The Mets extended the deadline for season-ticket renewals from mid-December to December 31.
I keep hearing people tell me the Mets MUST make a big signing in order to get people to re-up.
The thing is, if you are on the fence – or, worse, you already decided not to buy a ticket plan, and instead will just role the dice like the rest of us in hopes of finding a seat on an as-needed basis – is Jason Bay or Bengie Molina, or, for that matter Matt Holliday, enough to motivate you to re-up?
I have live nearly two hours from Queens my entire life, so I’ve never owned a ticket plan. But, I’ve gone to roughly 20 games every season since the early 90s. So, it’s difficult for me to understand what motivates people to commit so much money up front.
This time around, following last year, knowing what we know of Citi Field, the NL East, etc., what is the driving force in either your decision to re-up or not re-up, and what would have to happen before December 31 to get you to commit this early to 2010? Is it about a commitment from Ownership? Players? Ticket prices? I’m curious, and trying to better understand how this decision is made.
Updated at 7:40 pm:
I initially had an e-mail box in this post, but I was sent more than 500 responses, which I will do my best to read through tonight, and provide a summary post tomorrow on the blog.
Hope this helps – the last few years I have split 2 15-game packs across 3 people. Our primary motivation is access to potential playoff tickets, although last year we were not sure what availability would be like with a new park to get tickets week or day of.
For next year one of the three (not me) has dropped out, and we’re scaling down to one 15-game pack for the two of us remaining. Honestly the decision had nothing to do with their offseason or even their season. While the playoffs seem unlikely, we’d hate for Murphy’s law to freeze us out if they have a bounce-back year. And like most fans, I enjoy going to games no matter how good or bad the team is. The baseball season can’t be defined by a few signings in December…and it would take alot more than missing out on a few free agents to push me to the knee-jerk reaction of cancelling my tickets.
That said, the secondary market has been great in recent years and unloading tickets has not been difficult. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about being ‘stuck’ with tickets I can’t use this year.
Hey Matt,
I’ve had a Saturday Plan since the 2000 season. I decided to purchase the plan after attending an NLCS game in 1999 with my father, and enjoying the experience so much. The pro’s were kinda cool anyway…..free small gift, pre sale to Mets/Yanks and opening day tickets, and no service fee on telephone orders. Living in Danbury while I was attending WCSU, it worked out well for me.
Then things started changing. First, I graduated WestConn and went to UConn for my Masters…..so add about 1.25 hours to my trip. Then the team started slipping into the abyss known as 02-04 seasons. Then (although I can’t recall exactly when this happened) they only made the presale for non Opening Day and Mets/Yanks games. I left UConn and moved to Massachusetts for work – living in Boston……still keeping the Saturday plan…..add about 1.25 more hours to the trip. The team rebounds nicely in 05, and makes the playoffs in 06….the playoffs were great…..yes I was at Game 7 of the NLCS, but it was a hell of a ride and surely there was more to come…..
However, just like the 2001 season after the WS appearance, it seems as if the team decided we were good enough to just do it again in 07…….then the collapse. Then……no season ticket renewal offers went out…….they were clearly waiting for the team to acquire someone so they can hang their hat on that……but continued delays, and more delays, and more delays. The team makes some acquisitions and sure enough….here comes the renewal notice. OK, it’s a business I get it.
08…..same as 07 in many ways….collapse part 2. But add to that……the frequent reminders…..GET YOUR FULL SEASON PLANS TO CITI FIELD OR YOU MAY NOT GET TICKETS. Now, I live in MA…..at this point, I have just purchased a home up there………full season ticket packages are useless to me, and I’m being essentially told…..no guarantees to see a game in Citi Field unless you get this full plan! Then after collapse part 2……..NOTHING from the team regarding plan holder’s status……only reminders to purchase a full plan! Then finally…….they say……oh yes, we WILL have plans…..BUT……instead of your 13 saturday games, we will now only give you 10…..along with these 5 worthless tickets to games we can’t sell on days you can’t make. AND you no longer have a postseason ticket option……..
