called it, that’s pretty much the biggest reason why they’re doing it, especially now that we learned hawkers are still taking cash
Fenway to be fully cashless, among other changes for 2022
- Thread starter soxhop411
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Hawkers were only taking cash. The one I talked to said they couldn’t get the machines to work today. Concession line machines were extremely slow to process transactions. Pretty big lines all over, except at the vodka lemonade stand. I had too many vodka lemonades today.
Hawkers only have so many hands
In theory, the Sox wants you to use the Ballpark app to preorder and the vendor then delivers but that isn't workable for numerous reasons.
The elephant in the room is Aramark is in its last season at Fenway as Delaware North takes over in 2023. That is the primary reason the NHL Winter Classic will be at Fenway next January and DN will also get control of concessions at the Penguins arena. ( also taking over from Aramark )
The Bruins hosting a major NHL event in 2023 on the surface didn't make sense as 2024 is their 100th season but now it makes sense.
My local unbranded gas station (lowest price anywhere within miles) is cash only. Since the beginning of the pandemic it’s the only gas station I’ve been to except when I traveled twice to Massachusetts.
I have a feeling the machines aren't going to work a lot this season. The hawkers have to know they are losing money on the machines (or at least believe it to be true), so they'll find excuses to not use them until there's a crackdown. Then half of them will quit and the cycle will repeat itself. They will always find a way around the machines in the stands if they are so motivated. It's the concessions that will be by the book.
I hate carrying cash. Hate. It. Beyond the fact that paper money is among the filthiest things you can have on your person at any one time, it's just a hassle having to stop and take money out. I have a major bank for my primary accounts and a big credit union for my secondary stuff, so I rarely have to worry about not finding an ATM or, at least for the credit union, having foreign ATM charges reversed, but I can only imagine how much it sucks for those who don't to have to try to find an ATM that won't rip them off. When I lived in an area that actually had limited ATM availability, I took to doing cash back at grocery stores or pharmacies, since you could usually find something for a buck or less and at least eat or drink it instead of basically throwing it away like with ATM fees.
If certain dispensaries didn't require cash (I refuse to use debit and pay THEIR built-in ATM fee and the one my bank will charge separately, since I can only get the latter), or I didn't occasionally go to Ralph's in Worcester (or one of the other cash-only bars my friends out there frequent), I'd almost never have any on me. I'd rather just use my phone or my card. At least I know where those have been.
I hate carrying cash. Hate. It. Beyond the fact that paper money is among the filthiest things you can have on your person at any one time, it's just a hassle having to stop and take money out. I have a major bank for my primary accounts and a big credit union for my secondary stuff, so I rarely have to worry about not finding an ATM or, at least for the credit union, having foreign ATM charges reversed, but I can only imagine how much it sucks for those who don't to have to try to find an ATM that won't rip them off. When I lived in an area that actually had limited ATM availability, I took to doing cash back at grocery stores or pharmacies, since you could usually find something for a buck or less and at least eat or drink it instead of basically throwing it away like with ATM fees.
If certain dispensaries didn't require cash (I refuse to use debit and pay THEIR built-in ATM fee and the one my bank will charge separately, since I can only get the latter), or I didn't occasionally go to Ralph's in Worcester (or one of the other cash-only bars my friends out there frequent), I'd almost never have any on me. I'd rather just use my phone or my card. At least I know where those have been.
Hawkers were taking cash yesterday. In my case, lots of it.
This is probably venturing into "start a new thread" territory, but yesterday was the most unpleasant Fenway experience I've ever had. My guess is I've been to just over 150 games, or a rough average of 3/year since my first game in the early '70s. I've seen some shit. I sat in the bleachers and heard vile words and objects hurled at Mickey Rivers. Saw Clemens outduel Saberhagen like 2-1 and it was so windy, cold and miserable it's a miracle that any runs were scored or that anybody stayed outside for almost 3 hours to watch. I've seen excruciating blown leads in important games and was just a few feet away when Varitek blew up his elbow in 2001. But yesterday was the worst.
