Four Months Later

It sometimes takes a while to get over disappointments.

It isn't news that the Cards finished last year with a record of 8-8. Hidden in there is the fact that they lost twice to the hapless 49ers. Turn around those two games, and the Cardinals win the division. Bottom line: it was a disappointing year. Hmmm, I wonder how many times I can use the word disappoint here?

So the new year comes. The Super Bowl makes me happy, and then the bill for the next season arrives.

I've been a season ticket holder since the Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988. That first season, they soaked fans thanks to a huge customer base willing to pay top dollar for NFL product. I was on the sunny side of the stadium on the south goal line paying $40 per game to attend.

Next I moved to the northeast corner of the stadium at the front of the upper deck. While more reasonably priced, the view was the pits. I was happy to have my father join in the fun in 1997, and we moved back to the lower deck around the 20 yard line on the north and shaded side. When we moved into these seats, tickets again moved above $40 per game.

After an incident with a Raiders fan (she couldn't figure out how to keep her knees out of my back), we moved to the 30 yard line with backs for our seats (but still bleachers). In our last season at Sun Devil Stadium, tickets cost $61.20 per game.

We have roughly the same seats at UofP Stadium. In year 1 (not even including the facility charge), tickets were $75 each. Last year, they went up to $82.50. This year, they hit $92.50. In three short years, I've experienced a price increase of more than 50%. Dad doesn't want to buy in again. It's just too expensive. I'm not sure what to do. For this year, I've committed to buying the seats whether he comes in or not.

I want my team to be successful, but they seem to be doing their best to find my breaking point. Sadly, I think it may come sooner rather than later.