Jets season ticket holders, and those on the waiting list to get season tickets, spent the weekend mulling – and seething - over the recent PSL survey the Jets sent out. The surveys were received, to understate it a bit, negatively.
Woody Johnson could make it better with a follow-up letter/email such as this:
"Dear Jets season ticket holders,
It is after careful consideration, of both my bank account and yours, that I have decided that this franchise will NOT use PSLs to help finance the new stadium.
I reached this decision not to curry favor with you but simply because there’s always been something kind of untoward about this whole PSL business. It’s time an NFL owner stood up and said, “no.”
I’m sure just about every season ticket holder was concerned recently when we sent out a survey that said, among other things, “The Jets have taken a substantial amount of debt to finance the construction of the new $1.3 billion stadium. Like other teams that have built stadiums in the recent past, the Jets are required to pay back this construction debt quickly. The Jets are surveying different types and terms of Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) as one of the ways to help achieve this requirement.”
The point has been made elsewhere that this stadium is being funded entirely via private means and the implication of the above passage is because of that, the public should share some of the costs for this private enterprise. If I was a fan and I read that, my response would be this:
So if we as the public have to help subsidize this “private venture,” does this give us even partial equity and therefore the ability to share in some of the profits?
Of course, any owner would have a simple answer to that:
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Anyway, in the survey, we describe a PSL as “an asset, like a taxi medallion, that is purchased in addition to the ticket that give the holder ownership of the seat. This holder can then sell the seat license in the future, including for any profit, to someone else if the holder no longer wishes to purchase season tickets.”
That was an affront to your intelligence and an overall clumsy comparison. Did you know that a retiring NYC driver, who had been a cabbie for 25 years, sold his medallion in 2007 for a reported $600,000? According to what I read, the gentleman paid $30,000 for it in 1981. But individuals don’t really buy taxi medallions anymore the way individual fans buy PSLs. The city has just over 13,000 taxi medallions and most of those medallions, because of their high price (we’re talking mid six figures here) and the infrequency in which they hit the open market, are owned by investment companies, THEN leased out to individual drivers.
The medallion analogy fails on so many levels and here’s another: a taxi medallion gives its owner the right to operate a licensed vehicle for continuous profit (basically, the fare charged for driving someone from point A to point B). Where is the continuous profit in a PSL? Sure, you can sell your tickets on a week to week basis but a season ticket holder can do that now, without a PSL.
Most important, let’s be honest about something else here. No fan looks at season tickets as an investment or an asset. Terms like that didn’t enter the sports vernacular when it came to season-ticket discussions until the Carolina Panthers started peddling their PSLs in the mid-90’s and introduced the “investment” concept as a misdirection play to what was really happening: a con and a hustle for an easy influx of cash.
The reality is, those of you who have had season tickets with us since those wind-swept days at Shea or have gotten them since we moved to the wind-swept Meadowlands, you have those tickets because you are rabid fans of your team, some of the most loyal fans in the NFL. Simply put, you love your team, living and discussing it 365, 24/7. The investment you make is emotional with the dividends paid in the form of bonds established between fathers and sons – daughters, too – and/or the friendships forged through the shared experiences of arriving in a parking lot before sunrise and knocking back a few while grilling meat over an open fire.
Believe it or not, sometimes when I watch those scenes on my way into the stadium on Sundays, I’m jealous. Ultimately, pricing those kinds of fans, who repeat that Sunday ritual even in the snow and bone-chilling winds of December, out of seeing their favorite team isn’t the right thing to do.
What was also unfortunate in regard to that survey was its timing. I mean, some of you received it around the same time you read that Anheuser-Busch had joined MetLife as a “cornerstone” sponsor for the new stadium. As we finalize the deal for that money – in the neighborhood of $10 million a year from each cornerstone (and there’s four of them) - you get hit with this prelude to what amounts to a forced panhandle masquerading as a “survey.”
Admittedly, that’s a bit unseemly.
