Will the economic crisis hurt the Yankees?

by Travis G on Oct 15, 2008 3:06 PM EDT

They're charging upwards of $600,000 for a luxury suite.

The Yankees move into their new stadium next year, and over the past year they've been trying to sell New York's corporate titans on the virtues of the new stadium's 47 available luxury suites. Asking price: $600,000 to $850,000 a year - several times what other major league teams charge for their luxury boxes.

A year ago, selling Yankees skyboxes was considered a slam dunk. Today, not so much, not with the stock market tanking and most financial companies gushing red ink. "I would hate to be in their position," a top executive with another Major League team says of the Yankees. "$850,000 for a luxury suite?" says Phil Matalucci, president of sports-suite broker Luxury Suite Alternative. "There could not be a worse time for teams to be selling luxury suites."

How happy is Scott-Rod that they got their $300 million deal before this financial crisis?

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I've thought about that ...

Given NYC is the financial heartbeat of the world, and that world is currently on life-support, I’ve thought luxury box sales could dry up …. That was until I spoke with a boat enthusiast friend of mine. I asked him about the state of boating in the U.S. figuring what with the gas crisis many weekend boaters might be keeping their boats under wraps.

He told me that small boat sales were flat-lining. “Nothing is selling. Not sailboats, not powerboats.” However, he added that yacht sales remained strong. When asked why, he replied, “The uber-rich are insulated. They don’t feel what we feel.”

Will this nautical theme be played out in the new Yankee Stadium? I’m guessing so.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Oct 15, 2008 4:19 PM EDT reply actions

In which case

the Yankees should thank their lucky stars that they got their stadium finished before “the rest of us” had a proper reaction to the multi-million dollar publicly funded stadium. Imagine if the Yanks were planning to start building their new yard this offseason.

And with the steady income of those high price seats, and a smaller stadium to fill, the Yanks should come close to maximum performance even with the downturn.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Oct 15, 2008 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions