A new promotion by the New York Yankees to usher in their new stadium next season could have ticket brokers and resellers salivating. But, if the team continued it beyond the first two exhibition games, they would certainly have some difficulty paying their new high-priced free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira.
The team is planning to roll back prices to 1923 levels – the year the original Yankee Stadium was opened – on some tickets for the two pre-season games against the Chicago Cubs, scheduled for April 3-4.
Which means under the “Turn Back the Clock” promotion, tickets for bleacher seats will sell for 25 cents and grandstand seats for $1.10.
Season ticket holders will receive free tickets for the exhibition games, according to officials, and partial-plan ticket holders will have first crack at tickets at reduced prices. Besides the bleacher and grandstand seats, tickets for the Terrace Level will cost between $20 and $35, while tickets on the Main Level will sell for between $20 and $45, according to MLB.com. Tickets for Field Level seats will sell for between $45 and $50. Additional details on specifically how and when the tickets will first become available were not disclosed, and the team said that some restrictions will apply. However, no tickets for the two exhibition games will cost more than $50.
“To express our gratitude toward our full-season ticket licensees, we are offering tickets for these two exhibition games at no cost to them,” said Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost in a statement. “The balance of tickets will be sold first to our partial-plan holders, then to the general public, at vastly reduced rates compared to the regular season. Using such a pricing model for these games allows us to thank our fans for their continued loyalty and introduce them to baseball’s new grand cathedral.”
During the season, Yankees tickets consistently rank among the most popular sports tickets, according to TicketNews’s exclusive weekly rankings.
“It’ll probably be a bloodbath with season ticket holders trying to get rid of their free tickets,” said one broker.
