The dispute between the Yankees and StubHub hasn’t gone away, but the two sides met Wednesday as fans wait to see if they will still be able to use the ticket service to buy discounted tickets to the team’s games this season.
“I met today with Scott Cutler, President of StubHub, and we had a good and productive meeting,” Yankees president Randy Levine said in a statement. “It lasted about an hour and we agreed to continue talking. There is nothing to announce at this current moment, but we will update everyone when we have news.”
With Opening Day less than six weeks away, it remains to be seen if the two sides reach an agreement after the Yankees eliminated the print-at-home option for tickets purchased online — instead only allowing fans with tickets printed from the box office or Ticketmaster or with a mobile ticket scanned off a smartphone.
Ticket Exchange, a Yankees partner, is the only secondary seller with the ability to send mobile tickets to smartphones for Yankees games. Unlike StubHub, Ticket Exchange has a pricing floor to stop tickets from being resold for below face value.
“StubHub appreciates the Yankees willingness to meet and have an open dialog with regards to their ticketing policies,’’ StubHub said in a statement. “We were encouraged by the tenor of the conversation and look forward to continuing these discussions in the days ahead. StubHub is committed to putting fans first and passionately advocating for them with both our partners and the industry at large.”
The feud doesn’t end there, though, as Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. sent a letter to Levine, calling the new ticket policy “draconian” and adding it “discriminates against baseball fans who might take advantage of free-market economics.’’
Levine shot back.
“The letter doesn’t surprise me, given that we’ve stopped his endless funding requests,’’ Levine said. “It does surprise me because the only time he showed up to Yankee Stadium was when he was on official business when he was comped. He only comes to Yankee Stadium for ceremonies and leaves before the game, so he can’t be too much of an expert on tickets. I guess there are no greater problems affecting the Bronx that he needs to spend time on than ticketing.”
A Diaz spokesman said Diaz has not been comped for any tickets.
In the letter to Levine, Diaz wrote, “It is hard not to think of this as a blatant money-grab by the New York Yankees that hurts the pockets of the most die-hard fans.” Diaz also labeled COO Lonn Trost’s comments after the move that “quite frankly the fan may be someone who has never sat in a premium location. So that’s a frustration to our existing fan base” as “incredibly insensitive.’’