Making the fan experience work for everyone

Because the start of spring training is one of the best times of the year, I'll even watch Red Sox spring training coverage, so I was checking it out on NESN when I saw something so amazing on the crawl, I had to look it up to see if it was true.

So I checked, and it was. The following is from the Red Sox website, promoting its SRO Pax plan.

"SRO Pax are back for the 2012 season. Create your own unique two-game package, including some of the most highly sought after games of the season.
Beyond just the best access to concessions and restrooms, standing room only tickets provide a unique way to experience all that Fenway Park has to offer at an affordable price."

There are two observations I want to make really quickly about this:

1. Yes, SRO still stands for standing-room-only, which means if you buy these tickets, you're going to be on your feet all night.
2. A quick check of the prices showed that the "affordable price" ranges from $20 to $30. My wife and I have seen multiple major league games for that price (although granted, not in Boston or New York) ... and they even let us sit.

But read it again -- "Beyond just the best access to concessions and restrooms..." In other words, the Red Sox are promoting standing-room-only tickets based on the ease of getting food and drink and going to the bathroom! (Actually, they could call it the "Josh Beckett clubhouse plan.")

However, when I was wondering if this was the most awesomely terrible or terribly awesome promotional material I had ever seen, a thought struck me.

Last year, after my wife and I attended Futures at Fenway (which for all my joking about the Red Sox, is a pretty great thing they do and I wish more teams would), I decided I was going to write a book called "Sit The @#%! Down" as a guide to fans who arrive late, leave early and spend the entire time in between getting up to run to the concession stands, the bathroom, the souvenir shop and God knows where else instead of watching the game, meaning they're either standing in front of people or shuffling past them all game long.

So ... how about those fans get the SRO tickets, since getting food and going to the bathroom is more important than the game for them, anyway, and the seats can be saved for people who want to actually use them for watching the game.

Everybody wins!