25% Capacity 11,000 fans for Opening Day 2021

[ThomasTomasz]

18 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Hey now, they draw more than 11K on opening day and when the Yankees are in town.

Believe it or not, it seemed that the fireworks/concert nights drew quite a few people.......it wasn't my cup of tea but it definitely worked as far as bringing out more people.  

I actually tended to avoid those games if I had them, and traded out for Thursday or Saturday.  

[InsideCoroner]

18 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Most of these rules are dumb.  For them to pretend they don’t want outside food and drink because of covid is just stupid.  We know that’s all about trying to recover as much money as possible and that can do it under the disguise of covid and people will be ok with it.  
 

That being said, as long as we can get back to the park, whatever.

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If they wanted to ban outside food and drink, they would have done so already. The team isn’t in a position where they can put demands on the few fans they have. But if they have to check bags (in general), you have more close contact, more chances of spreading the virus. If they only cared about money they would still be accepting cash at the games. 

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, InsideCoroner said:

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If they wanted to ban outside food and drink, they would have done so already. The team isn’t in a position where they can put demands on the few fans they have. But if they have to check bags (in general), you have more close contact, more chances of spreading the virus. If they only cared about money they would still be accepting cash at the games. 

Disagree with you here. I think the cash rule also applies to them trying to make more money as well.  If you have a $20 bill in your pocket that is all you can spend. A card doesn’t limit your spending. People have to be disciplined on their own not to spend. Cash automatically limits you.  

[survivedc]

22 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Disagree with you here. I think the cash rule also applies to them trying to make more money as well.  If you have a $20 bill in your pocket that is all you can spend. A card doesn’t limit your spending. People have to be disciplined on their own not to spend. Cash automatically limits you.  

I don’t think the cash rule is an attempt to make more money. I could be off, with an organization of this size, but you have to pay to process credit cards.

I think throughout the pandemic people and companies have made decisions that aren’t backed up by science because it makes sense to them. We know by now that it’s unlikely to contract COVID by touching a surface, but companies still spend inordinate amounts of time and money “sanitizing.” I’m sure it makes some people more comfortable.

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, survivedc said:

I don’t think the cash rule is an attempt to make more money. I could be off, with an organization of this size, but you have to pay to process credit cards.

I think throughout the pandemic people and companies have made decisions that aren’t backed up by science because it makes sense to them. We know by now that it’s unlikely to contract COVID by touching a surface, but companies still spend inordinate amounts of time and money “sanitizing.” I’m sure it makes some people more comfortable.

Well .... I couldn’t agree with you more on your second point. 

[ThomasTomasz]

21 hours ago, survivedc said:

I don’t think the cash rule is an attempt to make more money. I could be off, with an organization of this size, but you have to pay to process credit cards.

I think throughout the pandemic people and companies have made decisions that aren’t backed up by science because it makes sense to them. We know by now that it’s unlikely to contract COVID by touching a surface, but companies still spend inordinate amounts of time and money “sanitizing.” I’m sure it makes some people more comfortable.

Everyone has credit card fees, but I guarantee you that the Orioles/MLB have a very low negotiated fee.  The other thing is that they won't have to employ people to count money.  My job does subcontracting with Sodexo at the Naval Academy, and they have a vault at the football stadium where people are counting and distributing money during the game.  In addition, I've talked to my beer vendor in my section at OPACY, and there is a person who exchanges cash for beer on their end when they need to purchase beer.  

In the long run, is it that many people?  Probably not, and it's not like these people are full-time and they have to provide them with benefits either.  But it is saving money, and if you've ever listened to Dave Ramsay or someone like him, they always tell you to bring cash and not a card because it is much easier to spend what you don't have.  So the Orioles likely think they come out ahead, or at least net even, in this case, even with credit card fees.  

[OriolesMagic83]

If you combined the worldwide totals of people who got covid from drinking from a a bottle or touching money, it would be real close to zero if not zero.  I guess it makes the people in charge feel like they are doing something. 

[ThomasTomasz]

I got an email from my rep today, which was essentially a form document but had some good information in it.  

1.) You can let them know by tomorrow at noon if you want to increase/decrease the size of your seating pod.  

2.) Seniority and seat location will be what determines your new seats, as well as opting in now for "priority access."  

3.) If you opted out for April and May and took the credit, it could impact your ability to come back in if the seating measures stay the same.  

