The New Yankee Stadium and 2008 All-Star Game

Within the Season Ticket Renewal Letter there were a few bits of information pertaining to the fate of season ticket holders for the All-Star Game and relocation to the New Yankee Stadium.

New Yankee Stadium
"Early in 2008, you will receive an official New Yankee Stadium Relocation Package which will detail our relocation policies and procedures, your relocation status as a Ticket Licensee and complete information about seating opportunities at the new Yankee Stadium."

So, it appears as though we will know well in advance where our new seats will be for 2009 and hopefully have the opportunity to ensure that we keep our "neighborhood" intact.

2008 All-Star Game
"MLB and the Yankees will use commercially reasonable business efforts to offer Full Season, A Plan and B Plan Ticket Licensees the opportunity to purchase a license, for Tickets, equal to the quantity of Ticket(s) in said Ticket Licensee's Ticket Account, not necessarily in the same seat locations (subject to availability), for the All-Star events scheduled to be held at the Stadium.

"All Ticket Licensees, regardless of plan type, must purchase a strip or strips of Tickets for all MLB All-Star events to be held at the Stadium (i.e. the same seat location and the same quantity of strips for all All-Star events) and each strip will include 2 DHL FanFest Tickets. For example, if you purchase two (2) All-Star events strips of Tickets, you will also purchase four (4) FanFest Tickets. There is no exceptions to this policy."

From reading the above, full season ticket holders will have first crack at the opportunity to buy strips of tickets which sounds like MLB's way of overcharging for the event by adding a bunch of worthless FanFest tickets to every purchase. It also reads as if we bought 2 tickets to the Futures Game, Home Run Derby, and All-Star Game we would have to buy 12 FanFest tickets.

A few big questions still remain. What are "commercially responsible business efforts"? I am going to assume that half of all season ticket holders will have the chance to "purchase a license" for All-Star tickets. Hopefully it is weighted toward the length of ownership of a Ticket License, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was seat location and then length of ownership. If we are selected to buy an All-Star license, do we have a shot at our usual seats? I would guess that MLB gets first pick at the seats they hand out to their sponsors and to the players, so our seats may be vulnerable due to their panache and value during the Home Run Derby. And lastly, if selected, does each Ticket License have the opportunity to buy tickets to each of the events or only choose one of the three? It sounds like the winning season ticket holders will have the right to buy an equal number of seats for all the events and then presumably the remaining tickets go into a general lottery for the public.

Here's hoping we're all sitting in Section 39 in mid-July!