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Post by HC92 on Aug 21, 2017 11:36:26 GMT -5
Attended the Red Sox-Yankees game yesterday. Afterward, I left with the feeling that the experience didn't come close to justifying the cost. Granted it was a terrible game from my perspective as a Yankees fan but I have had this feeling about the vast majority of professional sporting events I have attended in the last 10 years (or since I started bringing the kids and the costs started multiplying). I have always been someone who loves to be at the game instead of watching on TV but I think I am quickly becoming a "watch on TV" person when it comes to pro sports.
For those curious, for the 4 of us, the bill was:
4 tickets: $355. Tickets were fine but not special and I assume Yankees games cost more given demand. The seats were in one of the last rows of Grandstand 22. I bought them via the Red Sox ticket office/Ticketmaster so we paid the face value plus fees. Parking: $50 in the Landmark Square parking garage a handful of blocks from the stadium. Yes, I could have done better but I don't know my way around, we were running late and one of the boys is on crutches so I didn't want to be too far away from the stadium. Gas: $20 from CT in my relatively fuel-efficient car. Tolls: $10 (total guess as I can't get into my EZ pass account Food: $52. This is about as cheap as I could go. One food item and one bottled water each. Total: $487 (not including dinner on the way home or parking at Faneuil Hall for said dinner and watching some street performers).
I have to think eventually people like me are going to say enough is enough. I know attendance continues to be strong for lots of pro sports teams but I don't know how sustainable it is. I used to go to 4-5 Yankees games a year and 1 or 2 NY Giants games. Now I go to 1 Yankees game every few years and I still haven't been to the new Giants Stadium. Thank God I can still take the kids to watch HC relatively cheaply.
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Post by lou on Aug 21, 2017 11:44:08 GMT -5
You forgot to mention that at least you got to see the Red Sox win
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Post by ncaam on Aug 21, 2017 12:08:53 GMT -5
Pro sports not for me live or tv. HC football baseball and basketball.
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Post by sarasota on Aug 21, 2017 12:38:04 GMT -5
I too pretty much tuned out of pro sports except when Sox or Pats in playoffs. NBA is simply awful.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 21, 2017 12:51:23 GMT -5
Speaking of ticket costs, here's a story you might find amusing. When I lived in Boston for grad school I was within walking distance of Fenway and took advantage of that. Bleacher seats were $1.00, not a typo, and they offered the best view in Fenway, particularly when the centerfield section was opened up. In 1977 the Red Sox signed the free agent Bill Campbell, a relief pitcher. He had been making $23,000 (looked this up) for the Twins and was looking for a slight raise. The Red Sox signed him to a $200,000 contract for the 1977 season. That season the bleacher admission price was raised to $2.00 and on Opening Day I sat near a guy holding a sign that said "Sell Campbell, bring back $1.00 bleachers". I thought that was funny. The ticket prices today are ridiculous, but as long as people are willing to pay those prices they'll stay that high. The classic lament: how can an average guy with two kids afford to take them to a game?
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Post by Tom on Aug 21, 2017 12:57:54 GMT -5
92 - you were also there to see a MLB record set.
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Post by ncaam on Aug 21, 2017 13:00:04 GMT -5
Thought it was $2 in 1967? That year I saw the red Sox win 10-11 games. I saw 5 twin bills and a single game. Bleachers. Those were the days.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 21, 2017 14:20:19 GMT -5
Thought it was $2 in 1967? That year I saw the red Sox win 10-11 games. I saw 5 twin bills and a single game. Bleachers. Those were the days. Not as I recall: $2.00 bleachers started in 1977
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Post by ncaam on Aug 21, 2017 14:28:29 GMT -5
Yes, 100 pennies
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Post by ncaam on Aug 21, 2017 14:28:40 GMT -5
Yes, 100 pennies
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Post by sarasota on Aug 21, 2017 14:56:29 GMT -5
(Hijack Alert) When will Congress finally abolish the penny??
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 21, 2017 15:08:57 GMT -5
(Hijack Alert) When will Congress finally abolish the penny?? There are calls for the discontinuation of the penny on a regular basis. I recall some years ago that some "think tank" opposed that because, in its opinion, rounding to the nearest $0.05 would have a disproportionately negative effect on the poor. I kid you not.
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Post by rgs318 on Aug 21, 2017 15:29:19 GMT -5
Does it still cost more than a penny's worth of copper to mint a penny?
