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| No more home field advantage?
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Aaron pretty much covered the Yankees' home opener inside, outside, up and down yesterday so I'll tread lightly there, but let's scope some of the reaction to the ballpark itself.
The New York Times' William Rhoden thinks the "mystique" is gone:
On its own merits, the new Stadium is a gem. Every effort was made to duplicate and, in many instances extend, the charm of the old Stadium. The signature frieze at the top of the stadium bowl is back, the manually operated auxiliary scoreboard is replicated, and a gap between the bleachers and right field allows us to get a peek at the No. 4 elevated train.
But some crucial things did not make the trip across the street — and they never will. Mystiques are created by championships and championship moments: title fights, football classics and World Series victories. The old mystique is gone. You can argue that the mystique began to fade seasons ago.
The word "mystique" means an aura of mystery, power, and awe that surrounds a person or thing. Inherent in that definition is some sort of history and experience, right? How can you have mystique on day one? More generally, isn't it really the case that, for New York writers at least, Yankee Stadium "mystique" was really a function of the Yankees' won-loss record? Was anyone talking about the "mystique" of Yankee Stadium when Andy Hawkins was on the mound and Steve Balboni was in the lineup?
The New York Post's Joel Sherman has a more valid criticism:
The Yankees wanted to build a museum, a palace, a mall-park. And what they may have ended up with is the House that Mute Built. Incredibly, after all the anticipation and hoopla, the sellout crowd at this grand opening had about the same zeal as grandmothers playing mahjong. Why? The ticket prices mean a lot more corporate patronage in the seats close to the field, which means far fewer diehards near the action, screaming, taunting, making it uncomfortable for the opposition.
I watched a replay of the game on SportsTime Ohio last night. That network tends to mic the field pretty well, and even with that I was amazed at just how quiet the joint was, even before the game turned into a blowout. There was no roar when Sabathia had two strikes on a batter. There was general apathy when Jeter doubled Mark DeRosa off first base. It was like a mausoleum. One can only hope that the VIP-heavy opening day crowd was to blame, but in my experience -- mostly with Ohio State athletics -- massive renovations and new arenas tend to permanently move the loud and obnoxious fans (i.e. the ones that give you the home field advantage) unacceptably far from the action.
Alex Belth of the Bronx Banter blog is taken with the sheer size of the place, but notes that the fans are still pretty close to the field:
The whole structure is not only bigger it is more open too. There are concourses with standing room areas to stop and watch the game. There are plenty of shops and food stands. You can even get a nice pear. There isn't much room for vertigo. The nose bleed seats still feel close to the field. And there is less room between home plate and the seats, by maybe ten, fifteen feet. Behind the plate, fans are certainly closer to the action.
I suppose, then, that it's simply a matter of getting the right people in those seats, because in my view the joint was certainly filled with the wrong people yesterday. Since I knew the outcome of the game as I was watching the replay last night, I was able to focus on things other than the action. Mostly I was fixated on the view of the primo seats just to the third base side of home that were visible during every closeup of a right handed batter. The seats are overly cushy. The waiter service seemed like a slap in the face to peanut vendors and beer guys everywhere. Worst of all, there was a guy in a blue suit and red tie with brown, blow-dried hair sitting in the second or third row of those seats, taking calls on his cell, and never ever seeming to be focusing on the action on the field.
How often that guy sits in those seats, as opposed to the secretaries, drivers, and mailroom guys he gives his tickets to when he's too busy to go to the ballpark, will ultimately be the test of whether New Yankee Stadium is worthy of the New York Yankees.
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Same thing happened to many arenas and stadiums. Teams and players celebrate it, because it means more revenues and potentially higher payrolls, but the average fan, just wants to see his team play.
Give us a seat and a chance to buy a beer and a dog and we'll be happy.
Do not mock Steve Balboni, Craig! For he shall smite you down.
Went to Fenway for the first time last summer, and since I have no money my girlfriend and I sat in almost the back row of the bleachers. But Fenway is designed as such that we could see everything that was happening and our voices could be heard on the field. Nothing can top that.
