David Glass: Greedy Bastard

[gblowfish]

If you didn't think The Glass Family weren't in it just for the money, check out how he plans to spit in the face of his STH's.....IF, and its a long shot, IF, the Royals would happen to make the wild card. This guy is such a cheap prick, he makes the taxpayers of Jackson County pay his cable TV bill at Kauffman Stadium!

http://tinyurl.com/l84jfz3
Royals’ price markups for postseason tickets among highest in baseball

September 20
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star

The sticker shock that accompanied the postseason pricing information sent earlier this month by the Royals to their season-ticketholders also jolted professional ticket brokers.

It’s tricky to compare pricing structures because stadium layouts vary widely from club to club. All markets are different, too. Even so, the prices on seats located behind the dugout offer a reasonable comparison.

For this chart, we selected the Royals, an opponent from the American League Central Division (Detroit), the AL opponent located closest to Kansas City (Texas) and a small-market team having its first winning season in a long time (Pittsburgh).

These prices are for season-ticketholders seeking to purchase their seats for postseason games.

Team
Reg. season
Wild Card/LDS (increase)
LCS (increase)
World Series (increase)
Detroit
$48
$85 (77.08%)
$125 (160.4%)
$250 (420.8%)
Texas
$50
$65 (30%)
$125 (150%)
$250 (400%)
Pittsburgh
$27
$43 (59.3%)
$68 (151.9%)
$225 (733.3%)
Royals
$39
$155 (297.4%)
$220 (464.1%)
$275 (605.1%)

“I’ve just never seen anything to this extreme,” one national broker said.

“Normally, it’s expensive, and there’s a little bit of backlash from fans who don’t understand that, hey, it is a big deal. I’ve just never seen it like this.”
Information obtained by The Kansas City Star regarding postseason prices set by several clubs shows the Royals’ markup percentage to be among the highest, if not the highest, in baseball for season-ticketholders.

Example:

Diamond Box seats located behind the dugout on the lower level normally sell for $39 in the regular season. That price jumps to $155 for a wild-card game or the divisional series, $220 for the championship series and $275 for the World Series.

That represents increases of 297.4 percent, 464.1 percent and 605.1 percent. Seem high? Several professionals in the field say they are among the sharpest increases they’ve ever seen for any event.

In contrast, consider this weekend’s opponent, the Texas Rangers, who are also the American League club located closest to Kansas City. The Rangers typically charge $50 for a seat behind the dugout.

Their postseason markup is to $65 for a wild-card game and the divisional series, $125 for the championship series and $250 for the World Series. Brokers say those markups are average to slightly below average.
This might all be a relatively moot point, of course.

The Royals remain a long shot to reach the postseason. They were three games behind Texas, with 10 games left, for the AL’s final wild-card berth before Friday’s game against the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.

Even so, the Royals, if they fail to reach the postseason, will apply money obtained from advance sales toward 2014 season tickets unless fans specifically request a refund.

Such a procedure is normal for all clubs.

All prices cited here are for season-ticketholders seeking to purchase their seats for postseason games. Those same seats often sell for higher prices when sold on a single-game basis in the regular season and postseason.

That’s part of the rub.

“When playoff tickets come out,” one broker said, “that’s a big benefit for season-ticketholders. You get playoff tickets normally at a reasonable price.
“Where you normally see capitalism is in areas where you don’t have a lot of season-ticketholders, areas where you see fair-weather fans or fans from out of town. Your upper deck. Your outfield seats.

“Charge what you can get for those tickets. Those guys aren’t going to the games during the week in April and May. You need to maximize your revenues from those people.”

The Royals are doing that, too. An Outfield Box seat that normally sells for $23 in the regular season will jump to $95 for the wild-card and divisional series, $110 for the LCS and $175 for the World Series.

Club officials chose to respond to questions regarding their postseason pricing by issuing a statement. It read in part:

“The postseason ticket pricing is determined from a study of both the primary and secondary market by each individual club, with Major League Baseball having final approval on the pricing structure.