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Post by lou on Aug 21, 2017 16:07:42 GMT -5
92 - you were also there to see a MLB record set. Judge set the consecutive strike out record on Saturday
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Aug 21, 2017 17:26:43 GMT -5
1. My answer to thread question: No, not even close. Poor '92 just forked over more than I will for the upcoming HC basketball season.
2. Does penny candy still exist? I used to love getting some as a kid at the local country store.
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Post by hc87 on Aug 21, 2017 18:02:29 GMT -5
Obviously not worth the price of admission imo for the 4 major sports teams. Absurd to think that a guy taking his kids to a game approaches what many earn in a week.
Good question what the tipping point on this issue will be....
Anecdotally, I only go to a Sox, Pats or C's game when given tickets or joining a group outing etc....football is mostly better on TV and the circus that has become going to Fenway (transportation headaches, crowds of people getting up every inning etc etc) have mostly kept me home the past 10-20 years.
My WS tix in 1986 (CF) was $25 btw...
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Post by DiMarz on Aug 21, 2017 19:13:11 GMT -5
I love going to pro sports games in Boston..However, I find it very difficult to shell out the money for tickets today when I can see the same game on the tube..I get to a few games every year, a Red Sox game, maybe a Bruin or Celtic game...usually with my son....Patriots, haven't been to a game in Gillette, I use to go almost every home game in the old stadium, $8 to sit in the end zone! My son has season tickets, this year some games are higher priced than others, and the exhibition games are part of the package..10 games cost close to $2000! (He does have seats on the 40, lower bowl). Pro sports in many parts of the country are much more reasonable than here..Went to Tampa a few years back, cost less to see the Sox there, (flight, ticket, hotel) than to go to Fenway!
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Post by Tom on Aug 21, 2017 19:28:15 GMT -5
92 - you were also there to see a MLB record set. Judge set the consecutive strike out record on Saturday He set a new one on Sunday It might only last two days. After an off day today, the Yanks are back in action Tuesday
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Post by bfoley82 on Aug 21, 2017 20:02:41 GMT -5
While last night's Holy Cross women's soccer game was free for fans and everything else at HC that doesn't charge for tickets. Are your kids really going to know the difference between attending a Holy Cross game or a Celtics game? It is all about an event they go to with their parents I think.
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Post by ncaam on Aug 22, 2017 8:04:44 GMT -5
My son works for CapOne which just took over the Verizon Center. May take in a Wizards-toronto game if MM is playing and a HC-gtown game someday.
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Post by lou on Aug 25, 2017 9:45:24 GMT -5
Girardi blames umpires for allowing grown men to brawl for nine innings. Pathetic display yesterday. C'mon Girardi and the other manager, control your players
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Post by rgs318 on Aug 25, 2017 10:26:53 GMT -5
Detroit had nothing to lose, did they?
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Post by sarasota on Aug 25, 2017 19:56:52 GMT -5
Over the top mayhem.....
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Post by Xmassader on Aug 26, 2017 8:34:00 GMT -5
Purple Haze and I were both at the game with 2 separate groups. After Kahnle threw behind Miggy and was tossed, we thought that things had settled down. Then Austin Romine and Miggy started jawing and AR must have said something that struck Miggy the wrong way and you know the rest. Cabrera is having a terrible year (as are the Tigers) and had left 5 men on base in his previous 2 at bats---frustration got to him. He deserved the longest suspension but I'm puzzled why Betances got nothing after hitting McCann in the head. Even more puzzled why Betances was surprised that he was ejected from the game. He may not have had intent to hit McCann (I think that some of the Tigers, in fact, thought that he didn't have intent) but, in that context, there was a "no tolerance" policy for any hit batters. Also surprised that Robertson didn't get tossed for hitting Hicks. Once again, it may not have been intentional but, under the circumstances, every pitcher on both teams had to know that he might get tossed if he hit someone. Certainly one of the more bizarre games I've ever seen---3 separate emptyings of the dugouts and bullpens---don't know if that's a record but it's got to be close.
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Post by beaven302 on Aug 31, 2017 12:42:39 GMT -5
The way the price of a day at the game has outrun inflation is remarkable. Back in 1957, when my father consented to take me to Yankee Stadium, the cost of two reserved seats was $2.10. Parking was about $1, tolls were 60 cents (Whitestone Bridge and Southern State Pkwy.), a scorecard was 25 cents, and peanuts and hot dogs didn't cost much. In all, I doubt my father spent much more than $10, which according to the inflation calculator at www.usinflationcalculator.com is about $90.00 in 2017 dollars.
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