“Yankees’ food up for bid” by Dave Andrews (Volume 8, issue 16)

The New York Yankees, one of baseballs premier teams is about to build and open a new baseball facility in 2009. One of the major concerns for the team is the proper funding that would be necessary to help the completion of this project. One way to properly fund the project is the bidding of concessions throughout the entire stadium. For the first time in forty years the Yankees are taking bids from major companies who want to sell food and merchandise from inside Yankee Stadium. The one major factor is price; the price of admission into the new $800 million Yankee home is $50 million upfront from the winning bidder! This would be for a ten year contract starting in 2009, carrying through the 2018 season. This is a very unusually high number to ask for, but than again, we are talking about the New York Yankees who generated $62.7 million in just food and retail revenue with a $17.27 per cap last season. The next team who compares to the Yankee’s food and retail income generated a mere $20 million less with a $14.77 per cap.

The Yankees can demand such high amounts from bidders because of “who they are and the prices they can charge.” They get the best players known to baseball; have winning seasons each and every year and sellout the stadium more times than any other team. This is not to mention the television attention they receive from owning their own broadcast station as well as ESPN rights. They are “America’s Team” in the baseball aspect; therefore, they can demand pretty much anything they want and will receive it!