Pravda proclaims 16k tickets sold yesterday
DMZ · February 19, 2009 at 9:16 pm · Filed Under Mariners
16,000 tickets! Why, that’s very nearly 200 extra fans a game!
Really, though, the M’s probably just got a 10% return on Griffey’s likely 2009 salary in a day.
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I am so worried about how this season will play out with griffey. I feel it is destined to tarnish his image with peoples expectations. He should have signed with Atlanta and come back next year for a 1 day contract and retire in our uniform.
That’s got to be near a record for February 19.
I think the Mariners would want to sell as many tickets as possible now, in case Griffey turns out to be terrible during the season. But, of course, duh.
I bought two seats in a 16 game plan. First time ever that I have purchased M’s season tickets of any kind and I’ve been following the team since before Griffey.
I’m excited just to be excited about sports in general in Seattle again. It will only take one witnessing one bomb for me to feel it was worth it to bring him back.
Yep, I’m just one little ol’ fan but I bet there are plenty more just like me.
There could be a thousand people just like you. It would neatly explain the sales number.
We re-instigated reservations for flight/hotel services from Orlando to Seattle last night. By sheer coincidence, I live just a couple minutes away from Junior’s lovely home. On a silly note: Outside Epcot this afternoon, my giggling wife turned to me, put an imaginary microphone to my mouth and said, “Ken Griffey just signed with the Seattle Mariners! What are you gonna do next?” I raised my hands and gleefully shouted: “I’m going to Safeco!”
I’m already a season ticket holder…..and I also sent in my single game order form to buy extra tickets to specific games at the end of January….
They usually have the form processed each year after the 1st week in feb….I called in last Friday asking why it was taking so long….they said they were re-allocating season ticket seating before they filled the single game order forms…. this exact scenerio they were planning for…..
I understand 2008 conditioned the typical Mariners fan (and the Seattle sports fan in general) to expect the worst. I get it, I really do. But if I have to hear two-three-four months of whining and fretting and worrying about Junior’s performance and its effect on the fanbase and attendance and the team as a whole, I think I might combust. This is a time for all levels of optimism: guarded, cautious, exuberant, unfounded, and statistically defensible.
Rant over. Proceed.
Not surprising.
A) A fairly big announcement like this is a tipping point and gathers in people who may have bought anyway. They’re buying early in the rush of emotions.
B) An announcement like this would bring in people who were neutral or wavering.BUt not as much as some people would thing.
C) Wonder what the impact would be on corporate or business sales? Psychology would be a bit different…
What is that average daily sales for this time of year? And who really wants to be in the stands with fans who don’t have a clue? I hate the Yankees. I’m not much more fonder of the Red Sox. But it is actually more enjoyable to go to games in NYC and Boston, in terms of discussion with the fans. They actually understand the game.
Crap, just realized that I haven’t sent in the season ticket holder extra ticket form. I sure do hope that the tickets I want for Wednesday, June 24 are still available. After all, Griffey on the field against our natural rival Padres — those are going to be HOT tickets!
B) An announcement like this would bring in people who were neutral or wavering.BUt not as much as some people would thing.
-Everybody else is doing it why aren’t you?
I’m just not ready…
-What are you a pussy?
That’s the first thing that popped into my mind right there sorry.
Hmmm. I know I’m not the only one in the northwest who is actually less likely to go to more games this year, because of this signing. I’ve had a few e-mail discussions along those lines today.
16K tix * $25 ticket (being conservative) = $400K before anyone spends anything on concessions.
Honestly as long as he is not injured its gonna be awesome!
How interesting. I bet HoChuck are kicking themselves now, as there’s at least two “real” fans who are upset with the signing. If only they had known of this development beforehand.
Actually, I think Pravda is more moderate than Fox Sports these days…
Which, looking on the bright side, is still not as bad as the “diamond club” section of the new Yankee Stadium…@$2500 per seat!
Can’t wait to hear the numbers once singe game tix go on sale…
Imagine the boost if the re-sign Spike Owen!
Actually, that would be kinda AWESOME!
They’d better hope Griffey doesn’t pull that hammy in spring training, or indeed before single game seats go on sale on March 14.
March 14 is surprisingly late for single game onsales. I wonder why…
I dont know why people worry about Athletes tarnishing themselves by hanging on. I’d rather they left too late then too early. Even if they suck its fun to see guys like Joe Namath, Franco Harris in weird uniforms trying to hold on rather than a Ryne Sandberg or Barry Sanders taking off to early. A fat Joe Morgan and Davey Lopes trying to squeeze into those tight A’s uniforms of the 80’s was classic and Carlton and Seaver taking any job they could find was great.