Additionally, and I really should have read this stuff more closely before it went out to you folks, there was this poorly phrased justification:
“PSLs have been sold in virtually every new NFL stadium built in the past 15 years as a way of paying for the construction costs. For example, the Dallas Cowboys have announced a PSL program with prices ranging [from] $2,000 to $12,000 for general admission seats and from $16,000 to $150,000 for club seats.”
But you know what? The “everyone else is doing it so that’s what we’re going to do,” reasoning stinks. It stinks because that’s not how my family built the company it founded in the late 19th century into one of the world’s great corporate juggernauts. And it’s not how I became one of the nation’s sharpest businessmen. I became who I am by knowing that it’s possible to go against the grain, to take calculated risks and still succeed. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is not a path and leave a trail.’
Just one small example: Over 30 years ago when I was starting off in Florida, I invested in this new fad known as “cable” television. This, when banks wouldn’t touch the stuff. Sold it off, too, at a tidy profit when I was ready to tackle other interests. The unconventional aspect of who I am extends into my personal life as I’m one of the few of the super-wealthy who, when lobbying Congress, has done so for philanthropic purposes. That’s how six years ago I secured a guaranteed $750 million in funds for diabetes research.
‘go instead where there is not a path and leave a trail…’
So that’s what we, the New York Jets, will do, regardless of the Giants’ plans, which though not yet announced, are to sock their fans with PSLs at to-be-determined prices. I will let the Giants turn themselves into all sorts of verbal pretzels in attempting to dress the PSL porker up into something aesthetically pleasing, tossing around words like “asset” and “investment,” to make it sound like a benefit to fans when it only benefits ownership.
I can tell you parking and concessions will still be high, and there will be gradual ticket increases, but those things have been going on for years in professional sports and, I think, most of you grudgingly accept that as the price of doing business. It’s the concept of paying a user’s fee for the right to THEN pay those outrageous prices that disgusts you, and understandably so. Seriously, do I have to pay a PSL on my owner’s suite? That’s ridiculous and I’m not going to ask you to do something I myself wouldn’t do and certainly wouldn’t want to do.
In short, the debt issues are real but guess what? A lot of my success in life can be credited to this adage: there’s always more than one way. And I intend to find it.
Go Jets!
Sincerely,
Robert Wood Johnson IV
Comments (29)
In order for something like that to happen, Woody would actually have to be competent.
I met Woody in the parking lot before one of the games a few years ago. We were tailgating and he came up to us and started chatting.
He asked what time we'd be heading in. When we told him a little later he said, 'Oh, so you're gonna miss kickoff?' The implication being, if we got in after 1pm, we'd miss the start of the game.
There's one problem with that...It was a 4:15 start...Shouldn't the owner of the team have some idea when the game is even played?
(Pardon my sketchy details, it was a few years back...But I do remember me and the 10-15 other people I was with just looking at each other, completely confused by this guy's cluelessness)
Honestly, I don't know if Woody is a good owner or a bad owner. I thought he was cheap, but he silenced me this off-season. He's probably a very good businessman, which is why PSLs will probably become a reality.
The fact is, the guy knows nothing about football and probably doesn't really care about the 'real' fans, or any fan in general.
So, Erik, while your letter is amusing and would be a great solution, I don't think we'll be hearing anything even remotely close to that coming from Woody, ever.
Going to Jet games are going to be a little too expensive for my taste, gas going up, tolls going up, i'm sure the parking fee's will be going up and now this?!...instead of spending all that $$ on a mediocre team, i'll purchase a brand new 65 inch 1080p tv and watch the game from the comfort of my living room...I mean it's not like this franchise is a proven winner to warrant such an expense...my apologies for going off-topic, but has there ever been a study done on the life span of a Jet/Met fan??...our average should be pretty low..lol..
Dear Erik,
Good letter. You should send it to him, just in case Newsday is not on his daily digest.
Hey, Boland, was wondering where you'd been. It had been three days without a post, after all. Quite unlike you, really.
Regarding the substance of your post, I think you would agree that only the Bizarro Woody would ever likely pen such a letter. No owner, much less ours, would ever put the interests of the fans above his own selfish financial interests.
