The most illustrious franchise in sports history is having a harder time than you may think with their sports ticket sales.
Between the Superstorm Sandy and the weak economy, the Yankees don’t have it as easy as they did in the past, which could be why they have not lavishly spent on free agents this off-season, similar to years past.
It could also be the reasoning behind all of the speculation surrounding Alex Rodriguez’s contract termination that took place after he was linked to a Miami-based drug clinic, which was found to be in connection with PED use. The Yankees were salivating at the idea that they may get Rodriguez’s grotesquely large contract off of their books when word of this incident struck.
Don’t get me wrong, the sports ticket sales of the Yankees are not in complete jeopardy at all. They are still a wealthy franchise and draw an incredibly large fanbase to their home stadium, but the different aforementioned factors have forced the Yankees to do heavier legwork to get fans into seats.
“Between the hurricane and the snowstorm, we’re monitoring it,” Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost told WFAN host Mike Francesa on Tuesday. “It’s rougher than in years past. It’s rough for the Yankees.”
“Fortunately our full-season tickets have renewed at a greater percentage than we thought they would, (so) we’re very pleased with that,” Trost said. “But it’s still different than it was in the past. In the past, you put your tickets on sale and tickets were purchased. Now, like every other club, there are experiences, there are benefits.
“We have a new legacy club that we’ll be announcing pretty soon, which will provide season-ticket holders the ability to have their children run the bases, for them to get upgrades, to sit in during press conferences,” said Trust.
The Yankees may not even have the best on-field product this season with division rivals such as the Blue Jays improving immensely, the Red Sox hoping to turn things around and the Orioles and Rays putting effective squads on the field, so incentives like Trust mentions may be key money-makers for the franchise.
However, if the Yankees don’t win, like the city of New York is accustomed to, you could see a drop in sports ticket sales for the club, which surely wouldn’t sit well with the Steinbrenner family.
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