Yankees overestimate demand for pricey seats

While tickets to the new ball park have sold well -- the club has sold more than 33,000 season ticket equivalents -- gone are the days of sell-outs for many games, as was the case in the final years of the original Yankee Stadium. The reason: rows and rows of unsold seats in the new stadium's Field Level. Some form whole sections of unsold seats and one can clearly see where the demarcation line is: where the field box seats jump to the stratosphere, that's where the sea of padded blue seats begin.

Recession hits high-end ticket demand

The Yankees had calculated that a pennant-contending club, combined with a new stadium that offers nearly every amenity possible for fans, would enable the franchise to charge very high prices for the best seats. But like the rest of the nation, the New York metropolitan area has been hit hard by the recession, and the more than 150,000 Wall Street lay-offs means there's just fewer upper-income citizens willing to part with a house down-payment for season tickets. The result: up to 2,000 empty seats behind home plate and bordering the infield.

My Saturday plan seats, which I've had for 15 years, a Main Level Box in back of first base, hit $125 this year (up from $100 in 2008) and, not surprisingly, these Main Level sections are sold out. But I imagine the ranks will thin in the Main Level, as well, next year, if the Yankees keep raising ticket prices by more than what's reasonable. As late as 1999, a Main Box seat cost $26 in 1999 dollars or about $33.20 in today's dollar. The Yankees' ticket price policy is pricing the typical fan out of the ballpark -- something the national pastime should never do.

For those fans/tourists who plan on visiting the new Stadium, if you can't find an affordable seat or a seat you like directly from Yankees.com, consider ticket brokers like stubhub.com. The recession that reduced season ticket sales has also hit demand for tickets from brokers so that some decent seats for non-high-profile games are selling for below face value.

If that trend continues, you can be sure that brokers won't buy as many seats next year, and hopefully that will convince Yankee management to do the right thing, and lower ticket prices.

Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro, a lifelong Yankee fan, is based in New York.