I've been on Patriots Day before and accept that there will be a percentage of people who just aren't used to drinking that early. I accept that many people aren't going to pay attention. That's fine. I've never really cared about that. It's not Shakespeare. It's a ballgame. And I'm happy to get up if you need to hit the bathroom or grab something to eat, but if you just want to run down the steps near the field to take yet another picture of yourself, then I'm not quite so amenable.
The constant 100 decibel music is also ridiculous, but that's everywhere now and at least they threw me a bone with a few seconds of Nirvana once. One of the few highlights for me was Verdugo's Mexican walk-up music.
The most tiresome thing - and this may be something I've never had to deal with much because I don't always have great seats - was the obsession with balls being flipped into the stands. We were sitting near the 3rd base ballgirl and had to deal with the ball-hawks (my son included - to be fair he's 11) freaking out all game. Then a Twin flipped one from the dugout. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye and could have grabbed it if I'd had time to stand up. Instead, the ball glanced off my hand and then off the Good Will Hunting extra behind me onto the step. It ended up being a 50/50 ball between this dude and a woman across the aisle. She ended up with it, which I though was great, but this dude just would not let it go. It must have been the emasculation talking or the dozen Sammies, but he wouldn't stop.
Aging has a lot to do with it, and I'm not sure if it's a chicken or the egg thing. Even in these pretty good seats, I felt menace and stupidity everywhere. I don't think I noticed this until I started bringing my son. When I was the little kid, I knew that even though there were a bunch of people all fucked-up around me, they'd leave me alone. When I started going with my friends or girlfriends, I felt pretty secure because, while I don't have any Gold Gloves on my trophy case, I could handle myself and had been told that I'm big and intimidating enough times that I knew I'd be fine as long as I minded my own business.
Maybe it's just late onset adulthood. Maybe it's because I was forced to abstain given that I had to drive home, or that naturally protective instinct when you bring your kid into a large crowd (although he seemed to have a great time and that's more important). Maybe it was my office calling and texting me every other inning. It wasn't that the Sox sucked. I've certainly been there before. It was a beautiful day and the park has never looked better, but something intangible that I used to love about Fenway Park, and Boston, was missing and I think it's permanent.
This is probably venturing into "start a new thread" territory, but yesterday was the most unpleasant Fenway experience I've ever had. My guess is I've been to just over 150 games, or a rough average of 3/year since my first game in the early '70s. I've seen some shit. I sat in the bleachers and heard vile words and objects hurled at Mickey Rivers. Saw Clemens outduel Saberhagen like 2-1 and it was so windy, cold and miserable it's a miracle that any runs were scored or that anybody stayed outside for almost 3 hours to watch. I've seen excruciating blown leads in important games and was just a few feet away when Varitek blew up his elbow in 2001. But yesterday was the worst.
I've been on Patriots Day before and accept that there will be a percentage of people who just aren't used to drinking that early. I accept that many people aren't going to pay attention. That's fine. I've never really cared about that. It's not Shakespeare. It's a ballgame. And I'm happy to get up if you need to hit the bathroom or grab something to eat, but if you just want to run down the steps near the field to take yet another picture of yourself, then I'm not quite so amenable.
The constant 100 decibel music is also ridiculous, but that's everywhere now and at least they threw me a bone with a few seconds of Nirvana once. One of the few highlights for me was Verdugo's Mexican walk-up music.
The most tiresome thing - and this may be something I've never had to deal with much because I don't always have great seats - was the obsession with balls being flipped into the stands. We were sitting near the 3rd base ballgirl and had to deal with the ball-hawks (my son included - to be fair he's 11) freaking out all game. Then a Twin flipped one from the dugout. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye and could have grabbed it if I'd had time to stand up. Instead, the ball glanced off my hand and then off the Good Will Hunting extra behind me onto the step. It ended up being a 50/50 ball between this dude and a woman across the aisle. She ended up with it, which I though was great, but this dude just would not let it go. It must have been the emasculation talking or the dozen Sammies, but he wouldn't stop.
