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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>What are all of you guys talking about? I haven't really watched MLB in 25 yrs..... This kind of &quot;buying of teams&quot; should make it another 25....I could give a da**.....but I know the masses like it so please do carry on. I can't wait for my softball league to start again....

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Dorskind</b><p><br><br><br>We have been dedicated Yankee fans for 50 years.<br><br><br><br>Winning is a tradition - and the Yankees have a long tradition of<br><br>making changes when they don't win.<br><br><br><br>The fact that they are spending more money on their payroll than<br><br>any other team is a tribute to the ability of a smart management to<br><br>negotiate the rights to a billion dollar tv network, the fact that NYC<br><br>is far and away the most important market in North America and the<br><br>fact that what they are doing is perfectly legal.<br><br><br><br>To argue that the Pirates program is half the cost of a Yankee program<br><br>is silly. You sell everything at the highest price the market will accept.<br><br><br><br>Receptionists at major consulting firms in NYC often earn $75-$100,000.<br><br>Cleaning ladies and baby sitters earn $25-40 an hour and the better Manhattan<br><br>restaurants cost $100 person- that's cost of doing business in the world's greatest<br><br>city.<br><br><br><br>As Yankee season ticket holders, we are not pleased that our tickets have gone from<br><br>$60 a seat to nearly $600- but if we don't buy the seats- there are 1000 other guys<br><br>who will.<br><br><br><br>Whilst the recent economic crisis has hurt some individuals and caused some people<br><br>to stay away from the market- the demand for the very best Yankee tickets- much like<br><br>the demand for other truly special items, albeit expensive items, has not dropped.<br><br><br><br>There are enough ultra wealthy folks in the NY area- that the Yankees will not be<br><br>hurt by crisis.<br><br><br><br>And, when all is said and done-what could be more important than providing a winning<br><br>team.<br><br><br><br>God Bless Capitalism<br><br>God Bless America<br><br><br><br><br><br>Bruce Dorskind<br><br>America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Bruce- I will predict more empty seats this year than you might imagine. Maybe the very best seats will still be bought by the very richest fans, but at some tier there will be price resistance. They are charging too much, and many diehard fans will not be able to attend games.

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Dorskind</b><p><br><br>Barry<br><br>The Yankees draw a million more people than any other team<br><br>We are certainly willing to wager that they will reach<br>90% capacity for the season. <br><br>Unless someone cancels the season who drops a nuclear bomb on NYC<br>there is no way that they don't sell out 65 games and reach 90% attendance<br>at the others.<br><br>Demand from tourists, businesses and the millions of fans is just too high.<br><br>We don't anyone who is not going to go because they raised their prices-<br>lots of people complain<br><br>Of course, some people won't go for free<br><br>Happy holidays to Judy and you<br><br>Bruce

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Thanks Bruce, and happy holidays to you.<br><br>It will be interesting to see if you are correct. There is a point where people would love to go to a game but simply can't afford it. And are your tickets really going from $60 to $600 a game? That's a 1000% increase- seems a little hard to believe.<br><br>

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Posted By: <b>Bob</b><p>The New York Yankees have the luxury of being in New York City. If the Yankees management team lived in Minnesota or Oakland or had a $50 million dollar payroll, they would be where the Pirates are every single year. <br><br>It's easy to pick and choose players you want on your team, but difficult to build a farm system only to rebuild it every year and try and get your fans to buy in. The Marlins have had much success and the Rays will have to do so as well from here on in. <br><br>Bob

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Dorskind</b><p><br><br>Yankee tickets<br><br>2003-60<br>2004 75<br>2005 110<br>2006 150<br>2007 200<br>2008 250<br>2009 600<br><br>Regards.<br><br><br>Bruce

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Posted By: <b>jay wolt</b><p>Bruce you're seats must be fantastic.<br>I just checked the yankee website and the season tickets that are avialable<br>are....<br><br>Bleachers $12 per<br>Grandstand $20 &amp; $25<br>Terrace $40, $55 &amp; $65<br>Main $45, $60, $75 &amp; $100<br>Field $75, $100, $150, $175, $225 &amp; $325<br><br>The $600 seats weren't even listed, so they must all be sold.<br>You could save a fortune by slumming it and buying &quot;average&quot; seats.

