Quote:
Originally Posted by LastWhiteSoxFanStanding
There are enough geniuses, statisticians and now Harvard MBA’s in sports to develop a financial model to see if this could work. I think it can and I believe we are close to seeing it happen soon. If it ever does occur, here’s to hoping I can snag some free Legends Tickets at Yankee Stadium!
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I guarantee you, if "freemium" were to happen, it would be limited to specific parts of the stadium, generally the seats that are cheaper already. No way the $1000 seats go "freemium," because they lose that revenue with no realistic expectation of being able to recover it in concessions and parking. On a $15 ticket, sure. Not on a ticket costing several hundred-plus.
Even with costs they can control, such as parking, people would find ways around it. Some would spend, say, $400 to park with a free Legends ticket, but many, many more would park outside the stadium and walk in. Hell, I saw that phenomenon many times at Dodger Stadium, and it's $15 to park there now.
The other thing you'd likely see is an increase in the cost of concessions and a crackdown on people bringing food/bottled water into the stadium. If that becomes their primary revenue source, they'll get a lot less friendly about people finding ways to avoid those previously-secondary costs.
No, if this happens, you're ultimately talking about things like Top Deck seats at Dodger Stadium, or the Uecker seats at Miller Park, etc. A section of the stadium which goes "freemium," possibly tied to days of the week when attendance is lower anyway, and seats that don't cost an arm and a leg in the first place. They wouldn't give up their premium seating to that model.