ewokpelts

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 03:43 PM) Is that a Sox travel secret like the "secret" Dan Ryan route of getting off at 18th street & taking Canal to the stadium? some people get off at cermak and park in chinatown. $9 to park on average, and you can get chinese food before or after the game!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 02:18 PM) Never knew that about water in all my years of having season tickets. Those still arent 7 dollars. You have about 6 games that actually qualify for it and you still have to pay taxes on top of the tickets. And yes, for the most part those seats blow and thats not snobby thats actually liking being able to see all the action. tax is included. it says so on the ticket. a season ticket shows the price breakdown. i've had seats in sec 516. the first 10 rows are solid. now if you're closer to the foul pole, that's a different story.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 02:18 PM) Never knew that about water in all my years of having season tickets. you ever get the "ground rules" card in a ticket package? there are plenty of people that take tailgate food in.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 02:10 PM) 7 dollars at the box office? WTF. Taxes are more than 7 dollars on a ticket. You are also not allowed to bring in food and drinks. Are you sneaking this in? http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/ballpa...ontent=security ticket prices here: http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/ticket....jsp?loc=pick14 and group discounts are listed here: http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/ticketing/groups/gsg.jsp

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 12:59 PM) Okay, fair enough, I could easily go to one game and it not be a big deal. But obviously when there are 81 home games a year and it's summer out you'd like to go to quite a bit more. I'll never not go to a single baseball game that year because of money. With football I can't afford one. With basketball it's maybe 1 or 2, but with baseball, with so many seats available and games and it being summer, you'd like to be able to go for the full experience more than once or twice in a summer. edit: And I really don't even want to get drunk at a game. But cold beer at a baseball game is wonderful. Chugging beers in a parking lot isn't really my thing. you can go to PLENTY of 1/2 price monday nights for less than the cost of one BEER. and if you on stubhub, you can find other deals for the other games.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 01:19 PM) In a metropolitan area of 7+ million people, why does that matter in the slightest bit? Are southsiders better Sox fans or more important fans? I've never lived south of Irving Park Rd. Should that put me lower on the Sox priority marketing list? i guess so. same as the guy who lives by archer and western. i'm not as important, despite being CLOSER to the park than 55th and pulaski.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 12:51 PM) Great, then all should understand why our park has 20,000 on a summer night. So good luck running a business. Those corporations are really putting butts in the seats. Baseball has way too many games to cater only to corporations. I realize they do, but it's a joke. I wonder how many southsiders from 55th Street down to 111th and from Kedzie over to Pulaski actually go to games. i wish those damm corporations didnt force the price of upper deck tickets to $7 on a monday night. it's killing us working class jamokes on a budget.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 12:23 PM) I mean, once again, most affordable games are on weekdays, and I don't have the luxury of being able to leave work early to go tailgate...I also don't own a car. But I shouldn't have to go out of my way to make a game affordable and enjoyable. At some point it's just not worth it. That point has passed (and I went to 8 games last year...that won't happen this year) you dont own a car, but you think taking the train to the game is " taking the fun out of going to a game"