So, again, I bought the tickets….despite going to less and less games due to the almost 3 1/2 hour one way trip to get there. And Citi field was great….I love the ballpark. Of course I need to hear the team’s management dismiss anyone and everyone’s criticism of the ballpark as nonsense. Are there some “obstructed views”….sure…..although losing the OF corner, IMO isn’t obstructed…..having the stairwell pop up into your view of the infield however…..yes, it sure is……and the team, for the most part ignored all of the ticket holders feedback until the team went south in a hurry and the voices got louder, and louder, and they were forced to listen.
Combine all of this with a lack of direction or plan from the front office and GM as to how this team will get better……and I am at my breaking point. I am not convinced that throwing money at Bay/Holiday/Molina etc will make any difference in the world for this team. Sure, they can be competitive….maybe even make the playoffs……but without a logical plan to sustain that success…..It is just no longer worth my time, money, and aggravation to put 6+ hours into traveling to a game every Saturday. I will still watch, I will still root my heart out…..and maybe some day I may even buy a partial plan again…….but that day will not be in 2010.
Not real satisfied with the game breakdowns in the plan, but I rarely am. I’d much rather pick a couple of games at whim, and worry about Opening Day/Yanks/Playoffs another time.
Plus, especially with the new park, I don’t want to sit in the same seats every game. There are so many different and exciting places to watch, I don’t want to be stuck.
It might be hard (unless they completely bomb again) to get walk-up tickets, but Stub Hub is the way of the future of sports ticketing, and for most ‘random’ games that I’d randomly want to go to, I can find a seat there, and pick with much more fine detail than I could on mets.com (although mets.com ticketing is 200% better than ticketmaster/yankees/etc.)
I truly hope most Met fans rip up their season ticket plans. This franchise is a joke. Yankees win a world series and they get two borderline studs for a bag of balls and one prospect(jackson). Phillies coming off a championship and a ws appearance get Lee and then halladay.
The franchise is a joke. Its a win now team and most of you clowns are worried about a handful of prospects we have that are barely 21. Get a clue please. Omar has yet to produce any significant talent. The Mets are cheap at the draft as well. Yet you want them to focus on building from within.
Complete joke. Cant wait for Omar to get fired. And cant wait for Jeff Wilpon to start seeing the profits shrink.
I have been part of a season ticket package for the last 5 years–seats up from first base–and the guy who had that package notified us all that he was bailing ship this year, after having those seats for 18 years. He said that he couldn’t take it anymore: in his words “The 2009 Season was the last straw — from the front office/ownership to the management to the lackluster play on the field. After 18 years of season ticket ownership, I have decided to not renew my two Season Tickets. I have neither the time nor the inclination to continue [with the plan].” I had already decided on my own not to participate this year, after shelling out big bucks last year and finding I cuold buy seats in the same general area for half what I was paying. I drive 2 hours each way and still managed 20 games last year. Not this year. I figure I’ll go to a few, and buy the tix a few days in advance. The last month of non-action is the cherry on top of a completely dismal season, and I have no faith that ownership and mgmt will do anything much to improve this team. Especially in comparison to what the Yankees have done this last month, even after winning it all, Omar and the Wilpons seem to be sitting on their hands. Last year Detroit wanted to shed themselves of Sheffield and they ate his $18 [?] million salary. The Mets are afraid of losing a cent on Castillo’s contract so they keep hurting the team by keeping him on when Hudson actually is a player who hungers to come here! And with someone with kids who like contact with the players, and as someone who gets to games when the doors open two and a half hours before game time, I was very disappointed this year in how they keep the fans farther away from the players than at Shea. Bottom line though, it is hard to keep the faith in the wake of two last game collapses followed by the dismal season this year. I’m tapped out in many different ways, and if the Wilpons don’t understand this about their fans, and see that they have a great core of players we all want to get behind, and make the aggressive moves to improve this team now, then they deserve our contempt.
Hi Matt,
I decided not to renew my plan, for a few reasons. First, the games with the Sunday plans suck. I can’t make it to weekday games, hence the purchase of Sunday plans, so that’s 5 games right off the bat that I can’t make. My whole rationale for getting the plan was the Mets/Yanks game, and possible playoff tickets. In the end, I would rather just spend my money on the games I want to see, in the sections I want.
I had Sunday Package at Shea since 1994. I had the 15 game package at Citi last year, and I won’t be renewing it this year.
