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September 19, 2008
LUXE SUITES SOUR
NY Post
by Holly M. Sanders
How suite it isn't!
New York sports teams banking on high-priced sales of luxury suites at an unprecedented number of new stadiums and arenas could feel the pinch from the Wall Street meltdown.
Five teams - the Jets, the Giants, the Yankees, the Mets and the Nets - are building expensive venues with more luxury suites, hoping to draw corporate clients.
In the past, the Street could be counted on to be a big buyer of premium seats, but selling to financial firms has suddenly become a lot tougher in the wake of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch's shotgun wedding to Bank of America and the crisis of confidence shaking Morgan Stanley.
"With all these stadiums trying to sell luxury seats, personal seat licenses and season tickets, this is horrible timing," said Robert Tuchman, head of sports entertainment firm Premiere Corporate Events.
...The Nets have sold roughly 30 percent of the 128 suites at the new Barclays Center and count financial institutions among those buyers. The suites have averaged around $300,000. The team has eight more potential buyers booked to visit its showroom, a spokesman said.
NoLandGrab: We think the Post means "the Nets claim they have sold...." We can't imagine we're the only ones who find it hard to believe that in this financial climate, some three dozen entities would plunk down deposits on suites in an arena that may never exist.
Posted by eric at September 19, 2008 3:30 PM