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 11:52 AM) In otherwords, take the fun out of going to a baseball game. Gotcha. I think i'll just watch at home, thanks. The reason for me to go to a park should go beyond fandom. looks like you're an upper deck snob. taking the train saves $25. upper deck tickets will be as low as $7 this year at the box office one water bottle at the park is $4.50. you can get a CASE for $3 at walgreen most of the time. simple solutions that WORK.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 10:30 AM) Also, I don't care what that other fan was saying about affordable options...Sox games are really, really expensive. I went to the most games in 05, and that wasn't just because they were good, it was because it was the last affordable season. If you KNOW what you're doing, you can sit downstairs for under $25 almost every non-premium game. and well under $10 upstairs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 10:24 AM) Okay. You're Brooks Boyer. Your main appeal to sell season tickets to White Sox fans is loyalty and responsibility/obligation to support the organization? That's not the way most professional sports franchises operate. Nobody said anything about not being a White Sox fan any longer. I could care less at this point if they trade Ramirez, Danks, Floyd, Thornton, Quentin, AJ and Konerko. I'll still cheer for them and follow the games wherever I am in the world, and post here. Did you organize all the season tickets holders together to raise $14 million in venture capital to pay Mark Buehrle for this season? If you really want to fight the majority of posters here, go right ahead, but you're not going to find many on your side as long as Kenny Williams is still around as the General Manager. i tend to disagree with brooks on a lot of things, but I find it insulting that some out of town sox fan thinks people who stay loyal to thier team, win or lose, is less of a fan than the guy that says "f*** these bums" when the sox lose.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 10:19 AM) When you have the 4th highest average ticket price in all of MLB, that's not exactly targeting middle class families. The majority of the tickets in the ballpark are quite expensive. Bleacher seats (which SHOULD be for middle class fans, and are in most stadiums) are way way out of whack with reality. And I've never understood the fixation with segregating the upper decks and lower decks so much...it's like being treated to steerage class on the Titanic. And baseball's still unique having a season 2X or 8-9-10X as long as the average basketball/football season in terms of home games. Well, speaking as a former bleacher weekend plan holder, i can agree those prices may be a bit high now. But let's not kid ouraselves. The bleachers have ALWAYS sold well at new comiskey. Sox raise the prices, and people still buy them. It may not be as extreme as wrigley's bleachers, but the dollars speak for themselves. you also seem to forget that other stadium have a LOT of super expensive premium seating options. when the rich man seats can be jacked up due to premium offerings, then teams can subsidize thier lower cost options easier. the sox only have the scout seats and jim beam club at a super premium level. Upper reserve tickets go up the least, and are the ones most likely to go DOWN(like they have this year, from $17 to $14 for individual sales). again, unless you're an upper deck snob, there are deals to be had. and let's not forget the sox give out TONS of free tickets to kids, through the kids club(2 free per child), perfect attendance and straight a's, and other initiatives. and they offer steep discounts to groups and special events. the sox "grand slam groups" page on www.whitesox.com mentions discounts up to 1/2 off for most games.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 09:19 PM) Did you get the email about buying parking before 12/31? There's a new $2 city tax or something. I never had parking so it just glanced at it, but if you don't buy before then, I believe the parking is increasing, although the Sox won't see any of it. yes. i got that email a few days ago. I talked to my rep about it, and he said the sox arent pleased, but at least they have a way to save some fans the extra expense. The parking tax Rahm-Bo is imposing was designed to impact downtown commuters. The average weekday game for the Sox, Bulls, Hawks are night games. And the avg weekday cub game is 1:20, whih has little impact to rush hour traffic. This a cash grab by Emmanuel becuase he knows the teams cant say much to fight it, especially the sox. And for fans, it means that weekday games will cost as much as $25 to park, which may be fatal to the sox, as it appears people keep b****ing about parking.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 10:12 AM) Not to mention the Sox have train and bus lines that drop you off at a fraction of that right in front of the ballpark. Well, the united center does have two train lines near it, but that also involves a lot of walking. And the roosevelt station is almost a mile from soldier field's gate. the sox and cubs have the closest rail options.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 10:25 PM) Then you are a Cubs' fan, lol. This circular argument always goes around in the same directions. I will never refuse to go to a Sox game or pay for tickets when I have have the opportunity, but I don't live in Chicago so it's a lot harder. 2008 was primarily a result of the disaster known as 2007. Fans were skeptical after the end of 2006 and most of 2007. It's the nature of Sox fans, you know that. more BS. it's ok to stop being a sox fan if they lose 100 games?

