The Ugly Truth About New Stadiums

by Scott Kornberg

There is excitement abound for New York Jets and Giants fans for the upcoming season. Besides the fact that both teams expect to contend for at least a division title, both teams will be playing in a brand new, sparkling new stadium. Meadowlands Stadium is a gem. It will seat the second-most fans in the NFL, with 82,500 seats that include 10,005 club seats and 218 luxury suites.  The lighting on the outside of the stadium will switch colors depending on what team is playing. Inside the stadium, there are four 40-by-100 feet scoreboards that hang from the four upper deck corners. There will be four restaurants, wider concourses, and two club lounges. In addition, the front row 50-yard line seats will be the closest seats from the sideline in the NFL at 46 feet. However, many fans will be priced out of the stadium because of the fact that both the Jets and Giants are introducing Personal Seat Licenses.

Personal Seat Licenses are not a new issue. There are currently ten teams with PSLs in effect, most of which have been included with the new stadiums that have recently been built in the NFL. For fans to purchase season tickets, they must first purchase the right to buy season tickets. For the Giants, Personal Seat Licenses range up to $20,000 per seat. Each Giants season ticket requires a PSL, which includes the $1,000 PSL for a nosebleed seat. As for the Jets, upper deck season tickets do not require a PSL, but PSL prices range up to a whopping $30,000 per seat.

At the old Giants Stadium, the Giants fans with the best seats were the longest-tenured season ticket holders. All of a sudden, these mostly middle-class, diehard fans are unable to keep their seats and are getting either pushed towards the top of the stadium or out entirely because they cannot afford the new financial burden. Jets fans are facing a similar financial issue. While the new Meadowlands Stadium is a beautiful building with terrific sightlines for fans, the majority of diehard Jets and Giants fans will have to settle for watching the game on television. The day has finally come where some fans have no financial way to afford season tickets to see their favorite team play, and a lot of that blame falls on Personal Seat Licenses.

Scott Kornberg is a sportscaster for WMUC Sports (www.wmucsports.com). He hosts his own sports talk show, and announces baseball and softball games for the University of Maryland. He covers Maryland’s football and basketball writing for www.turtlesportsreport.com part of the scout.com network.