[Outside The Lines] Yankee Stadium "Legends Suite" Officially a Bust

Great article on Yankee Stadium and how its "Legends Suite" has been a colossal failure amidst the economic crisis. Seriously, this is a microcosm of how pro sports continues to price out its most loyal fans. Yankee management went way overboard here, and the empty seats show. Another reason why college sports have a much better feel and atmosphere. Here's a small snippet from the article:

I spent $1,200 and all I got was this lousy sheet of printer paper
OK, OK. I got a little carried away there. There are certain questions that should not -- cannot -- be avoided when you're staring at an empty Champagne bottle in the middle of the afternoon. Like:

Why did my baseball seat come with a waiter and a wine list?
What is somebody like me -- a humble sportswriter -- doing here?
How did any of this happen?

Well, it began with a photograph. You've seen it. The new Yankee Stadium. The House Next To The House That Ruth Built. The picture showed the most expensive seats empty, with the rest of the stadium packed. Here, in a single image, was a hopeful sign that a better America would rise from the ashes of our most recent economic fiasco. Greed, it warned, had consequences. The empty seats were called the Legends Suite. One ticket for one game cost up to $2,500. Of course, for that kind of cash, you got more than just a baseball game: Patrons received concierge service, plus a lavish pregame spread. They'd be protected from the leering hoi polloi by The Moat -- not a metaphorical divide between the haves and have-nots but an actual wall that separates the Legends from the losers. Kids without the proper tickets, the team pointed out proudly, would not be allowed down there to beg for autographs. Two weeks into the season, the Yankees slashed prices. Now the best seats were going for only $1,250, which helped a little, but there are still empty seats. Executives from companies that received government bailout money could buy the seats, but couldn't risk being photographed in them. At the end of the year, the team cut a quarter of the seats from the Legends Suite.





http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=091005yankeestickets