End zone lounge

Also, the flyer says membership will be "limited to hundreds". So even if we pick some high hundreds number like 800, that's still only $1,200,000 in extra revenue per year. And against that you have the amortized expense of building it and the annual expense of operating it.

So it sure looks like Kraft is screwing 1000+ mostly long-time fans and further curtailing home-field advantage for not much money.

luuked said:

Would he suddenly start to only break even if the lounge would not be built ? It doesn't matter if he builds it or not he will still make a **** ton of money. The question is whether the increase they get from the lounge is worth alienating some of their fans.

Now while we are hyper successful it is a non-issue. The stadium will be always be full. However, once this improbable run ends we will see if the ever increasing ticket prices and ideas like the lounge will leave a bitter taste that will make it harder for him to fill the stadium.

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I was responding to the claim that instead of doing this he could reduce ticket prices.
But in any event it's his business and his money and his decision about what is best for him. To imply he should have different criteria is to simply nor understand business.
Should he lower the box prices at his box company so the purchasers like him better?

AndyJohnson said:

And that is absolutely not what this is about.
There is no reward to Bob Kraft to lower the price of tickets or run his stadium the way any fan would in his place.

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Who is raising a straw man Andy? I certainly never said anything like what you are asserting and you misunderstand my point entirely.

Mack Herron said:

Who is raising a straw man Andy? I certainly never said anything like what you are asserting and you misunderstand my point entirely.

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OK, then what is your point?

Mine was Kraft owns a business and should be expected to act like a business owner.

Deus Irae said:

New idea for Gillette:

Luxury urine funnels at each seat. For STH only. $150 additional, per year

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Trying to get my mind around the possible amenities that would qualify these as not just "urine funnels," but as "luxury" urine funnels. Fur lining (hopefully waterproof)? Heated for those cold winter days? A couple of other ideas not suitable for a family forum also come to mind...

AzorianPats said:

I don't agree with this lounge seating thing, but regarding the crowd noise, at least this year, I thought Gillette been great.

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Only been to one game (Lions), but yeah, crowd got pretty loud on third downs.

I don't like it. Just feels "soft" to me.

Tunescribe said:

View attachment 7572

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What an exaggeration! My tie isn't nearly that wide.

Patjew said:

What an exaggeration! My tie isn't nearly that wide.

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Well, why don't you just send your personal assistant out to buy one for you? Keeping up appearances is important!

AndyJohnson said:

OK, then what is your point?

Mine was Kraft owns a business and should be expected to act like a business owner.

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Thanks Andy. My point is that there are different kinds of business owners and they each have many considerations in deciding how to run their business. Different owners will prioritize these considerations differently. As a very small sample: Do you want to increase revenue? Do you want to increase noise levels as a strategic advantage? Do you want to maximize corporate customers? Do you want to provide a comfortable environment for non-corporate customers? The list is much longer of course, and some goals will conflict with others. Different owners will strike different balances. To suggest that all owners are trying make as much money as possible is a gross oversimplification of how a business is run.

Mack Herron said:

Thanks Andy. My point is that there are different kinds of business owners and they each have many considerations in deciding how to run their business. Different owners will prioritize these considerations differently. As a very small sample: Do you want to increase revenue? Do you want to increase noise levels as a strategic advantage? Do you want to maximize corporate customers? Do you want to provide a comfortable environment for non-corporate customers? The list is much longer of course, and some goals will conflict with others. Different owners will strike different balances. To suggest that all owners are trying make as much money as possible is a gross oversimplification of how a business is run.

