Theo Mackie on the season ticketholder experience....

[football karma]

once again, Mackie is proving himself to be maybe the best Cards beat writer in long, long time.

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and yes, the AZ Rep article is behind a paywall but in it, he interviews 14 long time season ticket holders, 11 of which are passing on renewing. Mostly due to price -- lower bowl tickets have nearly doubled in 5 years(!!) but also due to a slow steady erosion of season ticket holder benefits that have been eliminated.

the changes coincide with the hiring of this guy: https://www.azcardinals.com/team/front-office-roster/jeremy-walls

 

[BigDavis75]

Mackie is definitely worth a follow on twitter as well, really good insights.

 

[kerouac9]

Absolutely savage takedown.

 

[ajcardfan]

It put all of my complaints into one article. I got season tickets in 94 but dropped them in 23. I went in 50/50 with a friend the last two years. They are in the Ring of Honor. Nice seats. He did reup and said we can go in with him again but right now I really don't feel like it. The price increase is a slap in the face after such a pathetic product this year.

 

[dscher]

This is probably my favorite, and most important, so far...

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[football karma]

As i read that article -- with all the other stories that have come out -- an unflattering picture of Mike Bidwill as a manager has been painted in detail.

Maybe Walls was given the mission to juice revenue from the stadium -- but the overall execution of the mission has been terrible resulting in the alienation of their best customers.

the reality of the high-$ things like Club Rojo and the end zone casitas are that they attract the most fickle buyers who only want it when a Cardinal football game is the place to be -- especially in this town.

When the results on the field are bad -- they are the first to not renew.

Meanwhile, those fans who had made an emotional investment in the team were driven away when the team tried to monetize the last $0.01 of that commitment.

as badly as Mike has screwed up the football side of things -- the actual business side of things has been just as bad.

 

[kerouac9]

As i read that article -- with all the other stories that have come out -- an unflattering picture of Mike Bidwill as a manager has been painted in detail.

Maybe Walls was given the mission to juice revenue from the stadium -- but the overall execution of the mission has been terrible resulting in the alienation of their best customers.

the reality of the high-$ things like Club Rojo and the end zone casitas are that they attract the most fickle buyers who only want it when a Cardinal football game is the place to be -- especially in this town.

When the results on the field are bad -- they are the first to not renew.

Meanwhile, those fans who had made an emotional investment in the team were driven away when the team tried to monetize the last $0.01 of that commitment.

as badly as Mike has screwed up the football side of things -- the actual business side of things has been just as bad.

The Casitas seem like they’d cannibalize your suite revenue, but there were lots of empty suites on the club level last time I was there as well as some dark skyboxes.

I also think there are corporate entities and some rich folks who will pay $30k or whatever to do this once a year if they can entertain clients who are fans of the opposing team.

I assume club rojo is a 3-year commitment.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

From 1993 until the new stadium, we sat in the South Endzone at SDS. We loved the view and the seats were cheap. When the new stadium opened, suddenly our endzone seats were priced as if they were the best seats in the place, so we just got some nosebleeds. Affordable and we almost never sit in them. We used to travel the lower concourse and follow the ball. We'd see most of the scoring plays in each game by being where the action was taking place. Over time we found one of the endzone cubbies - it used to be the one where @MadJack's sign would hang. We now have a group of friends that we see every game.

Being there to support the team with a growing group of friends, and seeing ASFNers, or other longtime season ticketholders (some we have known since 1993 at SDS) is a large part of why we keep returning. Something about the gameday experience and "being there" is fantastic. For me, since 1988, I have only missed two home preseason games of all of the games with fans allowed in the building. My wife joined me in going in 1993 and has only missed a handful of games - ones in which I took one of my uncles or my nephew.

It's not for everyone, but there are many fans like us. We show up every game. We have fun. We catch up on things like work, family, grandkids, etc. Already looking forward to the next home game, preseason or otherwise.

Go Cards !!!

 

[KYCardFan]

Empty Seats matter.....Don't renew

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Empty Seats matter.....Don't renew

The team won't be hurting - even with empty seats. I don't care what others do, but we already renewed.

 

[jf-08]

Absolutely deserved takedown.

Ftfy

 

[SECTION 11]

I’m not going again. Maybe ever. It’s the worst home field experience in sports.

 

[football karma]

Empty Seats matter.....Don't renew

I think this can have an impact.

the Packer release their financials. Last year they made $60mm on $718mm in revenue. Of that $718mm -- $286mm was "local" revenue -- not from the NFL rev sharing.
GB is a small market in the NFL, but i suspect it punches above its weight financially to be "average". Meaning -- I think its a decent starting point to the Cardinals

IF you assume that the Cards local revenues were "only" 80% as high as Green Bay -- thats $57mm lower in revenues and would basically wipe out the $60mm in profit (which also assumes AZ and GBs cost structure is about the same).

Im not saying the Cards are poor, but I am saying they absolutely need those local revenues -- ticket sales, casitas, club, etc. Any serious reduction there will get the family's attention.

 

[vince56]

I think this can have an impact.

the Packer release their financials. Last year they made $60mm on $718mm in revenue. Of that $718mm -- $286mm was "local" revenue -- not from the NFL rev sharing.
GB is a small market in the NFL, but i suspect it punches above its weight financially to be "average". Meaning -- I think its a decent starting point to the Cardinals

IF you assume that the Cards local revenues were "only" 80% as high as Green Bay -- thats $57mm lower in revenues and would basically wipe out the $60mm in profit (which also assumes AZ and GBs cost structure is about the same).

