Relocation questionnaire due in six days, still no relocation guide in the mail UPDATE

Update (9/9): The Yankees have issued an extension:

As a reminder, we are asking all Ticket Licensees to complete a Relocation Program Questionnaire, which can only be found at www.yankees.com/survey. To assist you in this process, the deadline for submission of the Relocation Program Questionnaire has been extended from September 10, 2008 to September 14, 2008. If you have already submitted your Questionnaire online, please disregard this reminder.

For the record, I still haven't received the hard copy of my guide. Luckily I was able to read it online and filled it out right away.

UPDATE (9/7): Just a few days until this is "due" and I still have not received the relocation guide. Has anyone gotten it? Did mine get lost in the mail?

The Relocation Program Questionnaire due date is
September 10, 2008. Fill out the questionnaire now »

The new Yankee Stadium relocation guide has been live online for about a week now. Unfortunately, for those less internet savvy Yankee season ticket holders, the actual paper relocation guide has yet to arrive in the mail. This becomes a bit of a problem considering the due date for the "relocation questionnaire" (to be filled out online) is due on Wednesday, September 10.

I have filled out the questionnaire and it took about 5-10 minutes. Reading and deciphering the relocation guide was a far more tedious and time-consuming process and took me over an hour. The Yankees sent out an email to all season ticket holders last night, urging them to fill out the questionnaire. For those people not yet aware of the availability of the relocation guide on Yankees.com, this email must have been a bit confusing. I would have completely supported this entire process to be digital instead of wasting the money and resources in printing the paper guides. Everything is available online anyway. However, the Yankees have long announced the arrival of a relocation package in the mail, so season ticket holders are waiting.

Like everything else that the Yankee ticket office does, this relocation is already being botched. There will be a lot of angry season ticket holders who are away or otherwise unable to fill out the questionnaire this week with such little notice. If they don't fill it out before September 10, they lose any small bit of leverage that filling out the questionnaire provided.

A due date extension would make the most sense, especially since the ticket office won't be busy too busy with playoff ticket sales this September and October.


Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Relocation News: We Are Back In The B Plan

We would love to believe the company line that "some cancellations were processed and the seats became available." Maybe the ticket office finally did reach our name on the waiting list. Perhaps we would even give credence to the idea that all of our emails and phone calls to the Yankees had finally paid dividends. We just sincerely hope that our repeated and public venting about the botched relocation on this blog had absolutely no affect on the call we received today, offering us a 41 game plan in section 428.

This signifies a happy ending to our long and frustrating relocation journey and hopefully many others enjoy the same fate. This weekend, we received word that fellow Yankee season ticket holder and Baseball Prospectus writer Jay Jaffe has had his relocation reconsidered and got seats more to his liking. He made sure to point out that his friend's name is on the account and there is no way the Yankees could link him to his article taking advantage of his prominent position at Baseball Prospectus . It just seems a bit suspicious that the two most public and vocal opponents to the Yankee relocation program were silenced within days of each other.

At the end of the day, we're just happy fans who finally feel like we have had a say in our relationship with the team that we dole out plenty of money to support. We can finally look forward to watching our favorite team play our favorite sport, and not have to worry about what games we don't have tickets to. One thing is for sure, getting back on our B plan will make us no less critical of the Yankees and their employees when it is warranted.

For example, today some unlucky fans with 2008 seniority received the bad news that the Yankees were changing their mind about the relocation guide and they would not be receiving partial plans in 2009. Taken directly from the relocation guide on the Yankee website, it is clear that these people were mislead:

If you licensed and maintained a Partial Season Plan for the 2008 Season, you will be assigned the same number of seats in the new Yankee Stadium as are included in your Partial Season Plan at the end of the 2008 Season. In making assignments under the Relocation Program, the Yankees will, among other things, consider your seating preferences as indicated on your Relocation Program Questionnaire. Please note, however, that your assigned seat location will not likely be comparable to your current seat location in Yankee Stadium. Further, since the Partial Season Plans being offered for the 2009 Season in the new Yankee Stadium are not identical to the current Partial Season Plans, you will be given an opportunity on the Relocation Program Questionnaire to indicate the 2009 Partial Season Plan that you believe works best for you.

The Yankees had overwhelming demand for their larger plans, especially full season, and someone had to pay the price. It is understandable that people with the least seniorty should have the last shot at tickets. What is unfathomable is printing an official relocation correspondence and not even considering the idea of lowering expectations in case things really didn't go as planned.

A little bit of warning would have gone a long way in keeping these jilted ticket holders from revolt. Most of those with 2008 seniority and small partial plans understand their place in the Yankee ticket pecking order. When the official documentation outlining the relocation was blatantly ignored, however, these people suffered an immense Yankee-induced disappointment.