“Factors include recent postseason participation by the club and last year’s All-Star events, which supplies the club with enough data to determine fair market pricing.

“Analysis of just one particular seating section for a portion of the entire postseason schedule can lead to false conclusions as some teams will price heavier in the early rounds and less in later rounds, which is the direction we chose to follow.”

The Royals contend their markup percentage is misleading because their regular-season prices are among the lowest in baseball. They also point to capacity at Kauffman Stadium (37,903) as a major factor.

“Kauffman Stadium has the fifth-lowest capacity of the 17 clubs who submitted pricing,” their statement said. “Essentially, the higher-capacity ballparks have lower average prices due to the larger volume of less-expensive tickets farther from the field.”

Something to keep in mind: A club doesn’t keep all of the money generated by postseason ticket sales. A sizable portion of the revenue from ticket sales funds the players’ share for participating in the postseason.

For all that, the Pittsburgh Pirates offer a stark contrast.

The Pirates are a small-market club who endured 20 consecutive losing seasons prior to this year and play in a similar-sized stadium (PNC Park lists capacity as 38,362), but they have more modest hikes for early rounds.

An upper infield seat behind the dugouts typically sells for $27 in the regular season. It will cost $43 for the divisional series, $68 for the league championship series before jumping to $225 for the World Series.

That jump for the World Series represents a 733.3 percent increase over the regular-season price, which is higher than the Royals’ markup percentage from the regular season to the World Series.

Major League Baseball confirmed that it approved the Royals’ pricing — as it did for all 17 clubs permitted to collect money for possible participation in postseason play.

“The Royals sent us a pricing structure,” said Pat Courtney, MLB’s senior vice president for public relations, “and we signed off on it.”

Using seats behind the dugouts is the best basis for comparison on pricing structures because stadium layouts vary widely from club to club. Behind the dugout is, after all, behind the dugout in any ballpark.

Even so, it isn’t a perfect apples-to-apples comparison. Some clubs, including the Pirates, sub-divide those seats into lower and upper areas behind the dugout.

A further complication in comparisons: Some clubs, including St. Louis, plan to use dynamic pricing, which enables the market to set the price — and those prices can jump sharply if demand increases.

Royals officials, privately, say brokers are upset because the club’s pricing approach maximizes the club’s profit potential primarily at the expense of those brokers.

Those same officials say their pricing generated few complaints from fans, and that renewals on season tickets are brisk, although they chose not to supply any figures.

[gblowfish]

Chiefshrink's Royals Cap is made out of aluminum foil!

[Chiefshrink]

[QUOTE=Halfcan;10004413]

Originally Posted by Chiefshrink

I am very sorry this happened to you. I had a former brother-in-law who rose very high in Wal-Mart and saw this first hand. Said the very same thing that as soon as Sam died ........... He said there were many things that the upper echelon underlings under Sam wanted to do for years that Sam would not allow for obvious reasons.......


Sam was badass and had a great sense of humor. He came into the Indep. store and was talking about returns. He truly wanted everyone to be happy that came in there so they would always come back. A founding principle of his business.

So he picks up a tennis racket out of the return cart. "Its past 30 days but they have a receipt-do we take this back." Most of the crowd says YES- and he confirms it.

"Its past 30 days blah blah blah-no receipt" Half say NO- Sam says Yes.

He takes the racket and smashes it on the floor- bends the shit out of it. "How about now?" All say NO!! Sam says "Hell Yes, because we are Walmart- the best business in the world. What we lose on this racket we make up for with respect and future sales."

Sam was the Man- soon as he died- You have to give blood practically to get them to take anything back-lol Nice job Glass- you never learned a thing.

Great story !!! His small town way of doing business where a man's word and handshake is his bond never left him and served him very well with the people and more importantly role modeled what America is really all about

My former brother-in-law said Sam would routinely walk about the corporate offices and empty everyone's trash cans if they needed it. Total humility and what a role model for what success really looks like never taking anything for granted and always truly serving your troops at every turn. He knew what success looked like and lived it for sure !!

