Steerage Ticket Price Increase

After watching hours of video footage, much of it of Bald Vinny Milano, we have decided to raise the ticket prices in the steerage bleachers section to $15 for the 2011 season. I came to this decision after watching the fans in section 39 having a bit too much fun for the price they pay. As second-class fans, they should not be experiencing more fun at the ballpark than our first class fans in the Legends Suites so this decision seems quite logical. For $15 you are still getting the once in a lifetime game opportunity of having all of the Yankees wave at you during the top of the 1st inning.

Tickets in the "Stadium Atmosphere" sections 201 and 239 as shown below will remain at $5 for the 2011 season. It is our plan, however, to replace the 42" plasma screens in this section with 60" screens for the 2012 season and prices will be adjusted accordingly.

On a budget? "Stadium Atmosphere" tickets make a great holiday gift.

Jeter Negotiations

So far no luck. I don't understand why a deal has not been reached yet. We have been very open about our willingness to grossly overpay him based on past performance. I even raised ticket prices for next season in many sections to accommodate the unnecessarily generous contract we planned on offering him. Still no dice.

Derek, I do not know if it is blood you want, but whatever it is, please just say it. We've offered you money, we've offered you a few Legends Suites tickets (and nobody gets those for free. Even my mother pays for her own.), and I even convinced the Baseball Writer's to award you the Gold Glove. That didn't come cheap. So please, just tell me already so we can move onto our negotiations with Cliff Lee Mariano Rivera. Thank you.

Missing Posts

Well, we won the World Series so I took a year off from blogging. But I certainly was not resting. I was gathering maximum amounts of data and watching hundreds of hours of video to determine the maximum ticket price hike we can enact for 2011 without having to deal with all that bad press like we did in 2009.

It's Not All About Winning

Now that the Yankees are in the playoffs, I think it is important to point out that the playoffs are not all about winning. It's not whether you win or lose, but how many games you play. Having said that, here's to three exciting series that go the distance.

You can never underestimate the importance of games 6 and 7 (or game 5 in this series). The Red Sox were not thinking when they swept the World Series in 2004 and 2007. By doing so, they missed out on millions of dollars in ticket revenue, concession sales, merchandise sales, ATM fees, parking fees, and more that they would have gotten if they let it go to game 7. It is likely that this missing revenue kept them from signing players like that 1st baseman we got and that big pitcher that used to pitch for Cleveland.

We are going to do things a bit smarter. I held a conference call with Brian and Joe this past week just to put it out there that it would be in our best interests not to try to win four games in a row, but rather we should "make it interesting" - perhaps use backup players here and there. Of course, the goal is still to win each series - the financial repercussions are far worse if we lose the series than if we sweep it - but a seven game series makes for more fan excitement, and most importantly: more revenue. So if the Yankees lose a game here and there during this postseason, cut them some slack and know that it is for the overall benefit of the team.

Stadium Updates

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. I have spent the last few weeks with our stadium decorators determining how best to hang the Postseason bunting around the stadium without interfering with our sponsor's banners. We have that all figured out now. Just wanted to share some updates and then hopefully this week I will answer more questions from fans. Please remember to e-mail me your questions using the link on the right.

This actually happened last week. We have negotiated with our sponsors and after intense discussions we have gotten permission to move the ball/strike/out scoreboard data from behind the foul poles to behind home plate on the ribbon board. Unfortunately, we could not keep it behind the poles as well (it would have further reduced ad space). Most of you common folks in the stadium will see the info behind home from your viewing angle. The remainder, such as our valued Legends Suite account holders behind home plate will still be able to view the same information on the center field scoreboards. I would love to have shown you a photo of the new scoreboard info behind home but I cannot see it from my office, which also sits behind home plate.

Refunds?