Confidence in the competency of the higher-ups in the Yankee ticket office lowers with each day's blunder. Today, the ticket office sent out an official announcement about ticket pre-sale dates. Unfortunately, the dates on the correspondence were a week later than the actual dates - a blatant typo that was somehow overlooked. Of course, mass confusion among ticket holders ensued, and the Yankees quickly sent out another email acknowledging the error in the earlier email. This sort of correspondence is essentially a form letter. How could they get wrong the one detail that the document was centered on? Incompetence defined.

We even coaxed some information out of our ticket representative regarding some seats in row 14 of the Grandstand that needed to be pulled due to obstructed views. This ticket representative has just dealt with the awakward situation of having to tell a season ticket holder that their seat wasn't exactly a viable option. It obviously doesn't reflect too well on the Yankee organization when major flaws are being discovered in 1.3 billion dollar stadium just weeks before opening. They deserve credit for recognizing the row 14 flaw before the season commenced, but also deserve any criticism they receive due to the design flaw ever occuring. Apparently, there will still be 14 rows in the Grandstand, but some more construction needs to take place before the Yankees include them in season ticket plans and not as single-game obstructed view seats.

Apparently all season ticket packets should be received via FedEx (they have switched shipping providers for 2009) no later than April 10. Many of the tickets are already at the printer. As a matter of fact, the tickets for our previously invoiced 20 game plan have been at the printer since March 3, and we will have to return them to the Yankees before being refunded for the price of that plan. Even though the Yankees have not yet completed the relocation process, rest assured that your tickets are being printed. As for us, we won't truly believe this saga is over until we have the reassuring feel of rectangular slices of cardboard between our fingers. Read the full post, after the jump

Yankee Relocation guide close to going live on Yankees.com

Update (8/29) As seen in the comments below by a not so friendly tipster, a couple of the below-mentioned links are actually live. Peep the comments and thanks for the kind words about the site.

New seating chart with prices

3-D Stadium Tour / Seating Chart

A tipster over at the NYYSI forums has alerted me to this page that he found in Google cache. The page, which is set to go live here at an unspecified date offers a bit more insight into the relocation process, but not much.

At the top of the page, we can see that it says:

Click Here to fill out the relocation questionnaire
Questionnaire must be submitted by September 10,2008

To give fans any reasonable amount of time, they are going to need to go live on this site VERY soon.

Finally, there is this small print:

Opting Out of the Relocation Program
You are not required to participate in the Relocation Program. Licensees may seek to license Plans, subject to availability, as well as tickets to individual Games, outside of the Relocation Program. However, due to the limited inventory of tickets and anticipated demand for tickets under the Relocation Program, you are strongly encouraged to participate in the Relocation Program. Any tickets licensed outside of the Relocation Program will likely result in your receiving a less desirable seating location than had you participated in the Relocation Program.

Failure to Respond by the Invoice Date
If you fail to accept or decline your assignment in the manner described in this Guide by the due date reflected on the invoice accompanying your assignment, you will have no right to license a Plan through the Relocation Program.

Unfortunately, the invoice date is not available anywhere on that cached page.

It looks like there will be a "3-D seat selector" featured on that page as well, so you should be able to check out the view from your likely worse seats before taking the plunge.

Good luck everyone, the day of reckoning is nearly upon us.

Once again, thanks to "peterb" (not to be confused with petera) on the forums for this tip

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums!

Read the full post, after the jump

The furor grows over the relocation process

Credits: Bill Bramhall/News

I must admit, I am about as sick of hearing about the New Yankee Stadium relocation drama as I am about the PED drama. Sadly, the media latches onto a story and can't let go. Local newspapers first caught on this weekend, running quote-heavy stories as a platform for jilted fans to air their grievances. The NY Daily News even had Bill Bramhall create the HILARIOUS cartoon seen above. This is the PERFECT story for New York City talk radio to spend hours talking about and they are definitely up to the task. Mike Francesca announced on his radio show this afternoon that WFAN is working hard to schedule an interview with Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost for Wednesday's radio show. Even the blogosphere was a bit late to the party on this story, but now the interwebs are incensed. Baseball Prospectus author Jay Jaffe took the Yankees to task for leaving long time partial-plan ticket holders with terrible seat choices.

The media has taken on a noble cause but they need to stay focused. In order to make Lonn Trost squirm and not spin his way out of this PR nightmare, Francesca needs to ask him the following questions:

1. Why didn't the Yankee ticket office and outside consulting firm, Turnsyle Ticketing, follow the guidelines set forth in the original relocation package? What (other than greed) inspired the Yankees to allow ALL partial plan holders to upgrade to full season plans even after the original deadline for voicing such interest had passed?
2. Why was there such incompetence in the Yankee ticket office (embarrassing typos in emails, contradictory information, etc.). Where was the leadership and why did the crosstown-rival Mets relocation process go relatively smoothly?
   