I also enjoyed Ibanez and Boone coming back, (though they were still in their primes), I like watching the guys climbing the team leaderboards on baseball reference, stats that have been stagnant for 5-10 years pickup again,its neat for nerds like me.
Skylansky: Yeah, there’s only two. Yawn.
Everyone: How many tix do the Mariners normally sell on a daily basis? Or are we all going to pretend that no one would have purchased another ticket this season if they hadn’t signed Griffey?
Yeah. And most likely the average ticket was closer to 40 bucks because a few of those tickets must have been in the prime locations. But best to go conservative (especially because they are doing 4 for 2 promotions, etc).
Anyone know how much the team makes on jersey sales and other memorabilia? For instance, a $200 jersey, how much goes to the team, how much goes to the MLBPA, the manufacturer, etc.
It depends where it’s purchased. The M’s get a lot more of the money if it’s sold at an official team store than if you buy it elsewhere. I believe it’s split evenly amongst the teams unless you get it from a team store.
the official MLB merchandise sold online & in stores gets divided (so everyone shares in the NY and Boston riches) but the “club-owned retail stores within a 200 mile radius of their home field including within the ballpark itself” revenue goes to the team, sez Baseball between the numbers.
Any word on how many of the limited ed. Griffey jerseys sold yesterday?
If Griffey bombs, and the M’s falter big time, the scalpers are going to be in a world of hurt. LOL!
I saw Griffey-mania in full regalia yesterday.
I walk into my regular coffee shop, and seated near the counter is a guy in his old Griffey jersey. It was one of the old-school green ones with the silver lettering for the name.
This guy looked close to my age (40-ish), and he stands up. I notice the Griffey name and 24 on the back, and he turns around to leave. The stress on the buttons of the jersey, the tightness through the gut, it was just spectacle.
I don’t want that image to be a microcosm of this season: charged up fans over-joyed because we’re getting the band back together, but the players are older and the jerseys fit a little tighter.
I really hope Junior succeeds this year.
Ahh. Thanks for the info.
I’ll make sure to only buy M’s gear at a team store then…
OK, I admit, I think it is cool. He won’t bomb, he’ll be fine, not great but hey. Mission completed by the M’s, I was interested in the new team, now am excited. Dumb, I know but there it is. Only one reservations, can I hit MUTE fast enough before each Griffey at bat before the Rickster opens his mouth.
The skeptic in me wonders…was Grif’s see-sawing about where to go just a stunt to scare up media attention and get the announcement date closer to the opening of ticket sales? Of course, I am an admitted conspiracy theorist
yay! we sent out extra ticket order form in for opening day tickets because of the signing. already had a 16 game package.
the nice thing about last year, beer and concession lines were short for the most part.
What your 10% return doesn’t include is merchandise sales already. Probably doesn’t affect anywhere but the Northwest, but with Junior jerseys available again, they’ll sell.
I was not going to spring training this year. However, I just purchased airline tickets to Phoenix, and game tickets for three spring games (Rockies, Royals, Angels).
Last year was the first time in years that I didn’t attend regular season Mariner games. This year, I will.
All because of Junior.
I am a hopeless homer, so hope springs eternal for an AL West run.
You know, I was wondering about that myself. I can’t recall the last time (if ever) when the club sat on the release of single game tickets until that close to the start of the season.
I assumed (for no good reason) that it was somehow affected by the WBC and the late home opener …
Put me down for another fan who wouldn’t have bought tickets otherwise…
Just purchased a 16-game plan (first ever due to location) as well as 12 tickets for the home opener and 2 for the closer = 30 tickets.
Only would have went to 1 game this year without the Griffey signing, so count +29 for Griffey.
Just where are all these tickets for the home opener coming from, if they are only selling season tickets? Are they from ticket brokers breaking up season ticket sets?
Pravda? Why this negative filter? Why not a fresh start for a new season? Let the cynicism come later.
There hasn’t been any fresh start there that would warrant a change in the cynicism. Just like if we still had Bavasi signing every bit of ex-Angel flotsam (no doubt we’d have been hot after Garret Anderson), there would be no reason to waste time with a “wait-and-see” mode.
Why are you so negative as to interpret Pravda as negative and cynical? (etc)
If you were a ticket broker, why would you do that, though? It seems odd.
I know– but he isn’t the first person I’ve heard say that they’ve already bought tickets for the home opener …
Season ticket holders get the chance to purchase advanced tickets for any game of the season, before the public does.
