Yankees Cut Full-Season Ticket Prices For Some Seats In '10

Yankees Reducing Full-Season Ticket Prices For Some Seats Next Year

The Yankees last night announced that 97% of full-season ticket prices for the '10 season will be level with or less expensive than this season. Prices for 41,928 seats in 50,086-seat Yankee Stadium, or 84%, will remain the same from '09, while 6,454 tickets, or 13%, will drop in price. A total of 3,400 Field Level Seats currently priced at $325 will cost $250 or $235, depending on specific location, while all 1,208 seats in the Delta Sky360 Suite and 97% of Legends Suite seats also will see cheaper pricing. Three percent of tickets, covering 1,704 seats currently priced at $100, will increase for next year (Yankees). CNBC.com's Darren Rovell noted the "much publicized $2,500 per game suite tickets, which were not part of the seats whose price was cut in half in April, will cost $1,500 in 2010." The cut comes "despite the fact that many people who bought the suites before the stadium opened this year agreed to pay" between 3-6% more for their seats each season. The Yankees are "expected to guarantee to season ticket holders that the escalating percentages that ticket holders had agreed to when they signed their contracts will also not apply for the 2011 season." Sources said that Yankees co-Chair & Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner has been "sensitive to the economy and to consumer response and will continue to review the prices on an ongoing basis" (CNBC.com, 9/15).

SAVE THE DATES: In Boston, Silverman & McAdam cite a source as saying that MLB has given the Red Sox and Yankees permission to "explore flip-flopping a three-game series at Fenway Park currently scheduled for April 5-8 for a road series at Yankee Stadium later in the summer." The Red Sox are "concerned about the playing field at Fenway being ready in time" following the three hockey games played at the ballpark in January. However, the Yankees are "reluctant about opening the season at home because of concerns about inclement weather." The teams "may need a few weeks before the schedule finally is settled" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/16). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Mike Puma notes a preliminary MLB schedule had the Dodgers and Yankees playing a series at Yankee Stadium in June -- potentially Dodgers manager Joe Torre's first series against the Yankees since he left the team following the '07 season -- but a source said that the series was switched to L.A. for "logistical reasons involving the Dodgers' schedule." There had been "some thought the Yankees wanted no part of a Torre reunion in New York and put pressure on MLB to shift the games" to Dodger Stadium, but the source said that the Yankees, "to the contrary, desperately wanted the Dodgers in The Bronx" (N.Y. POST, 9/16).