3. How many seats are being held back for single game seats in order to play up the "half of the seats in the Stadium are under $25" angle? Partial plan season ticket holders are being shifted all over the Stadium and being bumped from plans and they deserve to know how much of that is being caused by seats being held for the general public on sale. Transparency has been an issue from day one of this process, hidden behind the wordy legal diatribe also known as the relocation packet.
   
4. How much did the recent deal with Stubhub factor into the relocation process and scare tactics forcing partial plan holders to upgrade to full season? The Yankees receive a considerable commission on every ticket sold by season ticket holders on Stubhub. Did the Yankees knowingly scare season ticket holders into upgrading to full season packages with the intention of cashing in on the Stubhub commissions when they inevitably became ticket brokers for the team? This sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory but the fact remains that by forcing fans to upgrade to full season plans, the Yankees guaranteed a sold out Stadium in a terrible economy, while also turning on the faucet to another revenue stream in Stubhub commissions. Fans buying full season plans and stretching their budgets created the need to turn to Stubhub to get back some of that investment. True fans upgraded to full season plans in order to guarantee previous seat location and playoff rights, scalpers upgraded to full season plans in order to profit off of the new Stadium, and the Yankees ended up profiting on all of them. Make Lonn admit the Stubhub connection was key in this screwjob for loyal fans.
   
5. What are the Yankees going to do about the unsold "Greatest Seats in the World" once the season starts. A brand new stadium is going to look silly on TV when all of the prime seats are empty. In retrospect, did the Yankees get a bit too aggressive with the $350 pricetag of those seats and are there any plans to change the price? Further, was the $350 price worth the hassle, not only due to the absence of interest, but also considering the significant shifting it caused, further muddling the relocation process for the ticket office and the fans. There was no way the average fan was going to be able to afford those seats and most downgraded to different locations.
6. Are the Yankees worried that with an ever-deepening recession and bad PR created by the relocation fiasco will affect future ticket sales? A good portion of the large season ticket holder subscription base is comprised of Yankee fans and profiteers who were looking forward to the new stadium. When the shine wears off, will ticket sales slump considerably? A lot of this has to do with putting a winning product on the field, but how long will the Yankees be able to operate profitably while acting as if being a Yankee fan is a privilege and not a right?

Those questions are wordy and a bit emotional, but they will get to the bottom of things fairly quickly. The fact remains that the Yankees are a huge business, and they ran the ticket relocation process in the way that made them the most money. All of the pitchforks and torches in the world aren't going to cause the Yankees to drop their capitalistic approach and I have pretty much come to accept that.

Update (8:20 PM): Lonn Trost addressed some of my questions above in an interview with Newsday's Neil Best. My favorite:

Is it true there are seats in the bleachers from which you can't see parts of the field? "Yes, but we will have TVs in the walls there."

That's not the same thing as seeing it live, is it? "We had a choice of selling it to somebody or not. If you come to the stadium you'll see there are TVs in the walls. [Some views are obstructed] a little bit, but for $12 it's a choice of taking it or not."

If I were an advisor to Lonn Trost, I wouldn't recommend such a defiant tone during a time of PR upheaval. To each their own...

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums!

Read the full post, after the jump

Yankees to Season Ticket Holders: Don't expect to sit in the same place in the New Yankee Stadium

The Yankees sent out their first correspondence in regard to season ticket holder seating location in the new stadium when it opens in 2009. As has become the norm for letters from the Yankees, it is quite vague.

To sum up the most "important" parts in a document that otherwise left me more curious than before it was sent:

"During the 2008 Season, you will receive official New Yankee Stadium Relocation Program information, which will contain a Relocation Guide and other related materials. The Relocation Guide will detail our comprehensive Relocation Program as well as your options for securing seat locations at the new Yankee Stadium. It will also contain information detailing the criterias used to establish the Relocation Program. [snip]

Please be aware that the seat location and quantity of games included in all current Ticket License Plans are subject to change when you relocate to the new Yankee Stadium."

Basically, you are guaranteed nothing. I will have around 4 seasons of seniority under my belt by the time the new Stadium rolls around. From the wording of this letter, I shouldn't be too hopeful about my chances to keep this view (from Tier Reserved MVP, section 1):



Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

New Yankee Stadium Season Ticket Holder relocation update

This just in from the Yankee ticket office:

I just wanted to send you a quick email to let you know that we started our relocation process this week with our Full and A Plan holders. Once we have completed the assignment process for the Full Plans we will move to the Full Season Pool and then to the 41-Game Plan assignments. We anticipate having invoices and seating locations mailed to Full and A Plan holders in about 3-5 weeks, so I imagine the Relocation Department will be in touch with you in mid-December. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about the relocation process.

I have to give credit where credit is due. I have always voiced my displeasure at the lack of correspondence from the Yankee ticket office, but they have done the right thing here. In these crazy economic times, it is good to know that the new invoice will be arriving right around the holiday season.

If you are a season ticket holder, definitely keep an eye out for an email of this sort. It is NOT a form email sent within a template. It appears to be my ticket representative reaching out.


Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

First casualties reported in the 41 game plan relocation process...

Word from an anonymous commenter on a previous post (usually not too reliable of a source, but I get a good vibe from this guy) is that the 41 game plan relocation isn't off to a very good start - for him at least.

Mr Anon previously sat in box 611 of the Tier Box MVP at the Old Yankee Stadium (around section 5, on the first base side of home plate). With a seniority date of 1999, you can imagine the horror when he received his relocation invoice today had been assigned seats in section 407,row 7 - almost in FAIR territory in the right field upper deck, just a few rows from the top. Here are a couple of seating charts illustrating just how bad it is for Anon:

OYS:



New Yankee Stadium:


UPDATE 11:33 PM: Fresh from the comments section is more bad news:

Checked my account. I was in 442 last season, now have 334 ROW 7 offered to me. Two words: THIS SUCKS.

If this is any indication of things to come, the author of this blog might not be such a "new Stadium Insider." As I have mentioned before, I have a seniority date of 2005 and my seats used to be in section 1 of the Tier Reserved MVP in Row M. Even I'll admit that it is unfair if I am assigned better seats than Mr. Anon from the comments section.

The major issue that is going to arise from this relocation program is the utterly greedy stance the Yankees took in allowing anyone the possibility of upgrading to a full season plan, leaving the partials in the dust.

They used scare tactics and lack of information to drive people into fear-based financial decisions such as upgrading to a full season plan from partial season plans. Because of that, the Yankees are guaranteed more money, but the average Joe is left sitting in the REALLY cheap seats or even worse - at home. People who upgraded to full season plans are looking smart to some right now since they were assigned the best seat locations. They're also looking like people with a lot of disposable income in a bad economy - a luxury that most people don't have right now. Either that or they let poor and impulsive financial decisions - utilizing credit cards - control their lives. Not so coincidentally, this same type of impulsive decision-maker has been a contributing factor toward our Country's massive national debt and foreclosure crisis.

Not the news I wanted to hear heading into the weekend...

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Breaking news from Lonn Trost on WFAN - obstructed view seats in the bleachers for $5

Lonn Trost is being interviewed by Mike Francesca on WFAN right now. Other than lambasting partial plan ticket holders for "not reading the documentation", he has shared the following infortmation:

- All "architecturally shadowed seats" (his words, not mine) in the bleachers will be $5. No specification on exactly which seat numbers or sections qualify, but there are a total of 600 "architecturally shadowed seats."
- The Yankees are opening up the premium $350 "best seats in the world" up to ALL ticket plans. Therefore, if you want a 12 game plan in those seats, you can get one. It still seems unaffordable to me.
- 2,000 seats are being held back per game for group sales - all in the Grandstand. Why aren't some of those being used for partial plan season ticket holders?
- 28,000 seats in the new Yankee Stadium did not have a price increase this year. Well Lonn, that is because Tier Reserved MVP seats (like my old seats in Tier Section 1) increased 47% from 2007 - 2008 ($17 -$25).
- The supposed figures for seats sold so far in the new stadium:

32,542 saleable inventory for plans:
26,318 seats sold (including 23,517 full seasons)
5,870 partial plan seats on reserve until end of week

4,000 not available for plans (for several reasons, luxury seats, suites, etc)
2,000 tickets reserved for groups
1,866 standing room tickets
1,000 wheelchair access
----------
9,186

41,728 (32,642 + 9,186)
7,000 for single game sales
-------
approx 49,000

Something in those numbers doesn't add up, but perhaps I missed something.

Lonn Trost has come off as elitist and out of touch in this interview. He actually had the nerve to call $100 seats "affordable" at one point. The Yankees need to do themselves a favor and get some of A-Rod's crisis management people to advise him. As for his point about fans not reading the relocation documentation, I present exhibit A:

This is from the relocation guide about 41-game licensees:

STEP 1 - SEATING ASSIGNMENT
If you licensed and maintained a "B" Plan for the 2008 Season, you will be assigned the same number of seats in a 41-Game Plan in the new Yankee Stadium as are included in your Plan at the end of the 2008 Season. In making assignments under the Relocation Program, the Yankees will, among other things, consider your seating preferences as indicated on your Relocation Program Questionnaire. Please note, however, that your assigned seat location will not likely be comparable to your current seat location in Yankee Stadium.

As we all know by now, that did not happen. The reason it didn't happen is because the Yankees continued to allow season ticket holders to upgrade to full season plans without alerting those people who had opted not to. I completely understand that this was a business decision, but why doesn't Trost just admit to it instead of calling me stupid? This is getting outrageous.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

What seats are left for partial plan season ticket holders?

