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eBooks, Podcasts, Tickets

Shannon Shark of Metspolice.com has released an eBook entitled Send The Beer Guy.(Hey wait, aren’t I the beer guy?) I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, got a library book under the gun, but it’s on deck. I’ve heard it’s good, and Shannon was teasing some of the stories at the Mets Police awards in January.

 

I’ve joined Jeff Paternostro and Rob Castellano on the Amazin’ Avenue Audio the past two weeks. This week we talked about a whole bunch of stuff, from Sandy’s culpability for the current roster, the catchers, Stub Hub, some Mets prospects, and a bunch of other things. Check it out. If you haven’t been paying attention, I’ve been writing for Amazin’ Avenue a bunch too, so check that out as well.

 

Opening Day tickets will go on sale next Friday at 10am. There will be various pre-sales earlier in the week as well, and while most games won’t be that high in demand it’s still nice to get your tickets in hand sooner rather than later, especially if you know you want to get to one of the promotion dates such as Banner Day or David Wright Bobblehead Day. Of course, Opening Day tickets will be expensive as well given that it’s one of three premium games. Expect the cheapest seats to be at least $50. Dynamic pricing may make the price spike as tickets go on sale, and certain sections may drop in a couple of days after the initial rush dies down. Last year’s Opening Day was a record crowd though, so if you’re set on Opening Day or the Subway Series, don’t hesitate.

 

I’ve been kind of quiet this offseason, but baseball season is so close I can smell the Shake Shack so expect more posts, both here and at Amazin’ Avenue, which you can find a link to my posts on the right sidebar. Follow me on Twitter (), and you can find Optimistic Mets Fan on Facebook and Google+ as well. I’ve also been known to post a lot of Mets pictures to Instagram.

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Opening Day Ticket Price Hike A Troubling Sign

The Mets spent more time and energy and research on ticket prices than you did. Their research suggests this is the best way to maximize revenue and push customers into committing to packs and getting more people into the ballpark for the other games. That doesn’t make it suck any less. The problem is it’s Opening Day and the demand is still high.

It’s one thing to say you’re annoyed with it in November and not going to buy, but once Spring Training kicks in and we hear about people planning to finally get out to the park again and see live baseball many people are going to be looking to find tickets. I’d be surprised if the stadium looks less than 95% full.

It’s a business first for the Mets, and it’s hard for me to get too up in arms at any specific tactic to maximize profit on the high-demand times, but it doesn’t bode well for the future. It’s not just baseball either, or just the Mets. Fans in this same market complained and moaned about personal seat licenses in the NFL, but the Giants and Jets both sold a ton of them. Movie tickets are going up, and if you think $63 for 3-4 hours in the sun watching baseball is rough take a look at the prices of some of the Broadway plays.

Revenue sharing money from MLB is going up too, and it’s only going to lessen the percentage of revenue that ticket sales is. As that happens more and more teams are going to make decisions to milk every last dollar out they can, with no regard to actual turnstile attendance. Take a look at the Marlins fire sale. The Marlins flat out don’t care about the fans, but the franchise itself is making a ton of money from other sources. Actual fans in the park aren’t at the top of their priority list.

It’s unfortunate. Many fans remember the days before the late nineties when payrolls skyrocketed causing ticket prices to follow suit when going to a baseball game was one of the most affordable activities in the city. As prices have rocketed, fan salaries haven’t followed suit and the economy crashed creating less disposable income in general. As a result everything is crazy expensive. I can’t ever legitimately afford to sit in the good seats at a game in any of the other three major sports, and every year it seems I get further and further away from the Mets field as well.

Dynamic pricing was designed with this Opening Day situation in mind. It was always a way to maximize the revenue of the top games, no matter when they happen in a season and was never really meant to lower prices to bargain basement levels to get the place packed. The Mets know, as everyone in sports knows, that take advantage of the few high-demand games you have, and let winning take care of packing the park for the other ones.

Unfortunately for us, the baseball market in New York is huge. The big Mets games are going to sell, and as they do better and better, those games are going to sell too. There’s no boycott that’s going to work. Clearly you shouldn’t back down from voicing your opinion at some of these frustrating aspects of fandom, but know that the only person you hurt by not going is yourself. It’d be great if we could drive market value, but the truth is we don’t.

