parking, schmarking...

I see that you took your wife to the baseball game & that you would
like the $5.00 parking fee added to the ticket price.

I assume you were the one driving, & that your wife was with you in
the car.

How would you wife like it if the parking fee was added to her ticket
even though she came with you to the baseball game? She did not park
the car. You did.

If you resent being "forced to pay to park to watch the Washington
Nationals (or any other MLB club), when all the players are
multi-millionaires who play a game for a living" and that "(m)ost of
the people in attendance won't see $1M in their entire lives and these
guys get it in a few weeks for doing what our children do at recess in
4th grade!" then DONT'T SUPPORT THE TEAM. That means not paying to
see the game, not watching it on television (since the network has to
pay the league in order to air the game) don't buy the team's
merchandise, and don't cheer them on.

Do those people have to park somewhere else & pay? If so, they WILL
NOT be happy.

So including the parking fee in the ticket price would not be a good
idea.

They had a yearly jazz festival for the weekend. The festival itself
was free but the parking was $5 a day.


Did I want to pay that? Hell no!



So... I walked.
Which also meant I could partake in the beer they sold. Which turned
out to be not worth drinking (blah bud. canoe beer!)

But anyway yeah I walked.

The stadium is not owned by the Potomac Nationals; it's owned by
Prince William County, where it is located. Any activity that takes
place in the stadium (e.g., I think that Bob Dylan has played there on
his NeverEnding Tour) has paid parking. That's something that's
largely out of the team's control.

You also seem to link parking at Washington Nationals games in DC with
parking at the P-Nats games in Virginia. While the P-Nats are a Nats
farm team, the teams have different owners. The P-Nats are owned by
Art Silber; the Nats are owned by Lerner family and other investors.
What one team does in terms of parking at the facility it uses has no
relationship to what the other team.

If you're not happy with the parking fees at the stadium in DC, you
are free to do what the vast majority of Nats fans do for every game
-- take public transporation.

the less sense it made to me.

You say this is on "principle" about having to pay to park, but think
about this: You're saying you'd rather have the parking rolled into
the cost of the ticket.

Ok. Then you're still paying to park! Either way, they get your
money, so who cares what they say it's for? Either way, you're still
not getting out of paying the charge!

This makes NO SENSE at all to me!

I understand your point that its frustrating to have to pay more money
when your arrive, but parking charges are common at these types of
venues. $5 is pretty reasonable, where I am from the charge is $10 for
college sporting events. Most large events charge a parking fee of
some sort.

You realise that your idea means you will have paid more overall than
you would have had you just paid the posted parking fee.

You want to pay the $5 parking fee in your ticket price? Well NOW
instead of say $10 per ticket and a $5 parking fee (so $25 for the
event) you are paying $30 for the same event. What about the people
who go with friends in a group? Or families who bring their kids?
Because of your new pricing structure because you dont' think you
should have to pay for parking, the cost for a family of 4 to go to
the game will have increased by $15. For many, that is enough to say
"No thanks"

This in turn means lost revenue for the club, and then either an
increase in ticket prices again, in order to keep up with payroll etc,
or the club folds and moves away because of lack of attendance.

Secondly - they need to pay for the land leased/owned for the parking.
They need to pay to maintain it, and they need to pay the attendants
who monitor it. Where is that money coming from if you don't want to
pay for it?

MOST aa/aaa teams charge for parking. Heck, it is a BUSINESS. That's
what they do. They are there to make money. I attend many AHL and OHL
hockey games, and they charge for parking as well. Sure, it's the
minor leagues but there are still costs involved. Heck, I had to pay
for parking to attend my niece's primary school spring theatre
production. Parking lots take up space, and that land costs money.

http://www.milb.com/team1/page.jsp?ymd=20061219&content_id=149334&vkey
=team1_t564&fext=.jsp&sid=t564

People who go to this minor league baseball team home games have to
pay for their parking.

Why should car poolers or a bus of little league kids be forced to pay
extra money on their tickets to go toward parking when they don't need
it.

A company that receives one complaint will acknowledge that complaint,
but they may or may not actually do something about that complain.
But...if many people complain about the exact same thing, then the
company acutally might do something.