As most people are aware, the Yankees are running behind in the season ticket holder relocation process. We are now entering the 2nd half of January and Full Season ticket holders and upgrades just finished the relocation process. 41 game and 20 game plans are next in line, but are there any decent seats left in the Grandstand? (Please note, this post is only referring to Grandstand relocation. I am speaking from personal experience and knowledge of my own situation, which is obviously in the Grandstand/Upper Deck - sorry to anyone reading this looking for information about relocation in other sections of the New Stadium).

There have been rumors that the last 3 rows in all Grandstand sections are being held back for partial plans. The Yankees ticket office has not gone on the record about this, but a quick look at RipOff StubHub should give partial plan holders some hope. If you take a look at the "odd number" games (first game of the season, third game of the season, etc.) which are the ones that 41 game plan holders receive, you will notice that StubHub has no inventory above row 11. Further, there is no inventory at ALL in sections 405,406, 407a/b, 408, 409, 432, 434a/b on StubHub - not a surprise considering outfield upper deck seats are the worst in any Stadium.

Don't just believe me - take a look for yourself at the Yankees 2009 ticket inventory on StubHub.

Also of note - it appears that all Bleacher seats are up for grabs on StubHub, so it appears those won't be available for partial plan season ticket holders.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Whispers from the Yankee ticket office - Grandstand (upper deck) seats being held back for partial plan holders

As I have mentioned previously, there is a great ongoing message board thread at NYYFans about the New York Yankees season ticket holder relocation process.

According to a member over at NYYFans, the Yankees have been finishing up the full-season relocation process by soliciting partial plan holders to upgrade to a full season plan. Unfortunately, they are being informed that no Grandstand seats (formerly the "Tier Reserved") are left. According to reports, the "last few" rows of the Grandstand are being held back for the partial plan holders who have been on the sidelines thus far during the relocation process.

Where this leaves myself is still anyone's guess. I am a B-Plan holder with a seniority date of April 2005 and Old Yankee Stadium seats in Section 1, Row M. I have long been optimistic that my seats in the New Yankee Stadium would be somewhere in the infield, somewhat behind home plate, and in the Grandstand. As encouraging the news of seats being held back for partials is, I'm not sure enough are being held back to keep my location ideal.

According to season ticket holder reports, partial plan holders should receive their invoice sometime in January. It seems to be a daunting task, but as one astute ticket holder pointed out:

Would it be fair to assume that the 41, and two 20 game plans are going to be assigned from the same group of seats (since 41+20+20=81 games) They can essentially build a full season seat from combining these plans.

And then the remaining partials will be assigned from what's left after this?
(15+15+15+12+12+11=80 games with no opening day) and they will build a full season seat out of these plans as well?

THEN....what's left after this gets fought over by the public?

Makes perfect sense to me!

Feel free to report any personal experiences in the comments.

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Yankee ticket office finally relocates the smaller partial plans, still struggle to sell the "Greatest Seats In The World"

The new Yankee Stadium Relocation process continues to prod along. Today, weekend plan holders got their relocation and many were shocked to find out that their former Saturday and Sunday plans were bumped to 12 game weekday plans.

The good news is, most people who were bumped for the weekends actually received nice locations within the stadium. The bad news is that most people who requested weekend plans did so for a reason - because they can't go to weekday games.

It is still unclear what this all means for the availability of single game tickets or upgrade opportunities for jilted former B Plan holders who were downgraded to 20 game plans. There are reports on the NYY Fans relocation thread that the waiting list calls have commenced for B Plan availability, but not in large numbers yet. As for single game 2009 Yankee tickets, all we can hang our hat on is the quote by Hal Steinbrenner on WFAN a few weeks ago, stating that tickets will be on sale at the beginning of March. I wouldn't hold my breath.

In other news, things are getting desperate for the Yankees ticket office while trying to sell the premium seats. Things are so bad that they had to take out a full page ad in today's Wall Street Journal and New York Times, as seen below.



I have said it before, but it is worth repeating - the YES production crew is going to earn their money making the Stadium look full on TV for some of those cold April games. The "Greatest Seats In The World just aren't selling, while the cheap seats are all but gone. A poorly timed economic downturn is mainly to blame for the excess of luxury seats, but completely pricing out the average fan is also to blame. The Yankees were banking on corporations to be fawning over the luxury boxes. Now, even the corporations that still have money are ashamed to spend it on anything extraneous, and there aren't any average fans who can afford $350 tickets. Short of the Yankees lowering the price of those expensive seats (which they will NEVER do), expect to see a lot of empty field level seats until the weather heats up.

Finally, if you want to see how nearly 2 billion dollars gets spent, check out this time-lapse video of the New Yankee Stadium being built.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Lonn Trost is a liar - All the proof Yankee fans need from a year-old interview

I received an email from a disgruntled Yankee season ticket holder containing an MP3 of an interview that Lonn Trost conducted with Mike and the now defunct Mad Dog last March 11. In the interview below, listen to Lonn the sleaze go out of his way to brag about what a great relocation plan the Yankees had concocted and how happy the fans would be.

Nearly one year later, egg is dripping down his face, but the Yankees are laughing their way to the bank.