The deadline for paying Postseason invoices has passed and the finance guys tell me over 75% of payments were made with the option "Refund me for unplayed postseason games" selected rather than "Credit unplayed games to next season's invoice". I do not understand. Why would you want a refund when your invoice for next season will be due around the same time you were issued the refund anyway....unless you all do not plan on renewing your season ticket plan?? I doubt that is the case, as my new stadium is super fan friendly and bargain entertainment. For half the price of a movie ticket you can purchase an architecturally shadowed bleacher seat. I really believe that you would have to be an idiot to have season tickets to the Yankees and then give them up. This is even more true since our announcement that almost every seat will be the same price next season.

Got My Colon Tested

At last night's game we handed out complimentary colon cancer tests. I got mine checked. Looks good.

Postseason Letter

Recently we mailed postseason invoices to our valued Legends Suite and field level ticket account owners, and to our other season ticket account owners. Enclosed was a letter signed by me. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce those that did not know me to myself and let everyone know that yes, I am running the team.

In intern pointed me to a post on the "Was Watching" blog by Steve Lambrazzi that took me to task on the letter in a post yesterday. First of all, Steve, I did not write the letter. I run the team, I don't write letters. But to defend the PA that did write the letter, everything we are doing now is a long-term investment for the good of the team.

When Gardner visited that hospital, it was specifically so we could write about it in our postseason ticket letter to fans if all went well. As you know, it did and you would have to be a moron not to capitalize on that.

What Mr. Lombarozzi failed to mention are the paragraphs that proceeded those quoted in his post, which explained how fair we were being on ticket prices. In fact, ticket prices are less or equal to what they were in 2007. I guess low ticket prices is not a very good story. Or maybe he did not read that far down. At least the blog is not called "Was Reading", because that would be a lie.

Centerfield Wall Deal Inked

I posted recently about my disgust that MLB does not permit us to sell ad space on one of the only remaining unsold surfaces at Yankee Stadium, the centerfield wall. Recently they relented and allowed me to sell an ad to Stanley (the tape measure company) on the left side of the centerfield wall.

After intense negotiations and my insistence that it is unfair to deprive us of the revenue we would attain through selling-out the entire wall, I have reached a landmark agreement with MLB. This agreement permits me to sell that same ad-space to Stanley on the left side of the centerfield wall at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.

This worked out really well for us, as we expect revenues from this deal to well-exceed the revenue we would have earned selling our entire centerfield wall at Yankee Stadium. We have already begun placing the ads at 14 stadiums, and expect to have the Stanley logo on all of them as soon as we can secure enough yellow vinyl.

Yankees 2009 Postseason Prices

I did not want to let the cat out of the bag earlier, but as you can see from our release earlier, Postseason tickets for 2009 at Yankee Stadium will be "mad cheap" to quote the young kids these days.Young kids is exactly the goal with these new prices.

With our premium regular season ticket prices, we inadvertently prevented many young kids from coming to a game. This poses a problem, as we hired almost 100 security personnel specifically with the goal of preventing young kids into the Legends Suites area to get autographs of their favorite player. Yet, if there are no young kids trying to sneak into the special people area, then I am wasting money paying our security people to sit on their hands. It is the goal that these fair postseason ticket prices will increase the number of young men and women trying to sneak into the Legends Suites area and allow our security personnel to do their job.

Competition Squashed

I never thought I would enter the checked bag business, but that is sort of what we have just done. We identified that a bowling alley across the street from that old building was checking bags for fans and charging a fee. If you know me, you know I am a competitor. Nobody is going to take ancillary revenue from fans except us.

So to swiftly eliminate this competitor we have adopted a new policy that allows you to take a bag into the stadium without a fee. Like Southwest airlines, your bag enters free from now on at my Yankee Stadium. We have also adopted a new slogan for this policy: "It's In" (meaning your bag, get it?). So come to Yankee Stadium and grab your bag. It's in.

Calculator Night!

I am proud to remind fans that August 29th will be calculator night. All fans 18 and under will receive their very own Sharp pocket calculator. Now kids will be able to calculate numbers without having to get out their cell phone or computer! Kudos to our friends at Sharp for such a useful and educational giveaway.

