Following the lead of their Big Apple brethren the New York Giants, the New York Jets announced Tuesday that they will be implementing personal seat licenses for their season ticket holders.
The personal seat licenses, or PSLs, will be used at the Jets new stadium set for opening prior to the 2010 season and will range in price from $4,000 to $25,000. For the 27,000 seats in the upper bowl, fans will not be required to purchase a PSL.
The Jets seemed to address some of the concerns raised by organizers of the PSL rally that took place prior to the Jets-Giants preseason game August 23. Only about 50 fans attended the rally, and rally organizer Steve Kern is planning a second rally to take place prior to the Giants opening day game vs. the Washington Redskins.
“We listened to our fans in designing this plan,” Jets CEO and Chairman Woody Johnson said at the news conference. “That is why we decided to have no PSLs in the entire upper bowl – including those on the 50-yard line.”
While many fans are happy to see no PSLs in the upper deck, Kyle Burks of SeasonTicketRights.com believes the Jets are ultimately hurting those same fans.
“It’s a disservice to the fans in the upper level,” he told TicketNews. “They are taking money out of their pockets.”
Burks said that if the Jets wanted to do a service for the fans, they would charge those fans $50 for a PSL. He estimated that right now a PSL in the upper level is valued at about $2,500. While many fans do not wish to ever sell their seat license, now they no longer have that option.
“Not selling a PSL can be worse than selling one,” he said.
The Jets will only be charging the high income fans for PSLs, which is in contrast to the Giants who placed licenses on every seat. PSLs for Jets home games in the lower bowl and mezzanine will range from $4,000 to $20,000 while seats in the East and West Clubs as well as the Great Hall Club will sell for $5,000 to $25,000. The best seats in the stadium are considered to be the more than 2,000 Coaches Club seats which are located behind the Jets bench. Rather than set a price for the PSLs to these seats, the team will be holding an auction for fans to bid on the seat.
“I was really surprised by the auction format,” Burks said estimating that they will go for between $25,000 and $70,000. “The Cowboys predicted what theirs were going to be worth, the Jets are letting the market determine it.”
There will be additional benefits for PSL holders including more comfortable seats, reserved parking, options to buy tickets to other events and concerts at the stadium and rights to purchase Jets Super Bowl tickets.
(The image accompanying this story is from NewYorkJets.com)