The obvious thought you put into your post makes me wonder whether you are subtly campaigning for a job with the Jets PR staff. But, as such a job would require you to renounce all of your deeply held beliefs, as a long suffering fan yourself (although of the Browns, not the Jets), I just don't think you have the right stuff for such a job.
Which is one reason I enjoy reading you so much.
Interesting concept, Mr. Boland. If Mr. Johnson follows through on your suggestion, I would suspect we will soon be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy.
One thing to remember...
PSL money doesnt get shared with the other teams.
Ticket revenue gets split 60/40 with the visiting team.
PSL's are just another way for Woody to make money, and he is a businessman, not a football fan. As a businessman PSL's are the smarter route to take no matter how many fans you piss off. There will be plenty of people/businesses willing to shell out the bucks for them.
And the corporate suits wont be going to the gate d spiral to watch the halftime show like us common folk.
jetnation.com
My God Boland, how long did it take you to write that dissertation?
I like Bryan's point the best. What's up, Dan Rather? Enjoying making up letters, are we?
I think it is a little unfair to criticize the Jets for doing business the way every other NFL team does. Next we will be complaining about how the Jets do not complete finacnially with the Carolina's and the Dallas'es. However, I think the team should be reasonable and honest. The did not take on the building of a 1.3 billion dollar stadum. They took on SHARING the cost of building a 1.3 billion dollar stadium. The stadium the WANTED to build on the railways was going to be apprx $1.8 billion and the cost was going up rapidly. I am not a fan of PSL's, but I think the ownership has to be prudent & reasonable. Go ahead and charge for PSL . But make then the most affordable ones in the league and only after you have exhausted all other revenue streams. However, we fans can not complain when the stadium, every commercial, every break in the acton and possibly even the uniforms resemble something out of NASCAR.
Bryan and Cliff, you guys a team now or something? A dissertation and Dan Rather comparison....that's harsh. Not bad, though.
Boland, you're not a Rather fan? I pegged you for a liberal commi.
Erik: You hit the nail on the head.
I don't think of my tickets as an investment. They're an *expense*. I want to be in the stadium when the Defense needs some noise. I want to cheer each reception when the Jets are down by four with sixty yards, a minute thirty and the Dolphins standing between them and victory. Most importantly, I want to be in the stadium because when it rains on my team, it rains on me. Try to get your corporate investments there in foul weather, Mr. Johnson. It won't happen.
Erik,
Nice thought, but if Woody or any higher up in the Jets Corporation really cared about the fans, they wouldn't be sharing a Jersey stadium, moving training facilities, or talking about jobbing the fans for the cost of it all.
They would have built a Jets stadium in Queens, stayed at Weeb Ewbank and found a way to accept reasonable profits.
Leon Hess was a horrible football guy, but he cared about the fans. He's turning in his grave!
Erik, are you mad at me? That's three posts that have been rejected, or lost to the ether-net.
good letter, unfortunately Woody and the football people he surrounds himself with don't care, because they don't care if people come to the game or not. He just cares that the seats have been sold. Maybe We as Jet FANS should test him on this and boycott a game together in 2008. Let the silence of the stadium and the embarassement of the sponsors and NFL speak to Mr. Johnson and his people. If he goes through with this, unfortunately he will lose the real fans, and his sponsors and their ghosts will fill those cold seats! - Because that's what they are without the true fans- COLD SEATS!
Mr. Green T, sometimes the system goes all haywire. It happens to me as well sometimes when I try to respond to you guys here. One reader, Big A, suggested if you get one of those error messages, copy and paste your comment, then hit the refresh button because you want to get a different security number code below. When the security code changes, paste in the comment and hit "post." If I've misquoted Big A, my apologies. I'm a technical idiot, among other things.
did anyone actually read all that?
technically or a technical?
I'm starting to revert back to the old posting...giving you a hard time was way more fun than praising you
Then monkeys will fly out of his butt.
Boland, I got a letter from Woody Johnson today. It was an exact copy of your "War and Peace"-sized blog post.
