Friday, January 11, 2008

A TICKETING MANIFESTO.

WHEREUPON, THE FANBASE DOTH DECREE THAT THE METS TICKETING OFFICE (HEREINAFTER MTO), SHALL DO THE FOLLOWING:

#1: SINGLE GAME TICKETS SHOULD GO ON SALE THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. This shall include The Last Opening Day and The Last Regular Season Game at Shea.

2: TELL SEASON AND PLAN HOLDERS WHEN YOU EXPECT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITIFIELD TRANSITION.

Might I remind you that we are PAYING customers?

[more after the jump.]

#1. Forget the lottery. Sell tickets the old-fashioned way for one last time.

1. Opening Day

From what TBF got out of the Mets Ticketing Office, they are once again going to do the same lottery BS from last year. The excuse offered was that it ‘gave everybody a chance’. While that may give people a chance, what it definitely assures is that people who had no intention of buying tickets to important games will have a chance to buy tickets with zero effort and resell them for profit.

If there was an open sale, people who weren’t going to the games might still try to get tickets, but probably wouldn’t bother. Getting an email from the Mets saying, “Hey, you can buy tickets!” means that they don’t have to do any work. They cna log in, buy whatever comes up, and then trot over to craigslist or ebay or StubHub and make cash. Of course, now that the Mets are in bed with StubHub, they’re making money on those tickets TWICE. So let’s leave out the spin about it “giving everyone a chance”. What it does is increase the chance that the Mets make more money.

2. The Last Game

TBF got the same blah blah from the Ticket Office about The Last Game, but in reality the feeling he got was that the Mets haven’t really decided yet how to distribute those tickets. If the Mets really want to do a lottery, then they should borrow a trick from the concert industry and make the tickets will-call only, NON-TRANSFERRABLE. that might not be practical but the last game at Shea is going to be a mob scene of ridiculous proportions anyway, with security that will make Merengue Night look like the TSA.

All I know is, if the Mets offer those tickets in a lottery it will mean that every broker in the world and every jerkoff in the tri-state area is going to sign up themselves and every person they know or have ever met, with the sole intention of reselling for profit.

They need to bring back the tradition of single game sales going on sale at Shea and letting us camp out in the parking lot.  I don’t care about the security concerns, the ticket increase could certainly pay for security for a day or two to wrangle fans in the parking lot. It’s the last year at Shea. Let people line up for old time’s sake. Bring out the old timers to serve coffee and donuts like they used to. Make it special. Sure, people will line up and then turn around and sell their tickets. But that’s going to require a LOT of effort. At least the Mets haven’t made it ridiculously easy to do so.

2. Citi Field rights.

The only clear, consistent communication that’s been issued has been “Upgrade to a full season plan and you will have priority in Citi Field.” Notice how they don’t tell you what kind of priority - it’s just vague “priority”. If it’s the kind of priority they give people who have had a ticket plan for 10 years and wait a week to pay their post season invoice, that will mean ‘first come first served, sorry, you’re sitting in the upper deck’. The Mets’ track record on this front is not exactly stellar.

The whole thing smacks more of fearmongering than any kind of marketing savvy. At some point, no one will care. At some point, the people who have $5k for a full season have stepped up to the plate. There will be those people who panic at the last minute and commit, but my gut is that it’s not going to be a number that will make a true financial difference to the Mets.

I’m trying hard to understand why someone who has had a Saturday plan for 10 years would have less priority in Citi Field than someone who coughed up the cash for a full season in 2008. I do not expect to have the same priority as our friends on the Loge who have had their Tuesday/Friday plan for twice as long as I have.

I hate to mention That Team From The Bronx on here at all, especially in comparison to the Mets, but I can tell you that:
1) Plan holders have already been told what their rights are regarding all games, INCLUDING the All Star Game
2) Plan holders have also been told that they will receive information regarding what will happen in 2009 in a few months.

Come on, Wilpons. Step UP here.

I will leave out my rant about the utter inflexibility and complete and total lack of creativity in the ticket plans because that is a subject for another day. What about a half season? What about letting you upgrade from partial to full in the middle of the year? Nevermind.

< /roseanna rosannadanna >

CONCLUSION:

Too many people sit there and take it because of love and loyalty. You can pay the money but you can also make your voice heard. If you’re not going to pay the money, pick up the phone and call the ticket office or write them a letter (even better) and make your voice heard. Too many people are just going to shrug and keep quiet on these issues instead of demanding to be treated like a valued paying customer. I know, this is what you get for being a fan of a team in a major market. I realize that for the most part the Mets wish they never had to sell tickets to individuals, but they have, and they are, so stand up and BE COUNTED. If enough people complain, they might just do something about it. And if they don’t, at least you will feel better having done something instead of just sitting idly by while they take and take without giving one damn thing.

p.s. Calling WFAN is a good start but not enough