Snyders Holds the Line on Tickets, BUT Perhaps he Should CUT Ticket prices

And rightfully so.
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder will hold the line on ticket prices, no increases for the 2009 season.  This really should not be surprising.  Despite the well known love of making the buck by the successful entrepreneur, but lacking GM/Owner, Snyder even has the common sense not to raise ticket prices when the product isn’t worth it.
Let’s face it — to raise ticket prices after the product that was provided to the fans in 2008, that would have gone beyond arrogance to extreme and outrageous.  Heck, it was bad enough that this was the first season in a few that I chose not to attend any Washington Redskins game.  Was planning a November game, but dumped those plans after watching this team.
Fact is, I fully expect a ticket price increase next season with the Washington Capitals.  In fact, Ted Leonsis has said so.  BUT, as a fan, I have no offense to that whatsoever.  If it makes the organization healthier, financially, I am all for it.  Why?  Because of the product Ted Leonsis has put on the ice.  The Caps are FUN to watch.  The Caps are YOUNG.  The Caps are WINNING.  The Caps have a GREAT FUTURE.  The Caps were rebuilt to consistently win for the foreseeable future.  The best part, even with the Caps winning this season, some of their best prospects have not even made the NHL yet.  And imagine this.  Just imagine.  Given the Caps success, Ted Leonsis will gladly give credit to GM George McPhee and HC Bruce Boudreau.  Why?  Because Leonsis is not a GM, doesn’t pretend to be, and had faith in his professionals.  Just imagine …
Now, in comparison with the Washington Redskins, the organization is rapidly aging at the two most vital parts of the team, the offensive and defensive lines.  The team has invested no draft options in those Lines, outside Chad Rinehart, so there are no real prospects ready to take over.  In fact, the last 1st or 2nd round pick on the OLine was 2000 and at DE it goes way back to 1997.  That borderlines NEGLIGENCE!
The Redskins are rapidly aging at Linebacker (London Fletcher and Marcus Washington) with just one average prospect in the wings, HB Blades.   In fact, given no trades, the Washington Redskins, a team with so many needs, has a measly 4 drafts picks for the April draft.  There is alot wrong with the Washington Redskins roster, when we take our burgundy and gold glasses off and stop overvaluing our roster because, well, they are our Redskins.  Yet, do you really have any faith that the organization will right the ship, when Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato are calling the shots?
Here is a novel idea.  Since Snyderrato is convinced they can run a football franchise, which were not quite sure where they get that confidence, perhaps, while the product they continue to deliver continues to disappoint and underwhelm, perhaps, just maybe, the appropriate thing to do is, apologize by CUTTING ticket prices.
Fat chance!
SPENCE ADDS: The ticket price is only part of the price of going to games at FedEx Field. Parking is expensive and so is everything else. And nothing is easy. Sports Illustrated recently rated the experience at each NFL stadium and the Redskins came out ranked 28 of 32, with a 32 score out of a possible 70 points. A few excerpts:

“In a city of dreadful commutes, this one deserves a medal for willful intent.” “If you drive, you’ll sit” in “bumper-to-bumper traffic” on 495, otherwise known as the Capital Beltway. “If you’re not a season-ticket holder, you can’t park in the stadium lot, which means” you’ll have to pay $30 to park in one of the satellite lots “a mile away,” or more. “Then you have to catch a shuttle bus” to the stadium, a process “that can take an hour.” “After the game you wait in line for 45 minutes to get ON the bus to take you back to the parking lot. Then you sit on the bus in insane traffic for an hour to get back to the lot. Then you still have to drive home,” “sharing the road with 90,000-plus fans.” At least stadium personnel “seem to have the traffic logistics worked out well … and there’s lot of information and traffic reports on game day.” In theory, the Metro (Washington’s rapid transit system) makes the game accessible for those who don’t wish to drive,” but “it isn’t convenient” because the almost two-mile “walk from the station is a bit lengthy.” Simply put, “plan to get there hours ahead.”

And:

When fans are left with the impression the owner “would charge you for the oxygen you breathe during a game if only he could regulate it,” that “going to a Redskins game is as much fun as a dentist appointment” and that “unless there is a master plan to bring the team back to the friendly confines of RFK, you’re better off just catching the game on television.” It’s clear there’s some deep-seated discontent flowing beneath the 90,000-plus seats at FedEx Field. In Snyder’s defense, the high prices haven’t stopped the Redskins from selling out each week, and that doesn’t leave much incentive to ease up on the price gun. But Snyder isn’t giving his team’s fans any credit for their belief in this regularly disappointing franchise. If Joe Gibbs were corralling trophies like he did in the ’80s and early ’90s, fans would swallow the costs with smiles on their faces. If you operate a club that has reached the playoffs only twice in the last eight years, the seemingly constant charges feel like extortion. Especially when many of those fans don’t feel the product they’re getting now in the stands or on the field is as good as what they paid less for in the past. With the NFL’s largest stadium and one of its most loyal fan bases, Redskins games should be a celebration. Instead, they only give fans a reason to say, “Thank you, Mr. Snyder, for ruining Sundays.”

FedEx Field is an expensive pain in the ass and after going through everything to attend the game, the product on the field is mediocre.