How could you hear your voice on the field if you were in the last row of the bleachers? Echo? Did one of the players wave to you when yelled at him? Just wondering.
Fenway and Wrigley are antiquated dumps. They are a disservice to the fans who have to use 1900s facilities with cramped restrooms, poor access, I-beams in sight-lines and at both locations seating that is not inside the ballpark. Tradition is a worthy attribute in the game of baseball, but both of those old worn out dumps should be turned into park space for the local children while the teams move into 21st century facilities that are modern, classy and DO NOT copy the relics they replace.
You're right Andy L, nothing tops Fenway. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Why anyone would pay those kinds of prices is beyond me. If you pay that much, you should leave you cell phone at home. The only thing those people in the front rows want is to get TV exposure, they aren't there for the game. But since they paid all that money I guess someone has to sit there. That guy on the phone has got to pay for that seat somehow.
Why do people pay $50.00 to go to a 6 Flags or Disney park, how much are average concert prices? There are still a lot of tickets in the $5 -$45 range and that is where you will find the real fans however with the new openess of the new stadium buy a cheap seat and go down to the field level concourse and watch the game from there.
I think this was a BIG mistake financially to the city and to just having fun watching a game on a lazy summer afternoon. Time will tell.
It's sad to think that my children will not experience baseball as I did as a kid. It cost us over $100 for my husband and I to take our daughter to a spring training game. It's sad that the economy is in the state it is in and yet the sports players aren't feeling it because the ticket revenue is still coming in. We middle class won't even be able to afford to take our family out for Old-Fashioned American fun. It's really sad what it has come to and it isn't just Yankee Stadium. I'm curious, how much bailout money goes towards corporate season tickets or any sports tickets for that matter? That might be something worth looking into.
For baseball the best value for the dollar may still be the minor league and Independent League teams. Tickets and refreshments are reasonably priced. Good seats are a'plenty and the atmosphere is fan friendly.
Go Mud Hens!
I think you may be a little over the top there yes there is corporate money buying the luxury boxes and top seats but that was going on before our current financial mess. Put it into perspective with everything else take your kids to a Six Flags park for the day and it will cost you just as much if not more. Taking a family to a movie can set you back $40 - $50 and that is a movie not a live event.
Don't blame the players' salary. Blame the front office, blame the corporations. They don't make anything compared to the management.
It's not right, but people will pay the prices. So there will be no shortage of revenue.
Other than the absurd adult prices.....why wouldn't they allow every kid under 13 years of age to attend for a "buck"? No wonder it's no longer ..."Amerca's Pastime"! Thanks, Steinbrenner!
Drive to Philly it's only a few hours away and half the price better yet, there are a ton of minor league parks within a single gas tank drive from Yankee Stadium. Lakewood Blue Claws are still an affordable outing for a family and only an hour from Yankee Stadium
Camden Yards was just like that for years. The only people sitting in the lower decks was the corporate guys who were just there to entertain people. Of course now anybody can get a seat there but can't afford it. I go down to the AA games and for $15 can sit in the front row next to the dugout. You can interact with the players and my daughter loves it.
I have been Yankees fan since the 1950's. My Dad took me to Don Larsen's perfect game. I was only 7 years old but I still remember it like it was yesterday. The price of the ticket was $2.50. Kids today will never experience this feeling.
This dinosaur remembers the days when I bought the cheap seats in the grandstand high above home plate. After a few innings of scouting from high above I would often sneak down into some of the choicest box seats on the field level. Now you could get shot for trying that. Those were the days when the Yankees would take the train to Boston instead of flying. I was lucky enough as a 10 year old to wander into the club car with my grandmother. The Yankees were sitting there playing pinochle! I still have the autographs from that day (among them are Stengel, Mantle, McDougald, Berra and many others). How the team (and the Mets, as well) could have spent all of that $$$ and still come up with crummy seats with impeded views is beyond my comprehension. I am glad to see ugly Shea go, but Yankee Stadium almost felt like a church to me. I will look forward this summer to seeing if the new digs come close to meeting the charms of the old park. I know the players are smitten with all of the amenities. I wonder if security would really shoot an old grey haired guy trying to sneak into the good seats.