Old Stadium Seats

This is just a reminder that old seats from that building across the street from my new stadium are still available. There are still 39,320 seats left to be purchased and can be obtained in pairs only. You can get them here for a really great price of $1,499 - that's only a few hundred dollars more than you would pay now to attend just ONE game in the Legend's Suite area of Yankee Stadium.

Also, my friends at Steiner are still selling stadium sod as well. This authentic sod is grass that was exclusively walked on by the grounds crew of Yankee Stadium from the February to March 2009 time-frame. You can buy it here and it retails for $120. Here is what it looks like (the rulers are not included):

I urge fans to purchase these items quickly. Steiner's lease on the warehouse where they keep all this stuff is up soon and we honestly did not expect to have all this great inventory still available. So hurry before this once in a lifetime opportunity is gone forever!

Muhammad Ali

Several members of the press last week questioned why Muhammad Ali had to wear a credential to the stadium. I still do not understand the thought process behind these questions. Have you not read your own stories over the past 4 months?

Our security people have been trained not to allow anyone into the Legends Suites without the proper identification, which may include a Legends Suites ticket, a valid credential, or an American Express Centurion card. I don't care if you are President Obama - no ID, no Legend Suite. Rules are rules.

Don't believe me? Here is a photo I took myself of Paul O'Neill and Suzyn Waldman being denied admittance because they lacked the proper credentials:

E-Mail from Fans 8/10/09

I thought it would be a good PR gesture to answer some questions e-mailed to me by fans:

Joel S: Why do you continue to play Kate Smith's God Bless America in the 7th inning when most of your fans especially the young ones hardly know who she is?

Lonn: Because it is my favorite rendition of the song.


Mark F: Why do you call the seats behind home plate Legends Suites if they are more or less just seats?

Lonn: If we called them Legends Seats, I don't think many would pay the price we are asking. By positioning them as suites, we lead the corporations who buy them into thinking they are giant, enclosed, air-conditioned, heated rooms. They never really ask so it is not misrepresentation on our part. I would know because I am an attorney.


Tyler K: What's with your hairdo?

Lonn: You mean that I never change it up? Have you heard of Donald Trump? He has been successful his whole life by sticking with one hairdo. I have had this hairdo my entire life...since I was 6...and I have been successful my whole life. I don't think it is a coincidence.


Andy M: After having some season ticket holders at the stadium in early July to provide suggestions for improving the stadium we have noticed no improvements.

Lonn: Well that is categorically untrue. Since then, we have moved the digital time clock to the scoreboard left of the main HD board and moved the ball, strike, and out count to the main board on the bottom right.

Ball, Strike, Out Count

Several fans and members of the media pointed out that the location of the balls, strikes, and outs (B/S/O) should be shown on the ribbon board behind home plate, besides its current location along the ribbon board behind the foul poles. As you know, we have sold all rights to the ribbon board to several sponsors including the Daily News, Pepsi, and Boar's Head. Fans should consider themselves lucky that we are able to display the current game information that we do on the ribbon board. In fact, we have to pay each of those sponsors a fee to display non-advertising next to their advertisements on the ribbon board.

While I sort of understand the reasoning behind putting B/S/O behind home plate, it is in the natural field of vision for most fans. As such, it is prominent real-estate for our sponsors and I cannot allow it to be desecrated with game info you can already find elsewhere. But as a compromise, we have moved the B/S/O to the bottom right corner of the large HD scoreboard in centerfield.

Notre Dame Football Game(s)

Peter Abrahamson of the Lower Hudson River Street Blues Blog posted recently asking if we knew we would host football games when I designed the stadium. That's a very stupid question. Of course not. Why would I be thinking about football when I was trying to design a BASEBALL stadium??

Mr. Abrahamston then wondered how much revenue we would take in from renting my stadium out for football. If you owned a stadium would you want people knowing how much you charge to use it? If you owned an apartment would you want people knowing how much you charge for rent?

