Tuesday, April 21, 2009

How I got two main-level Yankee tickets for $12 each

Squawker Jon and I were all set to take in our first game at the new Yankee Stadium last night, but rain messed with our plans. I guess we can say we were a part of the first rainout at the New Yankee Stadium, though. Whoopee.

It was a bad day all around, between the rain, and Subway Squawkers being snubbed - yet again - for a Pulitzer Prize. Bummer.

Anyhow, as Jon and I still wanted to be part of the first night game at the NYS, I decided yesterday to try to get tickets for Tuesday night's game. Not only was I very successful, but I also got to see exactly how desperate the Yanks are to unload tickets!

Tuesday's game against Oakland is one of the Yankees' discount nights, with $5 grandstand seats. I called Ticketmaster to see if any of those seats were available, but they were all gone.

However, when I asked the agent to find me the cheapest available tickets, he actually found me a good deal. He offered me two Main tickets in left field (the light green tix on the Yankees ticket map) which were - get this - marked down in price!

Instead of paying $55 each ($60 each on the day of the game) for these tickets, the Ticketmaster guy offered me two of those tickets for a total of $62 for both, including service charges.

Now that's a deal. I've never had somebody at Ticketmaster ever give me a discount on anything, and this was a really good one - it was even better than a two-for-one offer.

But I turned this incredible deal down, because I found an even better deal on StubHub.

I found similar tickets on StubHub to the one I was offered via Ticketmaster. But these ducats were only $12 each, plus service charges. So it worked out to $34 for two tickets. Granted, the season ticket holder selling this ticket most likely paid $45 for each ticket, and not $55 or $60, but it's still a considerable discount from face value.

Now, I realize Yankees-Oakland doesn't have quite the same cachet of, say, Yankees-Red Sox, but this is only the fifth game in the new ballpark, and, as noted above, it is the first night game. Plus, the game marks the first time Jason Giambi is back in town.

And while these tickets are in a better place than I can usually afford, they're not exactly the best seats in the house. But if the Yanks are apparently having a hard time moving these ducats, I just don't see how they're going to be able to move their three-and-four figure seats, without quietly marking them down as well. It's going to be interesting to watch what happens next.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

6 comments:

Wanda (aka Metschick) said...

I think both NY teams will be quietly marking down tickets soon. I've seen games now for both teams where the bottom bowl wasn't completely filled.

Lucky for the Mets, the darker seats don't make that as glaringly obvious as it used to be with the neon orange seats.

Mr. Faded Glory said...

How can the Yankees mark down their prices (through Ticketmaster or the Box Office) without pissing off their high-end customers who already shelled out for the full price?

Lisa Swan said...

I agree with Wanda that the tix will be going down in price soon.

In regards to Mr. Faded Glory question about the Yanks ticking off high-end customers by lowering the charges, I think that's the price (no pun intended) they're going to have to pay to get the stadium filled. They may be quiet about lowering the prices, but they need to do something to get the stadium filled.

Jennie said...

so sorry you got rained out last night, lisa - hopefully you'll be able to use the tix for the makeup game in july. in the meantime, have a great time tonight - you got a great deal on those tix!

Keith said...

I was at that same game and the day before on Stubhub, I found two rf field box seats for $18 each, so basically tell everyone to wait out for a weeknight game against the Orioles and Rangers of the world and look as close to whenever you want to go.

Lane said...

That's great!! StubHub offers are really best... Thanks for the full information!!

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