While many have already written off the upcoming Islanders season as a colossal waste of time, the team itself isn't ready to make that determination. However, they are making a very concerted effort to get the fans involved, and their method for achieving that is through their extensive ticket options. Who needs individual ticket sales when you can pick one of their many partial plans?
In all seriousness, those of us who had to sit through the Mets organization telling us, "If you don't get a ticket plan, forget about going to Opening Day, the Subway Series, or the last game at Shea," are in for a serious treat. The Islanders are going out of their way to hook us up - God knows we deserve it - and actually do have something for everybody. The full list of plans, opponents, and discounts off face value can be found at the Islanders' website.
With that in mind, we here at The Rivalry, knowing that money and time are tight for a lot of people, have the highlights of the Islanders' offerings for your perusal. So here we go. Everyone knows what a full season package is. Boring. They also have first-half and second-half plans. Ooh. What new and exciting things do the Islanders' sales staff have in store for us?
- Full Season With Flexible Seating. This is pretty cool. You pay for a season ticket in the upper deck, but get moved down to the lower level for ten games. And it's not the crappy ten games you'd expect, either. You get Opening Night, all three Ranger games, and two each against the Devils and Flyers in the good seats. Oh, and you don't pay anything extra for the right to watch the Isles' best games in the lap of luxury. Not bad, eh?
- Flex 20 Plan. You're given 20 ticket vouchers and a slate of 25 games. You can mix and match them any way you'd like. For example, you can bring nineteen of your closest friends to one game, or you can go to twenty different games by yourself. Interesting.
- Weekday Choice Plan. You get all three Ranger games. You also get to pick twelve out of nineteen select weekday games, not to mention playoff options (stop laughing).
- Experience: Hockey Plan. Pick three out of five games you'd like to attend. But there's more. You get skating lessons at Iceworks, "Chalk Talk" with the team (whatever that is), and the right to - and this is a direct quote from the Islanders' site - "HIGH-FIVE the players on their way onto the ice". I'd like to see how someone in Row O of section 302 high-fives a player. I guess that's part of the plan's magic.
- Upgrade Plan. This one's sort of confusing, so bear with me. You pay for an upper-deck ticket, then bring it to the game, at which time you're given an upgrade to a lower-level seat. It doesn't apply to the Ranger game, but seven out of eight isn't bad. Who needs the same seat every game if you can sit with the high-rollers in the 100s for half the price? Given that two of the games are against Atlanta and Los Angeles, there should be plenty of great lower-level seating to be had.
- Big Value Plan. By far the steepest discount off face value available outside of full-season packages. And there's a reason for that - the first-half plan features games against Columbus, Dallas, and Vancouver; the second has games against Los Angeles, Carolina, and Colorado. If you've been clamoring to see the stars of the West, this one's for you. Or, if you just want to sit in the lower level and don't care who the Islanders play, hit up the Lower VIP End Zone section for $38 per game.
- Victory Plan. If anyone ever tells you gambling is illegal, just point them in the direction of this plan. The premise is this - if the Islanders win any of the games in this plan, you get a free ticket to another game. They disclose the tickets you'd be winning in advance, so it's not like they're giving you leftovers from a low-drawing night. The problem is, of the four games, three of the opposing teams won their divisions last year. Gulp.
OK. I'm broke, but I think even I can swing the Big Value Plan. And I just might go for it. For now, though, my friend Leslie got the Borrelli's All-Star Plan, which I'll mooch off of as often as possible. Hey, Islanders management, here's one - instead of giving us gift cards to Italian restaurants, why not give us a Hooters Plan? Or even a plan that guarantees ticketholders unlimited pretzel twists. Now that could be useful.
In all seriousness, those of us who had to sit through the Mets organization telling us, "If you don't get a ticket plan, forget about going to Opening Day, the Subway Series, or the last game at Shea," are in for a serious treat. The Islanders are going out of their way to hook us up - God knows we deserve it - and actually do have something for everybody. The full list of plans, opponents, and discounts off face value can be found at the Islanders' website.
With that in mind, we here at The Rivalry, knowing that money and time are tight for a lot of people, have the highlights of the Islanders' offerings for your perusal. So here we go. Everyone knows what a full season package is. Boring. They also have first-half and second-half plans. Ooh. What new and exciting things do the Islanders' sales staff have in store for us?
- Full Season With Flexible Seating. This is pretty cool. You pay for a season ticket in the upper deck, but get moved down to the lower level for ten games. And it's not the crappy ten games you'd expect, either. You get Opening Night, all three Ranger games, and two each against the Devils and Flyers in the good seats. Oh, and you don't pay anything extra for the right to watch the Isles' best games in the lap of luxury. Not bad, eh?
- Flex 20 Plan. You're given 20 ticket vouchers and a slate of 25 games. You can mix and match them any way you'd like. For example, you can bring nineteen of your closest friends to one game, or you can go to twenty different games by yourself. Interesting.
- Weekday Choice Plan. You get all three Ranger games. You also get to pick twelve out of nineteen select weekday games, not to mention playoff options (stop laughing).
- Experience: Hockey Plan. Pick three out of five games you'd like to attend. But there's more. You get skating lessons at Iceworks, "Chalk Talk" with the team (whatever that is), and the right to - and this is a direct quote from the Islanders' site - "HIGH-FIVE the players on their way onto the ice". I'd like to see how someone in Row O of section 302 high-fives a player. I guess that's part of the plan's magic.
- Upgrade Plan. This one's sort of confusing, so bear with me. You pay for an upper-deck ticket, then bring it to the game, at which time you're given an upgrade to a lower-level seat. It doesn't apply to the Ranger game, but seven out of eight isn't bad. Who needs the same seat every game if you can sit with the high-rollers in the 100s for half the price? Given that two of the games are against Atlanta and Los Angeles, there should be plenty of great lower-level seating to be had.
- Big Value Plan. By far the steepest discount off face value available outside of full-season packages. And there's a reason for that - the first-half plan features games against Columbus, Dallas, and Vancouver; the second has games against Los Angeles, Carolina, and Colorado. If you've been clamoring to see the stars of the West, this one's for you. Or, if you just want to sit in the lower level and don't care who the Islanders play, hit up the Lower VIP End Zone section for $38 per game.
- Victory Plan. If anyone ever tells you gambling is illegal, just point them in the direction of this plan. The premise is this - if the Islanders win any of the games in this plan, you get a free ticket to another game. They disclose the tickets you'd be winning in advance, so it's not like they're giving you leftovers from a low-drawing night. The problem is, of the four games, three of the opposing teams won their divisions last year. Gulp.
OK. I'm broke, but I think even I can swing the Big Value Plan. And I just might go for it. For now, though, my friend Leslie got the Borrelli's All-Star Plan, which I'll mooch off of as often as possible. Hey, Islanders management, here's one - instead of giving us gift cards to Italian restaurants, why not give us a Hooters Plan? Or even a plan that guarantees ticketholders unlimited pretzel twists. Now that could be useful.
That's kind of ridiculous and seems like something a minor league team would do. They should just offer cheap partial-season packages, like the Big Value one.
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