i was at opening day at fenway this year. $40 on the street for a grandstand seat. and i realized that it may be the last perfect ballpark in america. it isn't a stadium. it's not a mallpark. it's just a place where baseball is played and people come to watch. yes the price is too high and i cannot afford to bring my children, the way i lived there as a child. but just for an afternoon, to sit in the seats and look out at that magnificent patch of grass is awe-inspiring. the boys of summer, the local nine, the dreams and hopes of children and those who refuse to grow up, they all ride on the happenings on that sweet triangle we like to call fenway.
Wrigley Field is the other real ballpark that is there just for baseball.
... And Dodger Stadium isn't chopped liver either.
But another AL park that's there just to be somewhere that baseball is played? There isn't one - the closest is maybe Anaheim or Cleveland.
Growing up in the Bronx and going to the Stadium was part of my everyday culture as a kid.I doubt today many kids will have that same feeling as I did. In today's sports and I say BASEBALL especially the fans have been relegated to a after thought behind corporate boxes; $9 beers and corporate tax breaks that ironically the FAN pays for in the end anyway. I still llike baseball, I still like the Yankees but its a much more cynical feeling for me. I very much doubt I'll see a game anytime soon in the new STADIUM. My company doesn't have a box and I have other bills to pay every month.
It used to be a sport, now it's an industry.
While the corporate fan being closer to the field is a factor I don't think this was that much different from old Yankee Stadium in the last few years. Ticket prices have favored the corporate ticket holder for a while. The bigger issue is the layout of the parks - mainly the removal of beams to hold the upper deck. The beams made the upper deck closer to the field and often above lower deck seats. This in turn made the cheers of the fans in the lower deck echo off the upper deck towards the field. It also helped cheers of the fans in the upper deck be heard on the field. Cantilevered upper decks changed this and made it much quieter. The upper decks are much farther from the field and cheers from the lower deck no longer echo. In effect, obstructed view seats were traded for quieter stadiums.
Yes but the upper deck in the renovated stadium was still closer to the field then in the new park. I sat in section 661 last year right field upper deck and we were right at the foul pole.
That's my point. I think the noise issue is due less to the price of the tickets and more to the configuration of the stadium. I would bet that last year a fan in the upper deck was closer to the field than that fan would be this year. The new park will never be as loud as the old one no matter who attends the game or how cheap the tickets are.
As a UK basketball fan I know what they are talking about, we have the same problem at Rupp Arena, the best fans are in the upper arena, the rich suits and old folk are next to the action.
Ya know, ol' George made his $$ in the shipping business, right? Maybe he envisioned the new stadium like a yacht - a plaything for the rich and privileged. I agree with the other posters that this mindset has ruined what is rightfully (but not any longer) considered the national pastime. Used to be old/young, rich/poor, male/female, even black/white/brown could all mingle together and have a shared communal experience watching the boys of summer - it really meant America and life itself. I grew up outside NYC and still remember bat day at Yankee stadium (a societal, physical threat now), school bus trips to the ballparks, and what now? greed, profits, luxury boxes, corporate pandering, and team-jumping divas?!?
Sad, sad, indeed.
Those seats are still there they are just so far up and back from the field you need oxygen and binoculars.
There are still affordable tickets unfortunately the only way to get them is to be a season ticket holder, however there are still very affordable tickets on StubHub even some you can still buy under face value. It is the premium games you can't get tickets to, they command top dollar. That is the part that nobody seems to want to mention, all everyone wants to focus on is the premium seats. I have main level seats they were $45.00 a ticket which isn't terrible when you compare it to other things. A night at the movies with popcorn can run $30.00 or more for two, a day at a 6 Flags or Disney park will cost more for two then my two seats, and concert tickets even more. The problem here is the stadium has been cut into classes and I don't care what anyone says the upper two decks there the $20 -$40 seats are too high up and back from the field. The lower decks have a better view but the seat prices do run $45.00 to $350.00 the $900 to $2600.00 seats are a small percent.