1) as you said, I wanted Sunday tickets, not weekday tickets. Not only were weekday games added (as plan went from 12 games to 15), but some Sundays taken away. I liked knowing I had every Sunday- that for example is how I got to go to the last game at Shea.
2) I re-upped within 10 minutes of tickets opening, and I had to go online. The first opening was Section 514 – LAST row. OK, I guess they had to give the seat back and now I’d be further from home, but expected a lower row- the next seat open- Section 515 row 15 (3 from top). It turns out they expected way more season tickets. This was annoying, but I took it. What added insult to injury is those seats in front of me (that were the same price) were available on individual ticket basis- and for the end of the season they were still open the day of the game. I felt this was an insult to the package holders – and a stark contrast from when I first got my tickets, when I actually was able to go down to Shea in February and pick my seat.
3) Maybe the final annoyance last year was after a rain out when we were told we could not get a refund – that we HAD to chose another game. This had never been the policy.
4) The economy has made me think hard about what I’m spending on.
I have to admit the team doesn’t look like it will win the division and may even wind up in 4th again- but that is the least of the reasons why I chose not to renew.
Blah … my actual (detailed) post says “awaiting moderation” … I wonder if it was the reference to the ticket reseller that trigger the alarms.
I had a 15 game plan in 2005 after they signed Pedro and Beltran, I did not re-up in 2006 mostly because the other people in my party did not. However, i 2006 I ended up going to more games than in 2005 and with generally better seats than in 2006. I was also able to get playoff tickets for a couple of games. So I decided not to re-up in 2007 and went to many games, the last game I went to in ’07 was the 18th game to go.
In 2009 I went to several games by buying the tickets on either mets.com or through a friend who had a ticket plan and was unable or unwilling to go. For 2010 I know many people who are not renewing their plans because the team seems to be dead. Even if I had money I still would not get a plan unless I was guaranteed a great seat, as most of the seats for these plans are way up there in obstructed view seats.
Met Fans, and I have been one since 1962, have just a few simple needs; give me a “TEAM” on the field that I can “root for”; give me that same product OFF the field that I can ‘respect’ ! It has become increasingly difficult to root for some of these guys, as a team,on the field, they have no identity, hence, they do not play well together, nor complement each other. Individually, off the field, my God, they have been “IN ABSENTIA”…not only going on the DL more than ever, but,when they do, disappearing from the dug out, the city, the country. They do NOT stick it out, they do not stick together. H-E-A-R-T…what’s that spell? It spells what this team has missed.
I spent over $5,000.00 each year for the past 5 years going to Mets’ games. This year, because they are MY TEAM & old habits are hard to break(?) I will spend one quarter of that. I can’t ‘cut off my nose to spite my face’, but, MAN! I’m not happy, nor excited, nor hopeful! In fact, I’m kinda SAD right now. If this is the beginning of a re-building period, it’s going to be a LONG HAUL ’til things get better. And, I don’t know how much more enthusiasm I can muster without them supplying some adreneline from their end. It seems to be pretty ONE-SIDED with the fans doing most of the cheer-leading.
i really respect that, and everything you said is all im looking for in this team.. show heart, play hard, and respect the game…
You really said it all, Lady.
From a fellow 62er.
Gil must be rollin’.
Ok. Can I say something. I am done listening to the NY media. I have had it. Just watching the 5 at 5 on SNY and heard the 3 panelists talk about the Mets offseason and lack of movement. It’s not even the end of December and they are saying it’s over. There is 2 and a half months left before spring training yet its over. Bay is still out there so is Holliday. There’s Sheets, Piniero, Garland, Bedard, and Wang left out there. I mean who has been signed or traded for that these fools are giving our front office a hard time about. Rodriguez, Marquis, and Nick Johnson. 3 guys the Mets had no interest in what so ever. The Yankees traded for Vasquez who the Braves would never trade to the Mets for anyone short of Jose Reyes. The traded for Granderson who can’t hit lefties and probably hits 15 homers at Citi. Halladay made it clear it was the Phillies or bust. It’s not like Philly kept Lee and Halladay then they can say what they want but they didn’t. Basically they traded Cy Young for Cy Young. The Braves added to old lefties to their pen whoop di do. They traded their best starter for Melky Cabrera. The Marlins are the Marlins. They are who they are and they are exactly the same team as last year minus the eventual departure of Uggla. The Yankees made themselves a bit better but we’re not competing with them and so far our whole division has done nothing. The Dodgers are spending no money either are the Cubs. The Cards are the same team as they were last year. The NL is basically unchanged. The Mets will have to fight the Phillies to the end. If the Mets sign Bay and say Sheets they would have addressed their issues. Harper says they have no plan. I say they finally have one. Don’t over pay for mediocre talent. Get Bay for what you want not what his agent wants. Mets fans if you see things my way you’ll be a lot happier for it trust me.
