Ticket Prices Go Way Down

Looks like the Jets are learning a hard economics lesson in supply and demand.

The team announced Wednesday it would reduce prices in the four sections of the Mezzanine Club, which makes up approximately 7,000 of the 80,000 seats in the new stadium.

The reductions will include corner-seat tickets, which are being cut from $400 to $195, and sideline seats, which are going from $500 to $295. Goal-line seats are going from $400 to $245, while prime seats -- around the 50-yard line -- are being reduced from $500 to $395.

''The jump from $120 a ticket or $150 a ticket to $400 just put it out of reach for a lot of people who did want to experience the clubs,'' Matt Higgins, the team's executive vice president of business operations, told The Associated Press. ''We came to the conclusion that these prices are really 2007 prices in a 2009 world.

Higgins, owner Woody Johnson and Thad Sheely, the team's executive vice president of finance and stadium development, conducted research through focus groups and devised a plan they thought would make purchasing Mezzanine Club tickets more affordable for fans.

''We looked at the possible pricing options we had, and we took the most aggressive option we could, which is slashing the price more than 50 percent on the entry point,'' Higgins said. ''Our strategy is really clear: We want to open the building sold out.''

On the one hand, I think it's a shame the Jets raised prices like this to begin with. It showed a bit of tone deafness to jack prices up like that in these times. On the other hand, I guess you can't blame them too much. Every team is doing it, and the ownership has spent a lot of money acquiring great players to put a good product on the field for the fans. In the end, the team didn't really have a choice the way sales were going.

Even in a good economy, it's kind of a tough sell. With HD television, you can feel like you're there from the comfort of your own living room. You don't have to fight traffic. You don't have to settle for concession food (at high prices), and you can just relax and flip on another game when the Jets are done.

Does this news make you any more likely to buy season tickets?