Im not saying the Cards are poor, but I am saying they absolutely need those local revenues -- ticket sales, casitas, club, etc. Any serious reduction there will get the family's attention.

Or they could sell the team for $4 billion and move on with their lives.

A new owner comes in, renames the team the Arizona Phoenix or Firebirds or something super cool like Wyverns or Griffins, and we win some games with a well-funded organization. Pipe dream for sure.

 

[Mr X]

Never been a fan of the new stadium in general. The seats don't hover over the field like other stadiums and having a whole endzone missing is crazy. And now our field sucks?

Had SE in sun devil for a few years then ring of honor in the new.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Never been a fan of the new stadium in general. The seats don't hover over the field like other stadiums and having a whole endzone missing is crazy. And now our field sucks?

Had SE in sun devil for a few years then ring of honor in the new.

It has always had a cold industrial feel to it. It is definitely a building in which football is played rather than a football building.

 

[vince56]

Never been a fan of the new stadium in general. The seats don't hover over the field like other stadiums and having a whole endzone missing is crazy. And now our field sucks?

Had SE in sun devil for a few years then ring of honor in the new.

I agree. There was something special about game days at SDS that just isn't there without the sunlight.

 

[ajcardfan]

It has always had a cold industrial feel to it. It is definitely a building in which football is played rather than a football building.

I suppose some people might feel that way but nothing else, besides football, happens there. Oh, there are a handful of other events like Monster Trucks but most NFL stadiums have that crap.

The fact that it has real grass was supposed to make it more "real football" like. That and a roof that opens, which once was unique. But, they have never seemed to figure out how to grow the grass well and they barely ever open the roof.

 

[ajcardfan]

Winning would cure a whole lot of the bad vibes.

It's not like it's never been a fun place to watch games. During 2008 to 2010, and then the Arians years, it DID get really loud, the visiting teams struggled with the noise, and the vibe was mostly great. Even with lots of opposing fans.

But, in my mind, it started to go downhill around 2017 to 2018.

1. There were some pretty large price increases and some of the old timers from SDS started to get priced out. At least from the lower bowl.

2. That was when fan perks started to dry up and eventually go away. We used to get stuff when we got our tickets. There were giveaways every game. It did make us feel appreciated.

3. When everything went digital it really went to crap. That makes me sound like an old man, but hear me out. With paper tickets, it took effort to sell them. You had to actually see people face to face or physically transfer them somehow. Now? You can post them in the stupid app, which sucks, and you have no clue who gets them and it takes minimal effort. People who don't like the Cardinals, hell don't even like football, buy tickets just to make money. Sure, you might lose a little on a season like last year. But a season like this upcoming season? You could easily double your money.

 

[Dr. Jones]

This team will never consistently win with a Bidwill in the ownership chair.

Total clown show. Laughingstock of the league.

At the ownership meetings, he's the cuddly, loveable idiot at the dinner table that everyone smiles at but silently ignores. They will never have to worry about a competitive franchise in AZ and will always be able to fly all of their high-paying fans out to fill those empty seats. Who wouldn't want that in a city like Phoenix?

I hate the Bidwill name with the fury of a thousand nuclear explosions.

 

[GatorAZ]

It has always had a cold industrial feel to it. It is definitely a building in which football is played rather than a football building.

UOP was one of the best home field advantages when we were winning. Some all time playoff atmospheres. Winning is everything.

 

[General Chaos]

I have hoped Mikey B would bring on a minority owner much like the Raiders did. Would bring an influx of cash to the franchise. But knowing what we do about Mike, his ego and tight grib on control would never allow it. So we’ll continue to be a mis-managed poor franchise.

 

[GeorgiaCard88]

Not a season ticket holder as I live out of town, but I did pay a hefty sum for some midfield seats for the niners game. Game turned into a blowout and 75% of the stadium was niners fans.

I’m not spending any more money on this team until we have a product proven worth spending on

 

[jf-08]

As many of you may recall, I used to have a Jack in the Box Cardinal Antenna Ball as my avatar forever. The Cardinals PR team reached out to me and told me that because I was in a management position here they wanted to charge me for the license use for that image. So that's why I changed it



(Just kidding)

 

[MadCardDisease]

After 22 years of being a Season Ticket holder I canceled my 5 season tickets back in 2018. Prices were on the rise and my kids didn't want to go to the games anymore. Not to mention I could barely give the tickets away. The whole having to drive all the way to the West Valley and fight parking and getting through security was starting to drain me as well. Not to mention that I always complained about the selection and quality of the food but nothing was ever done about it.

I will say that my friend's gave me their tickets to the final home game this season and I did see improvements. The quality of food and the additions of a bunch of different choices of vendors (on the lower level at least) seemed to have been greatly improved. My son and I had a blast but I still hate the drive and dealing with parking and then getting out of the parking lot. Not many people were at the Falcons game since both teams sucked so getting in and out wasn't too bad. I still just hate the drive.

The wife and I have recently thought about getting 2 seats in a better location but I eventually told her that the prices for tickets were just not worth it for us. It's not just the Cardinals. I've told my wife no on going to see a bunch of concerts that cost over $250 per ticket for a decent seat. The value just isn't there for me. I'd rather spend my money on other things. Shoot I just bought round trip airfare direct to the Big Island of Hawaii from Phoenix for $269. Sign me up for that any day of the week.