Off Topic: Another Opening Day At Fenway Park April 8, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Red Sox.1 comment so far
Today is the Red Sox home opener at Fenway Park. For those of you who are not in or from the Boston area, then you might not understanding the significance: This is a local holiday. It’s up there with Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Memorial Day, and our own Patriots Day (which has nothing to do with our football team). This year it will be an even bigger deal than normal; they’re handing out the World Series Championship rings.
I went to my first Red Sox opening day game last year, it was a great experience. But I was sadly unable to get tickets for this year’s event.
Given all of the hoopla, it’s a good time to ask: Why is Fenway Park so popular?
There are actually a lot of good reasons to stay away from Fenway Park:
- It’s not cheap. The average cost for a family of 4 to go to Fenway Park is $320.71. It’s the most expensive park across Major League baseball and is nearly $130 above the national average of $191.75.
- Tickets aren’t easy to get. Thousands/millions of avid fans turn on their computers on the morning of the designated days that Red Sox tickets go on sale. We sit in front of our computers all day waiting in the ”virtual waiting room” (VWR). Even after spending an entire day in the VWR, many people don’t get awarded the honor of buying tickets.
- The seats aren’t comfortable. In just about every area of the park you are treated to seats that were designed for very little people. The seats are narrow and the rows are right on top of each other. Don’t even think about putting down your soda or beer.
- The stadium is crowded. Many of the passageways at Fenway are narrow and can’t handle the foot traffic. Trying to go from the infield to the outfield on the first base side of the field is like trying to navigate through rush hour traffic on a Friday night.
- The views aren’t great. The park is full of seats that have some sort of obstructed view; from the poles in the grandstand to the walkway traffic that bothers the first few rows in the expensive Loge boxes. But maybe my favorite obstruction is in the right field box seats. All of those seats are angled towards center field (not the batter), so you need to turn your head and look over thousands of people to see the game.
All of these issues turn out to be completely irrelevant. Fenway Park is not about comfort or convenience; it’s about leaving the real world behind and entering into a fantasy world where the only thing that matters is a Red Sox victory. All of the problems or distractions in your life seem to magically disappear when you walk into Fenway and are immediately engulfed in the rich tradition of Yaz, Ted Williams, and David Ortiz. I still feel like a little kid everytime I walk into the park and get a glimpse of the Green Monster (maybe that’s why the seats are so small).
I’ll miss opening day, but I’ll be there Friday night rooting against the Yankees. I was one of the lucky ones in the VWR. Go Sox!
The bottom line: Fenway Park is more like a magical Disney experience than it is a wonderful baseball stadium.
Mashup: Halloween + Red Sox + CxP October 31, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Red Sox.3 comments
If you’ve been reading my blog, you probably know that I am really passionate about customer experience (CxP) and the Red Sox. This post combines those topics with the topic of the day: Halloween — it’s a real mashup.
I’ll start with the end of the story; this picture of a 2007 World Series ticket signed by Jason Varitek:
Now for the rest of the story, starting from the beginning…
I went trick-or-treating with my daughter (who was dressed as Betty Rizzo from Grease – very cute!) and a couple of her friends. As we circled around our normal Halloween route in the neighborhood, we heard from one of our friends that Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell had been to their house trick-or-treating with their kids. [Note: Jason Varitek lives in our neighborhood during the baseball season -- but we don't often see him].
Well, that got the neighborhood buzzing. Everyone was on the lookout for Jason who was dressed up in a bright orange jump suit and Mike Lowell who had some mask on. We didn’t see them during our route and when we went to the Varitek house to trick-or-treat, they had run out of treats (that’s not surprising, since it seemed that every kid within a 2 mile radius had come by their house). But there was no sightings of any Red Sox players.
We continued on our route and came back by the Varitek house on our way home. There was a huge commotion and we found Jason sitting on a wall in front of his house signing autographs. He was great with the kids, signing everything that they put in front of him — from baseballs to foreheads. He signed my daughter’s pink jacket and signed one of her friend’s blue jeans.
So I called my son who was home giving away candy who came rushing over to the Varitek house. We were lucky enough to experience the first game of the World Series at Fenway Park, so my son brought his ticket. Jason was nice enough to sign it. That’s the story of the signed ticket above.
Now to bring in the customer experience piece of the story. It’s all about ”Tek.” He’s already loved by Red Sox Nation because of his great play on the field and his leadership in the club house. So he did not need to spend a couple of hours giving out signatures on his front walk. But he did. And he did it graciously. That’s great customer experience!
The bottom line: What an awesome treat for Halloween!
Red Sox Nation Takes Over The World (Series) October 29, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Red Sox.add a comment
If I could represent euphoria with words, then I’d write more. But all I can say is congratulations to the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox…
(from the Boston Globe)
The bottom line: It’s a great day in Red Sox Nation!
Happy Birthday: Red Sox Are American League Champs! October 22, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Red Sox.add a comment
I’ll start with a little piece of personal information: yesterday was my birthday. And I could not have imagined a better present than having the Red Sox advance to the World Series. So, thank you Red Sox!
The Rockies have been a very exciting team to watch and I know that Kevin Kahn will do a great job welcoming fans to Coors Field (see my post: The Colorado Rockies Embraces Its Guests), but I am looking forward to the second half of my birthday present: The World Series Trophy.
(from bostondirtdogs.com)
The bottom line: Go Red Sox!
Boston Red Sox: 2007 AL East Champs! September 30, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Red Sox.add a comment
While I could probably find some way to link the Red Sox American League East Division Championship to the customer experience themes of this blog, I won’t even try. As an avid fan, I just want to savor the moment. This picture on the Boston Dirt Dogs website says it all (I believe that Jonathan Pabelbon is the guy with the Bud Light case on his head) …
The bottom line: Hip, hip, hooray for Red Sox Nation
