It Is Time To Stop Complaining About The Yankees And Their New Stadium, And Time To Start Acting

With the Yankees playing the Red Sox this week, it made us think. If fans in Boston were able to band together and prevent the Red Sox from tearing down Fenway, why can't Yankees fans join together and convince team executives to fix some of the glaring problems with the new Yankee Stadium in particular, and the Yankee franchise in general.

We won't pretend to have the solutions to these problems, but if the fans can all contribute, share stories and brainstorm, perhaps we can figure out some ways to enact change. Today, Ben Kabak of River Avenue Blues fame dug up an old expression from the 1950's likening rooting for the Yankees to rooting for U.S Steel in the title of a blog post. The purpose of this post was to reveal many of the ways that the Yankees have lost touch with reality and their fans since the opening of the new Yankee Stadium. It is very disheartening.

What follows is a list of some of the problems that people have brought up about the new Yankee Stadium since it has opened. There is also some general commentary about the direction that the franchise has been heading regarding fan treatment. Along with some of these issues are compelling quotes from fans, as collected from fellow Yankee blogs, the NSI comments section and also from the NYYFans.com message board. We have tried to link to the specific location of these quotes when possible.

Concession Prices and lack of local, specialty food at the new stadium

Disconnect from the game due to further recessed upper deck - no foul balls, less of a home field advantage

"The thing that's noticeable to me right away is when you walk out of the dugout, the upper deck is not on top of you."

- Terry Francona, Red Sox Manager (via Telegram.com)

Exhaust fans making noise and emitting food smells that affect fans in the grandstand

Atmosphere and fan involvement: too many distractions, not enough noise

But it sure seems that the new Yankee Stadium lacks any semblance of the atmosphere that made the original so special. When you saw a game at the old place, you felt like part of a community of fans. The prices were very high, and it wasn’t the kind of place the average working man could take his family very often. But if you got in, everyone was part of the event, no matter where you sat. There was buzz.

- Tyler Kepner, NY Times Bats Blog

Lack of counters in the standing room only areas on the concourses with views of the field (like they have at Citi Field and Citizen's Bank Park)

When I went to Citizens Bank Park, they actually had counters set up in the concourses so that you can stand there and watch the game while eating something. Not only is standing on the concourses welcomed, it's actually encouraged! At Yankee Stadium, while standing on the concourse to watch the game, I felt like I was breaking the law.

- NYY Fans Message Board member

Monument Cave

My main issue with the park is the location. It is tucked away behind the center field wall and underneath the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar. For a stadium that was built to honor the past, it's amazing how they essentially hid away the retired numbers in center field.

- Andrew Fletcher, Scott Proctor's Arm Blog

No Access To The Field During Batting Practice

Part of the fun of going to Yankee games was getting there early for batting practice and going down to the field level to try to catch home run balls. Now the Yankees have taken that away. The other thing that was fun was moving down to better seats in the 7th or 8th innings when the stadium started emptying out. The Yankees have taken that away too. So screw them. I'll watch every game on TV, and probably won't return all that much until they change that policy.

- NYY Fans message board member

No Preservation of the old Yankee Stadium

While the "Current Plan" fails to preserve any portion of the historic Yankee Stadium, it is possible to address the community's concerns by maintaining the modifications that were made in the Alternate Plan and still preserve a meaningful, recognizable and symbolic element of the Stadium, and do so in a very cost effective way.

- http://www.savetheyankeegate2.com

Obstructed Views, specifically in the bleachers

Out of touch team executives

Bottom line... I hate the Yankees front office. I think we all agree that Yankees fans are the best of any sport. Going to a game and knowing most of the fans have a great knowledge of the game and a love for the team was awesome.. This is not awesome...they've ruined this team...and maybe the franchise. I'm totally serious... I don't see any way they can come back from this year. Even if they slash prices 50% they're still over priced by a lot. The execs can eat their tickets... I'll be on stubhub looking for tickets upwards of 70% off.

