STLtoday.com

OldRed wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 11:26 am The focus on replacing blue collar seats in Busch II with luxury suites in Busch III....

ramfandan wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 11:42 am That is not only DeWitt but happens throughout sports regarding seating.
Green Bay Packers ..had about 60,000 seats in their oval ..Always have been bench seats (so no seat back nor cupholders )..just long benches sitting shoulder to shoulder. 47 rows of them . Packers decided to expand their seating .
So above the perimteter , they added about 8 more rows behind a railing and put in seats with cupholders . Sold these as 'club seats' So charged $25 or more per seat and the location was even higher than row 47 of the bleachers. Behind that they build 3 rows of luxury boxes (enclosed behind glass) very pricey for those.. Had a buddy who was long time season ticket holder in endzone row 15 . In order to renew his season tix EVERYONE who was season ticket holder had to pay an addtion $1,000 to help fund the stadium epansion. He was ticked ..Said hey I have been 30 year season ticket holder , why should I have to pony up money for someone else to sit in a stadium seat with cupholder when I still sit on an aluminum bench with no cupholder for my beer . No way ... abut 95 % of fans did renew as they didn't want to lose their season tix but he was one of the few who did not.
Of course , the Packers have a multi thousand waiting list for season tix so they had no problem getting a new guy to take his seats.
So bottom line.. it's just not DeWitt .... Owners of all major sports screw the blue collar guys at stadiums. Nothing new there.

ramfandan wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 11:42 am That is not only DeWitt but happens throughout sports regarding seating.
Green Bay Packers ..had about 60,000 seats in their oval ..Always have been bench seats (so no seat back nor cupholders )..just long benches sitting shoulder to shoulder. 47 rows of them . Packers decided to expand their seating .
So above the perimteter , they added about 8 more rows behind a railing and put in seats with cupholders . Sold these as 'club seats' So charged $25 or more per seat and the location was even higher than row 47 of the bleachers. Behind that they build 3 rows of luxury boxes (enclosed behind glass) very pricey for those.. Had a buddy who was long time season ticket holder in endzone row 15 . In order to renew his season tix EVERYONE who was season ticket holder had to pay an addtion $1,000 to help fund the stadium epansion. He was ticked ..Said hey I have been 30 year season ticket holder , why should I have to pony up money for someone else to sit in a stadium seat with cupholder when I still sit on an aluminum bench with no cupholder for my beer . No way ... abut 95 % of fans did renew as they didn't want to lose their season tix but he was one of the few who did not.
Of course , the Packers have a multi thousand waiting list for season tix so they had no problem getting a new guy to take his seats.
So bottom line.. it's just not DeWitt .... Owners of all major sports screw the blue collar guys at stadiums. Nothing new there.

OregonRedbird wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 12:15 pm Whatever the year the reality is clear. From the White House to the Outhouse it's a transactional world. Maybe it's always only been about the money and the values and traditions we treasured and counted on were an illusion and far more fragile than we believed.

For billionaires with billion dollar toys, fretting over the P/L has always been laughable. The value of sports franchises grows and grows as respect for the fans that make it possible shrinks and vanishes. Not an indictment, just sayin'.

Mort Gage wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 12:04 pm

ramfandan wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 11:42 am That is not only DeWitt but happens throughout sports regarding seating.
Green Bay Packers ..had about 60,000 seats in their oval ..Always have been bench seats (so no seat back nor cupholders )..just long benches sitting shoulder to shoulder. 47 rows of them . Packers decided to expand their seating .
So above the perimteter , they added about 8 more rows behind a railing and put in seats with cupholders . Sold these as 'club seats' So charged $25 or more per seat and the location was even higher than row 47 of the bleachers. Behind that they build 3 rows of luxury boxes (enclosed behind glass) very pricey for those.. Had a buddy who was long time season ticket holder in endzone row 15 . In order to renew his season tix EVERYONE who was season ticket holder had to pay an addtion $1,000 to help fund the stadium epansion. He was ticked ..Said hey I have been 30 year season ticket holder , why should I have to pony up money for someone else to sit in a stadium seat with cupholder when I still sit on an aluminum bench with no cupholder for my beer . No way ... abut 95 % of fans did renew as they didn't want to lose their season tix but he was one of the few who did not.
Of course , the Packers have a multi thousand waiting list for season tix so they had no problem getting a new guy to take his seats.
So bottom line.. it's just not DeWitt .... Owners of all major sports screw the blue collar guys at stadiums. Nothing new there.

The Packers are publicly owned, and shareholders get no equity stake or dividends, just voting rights and minor perks. So there is no archetypical moneybags owner sticking it to the working man. I'm sure the premium seat and box owners are paying just like Joe Sixpack in the bleachers. It beats hitting up taxpayers.

OregonRedbird wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 12:15 pm Whatever the year the reality is clear. From the White House to the Outhouse it's a transactional world. Maybe it's always only been about the money and the values and traditions we treasured and counted on were an illusion and far more fragile than we believed.

For billionaires with billion dollar toys, fretting over the P/L has always been laughable. The value of sports franchises grows and grows as respect for the fans that make it possible shrinks and vanishes. Not an indictment, just sayin'.

OldRed wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 11:26 am The post of the day and possibly of the year.

by ScotchMIrish » 14 Feb 2026 09:28 am

Time for DeWitt III with him MBA from Harvard to step up. Unfortunately he seems to see the world from the perspective of someone who inherited money. The focus on replacing blue collar seats in Busch II with luxury suites in Busch III and the move toward forcing fans to pay to watch games indicate he doesn't understand blue collar fans who for 100 years were the backbone of the Cardinals.

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 12:48 pm

OregonRedbird wrote: ↑14 Feb 2026 12:15 pm Whatever the year the reality is clear. From the White House to the Outhouse it's a transactional world. Maybe it's always only been about the money and the values and traditions we treasured and counted on were an illusion and far more fragile than we believed.

For billionaires with billion dollar toys, fretting over the P/L has always been laughable. The value of sports franchises grows and grows as respect for the fans that make it possible shrinks and vanishes. Not an indictment, just sayin'.

I think it is a lot more true that some fans think billionaires SHOULD treat sports franchises as "billion dollar toys" that it is that most owners do actually think of them as such.