If you've been a Giants season-ticket holder for years, cherished the family tradition of football games for generations, and planned on passing along prized ticket holdings to your heirs, then the thought of forking over your life savings to watch pro football in a glitzy $1.6 billion stadium might turn your stomach, and your loyalty. NY Times sportswriter and Baristaville resident, Harvey Araton,describes a local football fan's angst:
“Ethically, it stinks...Twenty-five years people are waiting for a seat in Giants Stadium, dying to get in,” said Lou Palma, who lives in the same town as I do, Montclair, N.J....He is 75, a former union lithographer, a gourmet cook by avocation, a passionate sports fan who is furious at the fan-gouging sports world in general and the Giants in particular, with good reason. He is one of the die-hards who got into Yankee Stadium 40 years ago, followed his team to the Yale Bowl and Shea Stadium and stayed in, for the last 32 in Giants Stadium, without complaint.
“There is nothing wrong with the place we’ve been playing in,” Palma said. “Why the heck did we have to move in the first place?”
But Palma never left during the lean years, and might even have talked himself and his sons into cobbling together $700 per ticket per game in the new stadium for the equivalent seats that he said this season will cost $100 per.But $80,000 in four installments for the right to pay a staggering ticket markup in the midst of an economic downturn? He could go to Europe and live lavishly, or finance his grandchildren’s college educations. After all these years, all the money spent, he was put on the clock, given a month to respond, to peel the sticker containing his personal information, attach it to the application on the interior back cover and surrender to a $371 million fan-fleecing scheme.
Get a bird's eye view of stadium construction via webcam, here.
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Comments (12)
Wow, are there that many rich Giant fans that they can charge $20,000 for a single seat license? I feel for the folks, like Mr. Palma, that after decades of supporting their team, sitting with the same folks, creating a family tradition, will have no choice but to relinquish their seats.
I share a piece of a piece of a Yankee season package and we're all waiting to hear the same thing from Hank and Hal. If it does happen, depending on the fee, we'll likely be giving up our seats as well.
This is why I no longer follow professional sports. I gave up when the big wimps had there baseball strike, not to protest the high prices that were hurting their fan base; but to get a piece of the action. I hope they all go belly up (lots a luck, I know)
There=their
I almost forgot that they're teaching this in college now, or at least at Rutgers.
I keep hearing about people who have had the tickets for years now who are going to lose them because of the PSL. I feel bad for these people but I have a friend who was on the waiting list for years and just 2 years ago was able to obtain tickets. Now he is going to lose them because he can't afford the PSL. Remember people, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over. Great Googlie Mooglie!!!
My dear ole dad did the same thing as Mr. Palma. Currently, my niece and her hubby hold the tix.
Is this what my family gets for freezing our asses off in that wind tunnel year in and year out? No matter how bad they sucked?!?! OR...is this the privilege we get for being die-hard fans of this year's Super Bowl winner?
My dad must be turning over in his grave!!!
The heck with the big bucks charged by the big boys. If you're looking for an insanely good time at sane prices, come on out and see the NJ Jackals play this weekend at Yogi Berra Stadium. Tonight the Jax open a three-game series against the Ottawa Rapidz and if the game isn't enough, there'll be a post-game concert by MAE. Then tomorrow night there's the Fireworks Extravaganza. Always a great show. As the club's PA Announcer, it's always great to see fellow-Baristas in the stands. Come on out to YBS and root for the Red & Black!
I gave up my tickets this year after 6 years. Screw the Giants. Count me as a non-fan after the gouging.
With the advent of 60+" Plasma/LCD screens who needs to pay thousands of dollars to have the privilege of going to the game. Sit down on the couch, stay warm, grab some chips and a 6 pack of Heineken for the price of one beer and enjoy the game. Save some money on parking too.
Send the NY Giants back to NY! Bring back the Nutley/Belleville Iron Dukes!
How 'bout the Paterson Pioneers!! :)
1) Finally a stadium not almost totally financed by the state/city.. this one is mostly taxpayer funding free, besides having to look at Xanadu while driving on rt.3 ;)
2) This guy must have had 50 yard line/lower level seats... sorry fella. they do offer you to move up to the upper deck though.
3) Upper deck people only pay $1000 per seat.
4) Not sure what will happen to the crowd. Radio headset and blanket wearing elders replaced by cell-phone wearing businesmen? Or maybe just middle class guys with some money saved up after 15 years on the waiting list?
The Franklin Miners!!!