- NSI Commenter JB413

Overzealous Security toward fans and media

"I don't mind if they have to check tickets but can't they mix in some common sense? They could at least be polite and not act like you are there for them. I walked to my seats 3 times, the third time before the game I stuck a printed ticket in my pocket. I was with my 7 year-old son and was coming back from the concessions. Both hands were full and was holding my drink with my mouth to fish out a ticket. The guy slowly opens my ticket, looking annoyed, then says, what about his ticket (meaning my son's)? I said to the guy, are really going to make me dig that out? He paused, looks at me and my son for about 5 seconds and says, make sure you have it ready next time. What was he going to do? Make a 7 year stay behind?"

- NYYFans.com message board member

Social Stratification in the new Stadium, perfectly illustrated by dividers between the urinals in the bathrooms on the field level, but not anywhere else in the new stadium, as well as warm water in the bathrooms on the lower levels, but not in the upper deck.

Is it a huge deal? Of course not, but could there be a better symbol of how much the Yankees have bent over backwards to cater to the wealthiest customers and how they could care less about the core fans? By installing the dividers at the field level, they are acknowledging that it matters, but only providing the "luxury" to those purchasing the most expensive seats. It's an issue of simple human decency, and they can't possibly cost that much to put them in.

- Jay, Fack Youk Blog

Terrible flow and poor formation of concession lines on the main level

Ticket Prices For The Best Seats

It used to be you would use ticketmaster to find the best available, but now thanks to the Yankees pricing, we need to petition TM to build in a cheapest available feature so we don't have to spend hours finding a game with seats for less than $100.

- NSI commenter, JSBogen

Too many ads in the outfield that take away from the atmosphere

Unfinished, steel and concrete look, as seen in the gray bleachers'

Oversights from the original list:

Poor use of the high-definition video board in center field

Viewers at home having to watch through a net

Wind tunnel that blows through the back of the Grandstand, causing fan discomfort during the colder months, and causing balls to rocket over the fences at an alarming pace.

Some of the items in the above list are nit-picky, but most are valid issues that should be addressed. We figured that we would list as many complaints as we have heard. Unlike the fans at Fenway, we did not do anything to prevent the new stadium from being built. Most of us were enamored by the idea of a fancy stadium and state of the art amenities. Regardless, community action attempting to stop the team likely would have failed - the Yankees had $1.6 billion to spend and nothing was standing in their way.

Hopefully the Yankees have some more money to spare since addressing the above problems will cost a pretty penny. More importantly, however, the Yankees need to invest some time and energy into researching what is most important to their fan base. Catering to a specific demographic is a great way for a powerful brand to maximize profits, but the Yankees need to be careful not to completely lose touch with the average, middle-class fan. Perhaps they just need someone to remind them of this, or perhaps they just don't care. We won't know until we try.

So now it is time for the New Stadium Insider community to act. What can we do to change things? Is there any hope? Let us know in the comments.
Read the full post, after the jump

The Business Behind The New Yankee Stadium - Mohegan Sun Sports Bar Obstruction And Fans As An Extension Of The Ticket Office

For the past couple of weeks, sports business writers have been having a field day with New Yankee Stadium material. Amidst all of the chaos, we here at New Stadium Insider have had the privilege of being a source for some these stories, and are racking up the press clippings to prove it.

Today in the NY Times, Richard Sandomir provides an exposé of the business dealings behind The Mohegan Sun Sports Bar. As usual, the Yankees come off looking pretty bad. It was revealed in the article that Mohegan Sun was not informed that they would be associated with the worst obstructions in the entire $1.6 billion stadium until it was too late. The Yankees, for their part, claim that they didn't have to tell Mohegan Sun because there are no obstructed view seats in the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar. According to experts in the field, the naming rights to the sports bar could have cost upwards of $3 million. Shame on the Mohegan Sun for not doing due diligence before dropping that huge of a sum of money on naming rights, but this is completely the fault of the Yankees and their poor planning.


