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2015 : Upper Deck Renovations = Fewer seats


MarkB452

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I went in to check on upgrading my seats at noon today.  I noticed that my seats had been moved (w/o my knowledge or consent) from section 401 Row 23 seats 1-4 to Section 401 row 16 (seats x to y, where x > 10 and y = x + 3).

 

WTF?  No price change, but I lost my aisle seats.  I checked with the guys I have tickets with and one guy was not happy.  I called to see if I could get moved back (and why this happened) and was told that due to stadium renovations, rows 22 and UP will be gone from the 400 level.  I MIGHT have been able to add a 5th ticket and move to row 15 on the aisle with 453 and 454, but I did not want to do that as the price would have gone up.

 

Did anybody notice this at the draft day party?  I was not there this year.

 

Pretty lousy not to notify season ticket holders about this....giving everybody else a heads up, especially if you were not planning to upgrade.

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You're actually surprised about this?


Interesting. Is "renovations" a code word for getting rid of excess capacity due to lack of demand?

Wonder if they're going to remove the seats or just tarp over them somehow?

 

Lack of demand is the thing. Skins tickets were selling for $3.00 on the secondary market last year. 

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My upgrade window started today and there are LOTS of tickets available.  Even in each of the lower level endzone/corner sections, there are anywhere from 75-110 seats available.  Obviously not much available on lower level sideline, but lots available everywhere else.   Clearly something will be done before the season starts.  I've never seen it like this.   

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You're actually surprised about this?

 

Lack of demand is the thing. Skins tickets were selling for $3.00 on the secondary market last year. 

I bought upper deck tickets for 3.00 for the home opener and end up in the club seats for a free upgrade. 3.00 to sit in club seats ....

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Maybe they should just take off the whole upper level while they're at it.

I got excited when I finally managed to get downstairs and over to the sidelines with Green parking but maybe that's not really much of an accomplishment anymore....

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I'm surprised they'd do that to section 401.  407?  Sure.  404?  Why not?  But to take out seats that are exactly on the 50 yard line aisle on the home side of the field seems short sighted to me.

At the rate they're going, they won't have to worry about building a new place......just move back to 55,000-seat RFK :D

 

A lot of this speaks not only to the Skins being so bad now for most of the past eight or so years, but also about the diminished demand for nosebleeds with the ever-improving home viewing experience. 50-yard line or not, is there really much of a demand to sit in row 29 in the uppers at FedEx?

 

Even though the newest stadiums just completed (Levis) or under construction (Minnesota and Atlanta) do or will likely have standard-sized upper decks, I think it would be interesting if Snyder made his new place have no more than 15-20 rows in the upper deck. I can't see the new stadium having much more than 70K seats.

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Wow. Midfield removal is strange. Another secret project ala 2011? Perhaps they're expanding the camera booth? NFL Films and the occasional panoramic tv shot will come from up there, usually at halftime.

 

Overall, I still like the idea of less being more for the rest of us. IMO, 60k is the ideal size. Think RFK with an additional club level. Soldier Field is the ideal model in today's NFL. 

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I went in to check on upgrading my seats at noon today.  I noticed that my seats had been moved (w/o my knowledge or consent) from section 401 Row 23 seats 1-4 to Section 401 row 16 (seats x to y, where x > 10 and y = x + 3).

 

WTF?  No price change, but I lost my aisle seats.  I checked with the guys I have tickets with and one guy was not happy.  I called to see if I could get moved back (and why this happened) and was told that due to stadium renovations, rows 22 and UP will be gone from the 400 level.  I MIGHT have been able to add a 5th ticket and move to row 15 on the aisle with 453 and 454, but I did not want to do that as the price would have gone up.

 

Did anybody notice this at the draft day party?  I was not there this year.

 

Pretty lousy not to notify season ticket holders about this....giving everybody else a heads up, especially if you were not planning to upgrade.

 

I saw this in the Haz... Twitter thread. 

 

Dan Steinberg ‏@dcsportsbog 4m4 minutes ago

Trying to find people whose 400-level seats at FedEx Field disappeared this offseason. Anyone?

