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Cubs screw their fans again


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http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-sp...pike-again.html

 

It won't be long till the Chicago Cubs and owner Tom Ricketts end up the subject of a CNBC "American Greed" segment. The Cubs' new "Pick 13 Plan" goes on sale Thursday. It calls for three packages enabling fans to attend two designated games featuring the marquee opponents: either the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals or Chicago White Sox.

 

But before we examine what a rip-off this package is, have you seen the new ticket price increases for 2011?

 

Bear in mind that the prices below are BEFORE you factor in the 12% amusement tax. Despite the Cubs' 2010 play nor the costs of these seats being anything but amusing.

 

Sitting downstairs for any of these marquee games starts at $79.00 before taxes. Three of the four first-tier options are triple digit+, and the so-called nose bleeds or "cheap seats" start at $27.00. "Great Recession, Shmreat Shmecession" right? Next we have the insult to consumer intelligence that is bleacher pricing.

 

Yes, the most overrated seats in the house with the worst overall view are $72 a pop now, with a "Bleacher Box" (one of the biggest oxymorons of all time) costing $100.

 

 

 

$112 to get sun-burn while having excellent views of right field bleachers (crappy views of the rest of the field)...well someone needs to pay for the gross over-spending on Matt Garza right? By the way, the Chicago Sun-Times celebrated his arrival by posting a big picture of the chunky Jouquin Benoit. More on that here.

 

Ignore that blog's jab at our fair city. It's a Detroit blog- ripping on them is like playing basketball against a four-year-old kid.

 

Anyways, on to the new ticket plan.

 

The Pick 13 Plan allows fans to customize their 13-game schedule when advancing through the Pick 13 Plan order process on Cubs.com, similar to multi-game ticket offerings in previous years. This year's offering guarantees a selection of two games from the following marquee match-ups at Wrigley Field:

 

Friday, June 17 vs. New York Yankees

 

Sunday, June 19 vs. New York Yankees

 

Saturday, July 2 vs. Chicago White Sox

 

Sunday, July 3 vs. Chicago White Sox

 

Friday, August 19 vs. St. Louis Cardinals

 

Saturday, August 20 vs. St. Louis Cardinals

 

Other match-ups featured throughout the Pick 13 Plan include series with the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, summer bleacher dates vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, weekend games vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, summer and night games vs. National League Central Division rivals and more.

 

According to Crain's Chicago Business:

 

The Cubs' new ticket plan offers fans a chance to grab seats for marquee games against either the White Sox, Yankees or Cardinals. Great, right?

 

Well, like everything else in life, there's a price: You'll also have to buy tickets to some of the cold April games.

 

 

Exactly, this is a prototypical bait-and-switch, as Crain's later points out:

Actually, there is another way. Instead of buying tickets to 13 games, you could go through ticket brokers if you just want to see a couple of the big games. It probably would be much cheaper.

 

Agreed. Don't be fooled by the alleged "convenience" of paying these even more jacked-up ticket prices, for the wonderful option of making your June weekend plans in January. The Cubs marketing rhetoric here is just more typical Ricketts' double-talk and lies.

 

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest webzine. He's also a regular contributor to the Tribune's Chicago Now network, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com

You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank

 

He also does a regular guest spot each week for Chicagoland Sports Radio.com

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-sp...l#ixzz1ArhIccdB

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The Cubs are worth about 10% less than what they paid for it, they are going to struggle to get any help to fix that dump and they're saddled with bad contracts... they will have to exhaust all revenue streams and it's why even though Garza is a very good pitcher I can understand Cub fans scratching their heads about giving away prospects for him at this point.

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QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 06:21 PM)
The Cubs are worth about 10% less than what they paid for it, they are going to struggle to get any help to fix that dump and they're saddled with bad contracts... they will have to exhaust all revenue streams and it's why even though Garza is a very good pitcher I can understand Cub fans scratching their heads about giving away prospects for him at this point.

Their ticket sales have gradually declined the last 2 seasons and was down nearly 3000 a game from 2008 and 2000 a game from 2009. If each person spends $50 a game, that's $12 million less revenue compared to 2008.