It’s mentioned right on the Mariners website…
So, are the opening day seats being handed out as radio giveaways from “Epic Seats” being sold to them by season ticket holders?
I assume that the single game ticket sales are starting later because the home opener is on April 14th, therefore the single game tix go on sale 30 days prior to the home opener.
The M’s want to sell as many season tix packages as possible before opening sales to single games, makes sense from a business standpoint.
BTW, I think the deadline has passed for Season Ticket holders to buy single game tickets (my order went in a couple weeks ago).
March 14 = one month before Opening Day. I can’t remember — how out of whack is that from past years? Maybe they want to be able to have Griffey at Safeco for the day the sales start (that should draw a crowd and build excitement, right?)
Pravda = “official truth”
I often refer to press releases as Corporate Pravda. It’s not (necessarily) a negative assessment of the information itself, just its source. It requires a certain skepticism, because you’re probably not getting objective data (or data presented objectively).
That said, I was amused to discover that folks in the former soviet union use it as a casual idiom in conversation the way we’d use “No way! Really?”
Junior hasn’t failed us on the field before … and I look for him to succeed with all the pressure on his back this time around… as long as he stays healthy.
I think it’s great the Mariners have some hype … no one expects us to contend anyways. We can’t be worse than last year…and the affinity for Griffey will always be here in Seattle. No matter what he does this year.
Season ticket holder preorders for single game seats ends today (20th). You must have the order form post marked today.
Joser – I think they say “ПРÐВДД (pravda) because it means “truth” in Russian, not because it was their official news agency. Now as to why their official news agency was called Truth, I have no idea.
Good point — and also, I find it interesting how every time the national mainstream sports media writes the M’s off for dead, the team seems to pull a surprise (if not downright great) season out of their hat (I’m thinking back to 2000).
To show you just how ridiculous this whole thing is. Someone at my company which has nothing to to with baseball or sports(a small financial services company in bellevue), even blogged about it.
It is written in gest, but still.
Noticed this in all our our favorite sporting news source, ESPN this afternoon on a peice about Mike Sweeney being the odd-man out with the signing of Junior…
The Mariners have already decided Griffey will be in left field when his legs feel fine. When baseball’s active leader with 611 home runs says he needs a break, he’ll be the DH
… god help us this is not the case.
jvalentine: Thanks for the bad news.
Griffey in LF = below replacement player. Sigh. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll wear out his arm throwing all those balls he didn’t get to back in. Maybe Wakamatsu will turn out to have balls, and DH him. GRIFFEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO FIELD.
I don’t think Junior will be put in the field, but if he is I bet we see some highlight reel catches.
quoted by Jim Street:
“It’s too early to talk about lineups, or how much playing time he’ll get until we get a chance to talk with each other about how his body feels,” manager Don Wakamatsu said on Thursday. “When he gets to camp, and we’ve had a chance to talk to him about how he feels, we’ll have a better idea.
“We’re going to let this play out. He’s going to let us know, and we’ll let him know, when we get down the road. He knows his body.”
I don’t think Junior will be put in the field, but if he is I bet we see some highlight reel catches.
Why? Because that’s the only way he can get to the ball?
You may get exactly one. Thereafter, you’ll be seeing highlight reels of his surgeons giving press conferences.
The guy is pushing 40 and he’s injury and accident prone. (What kind of professional athlete gets hurt playing with his kids?) It’s in everybody’s best interest to keep him out of the field. Well, except for those surgeons and the rehab specialists, perhaps.
You didn’t study Orwell’s 1984 at some point in your education?
Speaking of which, I wonder if Swedish is gonna try to recruit Junior as their official “celebrity endorser” for this season?
Suzuki has convinced Jr. to never bounce off of anything ever again and to only show us the fans that sweet swing and smile.
It remains to be seen what Jr. will convince Suzuki of.
There are a lot of people out there including myself that will be going to see Griffey regardless of how well he performs. Nobody is expecting him to be the savior of the Mariners, well I’m sure there’s a few, but you see where I’m going. There’s a lot more to the game than the stats, say what you will.
You forgot the part about “sitting in our parents’ basements.” Man, even the trolls are getting lazy. No wonder the economy is in such trouble.
“You didn’t study Orwell’s 1984 at some point in your education?”
Actually, I did. I was being facetious (and I can see you through your computer).
Then you know I’m sitting in my parents’ basement, my glasses fixed with tape, hurriedly photoshoping and revising web pages and stats to reflect the truth “We’ve always had Griffey”