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Posted By: <b>Todd Schultz</b><p>the Yankees could get some bounce out of their new stadium this year, but less than 90% capacity is still possible, especially in this economy. BTW, they do not draw more than a million more fans than every other franchsise, ever. Also, in terms of their attendance, they finished 2008 fifth in % of capacity at 92.3%, and were smoked by the Red Sox, Cubs, Tigers and Phils. Also, 2008, the swan song for the Stadium, got them their highest % of occuapncy for the decade at tha 92.3. They just topped 90% in 2006 and 2007, but didn't hit the 90% mark for 2004 and 2005, and didn't even hit 80% for 2002 or 2003.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>So let's work this out. An 80 game home schedule at $600 a seat costs $48,000 for the season. And those are not the most expensive seats, as there are some as high as $2500 per game. Those work out to $200,000 for the season, and for a pair you can double that.<br><br>For that amount you get to see maybe 10 great games, with the other 70 ranging from very good to downright boring. It still costs $2500 to see the Kansas City Royals on a Tuesday afternoon in April, perhaps in the cold and drizzle. And all this during a deep recession.<br><br>Never has so much money bought so little.

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Posted By: <b>jay wolt</b><p>Barry, so you buy the $40 Terrace seats and you save a fortune.<br><br>Like getting a free car if you make the downsize

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Posted By: <b>Anthony S.</b><p>&quot;Never has so much money bought so little.&quot;<br><br>Barry,<br><br> I think you're forgetting about Barry Zito.

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Posted By: <b>brock</b><p>The red sox's can not be brought into the conversation about seating because there stadium only holds 5 people. Old yankee stadium held up to 57,545 and the new one holds 52,325.<br><br>And my ticket prices are just fine and i live 3 hours away and plan on going to around 4-8 games this year. The $2,500 seats are for the special suites.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Anthony- you are right, Zito gets about a million dollars a win! <img src="/images/happy.gif" height="14" width="14" alt="happy.gif">

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Posted By: <b>Bill Todd</b><p>There's another POV on the competitiveness matter. Look at the MLB standings from the last five years. You'll see that two or three teams end the season above .600, and two or three teams below .400. The rest are all bunched between .400 and .600. How is that not competitive? Look at other major sports. You've got teams ending the season at .206. <i>That</i> is not competitive. (OK, so the '03 Tigers weren't competitive.)<br><br>I guess that if the baseball season only lasts from October 1 to October 31 for you, you could find reason to gripe.<br><br>Bill

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Posted By: <b>Rob D.</b><p>Todd,<br><br>I've noticed you have this interesting habit of delivering actual facts -- rather than just spewing hyperbole in the form of facts -- to make your points.<br><br>I find it refreshing.<br><br><br>

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Posted By: <b>john/z28jd</b><p> Bruce I wasnt arguing about the price of programs but since you brought it up,let me know where you can get a Yankees YEARBOOK for JUST TWICE THE PRICE of a Pirates one?<br><br> Yankees fans are brainwashed,youre getting the same exact content as I get for over 2 times the price and you think its ok because people are willing to pay it....what is their other option,not getting it? Baseball fans want yearbooks no matter what team they root for,Yankees probably sell at least 5x the amount of yearbooks to begin with but theyre greedy enough to take extra money at every turn because the brainwashed think its ok as long as they spend a ridiculous amount on the players on the field,even if its unwise. How Brian Cashman kept his job is beyond me.<br><br> If someone gave me $1000 to buy their kids Christmas presents and I came back with a dishwasher that works half the time and $200 worth of toys they wouldnt be happy I got the toys and they certainly wouldnt give me more money next year to make sure I got enough presents.<br><br> No one who roots for the team asks why they cant have a 150 mil payroll,take that 60 mil savings plus the 20 mil extra they pay in revenue sharing,and lower the ticket prices by that amount so the average fan can take their family to actually see the team play in person. You're paying extra money for their stupidity and waste.