Center Field Wall

As most of you know, the centerfield wall at my stadium remains unsold. I want everyone to know this is because Major League Baseball requires us to provide a solid background in the center of the outfield to allow the batter to see the ball. They prohibited us from selling ad space there and it has been really bothering me. That is in my estimate around $25 million of unsold space going to waste.

What a better way to advertise to the affluent ballplayer than to have your company's logo directly in their field of vision during every at bat? I have been going back and forth with MLB and we have come to an agreement that allows us to sell limited ad space on the centerfield wall a bit off-center. Stanley, the official tape measure of the New York Yankees, has purchased the first of these spaces on the centerfield wall and we are happy to have them aboard.

We are currently in negotiations with several shampoo manufacturers who wish to purchase the opposite side of the centerfield wall. The team does not currently have an official shampoo and players have indicated to me that they were unsure of which shampoo we have contractually obligated them to use. Once this becomes official I will let them know and we will hold a press conference to announce it to the general public.

To Our Legend's Suite Accounts

This message is for our valued Legend's Suite account holders. When you purchased your suite , we promised you exclusivity - that nobody would sit in your suite at any time for any reason, except you. We take this policy very seriously because you are our most valued fan. I have attached a photo below so that you may see that even when the stadium is being rented for non-sports purposes your suites are protected.

This photo is from the NYU graduation ceremony that took place just a few days ago. As you can see, your suites were guarded to ensure the graduates did not mess them up in any way. We value your business and hope this demonstrates our commitment to protect the exclusivity of your purchase.

Legends Suites Ticket Prices

Rebecca from the blog "This Purist Breeds Pinstripes" wrote some very mean things yesterday about our valued Legends Suite ticket holders. In her post she wrote that only those with salaries over $100,000 matter to the Yankees. This is simply untrue.

First of all, it does not even make any sense. It costs over $100,000 to purchase a Legends Suite season ticket and that is if you are attending by yourself. If all you earn is $100K, you are definitely not getting into the Legends Suites area of my stadium. You are better off on the Main level with people that have incomes similar to you. Our target customer earns at least $500,000 per year and is willing to commit to purchase at least two Legends Suites.

Lobel's

I received a few e-mails from fans asking why the Lobel's stand was on the field level when most fans were located in upper levels. The Lobel's stand is located on the field level because the fans on the field level are the ones that can afford it. If you can't afford $300 for a field level seat how are you going to stand there and convince me that you can afford a Lobel's sandwich?

However, for the few of you that for whatever reason do not have field level seats and can still afford a Lobel's sandwich, you do not need a field level ticket to purchase a sandwich from the Lobel's stand. It is located near section 130.

Daily News Guy

Yesterday some Daily News media guy named John Madden wrote an open letter to The Boss. He addressed it to George Steinbrenner. Is this guy living under a tree? George does not even call anymore. I run the operations and Brian runs the team. So I will assume he intended to write the letter to me and will address it as follows.

The basis of his so-called letter is that the common fan is not wanted in the restaurants and seats closest to the field. This could not be further from the truth. The common fan simply cannot afford the price of admission for these areas. That is not my fault. I only set the seat prices. I do not set your income.

He went on towards the end to say that the Legends Suites are mostly empty. This is not true as well. Sure there were a handful empty on opening day. But since then we have given away enough tickets to fill the Legend's section for the remainder of the season.

Paul O'Neill

The newspapers are all up in arms about our security people ejecting Paul O'Neill from the indoor batting cages this past weekend. Am I missing something here? The batting cages are for Yankees on the current roster to practice their hitting. It is certainly not my fault that Mr. O'Neill retired. Nobody forced him to hang it up at 40. He retired about 25 years earlier than most people yet you expect me and our security team to show him sympathy? I am almost 65 and I still work 12 hour days.

I don't understand the mentality of some people. If you owned an indoor batting cage, would you want a retired Paul O'Neill standing there watching you?