The Atlanta Falcons are excited about their new stadium. They've been hyping it since before the ground breaking ceremony. A fancy retractable roof, a one hundred yard bar, cheap beer - it will basically be the best fan experience imaginable. Except for one, tiny, insignificant detail: the cost.
Sure, hot dogs and beer will come cheap. ($2 and $5 respectively, should you choose to indulge.) But that won't put a healthy dent in what it will cost to go to games. If you're a season ticket holder, you'll need to, for the first time in Falcons history, purchase a personal seat license. If you're anyone else, the PSL cost and absurdly high cost of game tickets will trickle down and make watching from home appear to be an attractive option.
But don't dismay, loyal season ticket holders. Arthur Blank and his merry band of marketing gurus are sending out handwritten notes coupled with $2 bills. Why a $2 bill, you ask? Again, it's the cost of a single hotdog. That's right, the team is covering your first hotdog. Wow. Just wow.
They've sent direct mail pieces to prospective buyers of season tickets boasting of the value eats that includes a $2 bill, which is the cost of many items, including a hot dog.
To be fair, this is a nice gesture. I sincerely appreciate the executives thinking of me. (I can appreciate the cheap concessions, and if you imbibe heartily, paying only $5/beer means something.) That said, there's something absurdly askew about this. It's an idea that might've been better served in the "pass" or "not now" piles.
Your thoughts?