As a season ticket holder for the Chicago Bears, I take special notice when stories come out about ticket prices and the different things teams around the NFL are doing for their fans concerning the game experience.
In anticipation of their new, state-of-the-art stadium currently in construction in Arlington, Texas, the Dallas Cowboys have released their new figures for potential season ticket holders. All lower level Club Seats, which extend from end zone to end zone, cost $340 per ticket. That’s compared to $129, the price for the same seat at Texas Stadium, the current home of the Cowboys.
While the prices alone are a steep enough incursion, to obtain season tickets, a fan must first purchase a Personal Seat License (”PSL”).
A PSL, which is becoming standard for teams across the country, grants the holder rights to purchase tickets year after year for the given stadium and the fan must pay the one time fee of the PSL for each seat “owned.” Only then does the fan pay the ticket price for each seat every year for every game.
The price for Dallas’ PSLs have been set between $16,000 and $150,000 per seat. In contrast, the most expensive price currently for a Personal Seat License in the NFL is at the Carolina Panther’s home, Bank of America Stadium. The cost is $12,000 per seat. When the Chicago Bears sold rights for the new Soldier Field in 2002, the highest price was $10,000 a seat.
For fans that cannot front that kind of money for the tickets, the Cowboys will finance the seats at an eight percent interest rate. And that doesn’t even include parking, which comes close to $1000.
February 1st had originally been set the date for current Cowboys season ticket holders to commit to buying Club Level seats in the new stadium. However, the Cowboys extended that deadline to February 11th.
Many fans in Dallas are already protesting and have said that Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones is only targeting the wealthy. Sports used to be an affordable event where one could take the whole family for some weekend fun. Now, it seems that a family may have to take out a second mortgage just to be able to get to a game.
Several economists have also said that Jones might be driving up the value of an NFL ticket himself as other NFL teams might begin to lag behind the Cowboys in revenue.
The Cowboys will be moving into their new $1 billion stadium in Arlington before the 2009 season. It will be one of the most expensive sports venues ever built, with 80,000 seats that allows for an expansion to 100,000. It will also have a retractable roof, operable glass doors which allow each end zone to be opened, and a video display board or “JumboTron” in the middle.
While the Cowboys are “America’s Team,” it doesn’t seem that America will be able to afford to watch their team. Good thing I live in Chicago, where I guess the quality of the product they put out on the field or court in any sport just doesn’t match up to those guys in Texas. After all, in Texas, everything is done bigger. Good luck Jerry.
Cowboys Cause for Concern (WFAA)
New Stadium (The Dallas Cowboys)
No comments:
Post a Comment