49ers Season Tickets Will Require $30K Fee
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| Back in those days, $30,000 could probably buy a ticket for you and about 10,000 friends |
Fans sitting in the "club level" seats at Candlestick have been sent a letter by the franchise informing them that, should they wish to have similarly excellent seats in the team's Santa Clara stadium it's gonna cost them. In order to obtain top-notch season tickets, first fans must buy a "Stadium Builders License" -- essentially a Personal Seat License -- for $20,000 or $30,000. The future stadium's very best seats will require an $80,000 "SBL."
"Club level" seats comprise 13 percent of Candlestick Park; the seats requiring an $80,000 buy-in are touted as the best 1 percent in the future Santa Clara edifice (insert your joke about "the 1 percent" right here).
The vast majority of season ticket-holders -- those in "reserve seating" -- haven't yet gotten their letter informing them how much it will cost to continue the status quo when the Niners suit up on the Peninsula in 2015. But history can be of aid here.
The Dallas Cowboys new stadium in Arlington -- which, Arlington residents are very quick to tell you, is not Dallas -- cost more than $1 billion. So will the 49ers stadium. SBLs for Cowboys Stadium cost $35,000, $50,000, and $150,000 for premium seats. SBLs for their equivalent of "reserve seating" could be had for as little as $4,000.
The team declined to even give ballpark figures for what it'll cost to get modest seats at the new ballpark. So we won't know until summer, at the soonest. Niners season ticket-holders, however, tell us the team intimated local fans would be paying on par with the rates for the Giants and Jets new stadium in New Jersey.
Fans in the club section have until March 16 to decide if it's worth the hefty investment to hold on to their seats. Depending on how the team does tomorrow, a good deal more may opt to take the very expensive plunge.
Season ticket-holder Sean Greenwood said he's looking at having to pay $150 per ticket at the future stadium -- a hefty increase from his current $100-per-game outlay. What's more, glancing at the PSL prices for The New Meadowlands in New Jersey, he figures he could have to lay down some $7,000 in order to have the right to start paying more for tickets. He'll pass. "I say no," he notes. "We'll probably not be season ticket-holders until the PSLs go away. Which they always do."
One longtime season ticket-holder -- he was sitting in the end zone where Dwight Clark made The Catch in '81 -- told us he was on the fence. He'd be facing an SBL of $20,000 or $30,000 and his per-ticket prices of $180 would roughly double. "It's ridiculous," he admitted. "But they have a monopoly."
The following is the letter sent last week to fans:
Hi XXX,
Thank you for your continued support of the San Francisco 49ers. We hope that you have received more detailed information in the mail regarding your opportunity to purchase a Stadium Builders License (SBL) and season tickets at the new Santa Clara Stadium.
Please review these materials carefully and schedule your one-on-one appointment with your personal sales consultant at our Preview Center. Upon entering the site, please enter your unique passcode XXXXXXX and the preferred email in which you wish to receive your appointment confirmation.
During your appointment, you will have a generous amount of time to ask questions and learn about the exciting opportunities at the new stadium. Those who respond quickly are likely to benefit from early scheduling so make sure to book your appointment today!
If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact your personal sales consultant, Ron Hecht at 408-579-4444 or rhecht@scstadium.com.
Thank you again for your support. We look forward to meeting you soon.
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