Scroll to 7:18 of this clip and listen for the next minute or so. It is pretty unbelievable that Francesca let him off the hook so easily in that interview last week. Accountability just doesn't exist these days, even when archives of print, radio and TV are so readily accesible. It is sad, really.



If the player doesn't work, you can download the interview here.

What do you have to say for yourself, Lonn?

Update (3/5/09): Some folks in the comments are pointing out how forthcoming Lonn was in his interview, mentioning the obstruction in the bleachers and talking about the TVs in the walls. If you read this blog, you will see that the bleacher obstruction has not been news since September when NY Mag posted a photo from the 3D seat selector. The fact remains that the relocation process that was being touted as one of the most efficient and well-planned in the history of sports in the interview linked above is still going on with a month until opening day. Any season ticket holder that didn't upgrade to full season is disgruntled. The interview from one year ago shows Trost's ignorance in regard to the pending relocation. Instead of tempering expectations for the process, he boasted proudly how happy everyone would be. That was his first mistake.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums!

Tax Season is here - Save By E-Filing Your Taxes and tell 'em Stadium Insider sent you - Only $19.95! Read the full post, after the jump

How The Yankees Profit Off Of The Secondary Ticket Market

Everyone is probably aware of the issues that we have had with the Yankees' handling of ticket sales for the 2009 season. Rest assured, as soon as the on-sale is over, we will spare everyone the around the clock coverage. For now though, something else has become apparent that needs to be written about.

As we have noted many times, the Yankees have made the business decision to cater to their full-season clientele in regard to ticket sales. Whether it was in the relocation, or availability of pre-sales and private workouts, those fans are taken care of. At face value, it seems like the honorable thing to do - the people who spend the most money get the best perks. However, looking a bit deeper reveals the Yankees full motives.

Back in 2007, a deal was struck between MLB and Stubhub, promising every team a cut of the profits from ticket resales on Stubhub's site. The Yankees are privy to this lucrative deal and have adjusted their ticket sale strategy to reflect it. Since the relocation process for the new Yankee Stadium began, it has been clear that the Yankees were attempting to "de-fragment" the stadium, meaning that they would move more people to full-season plans. Besides serving the obvious purpose of simplifying the rest of the ticketing process, this is an obvious way of positiong the team to secure more profits for each ticket sold over the course of the season.

To understand this idea, one needs to think about the following: who is more likely to sell a ticket to a Yankee game on Stubhub? Would it be the full-season ticket holder trying to figure out how to make it out to 81 games per year, or would it be the partial plan holder just happy to have a ticket plan? Obviously, full-season licensees are more likely to resell tickets in order to recoup some of their investment when they inevitably can't make it out to select games.

In the past, the Yankees were unable to profit from the secondary market that inevitably develops. The team was happy to collect their sold out gates and brag about huge attendance figures. When the deal was struck with Stubhub back in 2007, it changed the landscape of ticket sales for sports organizations. An entirely new revenue stream was created for the team, and it was done in a way that would not ruffle any feathers or receive any negative press. The majority of fans selling their tickets on Stubhub understand that there are significant commissions cutting into their bottom line, but likely don't realize they are glorified brokers for the team. Even if they do understand the logistics, they don't care because the Stubhub system is so well-designed and easy to use.

With each passing day, this "conspiracy theory" makes more sense. Why wouldn't the Yankees allow full-season and 41 game plan holders the first crack at purchasing more tickets via a pre-sale? These people are likely to view the opportunity as a well-deserved perk to their ticket plan that they must take advantage of. In their eyes, the new stadium means that people will be pining to see a game, especially the premium ones. The dollar signs light up in their eyes since they have already been stretched thin by their investment in the team. They are able to rationalize that if they lay out a little more money (and time, since they are now ticket brokers), they can recoup some costs and cut into the large investment they made to secure full-season tickets.

While the full-season licensee are buying up more and more tickets, the Yankees are laughing their way to the bank. They are employing their most loyal fans as ticket brokers and are double-dipping on the profits that they take from them - once for the initial sale and once via Stubhub. The PR campaign surrounding ticket prices in "half of the stadium" remaining at their old Yankee Stadium prices was all smoke and mirrors. The Yankees have made sure that most, if not all of these "cheap" seats will be sold out by full-season ticket licensees whether it be in the relocation process or the many pre-sales. When the Yankees commissions via Stubhub are counted at the end of the season, they are sure to have made more than face value for the seats, without having to do any extra work.

A quick glance at the Stubhub page for 2009 Yankee tickets reveals that more tickets are available for Yankee Stadum than any other venue, and most of the tickets are available in the Bleachers and the Grandstand. Looking deeper, many April and May games are selling for below face value for the "cheap seats" and the Yankees are fine with that. The team has guaranteed their initial cost of $12, $20 or $25 sales for those "same price as least year" seats, and are also collecting whatever undisclosed commissions that Stubhub is paying them. Once the weather warms up in the summer, the Yankees commission will only increase, as their ticket brokers season ticket holders will be able to raise prices.