Cliff, well, if I wrote, "technically, I'm an idiot," I'm doing all of your work for you. Need to keep you sharp.
Bryan, NOW I'm getting compared to War and Peace??
Boland, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't grill you about trying to fill the blog space while we all wait for training camp. You need to post SOMETHING to keep up with Neil Best, hence the first few dozen pages of the encyclopedia you have posted here. Haha, Boland, as much as you "hate" Cliff and me busting your chops, you gotta love all the page hits it gives you.
Question,
So if the new stadiums have these licenses, then do the waiting lists go away? If not, then are the owners of the license required to sell to the next person on the waiting list, or is there a free market?
When I was in Philly in 2001, there was a huge uproar about the PSL for their new stadium. As they've become more and more commonplace, they've become accepted with less uproar (maybe not? I can't really hear the uproar all the way up here in New England) I got to see a game last year in NJ thanks to a corporate sponser (I was one of 5 Jets fans in the box...I brought 3 of them!). I won't spend $$ on tix from a broker until they become a better team. It isn't worth the grief of seeing a game at Gillette when they are as bad as they've been the past few years.
Bryan, Neil Best is the Babe Ruth of bloggers. It's a unique place he occupies in this world. As Bobby Jones once said of Jack Nicklaus, "he plays a game with which I am not familiar." Really, the goal here is to keep up with Glauber. Oh, and now you're going with ENCYCLOPEDIA? Man...
Deb, your question can't be answered yet because each team does their PSL sales differently and, based on the survey the Jets sent out, they're not saying how many they would sell in the new stadium. Often, it's what the market can bear. For example, the first team to sell PSLs - the Panthers - sold about 62,000 of them in a 72,000 seat stadium.
John Z. took the words right out of my mouth (keyboard?). If the Wood-man really cared about the average fan, the Jets would have been much more agressive in trying to find a way to build in Flushing Meadow, and upgrading the facilities at Hofstra. What percentage of Jets fans does he think actually live in NJ? Johnson (a fitting euphemism) is a bottom line businessman first, last & always.
He has a bit of an elitism in him, too. A few years ago I had the good fortune of watching a game from the luxury box next to his. After the game, we were getting on the elevator to leave when a couple of personal security-tyoes asked us to get off the elevator. They then whisked Mr. J and his party aboard. Heaven forbid Woody (also descriptive) have to share his elevator with a couple of low-class average fans.
I totally agree with Marty. Woody Johnson could not be more aptly named. Double shot.
As always, the world is run by money...where can they get the most, where can they save the most. No owner truly cares about their fans. Hell, Steinbrenner (sp? dont really feel like looking it up) is destroying one of the most fabled and respected stadiums in all of sports JUST to add some more boxes. The days of players and owners caring about fans are gone...its rare to find players who, when walking down the street, would be willing to have a conversation with a random person who was able to pick them out of the crowd....but thats less rare than finding an owner who would take care of his customers before anything else.
Season Ticket holder (two tickets) since 1974, have suffered through the eighty's when the jets organization put ^%@* on the field, and offered no rebates to season tickets holders for the fraud they called professional football. Oh wait- we're still suffering more than twenty years later!
J-E-T-S! PSLs- J-E-T-S! Please Stop Losing!
We'll buy a flat screen to watch losing football. Woody and Mara deserve each other, and it would be great to see JUST the two of them sitting (ALONE) in the $20.000 PSL box of their new shiny stadium while a game is being played. That won't happen, but it's a great visual.
Season Ticket holder (two tickets) since 1974, have suffered through the eighty's when the jets organization put ^%@* on the field, and offered no rebates to season tickets holders for the fraud they called professional football. Oh wait- we're still suffering more than twenty years later!
J-E-T-S! PSLs- J-E-T-S! Please Stop Losing!
We'll buy a flat screen to watch losing football. Woody and Mara deserve each other, and it would be great to see JUST the two of them sitting (ALONE) in the $20.000 PSL box of their new shiny stadium while a game is being played. That won't happen, but it's a great visual.