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.

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