Don’t get me wrong – I am in total agreement with you that there were a number of other ideas, tactics and strategies they could have been utilized in the New Stadium Seat Relocation Process.

The key to me, in my post, is what can the Yankees do NOW with the situation they find themselves in TODAY.

Obviously, they did not plan on something like this happenning the way it did. I mean, who wants to see ANY empty seats at a Game – either in person or on TV?

So – what could they do – creatively and tactically – that will allow them to “save face” – and help fill in those empty seats for their next Homestand?

My idea / suggestion would only be a temporary solution for whatever empty Premium Seats there may be for the remaining 74 Home Games this year.

After this Season ends, the Yankees could come up with a number of different ideas and strategies to solve the overpriced. “Between the Bases” Premium Seat conundrum.

Think about it, TK – the Yankees don’t HAVE TO do anything to accommodate or be generous with you or I – even though we were more than subtlely disaffected (even PO’ed) by the way we were treated in the Seat Relocation Process.

However, what if they were to extend this COURTESY to you and I – even for 1 Game – as an “Upgraded Season Ticket Holder”, courtesy of the NY Yankees – would it not help change your perception of the Yankees Organization of being cold, cruel, money grubbing and indifferent to you?

So, while you say they’ll probably never consider this idea of mine, they’re going to have to consider or come up with some idea – otherwise this Empty Premium Seat Conundrum will become a festering image and PR disaster for the Yankee Organization that will only grow with each passing game this Season.

I am a full season ticket subscriber who had $55 seats (4 of them)last year and now have $45 seats (still 4). I tried to move up a little and was willing to purchase either $60, $75, or $100 seats this year if I could get a better location. That did not happen and since I only had five years of seniority as a season subscriber, I was offered $75 seats with a worse view than last year or the $45 seats I have now in Section 208.

What would have filled the seats would have been if the Yankees expanded the $100 and $75 offerings. This in my opinion would have been a proverbial “home run” as I think there were far more season ticket subscribers “willing” (albiet kicking and screaming) to move to that level of committment.

Just my two cents… Oh I mean two dollars…. we are talking about the Yankees after all.

Now, like so many others who have posted here before, since I did not make a commitment to an 81 Game Package, I am now a Saturday Season Ticket Holder who pays $20 per ticket to sit in the very middle of the VERY TOP ROW of the Stadium in Section 429.

I was initially very upset and disappointed. I thought “this is the thanks I get for being a loyal fan – and customer – for 7 years”!?!

Well, after attending the Saturday Debacle (22-4) against the Indians at the New Stadium, I couldn’t get over how out of whack all of those empty seats “Between the Bases” looked from where I was sitting, and then it occurred to me:

If the Yankees really wanted to “save face” here – and be magnanimous to their most loyal fans – why not “reverse engineer” – in a much more selective way – the concept behind the “Fuji $5 Film Nights” for these Seats “Between the Bases”?

For anybody who doesn’t know, the Fuji $5 Film Nights are designed to “fill up” the Upper Deck and Bleachers on game nights (and days) that feature less than stellar opponents or games that have poor advance Ticket Sales. (ex: a Thursday Night Game in April versus the KC Royals or Oakland A’s).

The effect is that the Stadium “looks full” and any “moohshoot” of a HR that is hit looks all the more dramatic against the background of a “sold out” Stadium on the YES Network.

We have all read and heard about how bizarre, weird, cheap and embarrassing those empty seats “Between the Bases” look both in person and on YES.

What if – in addition to the price restructuring just announced – the Yankees would make available – either the day before or the day of a Game – an equitable distribution of any UNSOLD Seats “Between the Bases” to existing Season Ticket Holders as an “Upgrade” – at no increased cost – as the Yankees way of saying “Thanks” to all their loyal fans who may have been misplaced / displaced by the whole “New Stadium Relocation Project”.

It would be the equivalent of “Seat Fillers” at an Awards Show on Television (believe it or not, I once had this job at the Oscars one year in LA).

These Season Ticket Holding “Seat Fillers” would be getting a “perk” they weren’t expecting and they will be able to have an experience – “Sitting Between the Bases” – that they otherwise wouldn’t ever be able to enjoy. And think about the good will the Yankees would receive in the “Court of Public Opinion”!

And – just like during those “Fuji $5 Film Nights” – the place would now “look full” (BTW – I also believe most of these Season Ticket Holding “Seat Fillers” would not be preoccupied wondering if they’ll be ordering or eating a $47 Steak or an $18 Burger in one of the Upscale Restaurants, they’ll probably want to savor the whole experience of a 9 Inning Game in their Premium Seat).

Now – once again – appearances do matter and the YES Network is a very valuable property of the NY Yankees. However, any Yankee Game on YES, Fox or TBS would continue to look terrible in the eyes of the viewing public if those Seats remained unfilled.

I remembering reading where Randy Levine said something like ~4,000 Seats in the New Stadium are “Premium Seats” and that ~80% of them were sold. I also remember him saying how there are 37,000 Season Ticket Holders.

SO – if we were to take Randy Levine’s numbers at face value – it would be safe to say that there are ~1,000 “Unsold Premium Seats” per Game in the New Stadium.

Plus – don’t forget – there are still ~74 Home Games still left in this Season.

Here’s my idea: why not allow each of the 37,000 Season Ticket Holders to enjoy 1 or 2 Games for the rest of the Season as a “Premium Seat Filler” “Between the Bases” provided the Yankees know – or have good reason to believe – they cannot sell those Tickets either the day before or day of the Game.

And – as a condition – the Season Ticket Holder “exchanges” their Season Tickets for the “Premium Ticket” – and the Yankees could then donate them to a Charity (like the Boys or Girls Club, the PAL, the Silver Shield Foundation or to visiting Military Servicemen and Women who are on active duty).

I couldn’t help but think this could be a true “win, win, win” situation for everybody involved.

I don’t begrudge the Yankees for trying to maximize their profits. Even though they are the Team I root for and love, they still are a business. They invest heavily in putting a quality product out on the Field for all their Fans to see.

However, as somebody once pointed out here on this blog, when the Yankees had their Ground Breaking Ceremony for the New Stadium, the Dow Jones Average was over 11,300 points.

Today the Dow is hovering around 8,000 points.

Times changes.

So should people and institutions.

They should be responsive and creative in handling this unexpected / misread situation.

I believe today’s price restructuring is a solid hit right up the middle for all those people who are already in those Premium Seats.

But, if you’d like to hit a Grand Slam with all of your other Season Ticket Holders, this “Premium Seat Filler” Idea may not be so bad.

Any thoughts on this idea, fellow LoHud Readers?….

I meant Pavano who had been previosly wished to the cornfield (twilight zone)
Game thread back up

oh hi Carl