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 10:05 PM) I am willing to bet our attendence suck in 08, when we went to the playoffs. Sox drew 2.5 million fans in 2008.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 10:00 PM) Economy. Ticket prices. Parking. Prioritizing your family/having enough money to buy Christmas presents, take a family vacation OR buy an Ozzie Plan. Not a difficult choice for all but the most ardent of Sox fans. With the product on the field the last 3 years, and with how things are ending with Buehrle and probably 1/3rd of the roster, what fans would want to support that type of organization? To watch Dunn/Rios/Peavy? REALLY? The White Sox have never priced their packages to the middle class or casual fan since they opened the new ballpark. With the White Sox, it literally is about that Top 10% and corporations, not the stereotypical blue collar South Side diehard fan of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. If Kenny Williams was gone, you'd have a heckuva lot more optimism about the future. Still, the Blackhawks have shown you can take a franchise from the dumps of despair back to the penthouse fairly quickly. bulls*** to the bolded part. sox offer 1/2 price mondays, and plenty of other offers. the 2012 monday price is as low as $7. that's less than the cost of a beer at the park. if you're not an upper deck snob, you will find good deals to go to a game. as for parking, the united center has parking from $20-$35, and the bears have parking that STARTS at $35(if you're lucky to get it when they go on sale). so the sox selling parking at $23 is within the range of chicago sports. ALSO, the sox allow you to tailgate, something that cannot be said at the united center.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2011 -> 01:22 PM) I give up on trying to show you the math - one of your numbers has to be wrong. And Milkman is going to hurt me. That said... Looks like Upper Reserve won the lotto for 2012 in terms of actual decrease in ST - everyone else had small, or no, decreases (I added the % for you). Glad you are happy. Enjoy your cheaper tickets! -----So, to re-route the thread a bit... Here is something others might care about though, as I ran across this doing the math - how much are the Sox really losing here, in terms of STH revenue? Might give a clue as to payroll... Assuming the number of STH in each section is roughly the same, the total % drop in season ticket revenue will be 5.9%. However, what is not counted in the list above is the really big moneymakers - suites, united scout seats, Jim Beam club. Those prices, according to the Sox, are staying the same. Furthermore, there are higher % of STH in the pricier sections listed above, than the other ones. So in reality, the actual drop in revenue per STH is probably more like 2 to 3%, max. The wildcard is, will the lower prices mean being able to keep the total number of STH stable? Hard to tell that. This is from a sox email trying to get new customers. You might like the bolded part: jus sayin

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 3, 2011 -> 07:01 PM) Ive talked to Brooks about this personally, or via email. I did a Sales report in school a couple years ago and was profiling the selling strategy for large and small markets teams, white sox vs pirates. Brooks basically told me that the Sox strategy is to market, promote, and sell a premium experience, and with that premium pricing is certainly a factor. They essentially view their entertainment product as top quality, not just the product on the field but the ammenties of the ballpark and overall experience of going to USCF. So they charge a premium price. He told me that they really dont want just anyone coming to the park, part of building a premium experience is to have people there that value their $45 lower deck seat, or $550 Scout seat. And those people wanted to be surrounded by other people who want to pay that price and experience premium offerings (food, beverages, fan environment). The sox dont want a stadium full of people who paid $18 per ticket, they would rather have a half full stadium of people who paid $45 a ticket. Its how they market and promote, its how they get good corporate advertising dollars, its how they get good deals for Radio and TV, its how they keep prices high for food, drink, parking, etc. The sox dont want to be the pirates, they dont want to appeal top discount ticket buyers, day camps, church groups, teachers, cops, firefighters, etc. They want to viewed as a white collar establishment and want to sell their product to non price sensitive groups. Thats just their strategy, and ticket prices are one component of that. The sox sell PLENTY of tickets to day camps, church groups, teachers, cops, firefighters, ect. Look at this for proof: www.whitesox.com/pfn www.whitesox.com/teacher www.whitesox.com/ffn

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 01:49 PM) And spur development and hopefully tax base Which, in the case of the Sox and thier stadium, is more than true. I honestly dont think the Bridgeport/Armour Square neighborhoods have thier revival if the stadium was not there.

QUOTE (champs2005 @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 10:42 AM) Just to follow up these comments, the hotel tax fell short this year and the City is kicking in their own (our) tax dollars. It begs the question why is tax revenue subsidizing a private business? If this tax didnt subsidize Jerry, then it might be available to go to schools, cops etc, actual public goods. Also, someone said the ILSFA "paid" for their two skyboxes. Really? With what money? TAXES! This is a classic case of the people who are supposed to be "regulating" an industry getting in bed with them. This deal stunk when Reinsdorf (and Thompson) extorted us and it STILL stinks! The shortfall is $188,000. And the clause that forced a payment in the event of a shortfall was set up by DALEY(not Thompson) as a result of the BEARS(not the sox )stadium deal.