It would have been nice to know all of those things in the initial email.  I am glad that I had the foresight of the last one and immediately opted in.  I also likely would have increased my pod size by one if I hadn't had time to think it over, so they lost business on that one.  

[ThomasTomasz]

I got my email confirming seats for April/May.  I am in the same section (56) and the same seats, just seven rows up.  Gotta admit, I am pretty happy with that.  I thought for sure I'd be relocated much further down the line.  I also saw that they changed some of the rules up a little bit when you go look at the fan FAQ.  

[MurphDogg]

Moved from row 1 to row 2 in section 338. Nobody will be in front of me so I can't really complain. Looking forward to the Thursday afternoon games on the 15th and 29th, as well as Opening Day. Wish the Saturday games were in the afternoon as well.

With tickets being so limited I imagine the resale value of tickets will be quite solid, especially for Yankees and Red Sox games. I imagine I could get at least face value for other games as well, with no decent seats available at the box office. Curious to see what the general public availability will look like, but I don't expect much in the lower deck or in the upper deck between the bases.

Hopefully things will be back to normal by June.

[eddie83]

47 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Moved from row 1 to row 2 in section 338. Nobody will be in front of me so I can't really complain. Looking forward to the Thursday afternoon games on the 15th and 29th, as well as Opening Day. Wish the Saturday games were in the afternoon as well.

With tickets being so limited I imagine the resale value of tickets will be quite solid, especially for Yankees and Red Sox games. I imagine I could get at least face value for other games as well, with no decent seats available at the box office. Curious to see what the general public availability will look like, but I don't expect much in the lower deck or in the upper deck between the bases.

Hopefully things will be back to normal by June.

Do you pick your 5 games all at once? How did it work. I got the one email a couple of Friday’s ago, nothing since. 
 

Prices vary for each game?

[eddie83]

My slot is this Thursday thru Sunday. Time not determined yet. 

[MurphDogg]

24 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Do you pick your 5 games all at once? How did it work. I got the one email a couple of Friday’s ago, nothing since. 
 

Prices vary for each game?

I have the 29-game plan, so I have the same seats for all 10 April and May games that were originally included in the 29-game plan. The situation is the same for those with a full-season plan.

The 13-game plan is being handled differently, with plan holders selecting games that they are interested in, but they will not have the same seats for every game.

Publicly available tickets will be quite limited so it is in the Orioles interest for plan holders to actually attend all the games that they have tickets for (or at least sell them to someone who will attend), which is presumably the reason they are allowing 13-game plan holders the ability to select their games.

Normally the Orioles don't particularly care whether people who have already bought tickets actually show up to games, but with the 11,000 limit and pod seating that becomes more important.

[eddie83]

13 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

I have the 29-game plan, so I have the same seats for all 10 April and May games that were originally included in the 29-game plan. The situation is the same for those with a full-season plan.

The 13-game plan is being handled differently, with plan holders selecting games that they are interested in, but they will not have the same seats for every game.

Publicly available tickets will be quite limited so it is in the Orioles interest for plan holders to actually attend all the games that they have tickets for (or at least sell them to someone who will attend), which is presumably the reason they are allowing 13-game plan holders the ability to select their games.

Normally the Orioles don't particularly care whether people who have already bought tickets actually show up to games, but with the 11,000 limit and pod seating that becomes more important.

Gotcha. Yeah I have a 13. Didn’t realize 29 game plans stayed same. Wasn’t sure about seat locations for same games. They did say same number of tickets each game could not change. 

[TAMC]

25 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

I have the 29-game plan, so I have the same seats for all 10 April and May games that were originally included in the 29-game plan. The situation is the same for those with a full-season plan.

The 13-game plan is being handled differently, with plan holders selecting games that they are interested in, but they will not have the same seats for every game.

Publicly available tickets will be quite limited so it is in the Orioles interest for plan holders to actually attend all the games that they have tickets for (or at least sell them to someone who will attend), which is presumably the reason they are allowing 13-game plan holders the ability to select their games.

Normally the Orioles don't particularly care whether people who have already bought tickets actually show up to games, but with the 11,000 limit and pod seating that becomes more important.

I have the 29 game plan and we were moved to same row one section farther from home, e.g., about 20+ seats worse.  We have had our plan for many years in the same seats, but were told take it or leave it.  We'll see how this works out, but we may well "leave it" after this year.