It's obviously not an even comparison, but field suites at New Crew Stadium are $110,000 per year for a minimum of seven years. They include 12 tickets and three parking passes per game. The club section above them (which is roughly equivalent to Center Circle) will likely be over $200 per game. So I won't be surprised if prices for the non-premium sideline are comparable.
For years and years, we've heard how we've had some of the lowest prices in the league and how the league HQ has been pressing our FO to raise prices. There comes a point when people will bail and it isn't just personal budgets. We're not LA, NY or Chicago. We have an NHL team with $10 parking. How many Columbus residents would balk at paying more than $10 to park for live theater? (Last I checked, parking in garages for the Southern and Ohio is $5.) Yes, the ticket increase is coming. We know it'll come with a decrease in parking prices. Hopefully the overall increase won't be too much.
I do not doubt that. I only wanted to peruse whatever site this was from to read the reactions and comments. Doing so will further help me prepare for our own price increase.
https://www.reddit.com/r/austinfc/comments/g2o4n1 edit: For Bils' take: https://www.statesman.com/sports/20...errace-tickets-going-fast-general-coming-soon
Taking that "$48 or less per game" bit: So what I don't understand is that they're artificially jacking the price up by $20 ($28 to $48) and forcing people to buy the food. I'm assuming that alcohol isn't included. What if someone doesn't want to buy $20 in food every game? Even at those astronomical prices, $20 is still a ton of food. I would think they'd sell more tickets at $28 than they would at $48...because that's how much someone is paying, even if the food is included. Then again, with their "everyone needs to take a train that won't run on Sunday" mindset, people will need to get there so stinking early that the stadium food may be the only option.
The $48 or less are non-premium seats that don't include food vouchers. But to your point, the true cost of the ticket in these "premium" 300-level sections is $70-75 which seems much more reasonable than charging an extra $20-25 as a "use it or lose it" food per diem. I personally don't care how good stadium food is, there's no way I'd buy it at every game much less $20 worth each time. Credit to them if they sell them out but I'd imagine it will be a much tougher sell to have people renew that in year 2 or 3, when the novelty has worn off and the on-field product is mediocre. Shifting over a section or two to cut your cost in half and not be forced to eat at every match will be an appealing proposition to a lot of people. One of the few things I think the Blue Jackets do very well is the FanBucks program for food and alcohol for season ticket holders. You have the option to load up a card with money you want to spend on concessions during the year, the team provides a 10-20% bonus on the deposited amount depending on when and how much is added, and then you can spend the balance whenever and however you want throughout the season and playoffs.
I can imagine a lot of people shifting over. When the "new" Yankee Stadium was built, they had this new premium VIP price level that was so astronomical they had trouble selling it. Many long-time fans got bumped several rows back. Obviously, we won't have anything close to that, but I can see something similar on a much smaller scale. It would suck if it all becomes corporate seats that are never used except by "Employee of the Month" types and for big events. Some of the current club sections are like that, but there's also many long-time fans in those sections. I've seen similar stuff happen at the Schottenstein Center...a lot of those seats went from fans who were there every game to the corporate types (which eventually become StubHub tickets.) There's nothing like getting to a long-time seat and the guy beside you "is that your seat? The person who was there went to get food" and it turns out he was actually supposed to be one row back. I did talk to one of the CFO new hires. He came from the New Orleans Saints and he was very aware of what they did in Atlanta with prices so low that supplies continually ran out. More people are going to buy a $3 hot dog and a $6 14-oz soft drink with free refills than a $6 hot hot with a $7 22-oz soft drink with no free refills and a gigaton of ice.
Eh, closer in to Nationwide, the day of game parking is $20--less if you buy online in advance (not season, single game). I don't think parking will go down at all for the new stadium.
It's not hard to find 10 dollar parking if you don't mind walking a bit. Also once the bridge is open to Franklinton then I would imagine more options become available. Premium will still be on spots closer but I'm sure if you don't mind walking a bit you can find cheap options.
My typical (& affordable) CBJ & Clippers parking lot on Vine street is now gone - new Chipotle offices. those cheaper surface lots are disappearing in the area. AS supply goes down, we all know what happens to cost. Although I hope with added parking revenue from Crew games that prices for 3 events stay reasonable.
Bil's is a terrible writer. That article jumped all over the place and seemed like something you'd read in a HS newspaper.
We still know a few spots in the area that can be free, but with the (app) metering of much of the Short North, they are much fewer than they used to be. For a pay lot, there's one behind Fire Station 1 that's $3 in the evening, and we'll often use that. For games with very bad weather, we'll prepay at the garage off Neil behind the Athletic Club (and the old Union Station arch), as you can get that for under $10. A lot also depends on if we go out to eat before the game--the place we choose will (obviously) have an impact on our parking choice.
Exactly. Yeah, the close parking will be $15 or $20, but the bridge will definitely open up less expensive options. There's also several COTA options. For people who are willing to walk a bit, the options are definitely plentiful.
The one just north of the fire station? It's a great lot. I know there's plenty of meters in the area as well, but I'm not sure of prices/restrictions. As far as eating/drinking, I'm just disappointed that 3LM closed. It would have been a great place to go before/after a Crew game.
True but I imagine many will cut back their spending for a while. Sports are a luxury we know we can survive without.
Behind the station, so just east. Meters have 2 hour limits, until 10 pm, so no go for games, except on Sunday. We have a few regular places to dine--I really like Martini's happy hour. Nada used to have a good happy hour, but they don't have it for hockey anymore. We still go there some, though. Was looking forward to trying the new Flatiron, but who knows if that will happen. Tried Jeff Ruby once--they didn't want folks in hockey jerseys (we went in there all the time in their previous incarnations) so we did not stay and likely will never try it--I don't like snooty--especially when you are in a sports and entertainment district.. I'll miss Gordon Biersch too. Lots of turnover around the arena I also like the cheesesteak place in warmer weather and Zoup for cheap eats.
This may sound ridiculous, but hear me out: For 17 games, that works out to a little over nine grand per, and five bills & change per person per game. Thats a lot, but if theres some way you can make some tickets a business expense a few times a year, you and 11 other people could maybe switch and swap and make it work. Helluva chunk of change still. Just a thought. I'll go pour more scotch now.
Correct, and that is the pure cost of the seat. Neither food nor alcohol are included. In a normal year, Lyons and Co. could probably assemble enough CP executives to sell them out. After having the economy completely shut down for months though, I'm guessing entertainment is going to be near the bottom of budgeting priorities for most companies. Especially with business entertainment being non-deductible for another 5-7 years under the TCJA.
Because it makes you think you're getting something. I mean you are, but people like the package. But in the end, either they don't use it all, and PSV keeps the difference, or they spend more because they're already using their pre-paid portion and they may end up getting more concessions than they otherwise would.