don't wanna turn this into a political hijack but, Fresh Air? :smile: Christie is one of the biggest criminals with the shit (documented) he used to do in his former position. Fact is he talked the talk but is not walking it as of yet... Ironically, Obama has pretty much done what he said he would, figured Christie would have an easier job....Sorry, enough of that... Either way, our Gov't should not be spending any amount of money on PSL's. The stadium is getting handouts now and it's a JOKE!!! -The NFL...Super Bowl -Gov't a Million in PSL's WTF is going on here? JETS fans have spoken and the NFL & Gov't turns it's head the other way by giving handouts? wow...
If the Jets and Giants are splitting a 6% allotment then that works out to only 2000 tickets, give or take a hundred or two. Right?
OK, I went to the new stadium for the Bon Jovi concert and took a personal tour of the new building and parking lots. After seeing the new building live and in action, I am not impressed. Is it nice, yeah. Is it all we were led to believe, no. For comparison sake, I was very impressed by the Prudential Center in Newark so I can be pleased. For one, the escalator system (yes they were working) is strange. It takes you one flight at a time and you have to walk the whole length to get your ride to the next level. When I was leaving, the escalator ended at the 100 section and I ended up walking down a ramp to get out. There are steps, ramps and escalators. Second, the restroom entrances and exits are right next to each other. You enter, head to the urinals which are all over, in corners, on the walls, etc. Not just one wall like the old place. Then you have to exit through the sink area to reach the exit door. You literally loop through the room. The concert was mainly female so there was no line for the men's room. A few ladies did choose to use it because there was no line, OK by me. Next, the upper seating (I sat in 313, row 19 for the show) is really high. When I went for the tour in March, it didn't seem that high but when you actually had something to look at on the field level, it seemed very far away. I sat in the uppers last year so I thought I was used to being high up. Guess not. Also, during the show, when a rocking song came on, the whole upper deck was shaking. I'm not talking a little, but alot where folks were looking at each other with puzzled looks on their faces wondering what the hell was going on. If it was moving this much for Bon Jovi, it will be really rocking when the Jets sack Flacco in game 1. The uppers seemed dark. The lights extend over the middle of the uppers to where the lights shine down from in front of you, leaving the higher seats in the dark. ALso, it rained prior to the show and drops from the catwalk behind the lights kept falling on my head. Not fun. Finally, the parking situation. I parked in lot J. I no longer like Lot J and am glad I am not able to park there. First of all, since the old stadium is still in place, you have to walk around it, and the construction, to get to the new place. Seemed like I walked forever. Secondly, the spaces are too narrow. I have a GMC SUV and wasn't able to open the damn door without hitting the car next to me. No one was enforcing the now infamous 1 space policy. Getting to the NJTP was easy once you actually got out of the lot though. Things I liked: Numerous beer stands. Too bad I do most my drinking in the lot. Food lines, also I rarely buy anything in the stadium after a hearty tailgate. The big screens are cool as well. Nice clear picture. Gonna look great on instant replays. The stadium is still going through growing pains with the staff, ammenities, etc. There is still construction work to be done in a few areas. If anyone has any questions, I'll try my best to answer.
Good writeup, 22. I also noticed the Upper Deck moving while I was there, and that was only from a concrete delivery machine roaming around the ramp. I thought it strange, but was distracted by so many other things I didn't pay much attention to it. I think the decks are built to move more nowadays... not necessarily a dangerous thing but larger joint expansions to accomodate movement. I saw one rubber joint expansion gap in the floor so wide it had to be covered with an 8" metal strip plate so you wouldn't trip over it. There's enough steel in that building though, so people needn't worry about collapse IMO. The height hit me the same way also. You are WAY up there... steep too. I'm going to see if I "adjust" to this at the Eagles Concert in June. I'll be pretty close to where my seats are for football. My overall impression was similar to yours... I've never been overly impressed with "bigger is better." It appears cold to me... expansive. Concrete and steel up the whazoo with huge wind tunnels everywhere. Giants Stadium had "cubbyholes" in the corners where you're out of the wind. Many seats were covered also. Not so with this stadium. I would estimate less than 5%-8% of the outdoor seats are under cover. The rest are completely exposed or under a drip line. The expanse and the "openness" (exposure to the elements) are the two things that grab you right away. I'm an outdoor guy, don't get me wrong. Spent many a night camping out in all kinds of weather, so I'm not stranger to the elements. It's just that when I bring my family and gradkids to a game, it would have been nice to have a little shelter. It's as though the entire stadium was designed to force you into buying the PSLs. "You want cover? You can have it in The Club."