Our quote in Sandomir's article actually elicited a direct response from Randy Levine when we opined that the Yankees should just tear down the bar and start from scratch:

Ross Sheingold, who runs the New Stadium Insider blog, said by e-mail that the Yankees, not the Mohegan Sun, were to blame. “The Yankees are likely too stubborn to do this,” he wrote, “but it might not be a bad idea to tear the sports bar down and go back to the drawing board.”

Levine stayed strong, claiming that there were no plans to eliminate the structure causing the "architectural shadow" in the bleachers. As he explained, "they've [$5 obstructed seats] completely sold out." What he failed to mention was that the seats were sold out before the obstruction was revealed to the season ticket licensees assigned to those seats. Those people were told to "take it or leave it" when the obstruction was announced - there was no other availability in the bleachers, or any other affordable part of the stadium remaining. Those seats might not be completely sold out in the next couple of years when the shine of the new stadium wears off.

Switching gears a bit, there was an article in Crain's Business NY by Aaron Elstein this week, touching on the point we have made in the past about Yankee fans becoming an extension of the ticket office. Elstein is actually a Yankee season ticket holder himself, and has been commiserating with us throughout the relocation process. Because of that, we shared our story:

Ross Sheingold, who holds two $20 seats in the upper deck, says he sold his tickets to next week's home opener for $476. After that windfall, he's now thinking about selling more tickets, to Red Sox and other premium games, so he can cover the $1,700 he spent to buy his 41-game ticket plan with his dad.

“Hopefully, it'll help pay for playoff tickets,” says Mr. Sheingold, who runs the New Stadium Insider blog.

For a while, we were torn on whether to share the story of our opening day tickets with the New Stadium Insider readers. Eventually, we realized that most people reading this blog (or Crain's Business NY) understand that we live in a society built on capitalism, and that selling the opening day tickets to recover 25% of the season ticket investment was a no-brainer. Further, we have work next Thursday, and taking off for the day would have cost us even more money in lost pay.

The Yankees embrace the idea of fans reselling their tickets for huge profits. It means that the same fans are more likely to dump their non-premium games for below face value on Stubhub if they can't make it to the game. Because of the revenue sharing agreement that the MLB has with Stubhub, the Yankees generate secondary market revenue from the sale of these non-premium games even when face value tickets for those games aren't even sold out.

Our readers likely remember our complaints about the Yankees encouraging season ticket holders to become brokers, and the questions we brought up about how people have the time to do it. Upon utilizing Stubhub's system for the first time we now understand that ease of use is the main force. Selling our opening day tickets (and making $476 profit) took us no more than 5 minutes. We listed the tickets for just under market value in order to make a quick sale and two days later, the sale went through. All we had to do was enter the bar code from the tickets and now we are waiting for our Paypal payment. For their efforts, Stubhub took a 15% fee of of our total sale (which was $550), and they added service fees to the buyer's total.

At the end of the day, everyone was happy - the Yankees got their cut (albeit a small one compared to what we received), Stubhub tacked on their fees, and the buyer who obviously has expendable income will be in the new stadium for opening day 2009. Welcome to the new age of ticket sales.

It is pretty exciting that trusted sources like the NY Times and Crain's Business NY recognize the theme of New Stadium Insider and have come to us for quotes. Our goal is to share the stories that affect the every day experience of Yankee season ticket holders, and the mainstream media is starting to catch on. Going forward, we hope that our stories will continue to be shared and that more of the media in New York will stop being lapdogs to the hype of the Yankees PR machine.
Read the full post, after the jump

The New Stadium Insider Guide To Avoiding Obstructed View Seats At New Yankee Stadium

ATTENTION: NEW STADIUM INSIDER HAS MOVED TO NYYSTADIUMINSIDER.COM. FOR ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU COULD EVER WANT ABOUT YANKEE STADIUM OBSTRUCTED VIEWS, PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE!

