The Super Bowl champion New York Giants announced this week that they will implement a Personal Seat License program for season ticket holders at their brand new stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, which is set to open before the 2010 season.
“At a cost of over $1.6 billion, the new stadium development is the largest 100 percent privately-financed stadium project in the United States,” team president John Mara and executive vice president Steve Tisch said in an open letter to season ticket holders. “As with the other NFL cities that have recently opened new or significantly renovated stadiums, we cannot build these new facilities without the sale of “PSLs” (Personal Seat Licenses) to Giants season ticket holders. The net proceeds from the sale of the PSLs will be used to pay for the construction of the new stadium.”
Unlike their NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys, who charged huge prices that were between $16,000 and $150,000 for their PSLs, the New York Giants will charge in the range of $1,000 to $20,000 for theirs with 90 percent of the upper bowl being $1,000. Once purchased, the PSL is good for the life of the stadium.
The decision to use PSLs is not a surprise, as it appeared imminent months ago.
Kyle Burks, founder of SeasonTicketRights.com, an online marketplace for buying and selling PSLs, told TicketNews that he thought the Giants PSL price was maybe $2,000 to $3,000 below market value and could have even been more than that.
“I don’t think anyone knew where the Giants were going to go. It was a coin toss,” Burks said, adding that he was pleasantly surprised to see the team use the PSLs for funding the new stadium, rather than price gauging the fans. “It’s a testament to the Giants.”
The Giants will share the new stadium with their AFC counterpart New York Jets who co-financed the project. Following the Giants announcement on Thursday, the Jets issued a statement saying they were still undecided about the use of licenses.
“We are currently studying the use of PSLs as a financing option for the new stadium,” the Jets said in the statement. “We recently sent a survey to our season ticket holders to explore a range of seating options, pricing structures, payment terms and amenities. Once our financing plan is developed, we will share it with our season ticket holders.”
If the Jets decide to use PSLs, they may be forced to use a similar price scale to that of the Giants or face huge criticism among New York fans and media. If they choose against using PSLs, they miss out on millions of dollars.
“I think it will difficult for [the Jets] not to fall in line,” Burks said.
No timetable was released for the Jets decision.
