ATTENDANCE RISING AT THE EMERALD
Rock Cats fans be advised!
Tickets for Rock Cats games are systematically becoming premier tickets. The prospect of walking off the street on a beautiful evening, waltzing up to the ticket window and having the seat of your choice is fading.
A large part of it is due to the remarkable work turned in by the team’s front office. Led by president and CEO Bill Dowling, the people behind the logo have turned a crucial triple play – civic attentiveness, superb marketing and a group-sales department that has New Britain Stadium humming along at approximately 75 percent capacity.
The team has already had five sellouts and we’re barely out of April. The fifth sellout of 2006 came on May 20. Through 15 home dates, the Rock Cats rank second in the EL in average attendance (4,529) and have already attracted 67,937 to Willow Brook Park.
The Rock Cats meet other requisites for continuous improvement. Folks coming out to the ballpark are treated well and have seen their share of competitive baseball. The three games against the Trenton Thunder were all well-played. Except Sunday, they were down-to-the-wire.
The external factor, however, that is tightening ever so methodically in the Rock Cats’ favor is the incredible cost and hassle of attending games in New York and Boston.
Certainly there are plenty of folks nestled in Connecticut’s rolling hills for whom money is no object, but there are plenty who have to consider the financial commitment of taking in a big-league game. When regular folks try to reduce the cost, the hassle grows, and the hassle doesn’t go away for fat cats.
Take parking, for example. Finding a spot around Fenway Park can run in the $30 range. If you can find a spot within walking distance of Yankee Stadium that will set you back as little as $10, you’re either very lucky or spending at least that much in gas as you circle the blocks.
Hungry? Did you ever think the scraps off the butcher’s floor stuffed into a casing that we’ve come to love would cost so much? Thirsty? You can keep yourself in Bud Light for a month for what it would cost you to buy a round at Shea Stadium.
Why has Major League Baseball gone from being everyman’s game to a corporate write-off? You read these pages so you know why. Daisuke Matsuzaka commandeered over $100 million from the Red Sox. Rocket Rog will earn $1 million a week from the Yanks.
It’s all relative to the teams. They pay exorbitant wages and pass the expense on to you, the consumer.
When savvy consumers consider the Rock Cats, they see a product that is reasonably priced. No, reasonably priced isn’t even fair. It is remarkable in this day and age how reasonable it is. A general admission ticket is $5. A reserved seat, which I consider the best seat in the house and is under the protection of the roof, is $7.
Let’s look at the Mets in comparison so I don’t get caught in the Yankees-Red Sox crossfire.
Did you know you can get a $5 ticket for a Mets game. Go ahead, but you’d better bring your high-powered hunting binocs. And that price is only for what the Mets term “value” games. There are 12 throughout the season and nine of them have already passed. The three remaining are against the hapless Washington Nationals in late September.
Want a good seat for a good game? Take the series with the Twins in mid-June. A box seat runs $62. Those back-row seats that are closer to Sheepshead Bay than home plate are $17.
Granted, you can’t see David Wright at New Britain Stadium, but you can see the Binghamton Mets’ Fernando Martinez, who will be his teammate within the next few years. And if you were prudent enough to be at New Britain Stadium a few seasons ago, you would have seen David Wright.
It has taken the general populace some time but the transformation is well underway. A Rock Cats box seat is less than 1/6th the price of the same at Shea. Is the talent only 1/6th as good? Plus, you’ll be home in your driveway in a half-hour instead of searching for the on ramp to the New England Thruway.
Think about it.
Tickets for Rock Cats games are systematically becoming premier tickets. The prospect of walking off the street on a beautiful evening, waltzing up to the ticket window and having the seat of your choice is fading.
A large part of it is due to the remarkable work turned in by the team’s front office. Led by president and CEO Bill Dowling, the people behind the logo have turned a crucial triple play – civic attentiveness, superb marketing and a group-sales department that has New Britain Stadium humming along at approximately 75 percent capacity.
The team has already had five sellouts and we’re barely out of April. The fifth sellout of 2006 came on May 20. Through 15 home dates, the Rock Cats rank second in the EL in average attendance (4,529) and have already attracted 67,937 to Willow Brook Park.
The Rock Cats meet other requisites for continuous improvement. Folks coming out to the ballpark are treated well and have seen their share of competitive baseball. The three games against the Trenton Thunder were all well-played. Except Sunday, they were down-to-the-wire.
The external factor, however, that is tightening ever so methodically in the Rock Cats’ favor is the incredible cost and hassle of attending games in New York and Boston.
Certainly there are plenty of folks nestled in Connecticut’s rolling hills for whom money is no object, but there are plenty who have to consider the financial commitment of taking in a big-league game. When regular folks try to reduce the cost, the hassle grows, and the hassle doesn’t go away for fat cats.
Take parking, for example. Finding a spot around Fenway Park can run in the $30 range. If you can find a spot within walking distance of Yankee Stadium that will set you back as little as $10, you’re either very lucky or spending at least that much in gas as you circle the blocks.
Hungry? Did you ever think the scraps off the butcher’s floor stuffed into a casing that we’ve come to love would cost so much? Thirsty? You can keep yourself in Bud Light for a month for what it would cost you to buy a round at Shea Stadium.
Why has Major League Baseball gone from being everyman’s game to a corporate write-off? You read these pages so you know why. Daisuke Matsuzaka commandeered over $100 million from the Red Sox. Rocket Rog will earn $1 million a week from the Yanks.
It’s all relative to the teams. They pay exorbitant wages and pass the expense on to you, the consumer.
When savvy consumers consider the Rock Cats, they see a product that is reasonably priced. No, reasonably priced isn’t even fair. It is remarkable in this day and age how reasonable it is. A general admission ticket is $5. A reserved seat, which I consider the best seat in the house and is under the protection of the roof, is $7.
Let’s look at the Mets in comparison so I don’t get caught in the Yankees-Red Sox crossfire.
Did you know you can get a $5 ticket for a Mets game. Go ahead, but you’d better bring your high-powered hunting binocs. And that price is only for what the Mets term “value” games. There are 12 throughout the season and nine of them have already passed. The three remaining are against the hapless Washington Nationals in late September.
Want a good seat for a good game? Take the series with the Twins in mid-June. A box seat runs $62. Those back-row seats that are closer to Sheepshead Bay than home plate are $17.
Granted, you can’t see David Wright at New Britain Stadium, but you can see the Binghamton Mets’ Fernando Martinez, who will be his teammate within the next few years. And if you were prudent enough to be at New Britain Stadium a few seasons ago, you would have seen David Wright.
It has taken the general populace some time but the transformation is well underway. A Rock Cats box seat is less than 1/6th the price of the same at Shea. Is the talent only 1/6th as good? Plus, you’ll be home in your driveway in a half-hour instead of searching for the on ramp to the New England Thruway.
Think about it.
posted by Ken Lipshez at
9:48 PM
0 Comments
