Friday, June 1, 2012

Do Stadium Giveaways Take Away from the Ballgame?

Who doesn't like to get free stuff? Whether it's free food, a free ticket to a game, free baseball cards...I could go on. Every year I make it a point to go on a pilgrimage to Cincinnati to catch a Reds game. On occasion I'll buy a ticket to a particular game when I know that they're giving away a bobblehead of someone I don't yet have in my collection. I love my bobbleheads as they sit there on the bookcase in my yet unfinished Reds Man Cave, but I have begun to wonder...is it really worth it for the game to have all of these promotions? It seems like we've become a society in which we're always asking "What's in it for me?" Have we reached a point where we refuse to spend an evening at the ballpark rooting for our team because they weren't giving something out at the game? Better yet, why do most stadiums have a cheer team that come out every few innings to shoot a cheap two dollar t-shirt into the stands so that we can hit, kick, or shove other people out of the way for a measly piece of cotton? Maybe someone pissed in my Wheaties this morning but, in my own humble opinion, if you need to get something to venture out to the ballpark you're not a fan of the game. In fact, your time would be better spent scrounging supermarkets for free samples. Then again, that's just my humble opinion.

2 comments:

Jason T. Carter said...

I have to disagree with you. The price of tickets is so high now, unless I can find them dirt cheap on StubHub, I'm not going to go to a ballgame unless I can take something cool home with me. And we usually take our soft drinks with us, and eat a big meal before going so we don't have to break the bank on concessions. We'll hit up the dollar stand for a few treats, but that's it.

My family went to a game last week, and for just the tickets it was over $60...and those were the cheapest available. In this economy, that's outrageous.

JT, The Writer's Journey

Jeff Laws said...

I agree with your thinking. I could care less about the giveaways, but if the giveaways bring in younger fans and even bring in more fans, then it's more money for the team. As much as I don't care how much money the team in general gets, if it keeps ticket prices down, and the team puts the money back into the team. I'm for it.