Yankees and Red Sox Are Sell Outs

[Crash Course]

Fenway park, is just about sold out for the 2004 season already.

Now, it's happening in NY too: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1739365

A woman called WFAN in NY on Wednesday, and said that she waited on line for 90 minutes that morning, at Yankee Stadium, looking to buy tickets for 8 games. Every game she had, the BEST seats they had available was the upper, upper deck, way in the OF.

This was on Feb. 18th.

I think this shows that, if a team - like Boston or NY - is willing to spend money and put great players on the field, people will come out to the park. Agree or not?

[TimmyB]

A couple Saturdays ago when the Sox tix went on sale I tried via the phone and their website for hours and could not get through. When I finally made it through on Sunday the best tix I could get for a game vs. Twins in June were in the so-called Upper Bleachers.

Fenway could probably sell out 50,000 seats (see: Patriots, New England). Why? How many winning seasons have the Sox had since 1967? There's always hope. The national media may portray Sox fans as whiners or masochists or lots of other rotten things, but, the bottom line is this: we pay to see them play.

There have been historical exceptions (Oakland, Pittsburgh), but, for the most part, if you field a good team, the fans will come. The Expos in the '80s used to draw over 2MM fans per year. Why? Their team was a contender.

Maybe I'm naive, but this does not seem like rocket science.

So, long answer to Crash's question... yes.

[lonelybrewerfan]

I think that this is another reason why it isn't really that bad that the Sox and Yanks have the highest payrolls. If they sell tickets, they should be spending the money.

Being from a small market city. I think fans are towing a bad line when it comes to payrolls. They say that if the payroll doesn't go up, they won't go. Well... if you don't go, how do you expect the team to increase the payroll? I don't think enough fans understand this because they are always looking for something to cry about. Baseball is baseball and baseball is the greatest game on earth. go to the games and your owner just might let the GM go and get some players.

I think it is fantastic that the Yanks and Sox are selling out. It is only Feb 20th and the stadium is FULL. That is so incredibly good for baseball!

Crash Course what I am trying to say is that while it seems very logical that the payroll would go up before the fans come I don't think it should work that way because baseball is a business. I would love to see the brewers spend 55 million this season but they can't because fans have already made it clear that they don't want to go. Yet if fans don't go the team can't go out and make itself better.
Make sense?

[satchel]

I too think it is good for baseball. And both clubs (especially the Yankees) will sell a lot of tickets on the road too; there's a ripple effect that benefits every team they play against.

[Skip]

both clubs (especially the Yankees) will sell a lot of tickets on the road too; there's a ripple effect that benefits every team they play against.True, but now that so many teams are staggering their pricing, many fans may still be priced out of the games when the NYY or Sox visit.

[KCBOOMER]

Baseball is a zero sum game, boys. The supposed willingness of the "haves" to spend something they actually have does not make them morally superior to team that don't have it to spend. There is no great sacrifice in reaching into the company till to spend money. The sacrifice is when you reach into your own wallet to spend.

If every owner elected to spend what ever it took to put a proper product on the field you would have the same results on the field as you do today. Some teams are good, some teams are mediocre, and some teams are bad. That's they way a zero sum game works. They cannot all be good no matter what they spend. See Steinbrenner from 1981 to when Jeter/Rivera showed up.

It is self-serving tripe that the Yankees are good for baseball. The NFL doesn't have the Yankees, NBA doesn't have the Yankees, College Football doesn't have the Yankees, and College Basketball doesn't have the Yankees. All these enterprises are doing just fine.

Fans turn out to see good teams. It is immaterial if any of those teams are wearing pinstripes.

[hmrsf]

I too think it is good for baseball. And both clubs (especially the Yankees) will sell a lot of tickets on the road too; there's a ripple effect that benefits every team they play against.

The year the Sox almost double their ticket prices they still were at a near sell out. Middle class Sox fans became very creative. That year they went to Montreal and saw them play the Expos in Interleague play. 18,000 walkup ticket sales for one game alone, nevermind the advance ticket sales.

I was at those games. One game had more Soxs fans than would fit in Fenway park. People will follow their team. They will fill other stadiums on the road. I have seen it happen.

This can't just be a Red Sox Yankee thing.

[Crash Course]

Baseball is a zero sum game, boys. The supposed willingness of the "haves" to spend something they actually have does not make them morally superior to team that don't have it to spend. There is no great sacrifice in reaching into the company till to spend money. The sacrifice is when you reach into your own wallet to spend.

If every owner elected to spend what ever it took to put a proper product on the field you would have the same results on the field as you do today. Some teams are good, some teams are mediocre, and some teams are bad. That's they way a zero sum game works. They cannot all be good no matter what they spend. See Steinbrenner from 1981 to when Jeter/Rivera showed up.

It is self-serving tripe that the Yankees are good for baseball. The NFL doesn't have the Yankees, NBA doesn't have the Yankees, College Football doesn't have the Yankees, and College Basketball doesn't have the Yankees. All these enterprises are doing just fine.

Fans turn out to see good teams. It is immaterial if any of those teams are wearing pinstripes.

Boomer - what about the Boston Red Sox?

[sweaver]

The NFL doesn't have the Yankees, NBA doesn't have the Yankees, College Football doesn't have the Yankees, and College Basketball doesn't have the Yankees. All these enterprises are doing just fine.

The NFL has had several dynasties, the NBA had the Celtics for a long time, college football has Notre Dame, college basketball has Duke. To continue the analogy, the NHL had the Canadiens for a long time.

Every sport/grouping has dynasties. The Yankees have lasted longer than most. I am glad to see a couple of baseball teams living by the motto, "if you build it, they will come." It's a business truism, "it takes money to make money," that has fallen out of favor. Somebody is going to bring it back and make a killing.