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Giants' PSLs make business feel personal

Neil Best

June 27, 2008

Giants fans will have to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 to buy personal seat licenses at the new Meadowlands stadium, due to be completed in 2010. (Newsday / Paul J. Bereswill)

Over the next few years, New York-area fans will settle into several comfy, new, state-of-the-art sports palaces. Nice. But make no mistake: It will cost you.

The latest evidence came yesterday, with the Giants' announcement they will sell personal seat licenses to help finance a $1.6-billion stadium they and the Jets are building in the Meadowlands.

The news wasn't surprising, but it was a blow to many season-ticket holders unhappy with the notion of paying to preserve their right to pay for tickets.

"I'm stunned," said Calvin Lang, 72, of East Hampton, who said he has had season tickets since 1960. "Gosh, I don't even know the correct word. It's insane."

Giants president John Mara agonized over the step, saying "it was not an easy decision for us," but he said there was no way to avoid it given the cost of the project.

"We think and believe that this decision is necessary to secure the future of the Giants franchise for the next 40 years," Mara said on a conference call.

Is he is concerned about fan reaction?

"I'm very concerned about that," he said, "and that's why this has been such a long and thoughtful and careful process."

The Giants plan to issue a detailed price structure in the coming weeks, rolling it out in phases. Fans will have about 30 days after receiving it to make the first of three payments, with the last due in 2010, when the stadium is to open.

The team will work with a lending institution to help fans secure financing if they need it.

About a dozen NFL teams have used PSLs, but the Cowboys raised eyebrows in December when they revealed prices for club seats in their new stadium that will range from $16,000 to $150,000.

The Giants said their PSLs would range from a one-time fee of $1,000 to $20,000, with 90 percent of seats in the upper bowl at $1,000 and about 5,000 at the priciest level.

The Jets said in a statement they are studying the use of PSLs. Recently the team sent a survey to fans to gauge willingness to buy them at various prices, including some lower- level seats at $30,000.

In housing terms, PSLs are like buying a home (the license), but also paying rent (the ticket).

The good news is they can be resold on the open market. So in the likely event their value rises, fans can unload them at a profit if they are willing to stop attending games.

The existence of PSLs will reshape the Giants' famously long waiting list. After some initial movement from those who choose not to renew, the list likely will barely budge as fans, rather than the team, control transfers. (A PSL is valid as long as the Giants play at the stadium.)

The team will try to accommodate fans with costly seats who would prefer to move into a less expensive area of the stadium.

Mara said he expects to gross $300 million to $400 million through PSLs, about half of which will be eaten by taxes. He said the team likely would end up with $500 million in debt even after PSL income.

Reaction was swift and emotional, but varied. Some fans were relieved about prices for the upper deck. The biggest concern is among those who have had good seats at relatively modest prices for decades and now must pay tens of thousands of dollars for the right to buy more expensive tickets.

"It's extremely disturbing," said Russell Ash, 43, of Fort Lee, N.J., whose family has three seats eight rows up at the 45-yard line and has subscribed since 1961.