Yankees finally admit the obvious, maybe $2500 is too much for a ticket to a baseball game

Embarrassed by huge chunks of empty seats on the teevee in the high end seats, the New York Yankees have decided to drop the prices of the uber premium seats as much as 50%. The Wall Street Journal this morning pointed out the folly (and when the Wall Street Journal is jumping in your business over sports you know you have a PR crisis on your hands) of having the rest of the stadium, the taxpayer subsidized stadium we might add, packed in the cheaper seats while the gold bar and caviar sections were empty.

The Yankees have said some of the tickets that don't sell at the new lower prices will be donated.

Ever petulant, Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner said these changes in prices were for this year only, there is no problem with the overall pricing strategy. We disagree, $2500 is overpriced for any seat at any sporting event. Overpriced is overpriced. We'd be willing to bet Mr. Steinbrenner a couple of hot dogs that those seats will be sold for less next year or he'll be facing the same problem he has now: the equivalent of several car payments to see a 3rd place team playing .500 baseball.

The New York Yankees, they take and take and take, if you're waiting for the part where they give back, you're in the wrong place

Let's see, the public is on the hook for hundreds of millions in tax money for the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will keep all the concessions, any parking an all that teevee money. What a deal for taxpayers right?

It gets worse. The Yankees, in order to get their new stadium built, razed many local parks and high school and community ballfields. You'd think that in order to be good community citizens, they'd make up those costs and repay the local area in kind. You'd think. Sadly, one local high school is now playing home games out on Staten Island while the school has had to buy 2 busses at the cost of $75,000 and needs another one to move the kids around. A local football field bit the dust. In fact, some local park organizers say the local area stands to lose 4 acres in park land. All Hallows, a local high school who lost their home field and the ones playing out on Staten Island have received a pitching machine from the Yankees as some kind of payment, unfortunately, it's too big for their new cramped space.

Hoo man, thanks Yankees.

The Yankees keep promising things will be rebuilt, they keep quoting timelines that are quickly becoming unworkable due to the rising construction costs and other issues so who loses? Not the Yankees, unless its on their field.

We're going to give the Jersey City Desk last word on this sad matter to civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel:

“There needs to be an apology to this community for the promises unkept.”

All this attention now being paid to the new Yankees and Mets stadiums? Yawn

Clearly these are PR fronts by both the Yankees and Mets to drum up goodwill and try to knock down the complaints about how these new ballparks are being funded. Yankee Stadium will cost over 1.5 BILLION by the time it's completed. Guess who is picking up 75% of the tab? Reason enough to NOT GO to see the Bronx Bombers and let them suffer and sweat out the financial angle. The Mets are having CitiBank pay for the naming rights to their stadium which is just wonderful now that you and I and every taxpayer in America OWN CitiBank due to out huge taxpayer bailout of this failed company. From this day forward, the Jersey City Desk will ONLY refer to the Mets Stadium at 'Debits Field'. We didn't invent that name but it's very fitting. Hey, they Mets aren't paying the JCD a dime to call it by the name they want you and I to call it. Hence, Debits Field.

The JCD urges readers to simply not go to many, if any games this year. Let them sweat it out. We're already paying enough for both stadiums, now they want your money right out of your pocket as well. What are they giving YOU? A break on ticket prices? A break on jerseys? A break on hot dogs or other concession? Hell no. They can't soak you again, it's time now to soak them and the boneheads who allowed us to pay for these monstrosities in the first place.

Stay away. Repay the Yankees and Mets in kind.