Monday, March 2, 2009

Are there really 10 reasons to watch the Pirates?

Got an e-mail the other day from the friendly neighborhood Pittsburgh Pirates marketing department. I have absolutely no idea how, but I ended up on an e-mail listing of theirs a while back, and frequently have to delete read different mailers they send out. These guys are better at spinning than Soviet Russia and Fox News put together.

Anyway, I got an e-mail from the Pirates the other day that, for some reason, I actually read. The title was The Top 10 Reasons To Buy Pirates Season Tickets in 2009. Now, as I understand it, there's some sort of recession going on (please note that I'm not an ignorant idiot, I'm actually a business student who has no job prospects, so that last sentence was dripping in sarcasm), so I was quite curious to see just how the Pirates could try to justify plopping down whatever ungodly amount of cash it is for 40 or even 81 regular season games. Here's the screenshot in case you aren't one of the cool kids who receive Pirate e-mails:My computer sucks and I didn't really feel like trying to make it any better than this, so too bad if you can't read it. Anyway, let's break this puppy down.

-They are trying to pass off $400 as a bargain. I mean...yeah I guess for 81 games that is a bargain, but do you really think there is anyone without a season ticket package already who is going to go to 81 games. Add to that the fact that scalping these things is next to impossible (hell, even giving them away is tough enough) and I'm not so sure this is really a great deal when most people are worried about whether or not they are going to have an income for the next year.

-Believe it or not, re-selling your tickets on StubHub is actually a reason. "yeah come buy Pirate tickets so that you can try to re-sell them on a website where fans go for hard-to-find tickets!" How hard are the people at StubHub going to laugh when they see you trying to sell tickets on their site for upper-deck seats?

-They do try to promote PNC Park, a very valid reason, as it is The Best Ballpark In America.

-All of 2 reasons are related to the baseball players. "Raise the Jolly Roger"= lame. A win is nice and all, but its hard to sell fans on a win with this bunch. The other one about watching the kids (like McLouth and Doumit) grow is valid.

-Also included is Attend Exclusive Events! Members-only events like Field Days (no idea what that is), Batting Practice (Since when is BP limited only to an exclusive group? Last I checked you could watch BP and get a better seat anyway if you showed up pretty early and bought a cheap bleacher seat) and Player Meet-and-Greets. I suppose that the last one is kinda cool, but I don't know how often that happens or how it is structured. I'm a bit lukewarm on this idea without more details.

I mean, I commend the Bucs for trying to get some buzz going, but at the same time its a little hard to fathom much success with this little promotion.

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