Yankees Meet With StubHub Over New Ticket Policy; Bronx Borough President Lashes Out At Team
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Yankees president Randy Levine met Wednesday with StubHub's president to discuss the team's new ticket policy and how it relates to the secondary-market seller.
Last week, the Yankees announced they would not allow print-at-home tickets, a particular blow to StubHub and similar websites who generate a large amount of business from last-minute buyers.
Some have argued the organization is trying to shut out fans from buying on StubHub, forcing them to purchase tickets directly from the Yanks or the team-controlled Yankees Ticket Exchange.
The Yankees have previously criticized StubHub due to people selling tickets below face value, despite MLB having a relationship with the ticket service.
Yankees COO Lonn Trost said last week the policy change was made to combat fraudulent tickets.
"I met today with Scott Cutler, President of StubHub, and we had a good and productive meeting," Levine said in a statement. "It lasted about an hour and we agreed to continue talking. There is nothing to announce at this current moment, but we will update everyone when we have news.
StubHub also released a statement saying: "StubHub appreciates the Yankees willingness to meet and have an open dialog with regards to their ticketing policies. We were encouraged by the tenor of the conversation and look forward to continuing these discussions in the days ahead. StubHub is committed to putting fans first and passionately advocating for them with both our partners and the industry at large."
Meanwhile, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Yankees have been engaging in a war of words over the ticket policy.
Diaz wrote in a letter to the team that the policy is "not only a major inconvenience to premium season-ticket holders, but (it) also discriminates against baseball fans who might take advantage of free-market economics to occasionally enjoy a ball game at a reasonable price."
Diaz also took a shot at Trost, who in trying to explain the reasoning behind the policy last week on WFAN made comments that some viewed as elitist when he said that some fans who purchase tickets in premium areas become frustrated when they end up sitting next to someone else who paid a fraction of the price.
Diaz said Trost should "be more mindful of his words, given his recent inclination to insult the vast majority of the Yankee fan base, myself included."
"I have been a Yankee fan my entire life. Without the everyday, working class fans who make up the vast majority of their fan base, the New York Yankees would not be the successful franchise they are today," Diaz wrote.
In response, Levine suggested to ESPN that Diaz might have ulterior motives.
"It doesn't surprise me given that we've stopped his endless funding requests," the Yankees' president said. "It does surprise me because the only time he showed up to Yankee Stadium was when he was on official business when he was comped. I guess there are no greater problems in the Bronx that he needs to spend time on than ticketing."
