Poll on purchasing expensive tickets when kids are involved.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I plan to get tickets to the final regular season game in Yankee Stadium next year. I really don’t care if I have to pay over $100 per for nosebleed seats. I plan to take my son, who will be 8. I will take my daughter if she shows any interest, she will be 11. However, she does not like watching Baseball or Football. My son does. My brother and maybe my sister will be joining us.

This will be the final regular season game ever planned for the Old Yankee Stadium. The new one opens in 2009.

Here are the questions:

Do you think it is nuts to spend a really large amount to take a kid to sporting event or concert?

Do you think a truly once in a life event like this is different from a concert tour?

Do you think buying tickets to sporting events is crazy no matter what?

How high would be too high? (Keeping in mind, I have paid $250 for World Series Tickets)

I was inspired to ask because of a post in another thread.

Jim (BTW: The game is a Sunday Day game versus the Orioles)

2

My folks took us to see Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth’s record in the old Fulton County Stadium. I think I was about 12 (too lazy to check). That’s still a very vivid memory, as was my first football game, when I was either 8 or 9, with the Skins losing to the Browns at RFK. If it makes you happy, do it. It’s only money, and I assume you’re not paying Super Bowl prices.

3

Here are the questions:

**Do you think it is nuts to spend a really large amount to take a kid to sporting event or concert? ** A sporting event is way different than some pop-tart concert. The game will never be replayed. The moment cannot be recaptured. These concerts are done over many dates and are the exact same show over, even the “ad-lib” parts.

**Do you think a truly once in a life event like this is different from a concert tour? **Yes for the reasons stated above

Do you think buying tickets to sporting events is crazy no matter what? Hell no. I do support the local teams however. Here in Fayetteville, the tickets are a lot cheaper and almost never scalped for inflated prices

How high would be too high? (Keeping in mind, I have paid $250 for World Series Tickets) Whatever you can afford.

Jim (BTW: The game is a Sunday Day game versus the Orioles)

SSG Schwartz

4

You can always hype the game to your son, but don’t let him know you have tickets just yet. Wait maybe a month or so before, and then surprise him. Once you do that, after hyping it for a year, he will be toasted for going. This would work even for people who show little interest.

5

Here are the questions:

Do you think it is nuts to spend a really large amount to take a kid to sporting event or concert? Not if the kid would enjoy it, and is old enough to remember it. I might not take the daughter, since she sounds like she’s not into it.

Do you think a truly once in a life event like this is different from a concert tour? In a way, I suppose, as the SSG Schwartz pointed out. Of course, none of today’s concerts can compare to the ones I attended back in the 70’s. :wink:

Do you think buying tickets to sporting events is crazy no matter what? Although I personally would rather have a concrete enema than suffer through a sporting event, much less pay for one, I do understand that some folks enjoy them and I wouldn’t dream of calling you crazy for buying tickets to something you enjoy experiencing. As the gentleman said, whatever you can afford.

How high would be too high? (Keeping in mind, I have paid $250 for World Series Tickets) That’s up to you - I know nothing of sporting event ticket prices.

6

I’ve paid hundreds for concert tickets, because who knows how much longer Keith Richards is going to last?

I’d pay as much as I felt comfortable affording to take a kid to a sporting event/concert, if I thought the kid would be interested. If I could afford $200 per person, fine. When our boys are a little older, we’d like to take them all to a Super Bowl, and the Indy 500. Huge expense, but quite the experience.

7

Maybe it’s my bias, but a sporting event like the last game in Yankee Stadium is indeed historic. Your kid will be able to talk about this for the rest of his life!

Yes, I do. Being a sports fan is something passed along in families. I never really got this outside of my own experience until I moved to Boston and the Sox won the World Series in 2004. There were so many people recollecting their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and parents living and dying with the team. I was raised a Redskins fan, and when I went to DC for the first time I visited RFK. I also saw a Redskins-Cowboys game at FedEx Field - lifetime memories. God willing, if my son follows in my footsteps we will go together at some point.

It’s not as if Hannah Montana is like seeing the Rolling Stones; again, a historically significant band (and I say this knowing I would likely never shell out big bucks for a kid to go to a concert - I think that’s something you do when you’re a bit older, in your teen or college years). The other thing is that at a ball game or sporting event, there are opportunities to discuss the plays, talk, and enjoy each other’s company. Most concerts are in the dark, and there’s no “down time” to relax and chat amongst yourselves.

No, but then again, I’m a sports fan. But I personally wouldn’t do it all the time. I work for the University of Texas, and I usually don’t have a hard time securing tickets for a football game. However, I can’t see myself heading to the stadium, kid in tow, every Saturday once he’s seven or whatever. Maybe on occasion, but the games are televised, and it’s usually much better (in my experience) to follow the game in front of the TV.

