on many games, it's not easy to buy them online for face value or less unless you are willing to monitor stubhub or ticketexchange daily. If I could not get into those sections, I would not be a ST-holder. However it's also nice to be a ST for a few reasons: 1. pride (you may lough at this, but whatever, I am proud to support RBNY or whatever the team is called at any point and MLS), 2. ability to get 1st dibs at other games in the stadium or additional tickets for Galaxy game for example. 3. ability to buy additional tickets for less (although I hate that they can't be in the same section). 4. access to Corner Pub But again, if money was tight and I had ST's in 128, I would not renew and I would not get them in the first place. I am not surprised at guys deciding to not renew ST's. Many posts are sort of "goodbye RBNY", and not "goodbye ST's".
I started sometime after I moved here in 2000 - I think maybe since the 2001 season? I actually can't remember for sure, it could have been later - I started going to games regularly when Mathis started going nuts in 2001 I think. I became a season ticket holder solely because I wanted to support MLS back when it's existence was a little more precarious and even though I didn't go to that many games during some miserable seasons - the never waste a ticket program meant that every season I could take a lot of people to games and try to introduce them to soccer and MLS. The last few years of Giants stadium, the incentive was to keep your place in line for the new stadium - where we felt like we were picking seats for life (as discussed multiple times in this thread). And up until Heck - I think we were lead to believe we were pretty darn important (I never had this kind of complaint before) - there was talk about a wall with a quote from us and then just our names on it (did that ever happen?), they had us put $100 down on season tickets at the new stadium but when that didn't happen they doubled it for us, they gave us first shot at corner pub (although $100 in), and I personally have always had a very responsive ticket rep who helped me get tickets for friends easily, answered my questions, listened to my complaints, etc. (this person I believe was fired). The new regime seems to basically be saying - you gotta buy on my terms or else - and the culture seems to have shifted from keeping us feeling valuable, appreciated etc., to -- if you don't act quickly to accept our terms, we're going to fill the place with some imaginary other people. Maybe it's some kind of Business tactic or maybe it's trying to change the culture so they don't have entitled feeling customers - but it's the kind of unfeeling corporate experience that I personally don't want to have to deal with when it comes to my entertainment. Maybe Heck is a genius marketer and will turn the place around and fill the stadium every game. Good for him if he does. But at the end of the day - I think you will agree that setting aside whether anyone should be pissed or not, that the sooner we break with being 10+ year season ticket holders, the sooner we will stop having high expectations about the organization treating us like we matter. They don't seem to care about what we care about - so from a purely cost benefit basis, it shouldn't be a big deal for us to buy tickets from the secondary market because we really aren't missing out on much by not renewing and they don't seem overly concerned about losing us.
I see your point to a large degree. One mistake that they probably made is they didn't think about the fact that the 1st 10 Rows are most likely the seasoned fans and that it will alienate them. I think it's smart to have more price points and this was just an unfortunate side effect. However, I can also see them thinking like this - if someone was a fan for 10 years, will they really leave because of some $100 increase or a card or whatever after enduring tha psin at the Swamp? I guess that thinking was wrong with regards to at least some of you.
It's pretty easy to walk into the good sections when you don't have a ticket there, but I suspect they may try to crack down on that next season with Heck in charge. Kudos on the pride thing - Heck has helped me to look at it in other ways as I have always felt a little of that myself - but MLS seems in a much healthier position today than when I started, and I'm not worried about Red Bull leaving New York without a team in MLS - that isn't going to happen. For me also, when it comes to the pride issue - while I'm not one of those who feels strongly against a pop drink as the name of my team - it's not completely gone from my feelings about the club and I think we may be facing some painful years ahead if Red Bull decides that the splash moves for big name players failed and that they are going to run Red Bull on the cheap (which Heck may very well be signalling to us). Should they run the tickets completely separate from performance on the team? I'm not sure, and as you say, time will tell how smart this guy is. Regarding the extra tickets - I have friends who are season ticket holders and will likely have access to that option through them. Regarding the corner pub - I buy sideline seats so I lost that benefit and like you, I'm one of the few that took advantage of the place. If you didn't have it in the first year, you'll see how empty it can be when a just limited group has access.