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Posted By: <b>CN</b><p>Regarding Yankee tickets I have a brother who sells tickets as a side job(HE is a pilot for American Airlines and has plenty of free time). He has 14 tickets for the Mets,8 for the Yanks,6 for the Rangers,4 for the Giants and was making about10 to 15 grand extra a year selling tickets for a slight premium. He noticed a pattern of people always wanting 3 tickets and most sellers having either 2 or 4. He took a chance and bought full season premium seats for the Yankees but only 3 seats. I just got off the phone with him and he told me he is over halfway sold already and has already broken even. It shows like Bruce said in New York people are willing to pay more for the best CN

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>If you're a tourist and you are making that big trip to NYC, I agree price may not matter.<br><br>But what about the fan who typically saw 10-20 games a year, and now has to cut back to 5 or less. Doesn't he get some consideration as far as being priced out?

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Posted By: <b>Jim VB</b><p>Rob D., <br><br><br>&quot;I've noticed you have this interesting habit of delivering actual facts -- rather than just spewing hyperbole in the form of facts -- to make your points.&quot;<br><br><br>Personally, I think this sort of thing is just a fad. It will never catch on. Most people find that &quot;facts&quot; just get in the way of what they believe. <br><br>

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Posted By: <b>Rob D.</b><p>Jim,<br><br>I guess you could say posting hyperbole and half-truths as facts has become a tradition for some.

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Posted By: <b>jdrum</b><p>&quot;How Brian Cashman kept his job is beyond me.&quot;<br><br>Maybe he is evaluated on spending money and not winning as most GMs are.

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Posted By: <b>Jeff Lichtman</b><p>Again, every person who is pissed about what the Yankees are doing are just envious that either a) their team doesn't have the cash to spend; or b) their team's owner won't spend the loot. As pointed out, the Yankees care more about winning than making money. While I agree that what is going on is abhorrent, blame it on Selig and the dopey owners for allowing it to happen. It's freaking grotesque.

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Posted By: <b>dan mckee</b><p>I completely agree with James Feagans above. Though I was impressed that the Orioles made a strong offer at 140 million. And of course the kid had to take the extra 40 million the Yanks offered, I don't knock him for taking it nor the Yanks for being able to offer it. Baseball stinks because of no salary cap. Football is great because of it. I was a die hard 49ers fan and still am and the salary cap killed my team. But I still love it. It gives all teams a chance. Baseball was decent when you built a farm system that fed your professional club. Now it is just pathetic.<br><br><img src="" alt="&lt;span">www.danmckee.com/pictures/types001.jpg&gt;

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Posted By: <b>Jim VB</b><p>You know what the good side of this is? The actions of the Yankees have spurred some other, &quot;inert&quot;, owners into action. Before Steinbrenner took over the Yankees, NONE of the teams seemed interested in spending any money. Not for players (before free agency.) Not for ballparks (They'd still prefer to spend taxpayer money.) All leagues were boring. <br><br>Now you find a few owners in every sports league willing to spend to win. Most do it badly, but it still spurs competition. <br><br>I would not mind if MLB exoanded their revenue sharing program, but I'd like to see a way to force the teams receiving money to spend it on players. Right now, some of those owners can just pocket that money. If you're going to set a max payroll limit, (or tax any amount above a certain point), then you have to set a minimum limit also. <br><br>I think to players union is pretty happy with it the way it is, however.