Aging has a lot to do with it, and I'm not sure if it's a chicken or the egg thing. Even in these pretty good seats, I felt menace and stupidity everywhere. I don't think I noticed this until I started bringing my son. When I was the little kid, I knew that even though there were a bunch of people all fucked-up around me, they'd leave me alone. When I started going with my friends or girlfriends, I felt pretty secure because, while I don't have any Gold Gloves on my trophy case, I could handle myself and had been told that I'm big and intimidating enough times that I knew I'd be fine as long as I minded my own business.
Maybe it's just late onset adulthood. Maybe it's because I was forced to abstain given that I had to drive home, or that naturally protective instinct when you bring your kid into a large crowd (although he seemed to have a great time and that's more important). Maybe it was my office calling and texting me every other inning. It wasn't that the Sox sucked. I've certainly been there before. It was a beautiful day and the park has never looked better, but something intangible that I used to love about Fenway Park, and Boston, was missing and I think it's permanent.
This thread touched on some of the same feelings that other long time fans are having about the ballpark experience.
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/how-do-you-feel-about-the-past-20-years-of-john-henry-and-tom-werner-owning-the-team.36235/
My take on it is that it's clear the team would rather have a tourist sitting in the seat than a local. I don't know precisely what's causing it, but the feelings (and the huge percentage of Twins fans in the seats) are there.
Because the one-timer is probably going to spend more money, and the stuff inside is very expensive. And many of the one-timers in the premium seats are going to be using free corporate seats, truly a fun atmosphere! That’s why every year right before opening day they make a big deal and win free publicity with the local media about even the smallest of new renovations, food, etc. They’re a business and they’re in it to make as much money as possible. That’s also why the park, despite the same aging foundation, looks so nice compared to, say, 25-30 years ago when it was being left for dead, and one of the many reasons why JWH has done so well with his investment.
Number 3 is the big one. The "theft" angle is a joke. Never has there been more theft since the advent of widespread electronic CC transactions.
Adding to this; I noticed on opening day a lot of stands didn't even have prices up. It's definitely true from a psychology pov that you hand over the card and don't really think about it versus "hrm, I have to find *that* much cash..." and, well, think about it.
Also a joke how the stated reason for 100%/close to it mobile tickets is fraud (minute on a % scale) and health reasons (phones actually have more germs than paper and you scan yourself nowadays anyways) instead of the real reason of marketing to the end user.
Perhaps, but that theft isn't employees skimming from their employer, and that is the concern here
As of Friday, Fenway streets (Landsdowne, Van Ness/Ipswich by Jillians, Gate A, Gate B) has these anti-vehicle barriers. Really overdue. But I'm kind of sad it may have been due to the Uvalde tragedy, just due to timing.
Also the CVS next to the park is closing in about two weeks.
There are a couple more very recent changes, but I forget.
MGM concert venue isn't 100% finished but kind of looks ugly from the outside.
Street food vendors have really increased their prices.
Also the CVS next to the park is closing in about two weeks.
There are a couple more very recent changes, but I forget.
MGM concert venue isn't 100% finished but kind of looks ugly from the outside.
Street food vendors have really increased their prices.
Not sure where youre getting the idea theres more theft on credit card transactions. It is the safest method for merchants, especially in large organizations where there are significant number of short term employees accepting cash.
It's also not just "theft." Cash opens up the risk that employees simply given mistakenly large amounts of change.
Cash isnt as fraud ridden as checks, but I dont think Fenway has accepted checks ever.
Edit: To provide some color on simply mistakes - I used to work in a high volume, cash only business (similar to concessions) in high school/college in the early 2000s. A 1% error rate was considered an acceptable line (i.e., register being short $10 on $1000 of receipts was accepted and understood as a common mistake rate). If you're paying 2.5% in credit card fees, thats a decent deal (although one fraud event can easily wipe out months of savings), but my guess is Fenway is probably in the 175-200 bp range for interchange fees; not 250, which is more typically jammed down on small businesses.
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2 weekends ago I went to my first game in a couple of years with a buddy. We were kicking the idea around of upgrading our tickets from a scalper while we were having some drinks, and I realized I have NO idea how it would even be done with everyone's tickets on their phones now. I also noticed when walking to the park from the Pru, I didn't see ONE scalper at all!