Well said, here here!
Tell you what, after seeing Reyes interviewed by Kevin Burkardt on SNY the other day, we feel a whole lot better about this team. We tend to forget what an impact player he is – and his love of the game…
i totally agree with that!!! we need to remember the guys we do have, for better or worse these are our guys and our team and i have a 15 game plan, i will reup.
Well, never having had a seasons plan (haven’t lived in the NY metro area for a long time, and it can easily take 3 hours to get home for a game), I can only sympathize with plan holders. Given the cost, and hassle, I certainly can see why you are dropping them.
I managed to go to a game whenever I wanted to (even on weekends), without resorting to paying scalper rates. Now, would I have gotten playoff tickets? Not likely!
Philly actually has better package deals (but I honestly don’t know if thye come with PS access, although I higly doubt it). You actually pick the game syou want, and “build” your own pack. I think it includes at least 1 or more primo game as an enticement. Wonder if the MEts would do anything like that?
Also, I think the nervous nellie/sky is falling crowd is going a tad overboard. This team does still have a very strong talent nucleus. THey were also in 1st place during June, and even through July were right in the hunt for the division and WC. Until the injuries overwhelmed them. So, you can’t write the team off, even without major moves.
Also, they have made some “big moves”. JUst compared to the 2nd half team, they have effectively traded Wilson Valdez, Sullivan and Redding for Jose Reyes, A healthy Beltran, and a healthy Maine. Yes, beltran and Maine made it back in September, but that was more like ST for them, to prove they could do it (and they both were fine physically).
And frankly, that “trade” added way more talent than what the yankees brought in, or the phils, or the Braves.
So yes, they do need to make a few moves (but really for support/complimentary players), but there is still time for that.
Sorry, but I can’t write off the team for 2010 already just based on lack of moves by 12/22.
excellent post!
totally agree, the mets are only a few players away from being a contender again. I mean if we sign bay, molina and another pitcher we will be right there with the phillies.
Looks like we might as well scratch Delgado off the list of possible signings,……he has delayed his return to basball action again,….no word on why, but the perception seems to be he’s not physically ready.
smacks of being old.
It would be sad though to see his career come to an end now. A couple years as a DH to pad the stats might be enough to get him to the HOF.
at this point, he may have to take a ST invite with an incentive deal if he can make a team.
I agree it would be sad, to see him go out like this, but then again if this happening now prevents the Mets from making a mistake resigning him it’s all good.
True, especially since it effectively would have ended on a slide into third base after a triple. That is the play that injured his hip.
Lets keep this simple. If the Mets don’t start making some big moves as soon as last week than nobody should buy any tickets to go see them play this year. I am a die hard fan, and can be just as big of a fan watching on TV while saving a lot of money. If the Mets aren’t going to do whateve they can to put the best product on the field, than why should we be doing whatever we can to put the best product in the stands?
This is the problem for a full season ticket holder:
Price per seat per game is not the face of the ticket for any particular game, it is the price for the entire season package divided by the number of games you attend.
The fact is that no full season ticket holder plans on going to all 81 games. In my case, I only go to about 30 games. That means I have to sell 51 games to reduce my per game cost. If I do not sell and recoup face amount for a game I do not attend, that in effect raises my cost per game of the games I do attend.
This is what the season ticket holder signs up when they purchase an entire season ticket plan.
Unfortunately, at the end of 2009, the market for Mets tickets totally collapsed. If you visited STUB HUB last year, there were thousands of tickets that were listed at less than 50 percent of face and that were impossible to sell.