As much as it pains us to admit, fans are going to have to get used to obstructed view seats scattered throughout the new Yankee Stadium. This is probably the case in most ballparks, but since the Yankees have the highest attendance in baseball and the highest payroll in baseball their obstructed view seats are going to get the most negative attention.

Since most people purchase their tickets from Stubhub these days, a guide to the specific seats affected by obstructed views has the potential to be very helpful. What follows is what we hope can be a helpful guide to avoid the various obstructions when purchasing Yankee tickets. We are creating this guide as a service to potential ticket buyers and in no way is our intention to deride the Yankees or their ticket office. We are as sick of the negativity about the new stadium as anyone, but this is the reality of the situation.

THE BLEACHERS


The view from section 239 in a high row number and a high seat number


A view from section 201 in a high row number and seat number 1

The first, and most widely talked about obstructed view seats in the new Yankee Stadium are the "architecturally shadowed" seats in the bleachers. There are roughly 1,048 seats in the bleachers that have obstructed views of the opposite outfield. If you are in the right field bleachers, you can't see left, and if you are in the left field bleachers, you can't see right. Of course, not all bleacher seats are obstructed. The main obstructions occur in sections 239 (right field) and section 201 (left field). Andrew over at Scott Proctor's Arm has it all figured it out:

If you're in Section 201, you want your seat number to be higher rather than lower, and vice-versa in Section 239. If you're seat one [in section 201], I'd suggest standing.

It is also worth noting that you want your row number to be lower, rather than higher, but that is obvious. Don't be fooled by extremely low ticket prices on Stubhub for most Yankees games - they are likely in these obstructed sections. That being said, buying a ticket for the obstructed view seats and then just wandering around and gawking at the game from the future standing room only sections might be the best bet for those on a budget.

THE GRANDSTAND


section 428, row 3, seat 1 in the Grandstand

Aside from being miles away from the field of play, the new upper deck at Yankee Stadium features obstructions never seen at the old Yankee Stadium. Much like at Citi Field, the design of the upper deck means that folks in the first few rows of the highest level of the stadium will deal with annoying obstructions. In the old Yankee Stadium, only row A in the Tier Reserved had to deal with the constant obstruction of people walking by through the narrow walkway. In the new Yankee Stadium, each section of the Grandstand has an annoying piece of glass, a metal handrail, and people walking by constantly. We can confirm that section 428, row 3, seat 1, has the obstruction seen in the photo above. Similar obstructions are likely found in most of the lower rows and lowest seat numbers from sections 431 - 422 down the left field line and the lowest rows and the highest seat numbers from sections 409 - 418 down the right field line. Buyer beware.

THE MAIN LEVEL


An obstructed view seat at the new Yankee Stadium in and around section 230, row 23


An obstructed view seat at the new Yankee Stadium in and around section 230, row 23

The least talked about obstructed view seats are in the 200's level, also known as the main level. We broke the news of these atrocious obstructions back at the beginning of February. According to the Yankee Stadium pricing chart, the seats in section 230, row 23 (obviously obstructed by the support beam in the above photos) sell for $75 in advance and $80 for day of game sales. After visiting the stadium this weekend, we can confirm that the beam only blocks the view of one seat in each section. However, the obstruction might be worse than the one in the bleachers - the view of the entire infield, including home plate is blocked. Unfortunately, we don't have the specific seat number of the obstructed seat in each of these row 23 seats in the 200's level. However, we would recommend staying away from seat 1, or the highest seat numbers. We will try to get the specific seat numbers that this obstruction affects in the future.