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But everything you list is a means to that end, which is totally consistent with what I said.
The purpose of existence of a business is to make money. Surely there are different strategies to do so.
But the bottom line is that they are in business to make money.
The post I was responding to suggested that Kraft was only doing this to make money, and he could have spent his time lowering prices or paving the parking lot and lowering parking prices so its cheaper for the fans. My point was that if you have 65,000 seats and are bringing in an average of $200 a game in revenue, and people are waiting in line to pay it, a business man is not going to spend his time figuring out how he can lower the cost so he makes less money.

rlcarr said:

Also, the flyer says membership will be "limited to hundreds". So even if we pick some high hundreds number like 800, that's still only $1,200,000 in extra revenue per year. And against that you have the amortized expense of building it and the annual expense of operating it.

So it sure looks like Kraft is screwing 1000+ mostly long-time fans and further curtailing home-field advantage for not much money.

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His thinking confounds me. You did leave off the prodigious amounts of booze the Hibernian fan base will consume and the over priced food revenue. but subtract from that the amount they would have spent previously.

I'm not a fan of this they should of left the seats there. Just another situation where is all about the money and not what the fans want.

pats4life12 said:

I'm not a fan of this they should of left the seats there. Just another situation where is all about the money and not what the fans want.

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yup..what the NFL is now

Good article on how stupid it is

http://www.boston.com/sports/column...sanit.html?s_campaign=bcom:socialflow:twitter

ust what Gillette Stadium needs; more “exclusive” seating to make the home of the Patriots and Revolution even more of the morgue that the place has become. That’s essentially the deal rendered by the Kraft family’s plan to erect a new members-only lounge at field level behind the south end zone, displacing some 1,500 seats from season-ticket holders.
Oh, don’t cry for them though. According to the Globe’s Dan Adams, the Krafts were kind enough to give them “first crack” at memberships in what will be named “Optum Field Lounge.” Neat. A one-year membership costs $1,500 — on top of the price of season tickets — and you must buy at least two memberships.

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It makes the stadium look a bit better BUT it's pretty pointless and along with it they should probably add another mezzanine level in the opposite EZ (next to the lighthouse, where the scoreboard at that end is would be a good location to do it). They could even put a mezzanine at the end where the field lounge is going and move the scoreboard to accommodate it.

There's a lot of space to put in additional seating. More seats = bigger crowds so more money for the franchise and a louder stadium everyone would win in that scenario.

rlcarr said:

Also, the flyer says membership will be "limited to hundreds". So even if we pick some high hundreds number like 800, that's still only $1,200,000 in extra revenue per year. And against that you have the amortized expense of building it and the annual expense of operating it.

So it sure looks like Kraft is screwing 1000+ mostly long-time fans and further curtailing home-field advantage for not much money.

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What a minute here... this math doesn't add up.

Using your 800 "members" of the club - they would contribute $1.2 million annually to the bottom line ($1500 x 800).
1500 season ticket holders contribute ~$2.025 million annually to the bottom line ($135 x 1,500 x 10).

If they limit the membership to 800 people, this new club is going to cost the club $825,000 annually and that's not even assuming that some buyers will opt for the 3 year at $1260/year plan. Even if they limit the membership to 999 people (hundreds, right? ), they'll still only bring in ~$1.5 million - still $500K short of simply leaving the fans in their seats.

So what gives here? Why are they doing this??

Maybe they could put in a meditation center above the lounge. They could charge a couple of grand for that, too, and it would really liven the place up!

Deus Irae said:

Maybe they could put in a meditation center above the lounge. They could charge a couple of grand for that, too, and it would really liven the place up!

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They can put it right next to the yoga studio. Hope it faces in the right direction though (east or north).

AndyJohnson said:

And that is absolutely not what this is about.
Unless you just decide not to accept your full paycheck this is a strawman.
I'm sure Kraft gives more to charity than you do. I'm sure you do not sell things you own for less than people are willing to pay for them.
There is no reward to Bob Kraft to lower the price of tickets or run his stadium the way any fan would in his place.

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Yeah, because I'm sure he has the same amount of money in his bank account that Kraft has. I guess it's just a lifetime of being poor talking but I never got the whole "I'm obscenely rich but I still want more money" thing. To me it's like continuing to run after you've crossed the finish line.