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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Supersize Me
THE STADIUM on the right in the photo above seats fewer people than the older Stadium on the left. It sprawls over a much larger area because the seats in the decks are farther from the field and because it has so many more restaurants, bars and food stands around those seats.
I've said before that I enjoyed my first visit to the new Stadium. It is after all the home of the New York Yankees, and sitting in the new stadium reminds one of sitting in the old stadium, the scene of many fond memories.
Today I got a free ticket in the "moated" section of the stadium. Behind home plate, these seats famously cost $1,250, "reduced" from the original price of $2,500. This has been a public relations disaster for the Yankees – people are losing their jobs, and the Yankees season ticket plans for four of these seats cost $810,000 per year. Let them eat hot dogs.
To get to the seats, you enter through a gate for all the most expensive seats and boxes. If you've paid enough, you get a blue wristband that entitles you to unlimited free food, served at your seat or in a restaurant.
Continuing to the seats, you go down into a large windowless restaurant. Except for the lack of windows, it reminds me a BBQ restaurant I went to in the Bronx last month. That's not a good thing.
As you leave the restaurant, there is a groaning table of candies (Twizzles, Skittles, Chuckles, Twix, etc), coolers of soda and a freezer with ice cream -- all for grabbing on your way out.
The word "gluttony" came to mind as we went out, and despite the wonderful seats I got nostalgic for the original stadium.
BTW, the seat I was given, had a face value of "only" $325, and came with all the free food etc. of the $2,500 / $1,250 seats a short distance away.Charging more than 7 times as much for those was just bad taste and bad PR on the part of the Yankees. Sitting near us were kids who had bought tickets on the internet in our section for well below the asking price.
V&V: The Real Yankee Stadium
V&V: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (new Yankee Stadium)
July 25, 2009 in Baseball, Culture, Current Affairs, Sports | Permalink
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That photo is really informative. It is amazing how much bigger we build things, that just isn't needed.
Posted by: Dave Reid at Jul 26, 2009 11:58:19 AM
Granted things in big cities cost more, but those prices are crazy. I bet it was a fun experience still.
Posted by: Gaylee Saws at Oct 14, 2009 4:51:51 PM
