Welcome to the club

I’ve been going to Indians games for fifty years now. (Yes, I’m old, thank you for pointing that out.) As a person of modest means, I have tried to acquire tickets as cheaply as possible throughout my life.

Of course, when I was a child, my parents usually paid for my tickets. But sometimes I got them via other methods. In the 1960s, the Cleveland Press newspaper used to run a promotion wherein if you got straight A’s on your final report card, you could mail it to the Press, and they’d send it back with a few pairs of Indians tickets tucked into the envelope. As I was a diligent student back then, I’d usually qualify. And as I wrote about in my first post for IPL, my uncle Eddie had a way of getting us into the old Municipal Stadium for next to nothing.

As recently as this past season, I got to see a few games at Progressive Field for free. Stephanie gave me at least one ticket, and I saw another game thanks to the generosity of an old high school friend. The Indians gave me a ticket to one of the last home games of the season on Social Media Appreciation Night.

I’m grateful for any free tickets that come my way. But when it’s time to pick up the tab for a game myself, I tend to go the economical route, sitting in the bleachers, or taking advantage of the occasional promotion where if you do something like bring in a Pepsi can or the top of a Big Mac box (no, seriously), you can buy two tickets for the price of one.

So when the Indians announced yesterday that in 2013, they will be selling new Premium Club seating for the well-heeled fan, I thought well, that’s nice, but that’s something I’ll never be able to afford. But for those who can afford it—and I hope that’s you, dear reader—the Premium Club seats offer these amenities:

• A private, climate-controlled, and fully furnished 5,000 square foot lounge
• All-inclusive upscale cuisine and beverages (read: much better hot dogs than the Sugardale coneys the club sells on Dollar Dog Night, and beer which actually tastes good)
• A full-service concierge (“Jeeves, this game bores me. I see that Los Lobos is playing at the House of Blues tonight. Could you get them to come here and sing “La Bamba” for me before they go on? That’s a good chap.”)

Tickets for the Premium Club seats will reportedly cost $150 per game, some of which will be used to pay Manny Acta to not manage the Indians in 2013. In other words, money well spent.

For more information on Premium Club seats, click away. If you do take advantage of this ticket plan next year, be sure to wave at me. I’ll be in the bleachers, eating a dollar hot dog and waving the bottom of a Big Mac box.