By Tyson Rauch
Another day and another email from the New York Jets regarding their new state of the art stadium. As a “valued season ticket holder” it is clearly quite important for the Jets organization to emphasize all of the benefits of the new stadium. From the increased number of concession stands and bathrooms, to the enhanced sound system, to the overall improved game day experience inside and outside the stadium, no expenses are being spared for this football paradise.
The organization has even provided live camera feeds on their website to continue to build the excitement for the fans. The only thing missing from all of this stadium hysteria is how this new venue is going to impact the ticket prices. Clearly with all of the time and energy spent communicating all of this information it only means one thing to the season ticket holders. The Jets opened their wallet to help build this stadium, be ready to empty your pockets to sit in it.
Of course in this day and age this cannot be a surprise to any fan as this has been the practice throughout all professional sports. The only question is while sending out the five page green colored fliers, why not begin to prepare the fan base for what is ahead of them in terms of ticket prices? While attending one of the open forums held for season ticket holders the repeated concern that was voiced was the price of tickets and the possibility of personal seat licenses. So why not begin to address this situation? Let’s not kid ourselves the Jets already know the pricing structure for the new stadium, hell the first step was raising tickets prices off a miserable 4-12 season. So why not give the fans as much time as possible to prepare for the new price structure?
If there is going to be a personal seat licensing system why not let the fan base have the option to begin paying it off a year in advance? As a long time season ticket holder I have come to grips that this new football stadium is going to drastically change my game day experience. As great as it will be to no longer see GIANTS STADIUM on the banner while entering the stadium it will really suck to look down my row and see some very good friends of mine no longer there as they have been priced out of the stadium. As great as it will be to hear the J-E-T-S JETS! JETS ! JETS! chant in surround sound it will suck to not be able to share the experience with all of the longtime season ticket holders that have lived and died with this team over the years. And while it will be great to see my beloved Jets play in an amazing state of the art stadium, it will suck to know that my days could be numbered as a season ticket holder as I could be the next victim of the economics of professional sports.
So Mr. Johnson is it too much to ask to begin to deal with the ticketing issues now to possibly avoid some of these situations from happening?
