Yankees Slash Prices to Fill Costly Seats At New Park

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Acknowledging their prices were too steep even by Yankees standards, the 26-time world champions announced a plan to fill thousands of empty high-priced seats by reducing prices and giving away much of the unsold inventory.

The plan, announced by Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner Tuesday afternoon, rewards the seats to season-ticket holders who have purchased premium tickets in similar sections and hopefully ends an embarrassing first month of the season for the New York team and its new $1.5 billion ballpark. The stadium was designed before last fall's collapse of the U.S. economy at a time when New York's business community was still willing to spend a premium for the best sports and entertainment the region had to offer.

The unsold seats, some priced as high as $2,500 were creating an odd spectacle at the new park: While the rest of the stadium was packed during the baseball team's first homestand, many of the best seats located closest to the field sat empty. Mr. Steinbrenner said that 85% of the stadium's premium locations have been sold, but that a few hundred of the best seats for every game haven't.

The Yankees cut season-ticket prices on some of their premium seats by as much as 50% -- to $1,250 from $2,500 for some seats and to $650 from $1,000 on others. Customers who purchased such season tickets will receive their choice of a refund or a credit.

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