If Corporations Are Scaling Back, How Can You Not Expect Regular People to Do The Same?

Writing on Darren Rovell’s Sports Biz blog, Bill Dorsey, from the Association of Luxury Suite Directors, explains the dramatic shift in emphasis by major corporations away from ornate client hospitality. Occupancy rates of premium suites have dipped 10 percent, forcing teams, even those in wealthier markets, to shift to shorter lease offers, as well as shared and day-of-game leases.↵

↵↵The struggling economy is a handy explanation, but it’s not the only one. The corporate culture has simply become uninterested in the notion of overpaying to entertain at sporting events. That and teams have overestimated how much corporations are willing to pay, whether or not it’s a down market.↵

↵↵This might go to explain, among other things, why the New York Jets still reportedly have 10,000 of their prohibitively priced personal seat licenses (they range from $4,000 to $30,000 in some cases) left to move. Which is a significant issue, given that the Jets have vowed not to sell single game PSL seats, saying it would be unfair to those who made the commitment to purchase the PSLs. Then again, the team also has no stated plans to reduce the cost of the PSLs. So it’s going to take one very convincing PR push to fill the rest of those seats in the new stadium lest the Jets suffer the blackout that team owner Woody Johnson swears will never happen.↵

↵↵Of course, corporate clients alone don’t account for much of the Jets problem. Many of the unsold PSLs are not for luxury suites. Nevertheless, while demand for seats at the new stadium for a team considered among the top Super Bowl contenders in the AFC is going to be high, it may not be enough to offset exorbitant pricing. The Jets may appear comfortable with roughly 10,000 unclaimed PSLs in May, but if they haven’t slashed that figure significantly come the start of training camp, we’ll see just how steadfast they are in their pricing. ↵

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