Sox sellout streak continues and why they lie to the fans.

[FredLynn]

SFF is right. This deserves its own thread.

To continue the discussion started on the game thread today, Boston.com is conducting a poll of what people think about this new data whereby the Red Sox call it a sellout when lots of tickets are not sold. So far with a little over 4000 people voting, over 85% think its either "totally bogus" (55%) or that it casts the team in a bad light. Less than 15% are OK with it and less than 2% of that 15% are "proud of it". I think its a deceptive crock of crap and should be stopped immediately even though the consequences to the ownership will be fewer number of fans rushing out to buy tickets panicked that the game "always sells out".

[Bellhorn04]

It does seem bogus and it should be stopped.

[mvp 78]

Chuckled when I looked at who wrote the story Bob "Sox Killer" Hohler.

[ellsburyforMVP]

In fenways defense , the tickets are "sold" ... To either ace tickets or one of the other 20 something ticketing agencies that have their hands in their... And I've stood in the gameday ticket line for tickets to both a blue jay and oriole gm, and they definitely sold every available GD they had those days ( I was in the 1st 10 or so people each time, but the line was 2-300 deep each time easily )...

 

I've yet to be to a high profile gm-Yankees,rangers etc.. ( that will change this yr!!! ) but even the bluejays and orioles gms I've been too, as I'm sure you guys can attest to also, yeah there's some empty seats until about the 2nd inning , but they quickly fill up to the point where you have to strain to find empty seats... I've only been to a handful of gms since I've moved, but from my experiences the sox def "sold out" the gms I've been too...

[redsoxrules]

In fenways defense ' date=' the tickets are "sold" ... To either ace tickets or one of the other 20 something ticketing agencies that have their hands in their.[/b'].. And I've stood in the gameday ticket line for tickets to both a blue jay and oriole gm, and they definitely sold every available GD they had those days ( I was in the 1st 10 or so people each time, but the line was 2-300 deep each time easily )...

 

I've yet to be to a high profile gm-Yankees,rangers etc.. ( that will change this yr!!! ) but even the bluejays and orioles gms I've been too, as I'm sure you guys can attest to also, yeah there's some empty seats until about the 2nd inning , but they quickly fill up to the point where you have to strain to find empty seats... I've only been to a handful of gms since I've moved, but from my experiences the sox def "sold out" the gms I've been too...

 

 

This

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

It was Ben The Boob's idea! To the gallows with him!

[jung]

Well there are the 800 or so courtesy tickets that are freebee's but there is nothing the Sox are doing here that is not common practice in professional sports. it is no more of a sham for the Sox than it is for any other major sports franchise. So it is not like they have invented a way to keep the streak going. It might not be as important as they think it is on a day to day basis. However, I do think they want to beat that Portland Trailblazers record and I think they will.

[mvp 78]

This

 

Except the article clearly states not all tickets are sold including to ticket brokers like Ace Tickets.

[ORS]

Business owners get creative to achieve a status for marketing goals? Shocking!

 

Film at 11:00.

[FredLynn]

Business owners get creative to achieve a status for marketing goals? Shocking!

 

Film at 11:00.

 

They are lying to the fans. There is no other way to look at it. If tickets remain unsold at the end of the game then, by definition, the game was not a sellout. See the dictionary definition of "sellout". Its pretty cut and dry IMO.

Now I also realize that if the FO began saying that games are not being sold out then some fans might get complacent and not rush out to buy a ticket before they "sell out". That could hurt business. I guess that fact justifies lying to the fans.

It simply needs to stop.

[Gringo]

It does seem bogus and it should be stopped.

 

It's as bogus as the slogan "Fenway - America's Most Beloved Ballpark"

[ibot2much]

 

Film at 11:00.

 

There is a good chance there will be.

[jung]

I would bet that this will cease to be high on the Sox list of things to do once they pass Portland which I guess would be next year.

 

Nobody denies that they do not use a Webster's dictionary definition of sell out but I don't think professional sports team do generally. In fact it would not surprise me in the least to find that there is a league standard definition for "sell out" since you would think teams would want a level playing field in that regard...especially teams that are in close geographic proximity. All by way of saying that I would think the Sox are using what is used in MLB with the fudge factor actually being those comp tickets that are just sitting there.

 

I always thought that the "fudge factor" was in the tickets sold to ticket agencies and whatever number are not sold through but the guy interviewed in the article sort of shot that down. Clearly one data point is not really meaningful but I have always wondered if there isn't some inside deal between the ticket agencies and the ball clubs. However, I also think that if there was such a thing, given the amount of scrutiny this thing is getting, the media would have uncovered it by now.

[Bellhorn04]

It's as bogus as the slogan "Fenway - America's Most Beloved Ballpark"

 

Aha, well, I would say promotional hype is one thing, and flat-out lying is another...

[SoxSport]

Chuckled when I looked at who wrote the story Bob "Sox Killer" Hohler.

 

Hohler should graduate and come up with some dirt on the Yankees. He's had enough experience with the Red Sox.

