Yankees blame economy for ticket price drop, but what’s the REAL reason?

Logan on 04 30, 2009

The New York Yankees have finally wised up and lowered seat prices to fill the empty seats in their brand new shiny stadium. The front office maintains that the decision is in response to the Nation’s current economic status, but we all know that’s not the only reason.

In 2008, the Yankees averaged an attendance of 53,069 per game (a 92.3% rate), good enough for first in the entire league. This season however has been a different story. The new stadium has hosted only 44,502 a game. That number equates to an 85% rate of seats filled, only good enough for 6th in the league. You may ask, “Why is 6th so bad?” Well the answer is simple, this is the Yankees that we’re talking about. It’s no secret that the Yankees have one of the largest followings in all of baseball, for reasons unknown to me, so 6th place is unacceptable.

So why aren’t fans attending?

Well for one, the original prices were insanely ludicrous. The Yankees organization is lowering it’s original prices for first row Legends Suite tickets from $2,500 to $1,250. They are also cutting other Legend Suite prices from $1,000 to $650 and first row Delta Sky 360 tickets from $750 to $550. Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ Managing General Partner said in a statement, “There are a few hundred suite seats in our premium locations that have not been sold on a full-season basis. As a result the Yankees are announcing today a program that adjusts certain prices and benefits.” I’m not sure why I am surprised, but what did you expect Hal? Anyone who would pay these prices to see this team is out of their mind, which brings me to my next theory…

Has anyone considered that fans aren’t showing up because this team is just not that good? Maybe fans are upset by the fact that their team spent an enormous amount of money in the off-season and they still can’t produce a winning product on the field. The Yankees are 10-10, and have been outscored 113-126 on the year. They’re team 5.87 ERA is 28th in the MLB despite acquiring C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett in the off-season. I think Yankees fans are finally showing their true colors and are more or less giving up on their team. I mean let’s face it, most Yankees fans are either fair weather fans who only come out of the woodwork when they are winning, or they are bandwagon jumpers from their dynasty a decade ago. Now that the Yankees haven’t won a post-season series in a couple years, fans are becoming uninterested.

Now would the fans be attending at a higher rate if the economy weren’t in the state that it’s currently in? Sure. Nobody is disputing that. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that the assumptions made by the front office in thinking that fans would be willing to pay the initial ticket prices combined with the team’s recent struggles are what’s really fueling the “empty seat crisis” in the Big Apple. Don’t be surprised to continue to see empty seats in the new stadium until this team starts winning on a regular basis again, economic problems aside, because Yankees fans have become spoiled and are now not willing to pay to see the disaster that New York’s incapable front office continues to put on the field.