I sucked it up and bought Opening Day tickets. I want to be there, it’s pretty much a holiday in my eyes, and I’m not yet willing to miss it. Maybe I skip another game or two depending on my situation, but I’m going to check my stubbornness at the gate about the pricing and go. Maybe I’m just resigned to the idea that everyone is out to take every last cent from me, but once Opening Day gets here I’m going to be excited no matter what I paid.

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Hope For Next Year and Ticket Contest Winner

Congratulations to Amanda for winning the final pair of Mets tickets this season.  Thanks to Seatcrew, the no-fee ticket marketplace, for providing them.

 

Let’s break down some of the optimistic submissions on what in 2012 we should be thankful for looking forward, starting with Amanda’s (and many others) response.

DAVID WRIGHT!!! :)

 

Yes, he hasn’t had a great second half, but David Wright is worthy of at least one smilie face this year. He’s having one of his best season ever, is playing great defense, and is about to become the franchise leader in hits.  Don’t go anywhere David.  Ever.

Todd writes:

It’s a toss up between Matt Harvey and Ike Davis. I really feel that Matt Harvey is going to be the future ace of the team, with a little more grooming he and Dickey can be on of the best 1-2s in the bigs

I already mentioned Ike Davis.  Matt Harvey has definitely looked good though.  It’s a pretty limited sample size, but it’s hard not to dream on what this power pitcher can do for us next year.  A couple of people mentioned the rotation.  It’s definitely looking like a strength for the 2013 Mets right now.

 

Those were the big responses.  As much as that highlights some optimism, it also accents the places the Mets need to improve: bullpen and outfield.

 

 

 

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Ticket Winner

The winner of the two seatcrew.com, the no-fee ticket marketplace, tickets against the Rockies was Chris Sakmann.  Have fun Chris!  Glad it came in a win.

 

The next opportunity to win tickets will be around the second weekend of September, so keep an eye out.

 

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August Ticket Giveaway: How Many Hits?

It’s time again for a ticket giveaway, courtesy of seatcrew.com, the secondary ticket marketplace with no fees.  This time you have a chance to win two tickets to the Mets game against the Colorado Rockies on Monday August 20th.   Right now that’s lined up to be an R.A. Dickey start.

 

To qualify, you must register an account on seatcrew.com and follow them, and me, on Twitter and then correctly guess the answer to the following question.

 

How many hits will the Mets get against  Ben Sheets and the Braves this Sunday night?

 

The closest answer that is equal to or greater than the actual amount of hits the Mets get wins the prize.  This means it’s better to be optimistic and go over than have the Mets outhit your guess.  In case of a tie, tell me how many of those hits will be David Wright’s.

 

Answers must be submitted before first pitch on Sunday night, August 12th to
contest@ceetar.com

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Mets Ticket Giveaway!

It’s time for May’s Mets Ticket Giveaway, courtesy of Seatcrew.com.  This week Optimistic Mets Fan is giving away two tickets to a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday May 15th.

 

Seatcrew.com is a secondary ticket market similar to Stubhub with an important twist: There are no ticket fees for the buyer or the seller, which means lower prices on tickets for you.  For a full write-up, and a list of which games you have a chance to win tickets to, check out my post from the offseason.

 

So here’s what you have to do to win.  First, you need to have a registered Seatcrew account. All you need is an email address.  Second, you need to predict how many hits David Wright will hit against the Phillies in three games.  This means you need to have your guess in to contest@ceetar.com before Wright’s first AB tonight.  There is one catch: Since this is an Optimistic fan site, we’ll be playing by reverse Price is Right rules.  This means the person closest to the total without going UNDER is the winning entry.  If you guess 4 hits, and David Wright hits 5, your guess is ineligible.  Be Optimistic.

 

If it helps, the Phillies are scheduled to start Roy Halladay, Joe Blanton, and Cliff Lee returning from the DL.  My personal guess would be 6 hits, with 2 home runs if you’d like to use that as a guide.  Good Luck!

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And The Winner Is…

The Mets!

 

oh wait, that’s tomorrow.

 

Arthur Pesner wins the seatcrew.com tickets to next Wednesday’s game against the Nationals with the correct answer of Ron Taylor in 1970 in relief of Tom Seaver who took a no decision. Ron Taylor is the first Mets pitcher to record a win on Opening Day!