I don’t think that’s a lot for WS tickets. However, I do think it’s important that kids understand how expensive the tickets are, and should do something to earn the privilege (chores, getting good grades, etc.) and be reminded that there are a lot of people - adults and kids - that would love the opportunity to go to the game, and appreciate it.

I remember sitting in the bleachers at Fenway - actually, in some really great seats behind home plate - and watching some elementary aged kids sort of goofing off, not really watching the game. I thought to myself, “If I ever bring my kid to a place like this, it’s going to be something he appreciates - lecture with facts before and after the game.”

8

The only thing I would worry about is that you might be doing the vicarious thing: not giving them what they want, but what you wanted when you were their age. In other words, if you do this and they don’t have a great time, they get there and turn out to be kinda meh or blah about the whole thing, are you going to angry or disappointed in them for wasting your money? Because they may not be as into it as you are, and they can’t really change that–or predict it. Doing something like this is fine, if you can accept that it may or may not be the experience of a lifetime. But don’t put all your emotional eggs in one basket.

9

I’d suggest you’re looking at this issue backwardly. If you have a kid who is into sports, they’ll probably have a lovely time. But it doesn’t really matter whether they remember it or not. I would make the decision from your own POV – is it worth it, to YOU, to share that moment with your children? The kids might not see it as a ‘‘once in a lifetime event,’’ but certainly you might.

10

Hell, some of my best memories are going to Utah Jazz games. And there was certainly nothing special about them. If your kid likes baseball, go for it.

11

Thanks for the great responses so far. Hippy Hollow nailed my point of view on the subject. He posted, “Your kid will be able to talk about this for the rest of his life!”

I already plan to go and I think my son will be able to talk about this the rest of his life if he goes. He is still thrilled by the time as a 6 year old, the 3rd baseman of a single A team handed him a ball used in batting practice.

I like the Stones being mentioned. My brother is anticipating Led Zeppelin coming to NYC and has already suggested we put aside stupid money to go see them. He is talking $800 to $1000. I would never take my kids to this as neither would appreciate it yet and even this does not seem as historic as the last game at the most famous stadium in America. Hell, as much as I love Zep, I don’t know if I can justify wasting this much money on myself.

Jim

12

I wouldn’t, but I’m not a huge fan of the “and I was at Woodstock” experience of history. Nor am I a sports fan (nor a concert fan - I have spent $200 to take the family to see Cirque). To me, the last game at Yankee Stadium and the second to the last game at Yankee Stadium aren’t different events other than what happens in the game. Plus I’m cheap. Now, Brainiac4 is likely to give you a different answer - being more of a sports fan and less cheap.

13

Heck, I hate the Yankees and I would still go and talk about it for the rest of my life. :slight_smile:

14

I took my son when he was 10 to see Chuck Berry and The Dead. I figured Chuck would be dead soon and my son should see one of the legends or R&R before he died. Instead, Jerry Garcia was dead a month later.

The biggest thing for my son, however, was seeing his first bare breasts at the concert.

15

I don’t think it’s a crazy idea at all. If the child wants to go, and you’re willing to take them, then do it. I have many happy memories of attending Toronto Maple Leafs games in Maple Leaf Gardens with my Dad when I was younger. True, the Gardens wasn’t closing (then), but just for my eight-year-old self to be able to attend a game and see the stars I watched on TV play in person was a treat. The tickets didn’t cost much by today’s standards, I guess, but they were still expensive by the standards of the day, and I know it was a bit of a stretch for Dad to afford them. Those were special times and I’m sure that your son, at least, will carry happy memories like mine long after the game is over.

A concert is a concert, repeated in dozens of cities. I went to see many bands back in the 70s and 80s, and except for whatever hit single from the most recent album the bands were promoting, each concert was a rehash of the band’s greatest hits. Fine by me, and they were great shows, but each sports game is unique. This one will be too, for many reasons ranging from the regular game to the history involved.

Another reason for going: I went to the final Toronto Blue Jays game in the old Exhibition Stadium, and while what really stands out for me was George Bell’s game-winning homer that landed about 30 feet from where we were sitting, I came away with a souvenir book of the Jays’ history at Exhibition Stadium. Every fan at that last game got one; and I still have mine, along with the program from that game. I don’t care about the “investment” value of these things, but in terms of a tangible souvenir of a landmark game, they’re important. Perhaps Yankee Stadium will do something similar for fans attending this game, and your son will come away with a rare something he can always remember the game by.