Full-season ticket holders will probably read this instinctually defend their purchase, claiming that the Yankees are not taking advantage of them. Sure, if the tickets are resold on Ebay or Craigslist, or to co-workers, the Yankees aren't going to receive their piece of the pie. However, based on the sheer number of tickets for sale on Stubhub, it appears that most people are being used. They have foregone their chance to cut the Yankees out of the picture due to the fact that the Stubub system is so convenient. Stubhub has introduced a completely electronic ticketing system, so the full-season ticker holder broker on Stubhub doesn't even have to go through the sometimes stressful excercise of sending tickets through the mail.

The casual fan should not direct their ire at full-season ticket holders when general public on-sale day comes and there are very few affordable tickets available. Keep in mind that most of these licensees did not purchase the plans to profit off of their fellow Yankee fans. Their logic in upgrading to full-season was that they were guaranteeing the best value seats in the new Yankee Stadium, and they were locking in full playoff rights. To these people, selling tickets on the secondary market had little to do with profiting off of the average fan, and everything to do with recovering some of their investment in full-season plans.

The best suggestion we can give to the casual fan looking to attend a few games at the new Yankee Stadium is to be patient. The United States is still struggling through one of the deepest recessions in recent memory, and discretionary spending is lower than ever. While the secondary ticket market is sure to heat up in the summer when tourists (even in smaller numbers than in the past) come to the city, there will still be deals to be had.

The game-plan should be to scoop up some bargain tickets in April and May when full-season ticket holders are willing to take losses on their tickets due to factors such as cold weather and school still being in session. Let the tourists buy up the expensive summer games on Stubhub. If the urge to see a game happens to strike in the summer, go on Craigslist the day of the game and wait out some good deals. There are always people who have to unload tickets at the last minute and are willing to sell for face value or below. Also, don't forget to check out ticketmaster.com on the day of games for face value tickets, or even go up to the stadium to see if standing room only tickets for $20 are available.

There is only one way that Yankee fans can make the team pay for this non-transparent revenue stream, crafted to inconvenience the most loyal fans: not buying the full-season plans unless you plan on going to the games. The Yankees have their hands in the primary and secondary market, so think before you become an unpaid ticket broker for the richest franchise in all of sports. Read the full post, after the jump

New Yankee Stadium Relocation still stuck in neutral

Just one week until the calendar flips to the frigid month of February, 22 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Meanwhile, partial plan season ticket holders are still clicking refresh on their email and waiting by their phones religiously - awaiting word from the New York Yankees ticket office about their relocation to the New Yankee Stadium. The majority of the Yankees' front office moved over to their new home yesterday, but in what may or may not be some sort of ominous sign, the ticket office was left behind (they are scheduled to move on Feb 27, so expect relocation to be done by that date).

On another note, if you are one of the Yankee fans lucky enough to be able to afford FULL SEASON tickets (meaning you have already been located), don't give up hope on getting BETTER seats. There have been reports of deadbeats not paying their invoices on time, leaving their vacated seats ripe for the taking. Success has been reported by calling the Yankee ticket office multiple times per day and asking if there are any seats better than the seats currently assigned to you. It really is all about timing and luck, but there have been some success stories that I have heard about.

There are two numbers for the Yankee ticket office:

(718)-293-6000 or (800)-913-9731

From past experience, the people answering the 800 number have been relatively friendly and helpful, while the 718 number is manned by angry old men. Perhaps my experience is from a small sample size of phone calls, but I would try the 800 number first.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Deciphering the relocation guide - what it means for former "B" plan (half season) licensees

I just finished my first pass through the relocation guide for season ticket holders, and here are some quick highlights (and lowlights) for fellow former "B" plan holders:

- The "B" plan will no longer be named the "B" plan. It is the 41 game plan. Those 41 games are 5 fewer games than this year's 46 game weekday "B" plan.

- The former B planners will be second fiddle in the highly complicated pool process for determining new seat locations. Full season and "A" plan holders will get first priority.

- The Yankees essentially guarantee that former B planners will NOT have reasonable comparable tickets in the new Stadium. Basically, they will sit us wherever they can after considering the questionnaire that must be filled out by September 10.

- Once you fill out the questionnaire, your invoice will be generated based on your responses. The seat location on your first invoice will likely be the best seats you will get.

- From what I can gather from the materials, it seems that the invoice will be paid in installments, instead of all up front. This is likely due to invoices being sent out way earlier than the usual December time frame.

- The 41 game will be VERY different from the former B plan. This plan will now include opening day (FANTASTIC NEWS) and will alternate every other game from then on. So, you will have game 1, game 3, game 5, game 7, game 9, etc. etc. This is actually an improvement since it includes weekends as well. So, what we will almost definitely lose in seat location (I am currently RIGHT behind home plate in section 1) we will gain in better games.