 

http://es.redskins.com/topic/389417-haszard-county-the-official-15-otascamp-twitter-thread-duke-the-schreff-boss-hog/page-17

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Also, why take these out but leave the cave seats in? I understand they are lower, but at least the stadium was *designed* for the upper level seats to be there.

 

My exact thoughts as well, plus if you want to increase demand, how about lowering the price in the upper deck (could make half price youth tickets available like Tampa Bay did)?

 

The overcrowding on the lower level visitor's side is ridiculous.

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I saw this in the Haz... Twitter thread. 

 

Dan Steinberg ‏@dcsportsbog 4m4 minutes ago

Trying to find people whose 400-level seats at FedEx Field disappeared this offseason. Anyone?

 

http://es.redskins.com/topic/389417-haszard-county-the-official-15-otascamp-twitter-thread-duke-the-schreff-boss-hog/page-17

I tweeted this information to Dan yesterday to see if he could investigate. He said he heard about this about a month ago and inquired with the Redskins but they had no comment. He said he would look into it again. Probably looking for STHs to quote in his blog. Doubt Skins are going to say much at this point.

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I looked at a stadium map and it looks like the following sections will be impacted:

 

451 - 404 on home side, 424 - 431 on visitor side and parts of sections 450, 405, 423, and 432 (these sections were partially cut down to row 15 already as were all the upper deck seats in the endzone).

 

So, that's 16 full sections and 4 1/4 sections.  8 rows taken out, maybe 25 seats per section, so

I'm guessing about 3400 seats (17 x 8 x 25) are being taken out....still no idea what for other than "renovations" (though lack of demand seems an obvious reason).  I wonder how the 200K people on the so-called wait list feel about this.........

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For years a lot of people were saying to hit Snyder where it hurts. His wallet. It looks like it is finally starting to having an effect. Not only can he not sell out the stadium. But he has to pay someone to remove all of those seats. I am sure it has a lot to do with the hiring of MCC. The crowds will come back once a winner is in town again.

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I've always said 70K is about right for pro football. If we get the new stadium, that's all I'd want with the possibility to go to 80K if they want to host a SB, but I think 70K is about right. RFK was 55K. It would look weird if the new stadium had 60-65. Too small.

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Just spoke to Dan S at the Post.  They are planning on running a story tomorrow.  He told me that he knew someone who went to pick a seat day and that the Skins had apparently taken out some more rows in the corners as well.  I am GUESSING this would be rows 8 - 15, but no way of knowing without seeing photos (or calling the Ticket Office).

 

I am thinking of putting my dog's name on the "Waitlist".  I wonder how long it will take for them to get a call?

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Just spoke to Dan S at the Post.  They are planning on running a story tomorrow.  He told me that he knew someone who went to pick a seat day and that the Skins had apparently taken out some more rows in the corners as well.  I am GUESSING this would be rows 8 - 15, but no way of knowing without seeing photos (or calling the Ticket Office).

 

I am thinking of putting my dog's name on the "Waitlist".  I wonder how long it will take for them to get a call?

3-5 business days would be my guess!

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65,000-70,000 seats is all you need, honestly

 

I think this is right. In most NFL cities you really only have around 60-65K people that are willing and able to pay the money and come out day, night, rain or shine to an NFL game and support the home team. That is why 55k RFK had such a great atmosphere. You had 60-65K fighting for those 55k seats. Move to 90k FedEx and you get 30k Steeler fans on a Monday night.  Now when the team is good you can sell most of those seats to home fans. There was plenty of demand in the second half of 2012. When the team is bad or average you get people there for the show or away team fans.

 

Look at Dallas. That stadium has been a disaster from a home field advantage stand point. Remember all of the RG3 chants on Thanksgiving? That sort of thing would never have happened on Thanksgiving at Texas Stadium. Opening day last year against the 49ers was a sea of red. Now when they turned out to be good the bandwagon filled up and the place got loud towards the end of the year.

 

League wide attendance has averaged right around 68k for the last 7 years. Hopefully they cut FedEx all the way back to 70k. Then when the new stadium is built they make it 65-70k max.

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