 

There's a serious revenue downside for the ownership group if that team competes with the Pirates again next year, and they're locked into those contracts whether they win or not.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 05:38 PM)
Their ticket sales have gradually declined the last 2 seasons and was down nearly 3000 a game from 2008 and 2000 a game from 2009. If each person spends $50 a game, that's $12 million less revenue compared to 2008.

 

There's a serious revenue downside for the ownership group if that team competes with the Pirates again next year, and they're locked into those contracts whether they win or not.

and they are completely stuck with that stadium, after the tax increase today there's no way they get any sort of sweetheart deal from the state

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What is everyone's thoughts on the White Sox Ozzie 13 game package? From my family's experience, it was not worth it. Even though we got the games we wanted, most of the "good games" were in the upper deck. More importantly, what would you guys pay for section 158 row 12 seats against the Cubs, purchased for $76.00? My friend and his buddy are thinking that they will get $150 to $200 each for those seats...I said that if they included the parking pass they would be lucky to get $115 or $120.

 

EDIT: This is a Monday game.

Edited by MuckFinnesota
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i dont find the ticket plan much different than the ozzie plan, so i really see no use in ripping it. alot of teams do this, i know even the red sox offer something similar. as for the overall prices, that is where they are ridiculousm but if dumb cub fans want to pay $75 bucks for a seat, so be it.

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QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 06:24 PM)
What is everyone's thoughts on the White Sox Ozzie 13 game package? From my family's experience, it was not worth it. Even though we got the games we wanted, most of the "good games" were in the upper deck. More importantly, what would you guys pay for section 158 row 12 seats against the Cubs, purchased for $76.00? My friend and his buddy are thinking that they will get $150 to $200 each for those seats...I said that if they included the parking pass they would be lucky to get $115 or $120.

 

EDIT: This is a Monday game.

 

I've done this a few seasons. I don't find it much of a ripoff, but this is due to the fact that I'll end up selling the tickets to games against big draws (Cubs, NYY, Bos, etc.) for a pretty good profit & I've even used the money to buy better seats for the same games.

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QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 07:17 PM)
and they are completely stuck with that stadium, after the tax increase today there's no way they get any sort of sweetheart deal from the state

Well, there's a lot more details there. First of all...that stadium, flaws and all, is still their biggest asset; it's a guaranteed 30,000 ticket sales/game on a bad day. Yeah, they lose skybox and parking revenue, but mandatory revenue streams count for something.

 

Secondly...unlike, for example, the Sox...there's no way the Cubs can make a credible threat to leave the state...because they aren't leaving that stadium.

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QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 06:24 PM)
What is everyone's thoughts on the White Sox Ozzie 13 game package? From my family's experience, it was not worth it. Even though we got the games we wanted, most of the "good games" were in the upper deck. More importantly, what would you guys pay for section 158 row 12 seats against the Cubs, purchased for $76.00? My friend and his buddy are thinking that they will get $150 to $200 each for those seats...I said that if they included the parking pass they would be lucky to get $115 or $120.

 

EDIT: This is a Monday game.

 

I bought it one year. I ended up going to 3 or 4 games myself including 1 Cubs game and sold the rest. I was hoping to make some money off the tickets I sold but I don't think I did.

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QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 10:43 PM)
I've done this a few seasons. I don't find it much of a ripoff, but this is due to the fact that I'll end up selling the tickets to games against big draws (Cubs, NYY, Bos, etc.) for a pretty good profit & I've even used the money to buy better seats for the same games.

How much have you made off Cubs vs. Sox seats? My friends think they'll get $150-$200 each for seats out in left field. I don't know any person stupid enough to pay that.

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My best re-sell ever was when the Red Sox were at Wrigley ~ 5 years ago, got through the day they went on sale, bought 6 upper deck reserves for around $100 total, turned around and sold them for $200/ticket. That was a nice return...

 

The Yankee tickets will be the ones in most demand.

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QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Jan 14, 2011 -> 05:59 PM)
wow at the videos the news was showing from the cubs convention. it used to always be a sellout, wall to wall people. didn't look like too many people were there.

not sure what the final number will be, but it was the first time in a long time that it didn't sell out before the weekend

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