 

Thanks for playing, check back again for tickets to the Brewers gamae on May 15th.

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Mets Ticket Giveaway!

Thanks to Seatcrew.com, Optimistic Mets Fan has two tickets for you to win to next Wednesday’s game, April 11th, against the Nationals.

 

Seatcrew.com is a secondary ticket market similar to Stubhub with an important twist: There are no ticket fees for the buyer or the seller, which means lower prices on tickets for you.  For a full write-up, and a list of which games you have a chance to win tickets to, check out my post from the offseason.

 

For the next three giveaways I’m going to ask for your predictions on certain Mets players over a 3-game series, with opposite The Price Is Right rules; the person that guesses closest without going _under_ will win.  This means if the category is David Wright hits, and you guess five and he hits six, you’re disqualified.  That’s right, I’m bribing you to be Optimistic.

 

Since this week’s contest closes at Noon on Wednesday and there are no real games to predict, I’ll ask a trivia question.  I’ll draw a random entry of all qualifying responses submitted in time to contest@ceetar.com.  Put Optimistic Mets Fan Ticket Giveaway in the subject line and the answer to the following question in the body.

 

Who was the first Met pitcher to record a win on Opening Day?

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Seat Crew and Mets Ticket Giveaways

Seatcrew.com is a new secondary ticket marketplace designed to be fan friendly by eliminating ticket fees.  I know we’re all fed up with handling fees, and print at home fees and all the various ticket fees from other markets and even the original seller in most cases.  At Seatcrew the listed price is the amount you pay.

 

As a way to get their name out there and get you using their site (after all, the more sellers the better selection of seats for buyers) Optimistic Mets Fan is going to be giving away tickets courtesy of Seatcrew for four different games of the 2012 Mets season.   There will be a Brewers game on May 15th, the Rockies on August 20th, and the Phillies on September 17th.

 

First up is the Nationals on April 11th.  This is the final game of the opening homestand, and you should look for the giveaway during the week leading up to Opening Day.  Brush up on your history, because I’ll be asking an Opening Day themed trivia question in order to qualify for the tickets.

 

Seatcrew looks like the perfect mix between between Stubhub and Craigslist for ticket sales.  A comfortable and organized website, and the ability to negotiate directly with the seller in order to complete the sale and transfer in the best way possible for both parties..all without fees.  The video below will tell you everything you need to know.

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Some Thoughts on Dynamic Pricing

The Mets now have their dynamic pricing guide online on Mets.com.  Tickets first went on sale to certain presale codes Monday.  I got Opening Day tickets at face value, but just three hours later they were $10 higher.  Btw, at 10am today the Mets blogger presale  begins.  More details here.

This ultimately sucks, although it won’t quite hurt the true fans.  Dynamic pricing does not change the prices of packs and plans.  If you want a particular promotion or banner day, you have an incentive to buy ahead beyond just getting better seats.  As more fans get exciting about specific events, the price will go up.  This will have a fairly catastrophic effect on suddenly popular games.  Clinchers, Dickey’s first home game after his no-hitter, and late season divisional matchups during pennant races can suddenly become very expensive.  Staying ahead of the hype will save you money.

 

On the flip side, it’s unlikely tickets will plummet that far for unwanted games.  The Mets set up an artificial floor so that a fan will never pay less than a season ticket holder paid for that section.  Reading between the lines to me means that it’ll never be less than the 10% discount they get.  Prices are fairly reasonable for value games as they are, but it’d be nice if the more expensive games become affordable if the Mets are eliminated early or if the weather is supposed to be really bad.

 

Another interesting use for dynamic pricing is tracking the popularity of games.  It can give us insight into tickets sold that previously only the Mets knew.  If you want to know how Banner Day is doing for example, you can check out the prices for that game against a similarly valued game and see if it’s inherently more popular or not.  As we get a feel for it, we’ll probably be able to tell how close it is to sold out, even within specific sections.

 

I’ll also be curious to see how the secondary market reacts.  Sites like Stub Hub and Seat Crew that deal in second-hand tickets may not be able to keep up with the fluctuations.  If a game suddenly takes off in popularity, it will take a while for people to unlist and relist their tickets.  If ticket prices drop, the secondary market will suddenly be overpriced.  This may also kill day of game sales.  If fans really want to go to a game, chances are the prices will increase past the secondary market…unless it’s raining.