Great write up. One of reason I did move is I was in row 21 upperdeck endzone and it appear the lights were directly above me and would drip on me. also since I was behind lights I also wondered if that would be weird at night looking from the dark out to the light. The other reason was I could not see the screens on my side. I need to look completely across field to see screens. So I have to look across 70 rows to back of endzone, 100 yards across field and then another 50 rows on opposite side of field to see nearest monitor. I know they are big, but when play is on other side of field I can't see it very well in person and even monitor is far away. That combined with all the climbing to my seats, not being on asile and the view of field was bad. I think there is a valid reason why Giants did not sell PSLs in row 22-26 in UD EZ, only seats Giants kept as non-psl seats. Bet guy who bought row 21 UD EZ is getting his ass kicked if he ever brings wife to game. I still don't know why if original intention was to make whole stadium PSLs why they would make a stadium where 50% of upper deck sucks.
Actually it is you want cover buy a shitty PSL seat, coaches and Mezz club are not covered. Only cover is back of mezz b and back of LL EZ. You have to pay for a shitty view to have cover. That is what really sucks. But then again it was a mechanism to get people to buy last few rows of LLEZ and Mezz b which would have been hardest to sell
Concerning Orange Parking Lots ROJF, you mentioned something the other day in passing (about Giants Stadium) that got me thinking (always a dangerous thing). I'm not sure in which post or in what context, but it raises a question on my mind. Is it possible that the Orange Lots are TEMPORARILY located where they are because Giants Stadium is still under demolition? I am thinking there is a possibility that these horrendous Orange locations (for Upper Deck NE side people), while designated there to make it more inconvenient for UD people (and therefore force them into a PSL), it is possible that this is a temporary selection in case the Giants Stadium ground is not completely paved and ready to go. They are selling Prepaid Parking Permits to all STHers and it's possible that they did the Orange Lot fiasco in order to have zero complaints from any PSLers who bought parking and then might be inconvenienced by any delay in the paving and finishing of entrances/exits, curbing, etc. of the Giants Stadium location. The Green and Yellow areas seem inordinately large by comparison (out of balance with number of seats) to the smaller Orange Areas and far more convenient. It's almost unimaginable as to why a decision like this was made. We know one of the reasons for the decision is to make it less hospitable for UD people to the point of drivng them to buy a PSL, but it's also possible that when the dust settles and all the lots are paved and 100% complete and all the PSLs are sold, that the Jets will rethink putting some Orange Areas on the outskirts of the Yellow and Green ones, especially if there are massive defections in 2011 by UDers going one and done because of the inconvenience and possible overcrowding due to letting Yellow and Green park in Orange too. The sales tool who showed me my seats a week ago insisted that the parking lots "will not change" when asked, but of course, he was trying to sell me a PSL. They all know damned well that the Orange situation is helping push borderline people for now, so why not tell everyone that? I'm just wondering if some small chance still exits that after the first season, the Jets will come to their senses and open up outlying areas to Orange. There is so much real estate out there it only seems logical to re-assign some Orange areas, especially if it becomes evident that many PSLers are using Orange to tailgate.
They want to sell as many tickets as possible, right? That includes RETAINING existing sales and trying to prevent walkaways and turnovers. Even my sales rep agreed that they don't want to be constantly having to resell seats. When all the PSLs are sold, that's it for those sections. Case closed for the 100s and 200s. They're done. Those people aren't walking away from anything. They own them. Done deal. Unless, of course, they sell them to someone else, in which case the Jets get a "transfer fee," so they could give a shit less what happens to the PSL sections. They've got their money up front and forever. Not so with the Upper guys. Constant source of aggrevation dealing with them and their complaints and threats of walking away. No PSL to stop them. They drop out and it makes more work and sales expense for the Jets. The constant drone of "Parking is a pain in the ass for us. I'm going to have to decline next year, it's just too much hassle to get into the stadium from across 120 and the busy train side of the stadium." Solution? After every PSL is sold, you open up more Orange areas, especially on the SW side where there's pleanty of real estate. Of course, you don't do that now. In fact, you tell people now that "it won't change, ever." Let the little bastards think the only way out of the Orange parking hassle is to buy a PSL.