 

What are they trying to say? That they give away free tickets? LOL.

 

By the way, I learned that the Scranton Yankees' stadium is being upgraded this year with $30 mil--partly from the taxpayers. How do the Yankees get away with funding their new Yankee stadium and now their AAA stadium with taxpayer money? The Marlins got the same deal in Miami--by greasing the pols down there.

 

Not a peep from the media about any of this. Why bother when you can pick on the Red Sox.

[ellsburyforMVP]

http://necir-bu.org/investigations/sox-tickets/where-have-they-gone/

 

This article states that before opening day 85% of all season tickets were sold... Also that 1 man last yr bought 40,000 tickets to resell... And that 75% of all tickets each yr are not even available to the " average fan " ...

 

Idk about the numbers, just like none of you do... But I know from gms I've been too and the hundreds I've seen on tv ( during the streak ) it certainly looks sold-out.... For some reason, people in boston like to be " fashionably late " for gms... Idk, but by the 2nd inning there's barely a seat to be had in the park

[SoxSport]

Well there are the 800 or so courtesy tickets that are freebee's but there is nothing the Sox are doing here that is not common practice in professional sports. it is no more of a sham for the Sox than it is for any other major sports franchise. So it is not like they have invented a way to keep the streak going. It might not be as important as they think it is on a day to day basis. However' date=' I do think they want to beat that Portland Trailblazers record and I think they will.[/quote']

 

 

 

Somebody talking sense here.

[ibot2much]

It may be common practice (?) but no other team is doing the sold out count down...lke it means something

[jung]

It may be common practice (?) but no other team is doing the sold out count down...lke it means something

 

Now this I do agree with. I don't think anybody else has got this sell out watch thing goin' on. Clearly the Sox are using this as a marketing tool in an effort to highlight the value of the brand and continually reinforce the notion of the scarcity of tickets. I am sure it has an impact on advance ticket sales with folks who are planning on traveling to see Fenway and see baseball games compelled to buy their tickets early or see their whole travel plan go down the tubes.

 

I also think that Fenway expansion has been carefully planned and the whole thing has been an integrated and carefully orchestrated marketing scheme.

[ibot2much]

And that might be necessary to the plan of JH selling the team down the road.

 

Not to reignite the raging war of a week or so ago.

[ellsburyforMVP]

It may be common practice (?) but no other team is doing the sold out count down...lke it means something

 

How many other teams sell out even 1/3 of their home gms?

[ORS]

They are lying to the fans. There is no other way to look at it. If tickets remain unsold at the end of the game then, by definition, the game was not a sellout. See the dictionary definition of "sellout". Its pretty cut and dry IMO.

Now I also realize that if the FO began saying that games are not being sold out then some fans might get complacent and not rush out to buy a ticket before they "sell out". That could hurt business. I guess that fact justifies lying to the fans.

It simply needs to stop.

You are making mountain out of a molehill. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

[SoxSport]

Old saying from the old Mayflower donut shop:

 

As you wander your way through life,

Whatever be your goal,

Keep your eye upon the donut,

And not upon the hole.

 

The Globe keeps trying to find the holes.

[Gringo]

Aha' date=' well, I would say promotional hype is one thing, and flat-out lying is another...[/quote']

 

True, but that slogan really bothers me, always has. It's very arrogant. I'm sure Fenway is the most beloved ballpark for Red Sox fans and baseball traditionalists, but that's about it.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Now I also realize that if the FO began saying that games are not being sold out then some fans might get complacent and not rush out to buy a ticket before they "sell out". That could hurt business. I guess that fact justifies lying to the fans.

 

Actually yeah, it does.

[mvp 78]

Fans don't care about the streak. It just feeds ownership's ego.

[ibot2much]

That damn GLOBE. What happens in the front office ( club house), stays in the front office (club house). As Beckett and Francona have said...it isn't important that it is turue, it is important that it got out and the GLOBE printed it

[User Name]

And that might be necessary to the plan of JH selling the team down the road.

 

Not to reignite the raging war of a week or so ago.

 

Which is a fabrication without any evidence behind it.

 

Not to reignite the raging war of a week or so ago.

[FredLynn]

You are making mountain out of a molehill. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

 

One man's molehill is another man's mountain.

I don't like dishonesty in any form. I don't like being lied to. That is apparently more tolerable for some fans than it is to me. You are right: its pretty simple. Some people tolerate dishonesty and others call out the liars when its noticed.

[SoxSport]

Just read this story.

 

I'm not a big fan of the Red Sox management right now (especially after the idiocy of yesterday, leaving Cook in the game with his tendons hanging out--from Salty's quote.)

 

Now, there are a lot of things the Globe could pick on regarding Red Sox management, but this one

looks like much ado about nothing.

 

So there are 300 unsold seats out of 37000+ on a given night, and it's declared a sellout.

Big deal. They give away more freebies to charities than that.

 

Now if there were 10000 unsold seats out of 37000 on a given night, and it was declared a sellout, that would be a big deal worth writing about.

 

In my view, the story stinks even more than the premise.