THE JIM BEAM SUITES (Sections 317-323)


Section 319, Row 1, seat 1

Even the Yankee Stadium "premium offerings" are not immune to the unacceptable obstructed views found in the cheaper locations throughout the stadium. The seats seen in the photo above sell for $135 and are only sold on a full season basis. They include admittance to the supposedly exclusive Jim Beam Lounge in the Upper Deck, but they don't include a view of home plate. Steer clear of Section 319, Row 1, seats 1-4, and Row B, seats 1-2. We have specific information about the seats in Section 319 since someone wrote in specifically complaining about their seats. We can no confirm this obstruction in the other sections of the Jim Beam Suites. Interestingly enough, situations like this could have been settled a long time ago, if only the Yankees allowed those patrons to tour the stadium and view their seats before the stadium opened. Unfortunately, the Yankees refused tours of the seats, quickly citing the fact that the 1300 seats in the Jim Beam sections sold out in 4 days. Essentially, they were resorting to their typical scare tactics, informing people ready to drop thousands of dollars that if they didn't purchase without a tour, they would sell the seats to someone else. The Yankees claim that these seats are the best value in the entire stadium but they are actually one of the worst, considering the obstruction of home plate.

Needless to say, the Yankees will be receiving many angry calls this morning. We feel really bad for our super ticket representative, Kate, as she has done all that she can to satisfy all of her loyal season ticket holders. Unfortunately, many of the other representatives are not as helpful or as friendly, and there will be a lot of potentially productive work hours spent arguing about seats to baseball games.

As always, we welcome reader feedback. If you noticed any other blatantly obstructed views at the new Yankee Stadium, please write in and we will add to this post. Our intention is for this post to be regularly viewed by potential visitors to Yankee Stadium so they have the best possible experience. We are all spending a ton of money to watch these baseball games, and we deserve to have views of the playing field. Read the full post, after the jump

Those Obstructed View Seats At The New Yankee Stadium Turn Up In The Strangest Places

A friendly reader of the blog commented a few days ago, mentioning the bad news that he had obstructed views in his high-priced Terrace seats.



According to an email from this reader:

This is the view from Section 319, [in the first row]. I have 6 full-season tickets...4 in the first row and two in the second row. The first row is $135 per, the second row $110.Besides the meager 13 inches from the end of the seat to the concrete wall, what you see is the metal strip outlining the Plexiglas. No cup holders in the first row either. We'll be calling the Stadium first thing Monday.

We're not quite sure what purpose all of that plexi-glass serves. Perhaps the Yankees can rectify the situation by taking it off? As for the leg room, it is a complete 180 from the old stadium, where the first row of the upper deck had tons more leg room. For $135 per ticket, it is shocking that Mickey didn't get to tour his seats before making the commitment. Looking beyond the obstruction, those seats might be the worst value in the entire stadium. Last year fans paid around $50 for a similar view from the Tier boxes.

In other news, Andrew over at Scott Proctor's Arm did some investigative photo journalism to uncover all of the obstructed views in the new 1.6 billion dollar Yankee Stadium. Sadly, Andrew has a lot of photos to share. Great work as always over at Scott Proctor's Arm, and for that we are naming him an honorary Stadium Insider. What an honor, indeed. Read the full post, after the jump

Obstructed View TVs In The Bleachers At The New Yankee Stadium And The Unfortunate Revelation That YMCA Will Be Back

Ever since Lonn Trost announced the obstructed view seats in the bleachers, he has also touted the large hi-def monitors that would replace the view of the opposite field, thus making the $5 price the best bargain in Yankee Stadium.

Well, Andrew over at Scott Proctor's Arm just got his NSI-on and uncovered some new obstructed views for the fans in the bleachers - obstructed views of the TV screens meant to make up for the obstructed views of the field

Wait. What? How about some photo evidence:





We really hate to constantly be critical of the Yankees, but did it really take a genius to figure out that the screens need to be tilted off of the wall a bit? Are we really expecting too much out of these people?

Kudos to Andrew at Scott Proctor's Arm for calling this out, and kudos to Greg at Sliding Into Home for aggregating the photos from 8 million different sources.