Only problem is Jets sold a ton of no money down PSLs. I see lots of scalpers with dummy names, fake emails and PO boxes who bought them right around Feb 1st when they droped the deposit requirement. Those seats are all on 15 year financing at 8% interest. As soon as scalpers can't sell seats to cover ticket cost and PSL fee they are all coming back. Heck first seven rows of TC/ LGL and 15k sideline sections when I look at fansnap are mostly scalpers. I do think 100% when old stadium is down and hole is filled parking will be much better for UD, Jets will never mention that as they only really have till 2011 when secondary market opens up to sell psls. Once that day happens people in ud can pick up PSL for balance of PSLs in most sections, pay off their loan so why pay full price. Think how cheap a 4k psl will be two years form now when owner walks away from 10% downpayment and already made a few payments. He will be more than happy to sell for balance rather than risk jets coming after him. I bet the $245 and up PSLs in Mezz clubs will be virtually worthless in three years. I would love to pick up a 7.5k PSL in a few years for 4k. Would not buy a used 25k PSL in Mezz club with a $395 ticket even if you gave it to me for free.
I agree with you guys about them making the Upper deck experience a hassle in order to push people to a PSL, but I can't see anyone paying 5-10K instead of $0.00 because of parking. The only thing they got going for them is once people sit in the Upper deck, and see how " It is High, it is Far" ( J. Sterling), they might, might move downstairs. The long walk will just push people out the door, not downstairs. I am just hoping that getting in will no longer be a hassle. How much you want to bet that the East side where the train lets out will be backed up at 12:40 just like the old place
Yeah, that's a real bargain 4.5K. No PSL is a bargain period, even $1000. Giant Stadium was our bargain.
Well, that's what we figured. When I was there in Feb. I notice how the escalators did not zig zag as they should to get from one to the other. Poorly planned, of course. They cared more about how it looked from the outside than they did about moving people up and down. My wife will be out of there as soon as that happens never to return... ; ) Remember the Seinfeld scene where George flees the old age home when someone yells fire? That'll be her. Very disturbing to read. I'll be in row 8 so i may be spared, but still... Just one more inconvenience and poorly planned aspect of this monster. Super Bowl icicles will fall and/or drip on those who've spent $3K for a bad ticket in Feb 2014. The upper deck for that SB will be empty at halftime guaranteed. I think we have enough evidence that our football teams BLEW IT designing and building this thing. It's very sad. Anyone watch the Yanks this week? Minnesota was able to build a beautiful facility. Make Citi Field look like a car bumper with stickers all over (The advertising there is pathetic) it I know it's baseball, but once a football stadium is built there it'll be great too. Ours was built to generate income, period. Glad you liked something at least. Thanks for the terrific report. I can't say it makes me feel better about going there, but I'll be better prepared. I hate what you wrote about drips even when there is no rain falling. That really sucks. If this was a better stadium I'd be happier about the SB coming. I was against it ONLY because I felt it rewards the bozos who are sucking our money without giving us enough back. They were rewarded for that, even before the place opened for football. This stadium has made me one cranky bastard and I have yet to attend an event there. Oh well. Go Jets.
This is my saga trying to change seats: I went on my seat tour a couple weeks back and I think the stadium looks great. I can't link pictures yet due to post count, but the view was great. I really like section 108 except for the lower row seats closer to 106 which is what we had(row 4). We bought our PSL when the sales rep thought that seat one was an aisle seat. We couldn't get over paying 1k more a seat than the person we are sitting next to in 106 and being in the middle of the row. So naturally, we wanted to see what seats were available to make a better decision. They tried to push the 7.5k seats and said they should get back to me the following Monday with availability. Monday comes and I get the same response that we did on the tour. I say we prefer to stay in 108, but we are open to best available and we would move to 7.5k seats if the deal was worthwhile. After a few days, I get the same availability response. Now two weeks have passed and we still haven't heard a peep after emailing/leaving vm to my sales rep. Reading this forum I know that PSLs aren't exactly selling like hotcakes so I was frustrated. After lines of communication have dried up my sister decided to go towards another form of communication, twitter. We had a response within 30 min and a new sales rep. After one tweet we were able to stay in section 108 and one row higher in 5, but on the aisle seats 13-15! After our 3rd move I think we are going to be staying there for years to come and look forward to preseason.
We sat in aisle seats in the old stadium for 22 years. After all the getting up and sitting down for every single person going in and out an aisle seat was not a high priority, lol. After the drunks break the seal you'll find it's almost a workout, lol.
this is what the stadium looks like at night. lots of upper deck seast in the dark. the metlife corner is north the pepsi corner south corner of this picture