And as you know if you transact on STUB HUB, out of every dollar that is paid by Buyer to Seller, whether the ticket is sold at a profit to face or at a loss to face, Seller nets only 74 percent and STUB HUB nets approximately 26 percent. (The above is actually based on two parts- (i) the SALES PRICE, which the Seller sets of which Seller only nets 85 percent and STUB HUB nets 10 percent and (ii) the PURCHASE FEE, which is the fee charged by STUB HUB and payable by purchaser, which is 10 percent of the SALES PRICE and of which 100 percent is netted by STUB HUB).
I do NOT mention this to pass judgment on the service STUB HUB provides and the fee it charges, but only to highlight that it is a big part of the carrying cost of purchasing a ticket plan if STUB HUB must be relied on to sell the tickets.
Without getting off track, I do not believe the make up of the team will effect the desire of a true fan to come to the stadium to watch games. The same season ticket holder above may still want to come to his “30 games” regardless of the moves the Mets make. However, the moves made by the Mets may effect the ability of that season ticket holder to resell those 51 games he generally sells, which, as described above, effects the season ticket holders cost per game attended. If money is a problem, which it is for many in this economy, it may force some one who is generally a season ticket holder to purchase on a per games basis rather than on a full season package basis.
Excellent post.
This is also true for smaller plans. I bought two 15 game plans (a total of 30 games) with the intention of cherry picking about 15 between the two plans and selling the other 15 to offset costs. Historically, I have sold the Mets/Yankees game in my plan to help recoup some cost. The magic of the Subway Series has been gone for me for a long time now so no big deal there for me.
This year, I was struggling to sell my $30 per seat tickets even as low as $7 in the second half. The new stadium buzz wears off quickly when your team stinks.
One massive mistake I now realize that the Mets made was not doing whatever it took to remain competitive last year after injuries occurred. This was an error of epic proportions. Once Beltran and Reyes and Delgado went down … the Mets should have made trades (even if it meant taking on absurd salary) to replace those guys for a short term fix. The damage done by the horrible performance in 2009 will far supercede the extra cash they would have spent on a few horses. The net result of their timidness meant that the team fell out of contention, ticket exchanges collapsed almost overnight, and their ticket plan renewals will plummet drastically to the point of seriously damaging the Mets financially. Now they are stuck in a bad situation where they can’t sell tickets, and because they can’t sell tickets they can’t acquire free agents to help them sell tickets.
If the mets come out of the shoot and go 20-10 and are leading the Division, fans will be back purchasing 15 game tickets again. Last year left a bad taste but all it takes is a good start and tickets will sell!!
not only is this true, but the flip side is also true:
i probably go to 25 games a year, but i usually do it through plans, pick up tix from friends, walk up, stubhub, etc.
when the secondary market is depressed, it makes more sense for me to skip my plan and rely more on cheaper stubhub prices and my friends who are stuck with more tix.
i guess the better the mets are, the less effective this is. so i guess you’ll see me crying at the tickertape parade.
The biggest issue to me is that when the Jeff and Omar show went out on the road after the season to tell the fans they had not lost money to Madoff and that and Omar could go out and get players, they were just blowing smoke. They needed to show us a sense of urgency in making the team better this offseason, but have done nothing. How are we then supposed to feel a sense of urgency in re-upping for our tickets? Since Thanksgiving, I have been checking the internet, the radio, etc. to see if we have made that signing, that deal and nothing comes. I have been doing this less and less since the end of the winter meetings and this is the first time I have posted here in about a week. If the Wilpon’s were looking to make us fans apathetic, they are doing a great job.
I agree but alot of fans misunderstood Jeff and ASSUMED he was going to add a huge amt to the payroll. He said in the interview with WFAN that he will remain the highest salaried team in the NL. However, without making any moves they still are the highest salaried team in the NL so Jeff wasn’t wrong in his statement. Fans just assumed that meant they would go out and get Lackey and Holliday and go on a yankee spending spree.
Also Omar has said numerous times during the winter meetings that the team that starts the year will be better than the team that ended the season. UM DUH, without making a move, having Santana, Reyes and Wright back and playing is a huge upgrade over the scrubs.