[Chiefshrink]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Chiefshrink's Royals Cap is made out of aluminum foil!

And your Royals Cossack Ushanka looks great on you !!

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Same seats are $158 for the NLDS in STL, should we make it. Not sure what the big deal is.

If he's priced these too high, people won't go. Simple as that.

I wondered why the Star didn't use St. Louis as an example.

[DaveNull]

So the point that wasn't clearly made in the article is whether or not these prices are set by the MLB kind of like they are in the NFL.

Since there's a variance between clubs, I'm guessing not.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

No. This is the organization fist ****ing the fanbase, as detailed by the comparison to other clubs.

No, I'm sure it's still supply and demand. If the consumer doesn't want to pay then he won't. Nobody is getting cheated here.


Glass has been a bad owner but the team is legitimately good this year and tats all I care about. If he puts out a good product and makes lots of money I don't care

[BlackHelicopters]

Thread HIV

[vailpass]

Yes, please don't make$ on your investment.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by DaveNull

So the point that wasn't clearly made in the article is whether or not these prices are set by the MLB kind of like they are in the NFL.

Since there's a variance between clubs, I'm guessing not.

The story said the individual clubs set their own pricing, then send that pricing to the league office for approval. The league office pretty much rubber stamps whatever the teams offer up.

[Prison Bitch]

In his defense he has low regular season prices and nobody went this year anyway

[tk13]

Like I care if a bunch of ticket brokers are mad because the Royals are going to price them out of profits.

I guess they think the demand is there. This kind of stuff always makes me wonder if KC could support an NHL or NBA team, because the tickets aren't always cheap.

Although admittedly the article took a dark turn when the broker said you take advantage of the fairweather fans who sit in the upper deck. I like sitting in the upper deck, so that guy can get bent. There are just as many fairweather fans sitting in the lower levels and club areas, if not more.

Really though, the only angle not addressed in this is that the Royals will not have home field at any point unless they make it to the World Series. That's not necessarily true for any of the other teams on that chart. I wonder if they're trying to maximize profits with the idea they might only have a couple home playoff games if things don't go well. I'd also like to see a bigger chart with more teams... like St. Louis for instance, I can't believe we're charging much more than them. I'm sure the percentage increase is probably much higher because Cards tickets definitely cost more than Royals tickets during the season.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

In his defense he has low regular season prices and nobody went this year anyway

Exactly.

Had people taken advantage of ridiculously low prices during the regular season, he may not have felt the need to have such an increase should the make the playoffs.

The K was at 56% capacity this year. For a fanbase that has been begging for good baseball, that's pretty poor.

[Demonpenz]

I don't really give a ****.. tickets have been free or cheap as **** for so many years because they have sucked shit. Of course they are going to be expensive if the team is exciting to watch.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by tk13

Like I care if a bunch of ticket brokers are mad because the Royals are going to price them out of profits.

I guess they think the demand is there. This kind of stuff always makes me wonder if KC could support an NHL or NBA team, because the tickets aren't always cheap.

Although admittedly the article took a dark turn when the broker said you take advantage of the fairweather fans who sit in the upper deck. I like sitting in the upper deck, so that guy can get bent. There are just as many fairweather fans sitting in the lower levels and club areas, if not more.

Really though, the only angle not addressed in this is that the Royals will not have home field at any point unless they make it to the World Series. That's not necessarily true for any of the other teams on that chart. I wonder if they're trying to maximize profits with the idea they might only have a couple home playoff games if things don't go well. I'd also like to see a bigger chart with more teams... like St. Louis for instance, I can't believe we're charging much more than them. I'm sure the percentage increase is probably much higher because Cards tickets definitely cost more than Royals tickets during the season.

Seats behind the dugout go for $158 in STL during the NLDS.

[Mr. Laz]

if they keep winning the ticket prices will go up as well


The t.v. deal will increase and get passed along to the views too.

winning = more cost


if they don't win then the prices won't go up but then Gordon,Hosmer and Salvy will all be gone.