So if the OP wants something done, he may have to wait until many
people have complained about the exact same thing.

If management increases the price of the tickets, they could deal with
many upset customers who do not park at the event. Management has to
make the decision regarding what the best thing to do is given the
situation.

I once worked as a parking attendant at a parking garage located next
to a movie theater. One company owned the movie theater. Another
company owned the parking garage. The parking company I work for
managed & provided the staff who worked inside the booth, but they did
not manage the garage. The company that owned the parking garaged
charged customers to park there. No one received free parking.

At one point the company that owned the parking garage chose to raise
the parking fee. A sign was posted at the booth stating when the
increase would be in effect as well as the parking fee.

One particular female customer was REALLY upset when she saw the big
sign located outside the gargage with the new price. When she drove up
to the booth, she complained about the price increase & asked me "how
can you sleep at night?" I did not know what to say at that point.
When she left, I laughed.

I asked my direct manager at the parking garage where do customers who
are unhappy about the price increase go to complain about that. He
told me that IF the parking company actually OWNED the garage, they
could complain to the company. But since the parking company does not
own the parking garage, then the customer has to complain to the
company that actually owns the garage.

I asked a couple of people who worked in the movie theater if
customers complained about the parking fee increase. They told me that
customers did complain to them, but since the theater did not actually
own the parking garage, they would have to complain to the company
that owned the parking garage.

What difference does it make if you pay $5 for parking or an extra $5
for the ticket?

If I have to pay to park on the street in front of my own house, you
can pay $5 to park at an event!

Park is never free at these kind of events. Whether it be a concert,
baseball game, rodeo, circus. Amusement Parks & Zoo's also charge for
parking.

Many cities make you pay to park on the street. My own city has made
my neighborhood "permit parking only" because employee's from the
nearby hospital & dr's offices were parking in the neighborhood and
leaving behind a lot of trash, and crime was also going up. So now I
have to pay $80 a year to park in front of my own house. And your
complaining about $5 to watch a game?

Most of the local hospitals near me charge people to park at the
facility.

CHARGE PEOPLE EITHER HAVING PROCEDURES DONE OR CHARGE PEOPLE VISITING
PATIENTS TO PARK!!!!!

The only people who get a pass are those in the ER (if there is room)
and the spouse/SO of new Moms. Everyone else - from the 10 year old
whos having his appendix out to the 85 year old grandmother who had a
stroke - has to pay to park there.

So why do you think that you should be exempt from paying to to park
to see a baseball game when someone with a medical reason to be in a
location has to pay for their parking.

And you might want to pay more and not pay additional to park, but
think about it - if you end up paying it in total anyway, does it
really make a difference how they break it down for you?

Put it in perspective.....

Do you go to alot of sporting events? You always pay for parking
unless you park miles away and walk, and hope you dont get towed.

And I agree with Red, why should people who dont park pay for parking
so you dont have to?

The math doesn't make sense. Parking was $5.00 for one car, right?
If they charged an extra $5.00 per ticket, you would in effect be
paying $10.00 for parking for the evening. Let's say you were a
family of 4, that would be $20.00 you'd be paying.

And it really wouldn't be fair, as others have pointed out, for those
who don't drive to the game and park at all.

Why does it matter whether you pay $5 for the tickets and $5 for
parking, or pay $10 for the tickets? In the end, you still pay $10
for the experience.

Frankly, I'm generally more incensed about paying $5 for a soda that
cost them about 45 cents to make, or $8.50 for a beer that costs them
a $1.

paying for parking is a part of modern life. If I go to the doctor
(which costs far more than a minor-league game), I have to pay for
parking. If I go downtown to shop, I pay for parking. This OP should
catch a bus or park a few blocks away and walk to the park.

Michael A

I work in the parking business. I have worked for years as a parking
attendant for baseball games, & every baseball game I worked at,
customers have to pay for their parking.

Exactly where did you park at? Who owns those lots? Does the venue
where the baseball game was held actually own the parking lots? If
not, then you do have to pay for your parking.

If another company owns the parking lots, it does not matter who parks
in those lots for whatever reason. You still have to pay for your
parking. That is how it is with the parking company I work for.