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Posted By: <b>john/z28jd</b><p>Before I post I will say that this is my last post in this thread because it is Christmas eve and also there is no reasoning with Yankees fans who have it engrained in their minds that they are supposed to win every year no matter what the cost. The jealousy defense that they are taught on day one of brainwashing 101 is a laughable defense. They are a fan of a team that they chose to root for. They werent forced to root for that team and the same thing goes for every one else who roots for any other team. No one is handed a hat of their team as theyre leaving the womb and has guys in suits stop by their house every March 15th to make sure theyre still rooting for that team. No one in their right mind can be jealous of a choice made out of free will. So if you root for a certain team then you cant be jealous of someone who roots for another team,its no possible.<br><br> Even when you try to reason with Yankee fans and say hey wake up,you pay for their mistakes,Carl Pavano,Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright still cost you money everytime you buy something Yankee related,it goes right over their head. Its engrained brainwashing,win at any cost,even if I'm the one paying extra for it when in reality I shouldn't have to. The owners of the team have money to spend because the fans are forced to pay their prices if they want to see them. They arent spending their own money on the team,they are spending your hard earned money. The Yankees couldn't charge the prices they do and spend 80 million on payroll,the stadium would get burned down by angry fans. They can apparently make it less family friendly and more corporate friendly and still make tons of money and get away with it though. <br><br>I'll never be jealous of a store bought team that can't actually remember what it was like to win a world series so they feel the need to keep trying to buy one. Winning the series now for them would be like an adult winning a 3rd grade spelling bee. Sure you could lose but if you win,what did you really accomplish?

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Posted By: <b>JimCrandell</b><p>The things baseball could do to make things better start with getting rid of the luxury tax. Let every club spend what they want with no repercussions and please get rid of the revenue sharing and the absurdly high minimum salaries.<br><br>The worst thing baseball could do would be to install a hard salary cap and see the sport go down the disastrous road of pro football.

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Posted By: <b>Greg Ecklund</b><p>If the disastrous road leads to becoming the most popular sport in the country, then I would think that at least 90% of MLB owners would gladly follow the path that pro football has taken in the last decade or more.<br><br>

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Posted By: <b>MVSNYC</b><p>i got my &quot;lifetime&quot; Yankees Seat from Jay...it's from 1923! <img src="/images/wink.gif" height="14" width="14" alt="wink.gif"><br><br>my buddy &amp; i are talking about going-in on Yankees season tix (41 game plan), will probably be upper deck...seems like the upper deck in the new stadium is closer then the old one...<br><br>p.s. merry x-mas to all!<br><br>

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Posted By: <b>dan mckee</b><p>Jim my friend, you may want to take a look at the ratings between current baseball and current football. Dan.<br><br>

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Posted By: <b>James Todd</b><p>I've been hearing a lot of out cry over the Yankees and their spending. The fact is, the Yankees at this present moment are a cheaper team than they were last year. So in effect, there is nothing to be angry about.<br><br>Secondly, over the past 9 seasons 8 different teams have won the World Series. So all the talk about the Yankees buying empty championships doesn't make any sense. What have they bought other than an expensive team? And how has their spending eliminated competition? Also, what is the relation between spending and winning? <br><br>Thirdly, the Yankees won their championships with a core of players that were home grown, some of which will be future HOFers. Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Ramiro Mendoza, Andy Pettite, and Jorge Posada were the core of the championship teams. None of these players were bought.

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Posted By: <b>JimCrandell</b><p>Dan,<br><br><br><br>If there was 162 football games the ratings might drop. Just think football was a lot more interesting when they had the dynasties and dominant teams. Also just disagree in principal with the forced spending restraints on teams.<br><br><br><br>Jim

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Posted By: <b>Bob Manning</b><p>Football dynasties no more? Patriots? Steelers? NY Giants? Colts?<br><br>But every year, any team can improve to the point that it may very well be in the hunt all the way through. <br><br>Think the Pirates will do that this year? Sure they will. Just check the Pgh. Post Gazette. While the Yanks made their signings, the Bucs were chasing Rocco Baldelli, Derreck Turnbow and Chris Bootcheck. Big things ahead. Stay tuned fans, plenty of fine seats still available out here.

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Posted By: <b>JimCrandell</b><p>When were the Colts and Giants dynasties? I must have missed them.<br><br><br><br>We are defining dynasty as being the dominant team in the sport for a period of several years, right?