And therein is a big part of the problem - treat us a little less like suckers who they can count on to renew no matter how bad the experience has been this year, and many of us probably wouldn't be as upset. It's a whole lot harder to plunk down thousands when you feel like they are playing you for a sucker and know that you really don't need to do it to get into the stadium. Next season will be interesting to see what the season ticket numbers are, because if they lose even 20% of us, that seems like a significant hit to me. Who the heck (no pun intended) is going to buy those seats that weren't already buying them? MLS soccer is a really tough sell for many people outside us hardcore fans.
The organization, under this management, is in trouble if you ask me. They need to get more people in that stadium and their recent actions have done the complete opposite. I sit in Section 125 with a bunch of friends, all STH. We have 10 seats all together. We spoke about the 50% price increase over emails the last few weeks and this is how many of us are renewing next year: 0 ..and i agree with what people are saying here about them trying to push us out so they can use our current seats for aftermarket...or even comps or corp. My brother gave up his two seats next to me after the first season (his wife just had a baby and figured he would take a year off) and every game his seats were filled with people who got their tix from Stub Hub.
I called yesterday and left a message saying pretty much the same thing as everyone else. The price increase plus the product on the field was enough to push away a ST since 2003. Shame really, but with all those groupon tickets out there, and the fact that most of 127 will be empty next year, I'm sure I'll essentially get my same seats at a fraction of the price. As others have said, being a ST used to have other benefits, free tix to exhibition matches, first right of refusal for other matches (same seat), but now, the only real benefit I see is that I get the right to pay more for the same seats. Pass.
They have extended renewals till Wednesday. Dear Season Ticket Holder, Due to the high volume of incoming calls we have not been able to reach out to all season ticket holders, therefore we have decided to extend the deadline for season ticket renewals to Wednesday, October 5th at 5pm. We will continue to offer a free black card membership - a $200 value - to all season ticket holders who renew in full or a free platinum card if you renew with a partial payment by October 5th. As a reminder, to renew your season tickets, please log onto your Account Manger at newyorkredbulls.com or call 1.877.RBSOCCER. In addition, all fans who renew by the deadline, will be entered to win a pair of tickets to the U.S. Men’s National Team match against Ecuador on Tuesday, October 11th at Red Bull Arena. The winners will also be treated to a unique behind the scenes post-game experience. Don’t miss the opportunity to be up close with the star-studded U.S. Men's National Team. To see the list of players coming, click here. Winners will be announced on October 7th. Three packages will be awarded. Sincerely, New York Red Bulls Fan Services
Ah - another carrot to try to get people to renew - can't be a great sign. But you know what? It's illegal. They have to have a free method of entry for any sweepstakes in this country so anyone who wants a chance for tickets should ask for the free method of entry and ask to see the rules which they are required to disclose with this kind of thing.
Translation: Renewals are not going well at all. I'm sure they looked at preliminary numbers and freaked out. I laughed when I got this email - "high volume" of calls? Maybe the ticket reps stopped answering the phone because they were tired of getting yelled at because the FO is screwing its existing season ticket holders.
Another carrot indeed - and a rotten withered one at that. I'm sick of their BS contests, particularly the end of season ones that are based on their worthless, bullshit bonus points. I've never seen a list of winners for any of these contests, and I doubt that any actual winners exist. It's highly likely that their giveaways are illegal, but who has the balls, patience, time, and focus to actually look into it?
Pretty sure it's illegal - it's why you always always see free method of entry for any sweepstakes that involves a purchase. Pretty sure only the government can run lotteries like that. If they don't give you a free entry into the drawing, you could probably just notify the attorney general. Small time companies may get away with this kind of thing, but major billion dollar corporations have to be a lot more careful. I'm surprised they didn't run this by their attorneys first.
I looked into this further and you're correct - every piece of info I've seen says that these types of giveaways (the US ticket package and the loyalty points giveaway) are illegal both in NJ and the US. This organization obviously has no clue. Anyone up for a class action lawsuit?
Two questions: 1) Dan Steeves is no longer with the Red Bulls front office. Anyone know why? Was he fired, or did he quit? What were the circumstances? 2) Today (October 5, 2011) is the renewal deadline. What's everyone here doing?
I renewed. Moved back 4 rows, paid the same price as last year, and got the $100 bonus. It's actually a better deal than last year, and i'm only moving from the 7th to 11th row.