….nice post…as of today i am not re-upping my season plan but will miss my seats a lot…i had front row promenade behind home plate and they were great seats for the price…i just cannot affort to eat so many tickets…too much fiber…
…anyone out there who wants to go in as equal partners on my seats let me know…if 3 of us go in we will have 27 games each but the seats are quite sellable because they have a great view for a great price so one would be able to sell some games…we would have to work out how we make our selections and how we figure 1/3 interest in post season (like thats gonna happen but one can drean)…my email is metskat@gmail.com…
I used to have the Saturday plan for the Mets. Worked out great in 2000 when I got World Series tix. But after reading the post on Mets Police where the front office addressed some concerns, I don’t understand why anyone would commit money up fornt. One of the questions asked was why plan holders don’t receive a significant discount from the single game purchasers. The Mets response (which made no sense) was that it would disincentivize the walk up crowd. When I was an Islander season ticket holder I got between 40-60% off the face value for buying 41 games. I think it is absolutely pathetic that they could say buy your tickets now when they lost in ’06, choked in 07 AND ’08 and were one of the worst teams money could buy in ’09. Good luck being a ticket account rep selling regular seats or boxes this year with the stellar acquisitions that we have made. AND I think the fact that Bay has the largest offer from the Mets and he still won’t sign says A LOT. He probably doesn’t doesn’t think they can win and that Omar and Jerry will be gone mid-season like Willie was a few years back.
mini ticket plans have only been a viable option for the past few years, say 2006 to now, because the team has been good with a possibility of playoffs, and because of the allegedly difficulty of getting seats at citi field. now with the playoffs a much less likely proposition (and if you read the fine print, the mini plans don’t even come with a guaranteed postseason option!) and tickets readily available for all but a handful of games at below face, buying in now is just insane.
the only acquisition that drove me to buy tickets was johan santana, but i probably would have gone in for the last season at shea anyway. nothing short of new management would have motivated me to re-up this year.
also, the plan configurations are terrible. i had the weekday plan last year, but this year there are 4 freezing april games, no games against the braves (nor yanks, obviously), 1 against the phils but like 8 against the NL central. thanks but no thanks.
My decision not to renew has nothing to do with the performance on the field, ownership, anything about Citi Field, etc. I will still go to at least 15 games next year buying games on an individual basis. Here is why I won’t be renewing:
-No pre-buy opportunity for Opening Day (that’s the reason I started buying the plan in the first place)
-No guarenteed playoff rights
-Weekday games as part of the Sunday plan (I don’t care if they renamed it ‘Sunday Plus’ it’s the Sunday plan. Everyone knows it)
-No seating offered lower than the Leftfield Landing (I love Citi Field, but for some reason, I felt very disconnected from the game in the Leftfield Landing. I’m not saying I have to be offered a ticket plan 5 rows from the field, but how about somewhere in the infield on the Promenade?)
-Less than desirable games
So to sum this up quickly, I used to get to go to every Sunday home game, be able to buy Opening Day before the public, be GUARENTEED one game in each playoff series and sit in the Loge relatively close to the infield (section 25) when I first bought it in 2005. Now, they’re asking us to basically be locked into a Thursday night game in April against the Marlins and freeze my ass off all just so I’m basically guarenteed a Yankees game. Guess what? I don’t care about the Yankees. I want to see the METS on their special days. Why should I lock myself into games where I’ll be there in a parka to watch Cody Ross when I can have all the same rights I have of a Sunday plan (zero) to buy games individually and bask in the sun against the Dodgers in June. I’m not saying the opponent defines everything and I’m not saying I won’t go to cold weather games. Obviously that’s not the point. The point is what incentive to do I have to buy 15 games as a block rather than 15 games individually.
Note: this was all true last year and I may not have renewed last year if it wasn’t for the first year in a new stadium and the facts that half my plan was paid for because of my playoff deposit for ’08 playoff tickets.
HUGE HUGE point in that last paragraph. after 2007 and 2008 (and to a lesser extent, 2006) everyone had unused money sitting in their accounts from playoff refunds. yes, obviously we could request refunds, but psychologically it was much easier to perceive that money as spent already and apply it to the next season. it’s a very different story to charge that card now after such a lackluster season.