Proud day to be part of the Sox organization
Team “freezes” ticket prices!
I realize this may not catch as many headlines as what we’re going to do about Jason Varitek, or possible free agent moves, but I think it does signal something very important.
As a member of the Front Office, it means that I can take a great deal of pride in the organization I work for. Could we have raised ticket prices again this year? Sure. But we didn’t. And I think that’s pretty cool.
To me it signifies that our owners and those in the position to make this kind of call have not made the disastrous mistake that so many owners in other organizations and have made throughout sports history. That is, becoming detached…arrogant…greedy. They realized that a lot of fans are struggling out there; that the economy is not so hot right now, and we need to make sure that we do not pile it on and make matters worse for struggling families.
The great organizations know how to make money (to keep their team competitive) and yet hold the line when their conscience speaks up. As for us, I know this offseason, a lot of money will continue to be spent to improve our team and our beloved Fenway Park. In fact, renovations to the park are already well underway. And if you ask me, reinvesting in the team and the ballpark is the way to run an organization. It may cost a boatload of money, but at least you’re spending it on things that will benefit the fans.
I won’t continue to toot our horn too much on this, because I know we still do have the highest ticket prices in baseball. But I just wanted to say that I’m proud and happy that we made the right decision.
By the way, tickets will be first available starting December 13 (as part of our annual Christmas at Fenway event).
All the best from a very active Front Office,
“The Voice of the Nation”
PS – I’m so glad to see that so many have been posting comments to the previous entries. Please continue to do so! Or, if you’re a little shy, you can always email me directly at insider@redsox.com
PPS – I’m sorry the best picture I could come up with for this post was of Arnold Schwarzenegger from that horible “Batman and Robin” movie. If anyone has any more creative suggestions, please let me know…I’d be more than happy to change it.
Red Sox Insider Blog 
Great news about the Ticket Price Freeze. It helps, especially those of us whose kids would like to attend a game at Fenway Park. It was a classy thing to do. I am also glad to see that the Christmas At Fenway event will be happening this year. I have always missed-out on such events, and hopefully can attend this year. Great decisions
being made at Fenway Park !! Happy Holidays.
P.S. Sign # 33
fantastic news…it would be nice to see the ticket prices go down a little bit…but I digress. In any event, I plan on attending a couple of games at the Park next year…Even taking a trip to Baltimore to see the Sox play the Orioles! I think the picture is hilarious…seriously, don’t change it.
Who is going to get the AL Cy Young?? Does Dice-K seriously have a chance?? And I just read Ian Browne’s blog…sounds like Mr. Epstein is going to fall in love with D-Lowe again??
Bethany
http://tekett.wordpress.com
Great news about the prices!
P.S. Why haven’t we signed Tek yet? Get to it! 🙂 If length is the issue, I think it’s important to consider Tek’s potential to contribute significantly even if he’s not the the starting catcher. (Clearly he should be the 2009 starter; I’m talking about the later years in the longer contract Tek apparently wants.)
You say that Fenway has the highest ticket prices in baseball. But check this out (from an Associated Press article of 3/28/2008):
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The World Series champion Red Sox, playing in the major leagues’ smallest ballpark, have the highest average at $48.80, up 10.1 percent.
The Yankees, in their final season at Yankee Stadium, have the third-highest average ticket at $36.58, up a big league high 26.1 percent. The Yankees’ real average is much higher.
Jon Greenberg, TMR’s executive editor, said the team did not provide data and that he did not include the price of premium seating — which covers a large percentage of New York’s tickets. Yankees’ box seats near the infield had a list price of $250 this year.
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As you can see, the Bankees may have had the highest average ticket price in baseball 2008–they’re just too embarrassed to release the complete data. And the new stadium, with its $2500.00/ticket field boxes, makes them look even greedier.
Go Sox!!
i guess we have to paint PEDROIA gold! MVP! MVP! MVP!! And kudos to Youuuuk for the 3rd place finish — the Sox are amazing…Pedroia really is the strongest 165 pound man!
Bethany
http://tekett.wordpress.com
You’re kidding, right? All hail the front office for not raising ticket prices in the beginning stages of what will be the worst GLOBAL economic crisis in 70 years????
Surely you must be joking. It’s b.s. to think that they’re doing this for one second for the fans. No. They’re doing it as a SMART business move to ensure that they’re able to sell as many tickets as possible next year.
Yes, the Sox are still in high demand. But there were PLAYOFF tickets going for under face value the day of the games. Even the Champion Celtics are finding their tickets showing up on stubhub for under face value.
It is nothing more than a smart business move. When your customer has trouble paying, you don’t raise ticket prices. When the entire economy is in the toilet, you don’t raise ticket prices. The fact is that we ARE in a recession and people are going to cut their disposable income purchases before they stop buying the necessities. That means fewer (or zero) trips to Fenway for a lot of families.
The ownership and front office have done a lot of great things and I do think they care about the fans. However, they’ve sunk a lot of money into this venture and want to continue to turn a profit. They believe (rightly so) that the best way to do that is to get as many people to the park as possible. And in these troubled times, that means leaving ticket prices where they were last year.