Is it even possible to scalp tickets anymore?
Good point. I might hit up the day game on the 16th and I know I can grab a single at the box office without fees, but was hoping to pay less at scalp free.
The Red Sox have outsourced all their ticket reselling to Stub Hub, letting them grab like 30% of every transaction. If you're lucky you can find a season ticket holder who posts on Craigslist. There wouldn't be any fees, but it's generally not worth the effort to deal with all the flakes and scammers there, even if it saves everyone money.
Ale pointed out Warriors fans might be in town so hoping for a big crowd and I can get a cheap SRO at the box office
Day of the game StubHub tickets sales are often substantially cheaper than face value. It won't work if you're looking to upgrade tickets, but if you decide last minute that you'd like to catch a game, look at StubHub like a few hours before gametime. Since the tickets are electronic, it's really easy to get them on your phone.
Yes, scalpers still exist. I went to a game a couple of weeks ago and ran into one who has been there for many years. But I would never give my cell phone number to a scalper (not that I ever bought or sold tickets from one anyway) so that would rule out any possibility of buying/selling from one for me.
You can just make an account with a throwaway email address and then just transfer to your real account
Turns out this does still exist. Just to the left of the ticket office on Lansdowne near Brookline avenue. As in the past it was pretty useless 75 minutes before first pitch when I arrived, just one person looking to sell for a pair for face value and I just needed a single. Which I bought for cash at that window and got a hard ticket.
Interesting. From my experience, there are almost always more sellers than buyers. Obviously a matter of timing.
Usually the case, yes. But historically very quiet there until the last 30 minutes before the game as sellers explore other options
Hawkers in the stands were easily 90% cash and appeared to have issues connecting to wifi for credit card purchases.
I also heard from an usher that a group of older veterans had trouble with the cash to plastic process. Put their money in and nothing came out. Lots of raised voices until a wise Aramark manager arrived handing out Aramark gift cards to cover the amount lost.
Hawkers in the stands were easily 90% cash and appeared to have issues connecting to wifi for credit card purchases.
I also heard from an usher that a group of older veterans had trouble with the cash to plastic process. Put their money in and nothing came out. Lots of raised voices until a wise Aramark manager arrived handing out Aramark gift cards to cover the amount lost.
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Walkway/bikeway from Fenway D station looks nice. Parking at Maitland west is now $50 not $45 (although not sure if that’s weekend/good opponent thing and it’ll revert to $45 tomorrow)
$50’on Sunday (at least before noon) Is kinda asinine though with not having to pay meters
$50’on Sunday (at least before noon) Is kinda asinine though with not having to pay meters
2 employees and one seller (or maybe buyer no idea) as game is starting today
Betraying how long it's been since I've been to Fenway, but my wife's company is doing the game on Sept 17th and we have to pick where to watch from:
521 Club (or Overlook I guess)
"Backyard BBQ" - Is this just what they're calling the Right Field Roofdeck now? Where you sit at tables? I sat there once in 2006.
Right Field Box - not sure which part
521 seems too fancy / distracted from the game for me.
Thoughts anyone? Anyone been to the first two?
521 Club (or Overlook I guess)
"Backyard BBQ" - Is this just what they're calling the Right Field Roofdeck now? Where you sit at tables? I sat there once in 2006.
Right Field Box - not sure which part
521 seems too fancy / distracted from the game for me.
Thoughts anyone? Anyone been to the first two?
The 521 Club is brand new, haven’t checked it out yet.
The backyard bbq is located above the right field roof boxes, not the Sam roof “deck” which I think you had in mind. It’s on the “terrace” level. I like that spot, but it can get very windy and cold for a September game. You will also be staring into a setting sun for a late afternoon first pitch.
Looks like a lot of obstructed views too, though I don't know how assigned the seating will be.
If the RF Box seats are decent (facing the plate) I might advocate for those, otherwise maybe we'll just be those people and go for the fancy thing.
Currently in RF Box 90, which nicely faces the plate but also the unforgiving sun.
It took two full innings just to go down and get a beer and a hot dog. Cashless Fenway seems much slower.