- Prices are the same this year, meaning that what was Tier Reserved MVP tickets will be a season ticket holder price of $25 per ticket. The former Tier Reserve seats (upper deck in the outfield) remain at $20. The good news is, if you get bumped all the way into the outfield, at least you will be paying less.

All of the above information is my interpretation of the very detailed and confusing relocation guide (also sent to season ticket holders by mail). If it seems like something I wrote above doesn't make sense, that is very much a possibility. Feel free to leave a comment on this post letting me know how much this blog sucks or how much I suck. I love to see the friendly remarks.


Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Season ticket holder update - Relocation guides are "printing"

A warning shot was fired by our buddy Lonn Trost today:

Dear Yankees Ticket Licensee,

We have reached another important milestone in our move from Yankee Stadium to the new Yankee Stadium across the street. Your Relocation Program Guide for the New Yankee Stadium (the "Guide") is in the process of being printed and you can expect to receive your Guide in the near future. The Guide will outline the seat relocation program, explain the criteria to be used to assign seat locations, detail ticket prices and ticket license options, and serve as your introduction to the new Yankee Stadium.

C'mon Lonnie, just pull the band-aid off already and tell me the damage!

And now we play the waiting game...

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Yankee ticket office: "We have no idea why you didn't get your relocation guide"

I called the ticket office today to find out why I never received a hard copy of the relocation guide. The unsatisfactory answer was that I can access it online and fill out my questionnaire online.

I relayed my concerns about not receiving correspondence in the mail from the Yankees and how this may affect me in the future (invoices, etc). The unhelpful guy on the line did not know what to tell me. He just told me to expect my invoice in November.

So, there you have it, the unhelpful Yankee customer service people strike again.

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Season Ticket Holders: Easily check the status of your relocation at Yankees.com!

Can't believe I didn't catch this sooner. The Yankees have a section of their website that provides periodic updates on the status of the season ticket holder relocation process for the new stadium.

The ticket office is currently making phone calls/sending packages out to FULL SEASON holders with a seniority date of August 2004. If you are a full-season ticket holder with a seniority date before August 2004 and you haven't received a call, you should probably initiate contact with the Yankees.

The long wait continues for B Plan holders like myself. This late in the game, installment payments are highly unlikely, so start saving that money!

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Found on the interwebs: New Yankee Stadium 2009 Seating Chart

Take it with a grain of salt, but this supposed 2009 New Yankee Stadium seating chart is floating around the web.


(click to enlarge)

Based on the username of the person who posted that on baseball-fever (WBMason), my educated guess is that the Yankees provided the new seating chart to advertisers in the current Yankee Stadium so they can decide if/where they want to advertise in the new stadium.

So, what did we learn from that leaked seating chart?
1) Seating in Yankee stadium just got WAY more confusing (21 different levels of seating?!)
2) Suites are plentiful (horray for rich people filling up the seats!)

Of course, I will scan up ALL of the official season ticket holder new Yankee Stadium documentation as soon as I receive the 2009 Yankee Stadium Relocation Guide. Now at least I know that Tier Reserved MVP section 1 in Yankee Stadium 2008 = Grandstand 420B in the new Yankee Stadium 2009. Fingers are crossed for a fair relocation!

H/T to Greg over at Sliding Into Home for his post which alerted me to this and of course big ups to WBMason over at baseball-fever.com if this is in fact real.

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Finally some concrete information on new Yankee Stadium 2009 Pricing in the "cheap" seats

The AP is reporting on the new Yankee Stadium 2009 pricing with splashy headlines about how much more expensive things are going to be.

However, buried at the end of the article is this juicy bit of information that has me pretty excited as a season ticket holder in the Tier Reserved MVP section:

As for the regular seats, the Yankees hope to send out a relocation plan in April. Through Thursday, the Yankees had sold 39,141 full-season equivalents.

Trost said there will be about 11,000 non-premium seats at field level and 12,000 at the main level. He said 25,000 seats from the final year of the current ballpark won't be increased for 2009.

"Of the non-premium seats, 88 percent will be less than $100," he said. "It's easy to say that that's not cheap, but on the other 55 percent of the ballpark is going to be $45 or less. That's over 24,000 seats. We recognize everybody can't afford the suites. At the same time, we're trying to allow those suite prices to subsidize the other seating in the stadium. Look, the bleachers are $12, will be $12. The grandstand is $20 and $25, will be $20 and $25."

The "he" in the quotes is Lonnie Trost, COO of the Yankees.

This is clearly good news as it looks like next year will NOT see a price increase for the Tier Reserved, MVP seats.

However, I am in section 1 right now (DIRECTLY behind home plate) and have around 4 years of seniority. The HUGE question remains - where will my seats be located in the new stadium?

As soon as I receive that relocation guide in the mail, I will post the exciting information here.

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump