The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have carved out some prime field seats at Angel Stadium of Anaheim as the baseball team battles tough sales of season tickets.
The team is selling 36 seats in boxes next to the dugouts, which was empty space during last year’s regular season and was used for photographers during the playoffs.
The new seats are as close to the field as you can get.
“We saw we could provide an opportunity to our fans,” said Robert Alvarado, vice president of marketing and ticket sales for Angels Baseball LP.
The seats are spilt with 18 just beyond the Angels’ dugout along third base and 18 just beyond the visitors’ dugout at first base.
The seats are being sold in eight-game packages,not as season tickets,and won’t be available if the team makes it to the playoffs or World Series, when photographers would reclaim the space.
“Baseball rules require us to accommodate photographers for the post-season,” Alvarado said.
The seats cost $215 a game and are sold in packages of four. About 60% already have been sold, according to Alvarado.
The team could sell any unsold seats before each game, he said.
The effort comes as the Angels are dealing with the recession’s impact on season ticket sales.
The “hesitancy” businesses were showing last year for buying season tickets for dugout and other suites has turned into full-fledged avoidance, Alvarado said.
“We’re seeing things play out in a different way this year, more so than in any other downturn,” he said.
Some companies have dropped out completely and others are looking to renegotiate their season ticket contracts, Alvarado said.
In the past, dropouts would have been backfilled from a waiting list, which the team doesn’t have this year.
“Sales are coming in, but not at the pace we were accustomed too,” Alvarado said.
Ticket sales,particularly for corporate suites,are a big source of revenue. When ticket sales slow, issues arise with payroll and profits.
Overall season ticket sales are down, Alvarado said, but he declined to give specifics.
On average, the Angels have not raised ticket prices, according to the company.
The Numbers
Last year the Angels sold about 30,000 tickets for the 2008 season, with about 29,000 sold at this time last year.
This year, Alvarado said he’d be happy being only slightly down in ticket sales from a year ago.
“Everyone in baseball is down and in the same boat,” he said.
The team plans to keep selling season ticket packages until May or June, according to Alvarado.
“This is discretionary spending” and some companies are looking to save their cash, he said.
The Angels sell season tickets to companies under contracts that can run from a year to seven years.
Season ticket sales include full season, 81-game packages as well as partial packages.
Full-year corporate suites, which can hold 12 to 16 people, go for $70,000 to $240,000.
“There are a couple schools of thought this year,” Alvarado said. “Either business is down and they have cut back on luxuries like season seats or their business is soft and they’re trying to protect capital. It’s the bunker mentality.”
The team works with companies to rework ticket contracts, offering installment payments or helping to find another company to take over the contract.
Alvarado said he’s seen an unsettling trend of larger businesses attempting to downplay their ability to afford season tickets and suites.
“We’ve had a handful of large companies that may be public companies or have received TARP money that are cutting back because of the perception in the marketplace,” Alvarado said.
The companies, particularly those that have received federal money, don’t want to deal with any public relations backlash, Alvarado said, as happened to New York-based American International Group Inc.
The Angels’ prospects on the field look better, despite losing some key players from the team’s first 100-win season last year.
As of last week, the Angels had the best record in spring training games.
In 2008, the Angels drew 3.3 million fans to its home games, ranking sixth in attendance among Major League Baseball’s 30 teams.
The team’s season opener is April 6 in Anaheim. n
