MSS RANTS – White Sox have Black Friday Sale. FANS GO NUTS.

Folks, I love you. Seriously, White Sox nation gets a spot at the MSS family dinner table. I won’t even put you next to the old aunt that talks your ear off, I’ll sit you down right next to the fun uncle that will sneak in the moonshine and you’ll get all gassed during the dinner prayer. But today some shit really set off a few of yous and well, it irked me. Have no idea what I am talking about?

Oh that’s nice, a free 2 day pass to SoxFest if you buy a ticket package. Any plan will do, even a 10 gamer. On the low end, $129 without fees for 10 tickets. but everyone tells me that you can’t sit in the corners no matter how cheap the ticket is, so let’s go with an upper box at a whole $9 more, $138 total. Now, I ain’t no mathematician like BeefLoaf or Chorizy, but that is almost $14 a game, and I am betting those games are the worst looking games on paper. Plus I am too lazy to look it up, so I am gonna assume that they are. So ten games for about $140 to get that $75 pass for free. (Now there are fees and taxes up in there too, but for the purposes of this let’s just say it’s cool, no need to make this more complicated.) Again, my math sucks but seems to me you can get 10 games for $7 each and buy the pass for almost the same price, but what do I know.

Well, let me tell you, some plan holders went absolutely nuts on the FB. FUCKING SOX, ALWAYS FUCKING OVER THE SEASON TICKET HOLDERS! Or my favorite GODDAMN SOX PULLING THAT BAIT AND SWITCH SHIT AGAIN! Folks, I know, ticket packages are an extra expense and you wanna save where you can. A free pass to SoxFest is a hella sell to me too, but what did you expect? Did you buy your plan thinking that the Sox would never offer a package deal ever again? Would the good people marketing this team not think up yet another way to get you to commit to this team months out from the season? Come on brah, you know they gonna do that!

This outrage was nothing new though, last year the Sox offered a Ballpark pass, that was basically a full season for like $50 something a month ($300 total). Didn’t include Opening Day, Cubs series and I think the Red Sox or some shit, but it was a great deal if you didn’t care about where you sat and you at least made it to 5 games a month. You couldn’t transfer the ticket, so it was use it or lose it. Well as you can imagine, some full season ticket holders went NUTS. THEY ARE TAKING MY VALUE OUT OF MY TICKET! MY RESALE VALUE IS GONE! Folks, if you are in the resale business of White Sox tickets and you’re not Bruce Lee, I’m sorry. Again, if you waited it out you got the best deal. You would think some of these people would have learned, but they haven’t. Or maybe some of them wanna just bitch.

So, now you are either pissed at me or really confused. And I feel ya on both accounts. I was called many a name today and accused of sticking up for the Sox. Well, I am. I get that people are upset, but man, do you call the car dealership when they put the car on sale 3 months after you bought it? No. Do you burn down the Walmart when something you bought happens to be put on clearance? Of course you don’t. It’s how businesses are run and the Sox are big business. It’s marketing, plain and simple.

Sox wanna sell as many tickets as possible as soon as possible. If you have ever been in sales, the sooner you sell out, the better. If you have tons of inventory and no buyers it’s time to get creative. Remember when you got a football phone if you subscribed to Sports Illustrated? Yep, that is marketing. Think about that poor guy who subscribed a year previous but got no football phone. Poor dude paid the same price and couldn’t open a plastic football to take a call. That’s sad, poor guy. Well by the grace of god the Sox have hit on some promos that seem to fucking work. Selling a sub .500 team is hard work, and our guys on 35th and Shields are doing it. #Respect

In the 108 alone, so many folks have told us that they have bought tickets in the section based on the potential success we could see soon. In my small world, Sox marketing is kicking ass.

Now, as a long time season ticket holder, much like a long time subscriber to any service (cable, cell phone) you know that new customers will most likely get a better deal than you year to year. If you wanna play the game, you should just cancel and re-up every year. It’s work but you’ll save money. You might risk that seat, you might waste some time, but you will get the best deal. It’s how it works. If you wanna buy that new car when it drops, it will cost ya. You pay a premium for a premium service or premium product. Season tickets are just that. A premium purchase.

So why do these promos irk people? I guess some feel cheated. I bet some wanna just complain and I get it, not much to cheer for the last few seasons. But do me a favor next year and don’t buy anything before a Black Friday. We all should know this. Shit gonna be on sale and you can get more for your dollar. Or if you wanna gamble, wait it out and buy a ballpark pass. Roll the dice! It’s a minimal risk this year (so far anyways) and it will also save you money.

In conclusion, please don’t act surprised when something goes on sale. It happens every goddamn day. The Sox aren’t any different than any other business. The Sox aren’t trying to fuck you any more than Kohls, they both just want to get your money. Play the game and pay attention.

-MSS

Speaking of spending money, we got a whole bunch of 108 gear up in our shop that will ship ASAP. Check out our store and SURPRISE we will be having a Black Friday sale. So if you don’t wanna feel fucked, wait till Friday.