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.

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

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.

Two plus decades of bad baseball can lead to rather cynical fan base.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

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

Yeah well there you go. And if the playoffs started today they'd have home field, so that's a potential extra game.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

Two plus decades of bad baseball can lead to rather cynical fan base.

That's fine, but don't bitch when you get what you want (playoff baseball) and how much it costs.

[Demonpenz]

I don't know where this article gets it's prices as well. Diamond club is 90 bucks crown seats 190 dugout box 55 field 39 field plaza 30 upper tank 20-15

[Sannyasi]

You're right, it is supply and demand. The demand will support these prices because the supply has been non-existent for 20 years. David Glass got into an industry where he can fail year after year after year and then when he finally does something right, he gets to charge MORE because of how miserably he's performed in the past. I guess he really is a great businessman to get into a racket like that, but he's still a huge piece of shit.

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

That's fine, but don't bitch when you get what you want (playoff baseball) and how much it costs.

Easy to say when you are fan of a team that is routinely in the post season. St. Louis has earned the credibility to charge as much they want.

A 28 year post season draught leaves the Kansas City franchise a little light in the credibility department. Show us you are going to contend with the big boys on a constant basis, and then charge big boy prices.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

I don't know where this article gets it's prices as well. Diamond club is 90 bucks crown seats 190 dugout box 55 field 39 field plaza 30 upper tank 20-15

That's what I was wondering as well. It states that the seats right behind the dugout are $39 during the regular season. That is absolutely false.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Yeah, well, I can see them only drawing about 16,000 for a wild card game at those prices.

LOL. Absolutely no chance.

Keep in mind that these are not the cheapest seats they're talking about. They're talking about a seat that normally costs $39. So, the cheap seats are normally $14 (roughly 1/3 of that), so the cheap seats in the playoff games should be much less than the prices given in the article.

If you build it, they will come.

[wazu]

Scalpers will be selling for twice that.

[wazu]

Honestly, I want them to charge through the nose. People will pay it, and it creates a financial incentive to make sure you return to the playoffs next year. (Beyond the incentive of an entire summer of good crowds.)

[Prison Bitch]

21k sold for a beautiful fridy night, team 2.5 back, battling anther contender. Our fans have reason to be mad about the past but not this year

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

21k sold for a beautiful fridy night, team 2.5 back, battling anther contender. Our fans have reason to be mad about the past but not this year

Try 30K for last nights game.

Should be a similar crowd tonight.

[Chiefshrink]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

That's fine, but don't bitch when you get what you want (playoff baseball) and how much it costs.

BINGO !!!!

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by wazu

Honestly, I want them to charge through the nose. People will pay it, and it creates a financial incentive to make sure you return to the playoffs next year. (Beyond the incentive of an entire summer of good crowds.)

I'll believe it if Glass ponies up to keep Santana. Otherwise he'll just stick that money in his pocket, like he's done the last decade.

BTW: My main problem with this pricing is he's sticking it to his most loyal base, the STH's. If he wants to rape the general public, OK... but he should have given his most loyal customers a much better break. He'd still make money hand over fist, and would buy some goodwill with his base.

[teedubya]

The Royals won't make the playoffs... my guess is well end up 1 game back in WC.