Today, we will talk about slashing and dashing. No, not slashing like in hockey, Nightmare On Elm Street movies or the former Guns N' Roses guitarist. And no, not dashing like what you do in a one-horse open sleigh while traveling through the snow.We're talking about the Mets doing two things. They slashed their ticket prices for 2011 and they picked up Jose Reyes' option so he could dash around the bases for another season.
First, the Mets reduced the prices of their tickets to 2011 games by an average of 14%. In addition, the team will now offer their season ticket holders and plan holders an additional 10% off their individual game tickets. That's all fine and dandy to a former plan holder such as myself, but what about those fans who don't invest in plans?
Those fans are more than likely to purchase tickets for Promenade Level seats to get the most bang for their buck. So what did the Mets do? They RAISED the prices of those seats.
Executive VP for business operations Dave Howard made sure to point out that the cheapest Promenade Level seats were only raised by $1 (from $11 to $12 on value days). However, he failed to mention that other seats on other days were increased by more than a dollar.
For example, seats in the Promenade Reserved Infield that sold for $35 in 2010 (Opening Day and the Subway Series) will now cost $45 to purchase. Also, premium games (formerly known as "gold") that sold for $30 per ticket last season will now suck $35 from your wallet.In 2010, only four games were priced at $35 in the Promenade Reserved Infield. The 2011 season will feature 26 games where those same seats will be priced at $35 and higher (22 premium games and four marquee games). These are the seats that are more in demand with fans who can't usually afford to go to many games. So the Mets decide to raise those prices? And they also fail to mention that when discussing the new ticket prices? What's up with that? In fact, the only place where you would even notice those increases is on this confusing seating and pricing chart.
The most drastic price cuts were in Excelsior Level and Field Level seats, also known as the seats that Oliver Perez should be sitting in instead of the Mets dugout. Seats in the Left Field Reserved area, where the Mets have been known to hit a home run every month or so, saw an average decrease of 20% in ticket prices, while the Metropolitan Box Silver area had prices cut by a whopping 47%. Of course, the bigger the price drop, the less of a chance the common fan was going to be sitting in those seats anyway. For fans such as myself, the Metropolitan Box Silver is more of an urban legend than a reality. In fact, I can't even prove that section even exists. I sure as hell have never been anywhere near it.
The bottom line is that the Mets are trying to make it seem like they're doing us a favor, when all they did was make it easier for the fan who was already investing a ton of money on their shoddy product, while making it more difficult for the more financially strapped fan who would go to an occasional game in the Promenade Level.
Ya gotta believe in Selective Slashing.
In better news, Jose Reyes' option for the 2011 season was picked up by the Mets. It will pay the 27-year-old Reyes $11 million next season. The move also paves the way for a potential contract extension for the veteran shortstop (and perhaps a less itchier cup).Although Reyes missed about a month's worth of games in 2010, he still managed to hit .282, with 50 extra-base hits (29 doubles, 10 triples, 11 home runs) and 30 stolen bases. As long as Reyes remains healthy, he will continue to be a spark plug at the top of the batting order.
Since he is playing for a new contract, Reyes will have an extra incentive to have a career year. He has seen other National League shortstops parlay breakout seasons into lucrative long-term contracts (Hanley Ramirez and Troy Tulowitzki both received six-year deals from the Marlins and Rockies, respectively), so a banner year could do the same for Reyes, especially with so many hefty contracts coming off the books after the 2011 season.
The Mets do not have a shortstop in the minor leagues who can give you the solid defense and dynamic offense that Reyes can provide. A long-term deal with Reyes would help both player and organization, especially since the Mets would suffer a significant dropoff in production at the shortstop position if Reyes is no longer a Met in 2012.
If the Mets want to put more fans in those slashed seats, they need to make sure Jose Reyes will be dashing around the bases at Citi Field for more than just the 2011 season. They'll also need to continue to address the missing pieces, such as finding the best manager to lead the team and change the negative attitude into a winning one.The Mets are a business, just like every other major league team is. What's one of the main objectives of a business? To make as much money as possible. So it makes plenty of sense (cents?) for the Mets to slash and dash in the hopes that it leads to a stash of cash.
Cheaper tickets (mostly)? A motivated Jose Reyes? It looks like the fans will have a reason to come out to Citi Field other than to boo Oliver Perez.
No comments:
Post a Comment