QUOTE (champs2005 @ Dec 5, 2011 -> 10:55 AM) http://www.suntimes.com/9161027-417/state-...oza-passes.html Buried in the story about the IL Sports Facilities Authority worker trading Sox skybox passes for a dozen three-day Lollapalooza passes is a nugget that the ILSFA has TWO Sox skyboxes (one right behind home plate and another larger one down the right field line that was only used like 14 times last year). The skyboxes are for Board and Staff use and all food and drink they consume is half off. UNBELIEVEABLE! No wonder they never ask Jerry to pay for anything or to provide a return back to the public on OUR investment! I AM SO MAD ABOUT THIS! The hotel tax pays for the stadium. any money jerry gives is gravy. The 2 boxes are OWNED by ISFA(seeing as ISFA owns the entire stadium). I dont see the issue.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2011 -> 12:50 PM) I feel like we've derailed this thread, but I have to point out your math is impossible. If your 2011 tickets were $1414, and are now $974... and according to the flyer, which I also have, the $974 represents a 32% savings over 2011 individual tickets, again. right from the flyer... then that has to mean the total cost of your plan's individual tickets in 2011 was $1429 - only $15 more than the $1414 you paid. Do the math. One of your numbers, or one of the numbers the Sox published, has to be wrong. Anyway, base point remains, the Sox are very carefully and subtly trying to give the impression that people's tickets are going to 17 to 32%. And that is simple not the case. But I am also perfectly happy with my 2% decrease. I added the 1414 ticket cost to the savings listed on the brochure, which was $268. That cost is $1682. and then divided it by 81. Simple math. Also 1414 MINUS 974 is 440. that's close to 30% savings off the actual STH cost.

2011 Full Season ticket package price vs. 2012 Full Season ticket package price. Level 2011 Price 2012 Price Premium Club Box 3682 3682 Club Box 3439 3439 Prem. Lower Box 3682 3682 Lower Box 3034 2918 Lower Reserve 2710 2432 Bleachers 2548 2270 Prem. Upper Box 1900 1865 Upper Box 1738 1460 Upper Reserve 1414 974 Parking remains the same. $1458 for 81 games. $18 per game.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2011 -> 09:50 AM) That's definitely interesting about the Upper Reserve prices. Of course, it also means that your discount in 2011 over individual tickets was a whopping $15 total, which is 1%. So your season ticket package last year only saved you 1% over buying all the tickets individually. Are you sure that's right? If so, that's bizarre, because our UD Premium Box tickets were at a 21% discount over individual ticket prices. So I'd agree that, if your $1414 figure is right, they must have realized their error and corrected it. Who is going to buy Upper Reserve season tickets, whcih are hard to sell, if they are only 1% cheaper than buying the games individually? The UD Premium Boxes went down only 2%, and the LD prices, as people have stated, went down a little or not at all. So it looks like the Upper Reserve is the place where it got severly discounted, and nowhere else. Also to be clear, I am not b****ing about the prices going down. I'm quite happy they went down 2%, I was figuring they would stay the same. I am just pointing out the fuzzy math they use - which, again, is right there in the article and in the season ticket flyer - makes it seem like every section is going down 17 to 32%. Which is not the case. The sox flyer from last season had a savings of $268 from posted individual game prices(not factoring dynamic pricing or discount codes). So the box office price(assuming you got the same price level for every game with no discount or dynamic price) of the UDR was $1682. With an average price of $20.76 a game. The UDR full season plan in 2011's per game average was $17.45. A savings of over 3 dollars per game. Yes, i know this is an average, and that the premier and cubs games skew it a bit. But the 2012 per game average is $8 LESS than the 2011 box office price. And $5 less than the 2011 STH price. These are signifigant discounts.