Athletics unfurl plan for more intimate Coliseum

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 22, 2005 | by Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- Tarps will replace fans on McAfee Coliseum's third deck during Oakland Athletics baseball games next season.

In a move the team hopes will create greater ticket demand and a more intimate ballpark experience, the A's decided to remove about 10,000 third-deck seats from the market.

"Quite frankly, the demand for those seats did not justify having the inventory available," A's spokesman Jim Young said. "In our previous seating capacity, there was no incentive for fans to buy their tickets early. ... Now the fans will have the onus to buy tickets early."

The decision ends speculation that began early this year, when the team said it would no longer sell season-ticket packages for the third deck.

It also attacks a problem of walk-up ticket sales, which A's owner Lewis Wolff repeatedly has said hurt the team's attendance.

Last year, only 19 of the team's 81 home games saw a large attendance in the third deck.

Despite the reduced capacity, Young said the team will continue to offer its popular "Double-Play Wednesday" tickets, which allow fans to watch a game for $2 while eating $1 hot dogs.

The $2 seats will be offered in the previously closed Plaza Level Bleacher sections and the Plaza Level Outfield section.

The Plaza Level Bleacher sections -- 235 to 249 -- willalso remain open for all other home games. Tickets in those sections and the bleacher section will cost $10 apiece.

The team also will offer $14 tickets in Plaza Level Outfield sections 200, 203, 231 and 234. Those tickets cost $18 a seat last year.

But the price of every other seat in the house will rise next year.

Young said the team will not remove third-deck tarps even if it gets to the World Series or when demand is high for popular matchups against such teams as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or San Francisco Giants.

"We are committed to this seating capacity," he said.

Though closing the upper deck could save the team some money because it will not have to staff concessions there or provide security and ushers, Young said that was not a factor in the decision.

Instead, he said, the team wants to see whether a smaller ballpark would generate more season-ticket sales and more advance purchases of season tickets.

It also will act as sort of a test run for a proposed new ballpark Wolff has said would be among the smallest in Major League Baseball.

With the closed deck, Young said the team will have the smallest seating capacity in the majors.

"We just feel like we are getting a head start by implementing it early," Young said. "Our new seating capacity is not intended to identify our fan base, it reflects it."

In addition to covering up the seats, the tarps will showcase "the team's rich history" and provide "marketing opportunities."

Judging by some fans' reactions, the idea might work.

Tyler Bleszinski, founder of the popular Athleticsnation.com blog, said he always bought tickets on the day of a game rather than in advance.

With the upper deck closed, he said he might now buy a season- ticket package.

"I have always been a walk-up ticker buyer ... but I'll probably buy a season-ticket plan for the first time," he said. "I bet it's going to kill much of the walk-up sales."

Though the decision makes sense from a business standpoint, Bleszinski said he believes some fans will be upset.

But according to a survey Bleszinski posted on his Web site, more fans either do not care or think it is a good idea than are opposed.

"I'm kind of hoping that all the seats will be jammed with A's fans instead of fans from the visiting team," Bleszinski said.