New Stadiums Come With A Trade-Off

I read an article today by Tom Verducci about how the New Yankee Stadium may not equal the previous one in terms of fan noise. This of course, he suggests, figures to take away a certain advantage that the Yankees had. His is not the only take I've heard on this issue in the last several weeks. The same things have been written about the Met's Citifield.

But is it really an issue?

I was living in Baltimore when Oriole Park at Camden Yards was built. Memorial Stadium was a dump. And Camden Yards is a jewel of a ballpark. But it may surprise some to know the same things were said of it back then, that are being said about the Yanks' & Mets' new digs today.

"Too many corporate guys with suits."

"The new ballpark has priced out the real fans."

"The noise level can't compare to Memorial Stadium"

Maybe these issues were a surprise to the Orioles' organization at the time but do you think they have, for one second, regretted building Camden Yards? Of course not.

Now, do you think the Yankees were unaware that moving the fans back from the field in a bowl shape instead of straight up would reduce the noise level?

Do you think they might have considered that pricing some seats as high as $2500 would alienate a portion of their fan base?

Would it have occured to the Yankee brass that the type of fans who can pay top price for a seat in the new stadium aren't the kind of people who are going to get drunk on beer and heckle opposing players all game?

Perhaps they balanced those negatives with how much extra money they'd make with luxury boxes and corporate sponsorship.

That's why teams build new ballbarks. It increases revenue streams. In theory, by doing so you are able to use that extra income to put a better team on the field.

The Yankees have not won 26 championships in baseball because they've acheived some sort of advantage over other teams due to loud, intimidating fans. They've done it by putting a winning team on the field more often than not. If they continue to do that, I think they'll be alright...even in the New Yankee Stadium.