In some other NSI-natured Yankee Stadium reporting, Jay over at Fack Youk has a spoiler alert - YMCA will make its return tonight at the new Yankee Stadium. Jay rips Lonn Trost fairly well over there, so we will spare you the repetition. The good news is that the Cubs fans in attendance tonight should really enjoy it (if they have never seen that idiocy before). Jay has a great bit in his piece about the nostalgia aspect of this decision. It is worth a read, if you are like us and can't stand the Yankees and their fans constantly clinging to meaningless things from their past. Read the full post, after the jump

A look at the obstructed view seats in the LF bleachers

Looks like plenty of seats will have obstructed views because of the restaurant in center field. At least for now, the wall you'll be looking at is still fresh, clean concrete! The big day is when they install the TV's on said wall so you can see everything happening on the field... In crystal clear HD!





Pics thanks to Bob Ruffolo of nyyankeesrumors.com

Read the full post, after the jump

Yankees respond to internet uproar, say that obstructed seats will be removed

As we reported yesterday and many different media outlets subsequently reported, some unflattering photos from inside of the New Yankee Stadium leaked, revealing obstructed views.

Although we were unable to get in touch with the Yankees media relations office (they don't deal with blogs), ESPN Radio 1050 in New York did. After commenting on the seats in the bleachers that were revealed to have obstructed views back in the summer, the Yankees also commented on the the seats down the left field line:

Now, there were supposedly other seats beyond the outfield that had obstructed views. However, those seats, according to McGillion, have or will be taken out.

She said that those seats - which are behind support columns - will not be there. She said it is common for some seats to be put in in new stadiums and then they check to see after if there is obstructed seats or not.

All's well that ends well, I suppose. Those seats were only a test. I'm sure the cost of installing and ripping those seats out will be completely worth it. When the budget is over 1 billion, small scale construction like that is a drop in the bucket. I'm also sure that eyeballing that section before installing the actual seats was not sufficient, and the seats had to be fully installed. Is this sarcasm? I'll never tell.


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

New Stadium, same old obstructed views

UPDATE (2/13/09 10:45 AM): This story seems to have caused quite a stir around the interwebs. If you are a member of the New York Yankees media relations team who previously had no interest in speaking to blogs, feel free to email me (contact info is to the right). I would love some sort of explanation on this, even if it is PR spin. Further, if you are an expert on engineering/architectural design and would like to comment on this, I am interested to hear your insight as well.

The Yankees have some explaining to do with this one. Courtesy of user "Mastermind" from NYY Fans, comes this image from inside of the new Yankee Stadium:


After adjusting the white balance, the photo is even more revealing.

Yes, this is a real picture (taken on 2-11-09) from the new stadium built in 2009, not the one built in 1927. Believe it or not, modern construction has apparently not solved the problem of beams in sight lines at sports venues. It should be noted, however, that this photo appears to be taken from BEHIND the last row of seats at the back of the lower level. Therefore, that beam would likely only be in the peripheral vision - blocking a view of the backstop, and not necessarily the action on the field.

From looking at the 3D Seat Selector on Yankees.com, it would appear the section in question is somewhere in the vicinity of section 230 of the main level. Here is a look at how the 3D Seat selector illustrates the beams (sorry it is so dark):



"Mastermind" says the above photo is inaccurate:

I assure you if you are sitting in at least the 2 seats next to the beam you have to lean forward to see. The back of the seat is BEHIND the beam- and there are beams every section along the leftfield line (rightfield beams are set back) and from my view and I will post more pictures- if in fact your [sic] next to the disabled seating area (which is raised) you will also have an obscured view- The photo of the beam in the pic doesnt [sic] do the problem justice

It will be interesting to note whether or not seats like the above will be sold as "obstructed view." As we mentioned this past summer, the Yankees have already run into some bad press about the obstructed views from the left field bleachers, caused by the massive restaurant in center field. Reports from some fans during the relocation process were that the Yankee ticket office was feigning ignorance about the obstructed views in the bleachers until potential buyers called them out on it.

I have high hopes for this new stadium, and I will withhold judgment until the place opens its doors. However, there are already some MAJOR structural issues that have been noted that just should not exist in a 1.3 billion dollar stadium constructed in 2008/2009. If the Yankees would like a chance to set the record straight here, I would be happy to take a tour of the new place. Just throwing it out there.

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