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| Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus |
If you managed to stay up to watch the Mets play the Padres and Diamondbacks last week, you probably saw the "Strikeouts For Savings" ticket offer on a number of occasions. The promotion offered fans 1% off tickets to the Mets' upcoming homestand for every strikeout recorded by the team's pitchers. During the seven-game road trip, the Mets racked up 66 strikeouts, giving fans the opportunity to buy tickets in selected seating areas for a whopping 66% off the regular price.
Sounds too good to be true, right? I mean, the team is trying to save money wherever it can and they're practically giving away tickets to games featuring the defending World Series champions (Giants), a hated division rival (Braves) and the return of Jose Reyes and R.A. Dickey (Blue Jays).
Well, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. And this offer is certainly not what you think.
Tickets went on sale one hour after the conclusion of the Mets' road trip, so I went online to search for seats. The only seats available for sale were Baseline Box, Left Field Landing and Promenade Outfield, so I went for the Promenade seats. I had no interest in seeing the Giants or their spoiled fans who never ventured to Shea Stadium or Citi Field prior to their first title in 2010, so I looked at tickets for Saturday's game against Atlanta and next Tuesday's game versus Toronto.
I was able to snag a seat for $5.00 to the Braves game and $4.00 to see the Blue Jays. Not bad, right? Except the Mets found a way to slap me with the dreaded F-word. That's right, Mets fans. I was socked with fees. Lots and lots of fees.
Take a look at my purchases below. I attempted to buy two tickets - one for each game - for a total of $9.00. And then the fees hit...
For the $5.00 Braves ticket, I was socked with a $1.00 convenience fee, which is more convenient for the Mets than it is for me. On top of that, I was charged an extra $6.00 handling fee, turning my $5.00 ticket into a $12.00 purchase. For all you kids out there, that's 140% more than the original $5.00 price.
Now let's talk about the ticket to the Blue Jays game. Once the (in)convenience fee and the bogus handling fee are added, I was charged $10.75 for a ticket that was supposedly only $4.00. And all the math nerds know that that comes out to 168.75% more than the amount that made me scream out "Holy Tim Foli" when I first saw it on my screen.
So it was going to cost me $22.75 to buy a $5.00 ticket and a $4.00 ticket. Are you angry yet? Now here's the kicker.
Those same seats for each game are regularly priced at $15.00 and $13.00, respectively. Therefore, had I just asked for these seats at the ticket window, my wallet would only be $28.00 lighter, which is only $5.25 more than I'd be paying with this "Strikeouts For Savings" ticket promotion.
So that 66% savings in reality is just an 18.75% savings - not exactly something that should make anyone invoke the name of former No. 1 overall draft pick Tim Foli.
Mets pitchers have been striking out batters in bunches this year. But with this ticket offer, it's the fans that are really striking out, especially if they thought they were actually going to save 66% on tickets. You should consider this promotion a swing and a miss.
Sounds about right. Calling it a "convenience fee" is so cynical and disingenuous. Also, by the 2-hour cutoff before game time, you likely would have been able to get these same seats for the same or less on StubHub. The Dunkin' Donuts "50% off" promo is equally misleading.
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