As colossal as the new stadium is I don't care what anyone says it will never have the character and feel of the old stadium before or after the renovation. There are some things that can't be replicated and one of them is the game when it was a game for the fans and not an resort for big business.
The new sky high ticket prices at Yankee stadium have put me right out of the market to ever attend another game there. Add this to the fact that you can't even see the Yankees on free TV anymore except for a few games they lower themselves to put on network TV and it all adds up to this life-long, die-hard Yankee fan to just give up. I won't even go near how awful the Yankee radio commentators are. I actually would rather listen to the opposing team's commentators -- even the Red Sox! I used to go to the stadium as a kid with my uncles who actually knew some of the players and I got to go into the dugout with the likes of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. Now, you can't get near the players at all. I don't have the same feeling for the game or the team that I used to. At least before, if I saved up, I might have a shot at getting a decent seat. Now, the best I can hope for is a bleacher seat. It's just not worth it to me. I'll be moving out of NY soon and this situation just adds to my list of "pros" for leaving NY.
Forget the Boston games right now if you are a real fan you can get tickets to almost every week night game for less the $20. There are tickets on the main level and field level for $30.00. YES FIELD LEVEL TICKETS FOR $30.00. So enough if you really want to go there are plenty of affordable tickets, sounds to me like all you want to do is jump on the band wagon and complain but never had any intention of going.
Update field level box 112 $100.00 face value tickets are available for $55.00 this Tuesday Night and week night crowds are always better then weekend crowds. I'm going Tuesday. Now will I buy a $9.00 12 oz. beer no way no how.
Tuesday night. Field level box 136 20 tickets available for $38.00 and 41 seats in the right field grandstand seating section 406 for $20 and under. Infact grand stand tickets for as little as $10.00 How many do you want?
So what's the deal with the 7th inning stretch? Can you go to the head, or what?
The first time I ever saw CC Sabathia was when he was with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a farm team for the Cleveland Indians. It was the last time I saw him play.
Shame about the prices... Our Lake County Captains (Eastlake, Ohio) have a set of four tickets, four hotdogs and four sodas for $44. Can't beat that.
Grandstand Outfield 433 row 9 4
seats $12.00 each
(from stubhub) figure $44 for four dogs and sodas, not much more for a major league game in New York
I live in Denver. The complaints about the new Yankee Stadium are remeniscent of what we hear about Invesco Field at Mile High which replaced a seriously dilapidated Mile High Stadium. The new stadium in Denver is much quieter too, and not just because our Broncos have really sucked the past few years. What used to be a great home field advantage at Mile High is not just another day at the office for the corporate fans who seem more interested in their tee times than a football game. I was fortunate to visit the original Yankee Stadium in the 1970's and those were some great memories.
not much to comment on. I am a life long Yankee Hater. Wouldn't go to one of their games at yankee Stadium if it were free.
This is a pretty silly and almost too simple an article.
But non-the-less, good Yankee tickets are "WAY" to expensive! $300 to $2600 for ONE game, or is it a season? I guess New York is turning into the city of haves, and haves nots.
There will be 10,000's of kids who will not be able to attend a Yankee game from this point on.......unless their parents are rich.
There are still a lot of season ticket holders selling tickets below face value on StubHub the 300-2600 seats are a small percentage
How about 4 tickets, field level left field side $37.00 each on StubHub for Wednesdays game against the A's. Grandstand Dugout seats for as little as $8.00 on StubHub for same game. If you are all going to complain know what you are talking about If all you want to comment on is the Premium Seats then maybe you should refrain. There are way too many tickets on StubHub going for less then face value to most games.
Sounds like you bought out all the cheap seats and selling them on Stub-hub! Selling the cheap cheezy games for under value, then capitalizing on the big games to make your money.