The Pittsburgh Pirates (American baseball team) don’t win much and I can’t even count the number of Pittsburghers who have told me that “the Pirates have a great stadium, but the team is no good.” Apathy about a sports team is odd in this city of sports fans; Pittsburgh’s support for the Steelers (American football) and Penguins (ice hockey) is evidence of the typical sports fervor.
Earlier this summer, I went to PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to investigate why this might be. It was my second game at the stadium and once again, despite perfect weather, moderately priced tickets and a fantastic ballpark, the fans were nearly outnumbered by employees of the various food vendors. What was causing such low attendance?
It turns out that the Pirates scam their fans out of cash every time they buy beer at the stadium! The “small” cup above sells for $4.75 whereas you pay $7.50 for the “large” cup. If you couldn’t tell from the above picture, the cup on the right is the “larger” one. Now, before you watch this video below, recall that the “large” cup sells for a full $2.75 more than the “small”.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1631620[/vimeo]
One of the more scrupulous beer vendors at the park was kind enough to point this deception out to us and save us some cash, but it disgusts me to think about how much pure profit the Pirates are fleecing from the few people who still attend the games! I guess they are the Pirates, so maybe this is just their way of making their namesake more tangible to the average fan.
[…] Another fellow blogger placed an interesting blog post on Pittsburgh Pirates scam their fans! […]
They sure made you walk the plank there, me hearty!
So I see the crime scene in Pittsburgh has just got worse.
Cheers,
Quirky Indian
http://quirkyindian.wordpress.com
@ Quirky Indian
Indeed, perhaps that is the “company line” if they every do get called out: “Well, we ARE the PIRATES!”
I wonder if this technique is common in many stadiums…I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for it.
Dear chickenmonkeydog:
I’m not convinced this situation constitutes a scam.
I concede that you have established the following premise: beer purchasers at Pirates Stadium (not necessarily Pirates’ fans, BTW) are being charged far more for (let’s say) 13 ounces of beer in a large cup than they pay for (let’s say) 12 ounces of beer in a small cup.
However, your conclusion that this situation constitutes a scam seems to rest on several assumed premises:
1) The fair price of beer-per-ounce is either constant or is subject to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Perhaps this is not the case. Who among us would not value the last fleeting moments of life far beyond those moments spent wasted (say, just for example, moments spent drafting silly comments on quirky little blogs)? Perhaps the value of beer works the same way… perhaps that last ounce is worth far more than those which came before.
2) Beer-purchasers at Pirates Stadium are unaware of the price-per-ounce being charged when purchasing the small cup as opposed to the large cup; (**Nb: I assume by “scam” you mean to imply some degree of effective deception by the sellers to the detriment of the purchasers, yes?**) Assuming the cups are on display for purchasers to see before making their purchase, the necessary element of deception seems to be lacking in your analysis.
3) Beer-purchasers at Pirates Stadium are not choosing to pay more simply to avoid “double fisting”. Assuming the law of diminishing returns does apply to beer, and further assuming 13 ounces is the point of maximum utility – and further considering the transaction cost of carrying two cups rather than one (and thus being tempted to over-indulge or at very least look like a booze-hound) — then we might find that fully-informed purchasers gladly pay the extra cost for simply to avoid carrying two cups and/or being served an amount of beer that might tempt their weak-will.
@ Michelle
Thank you for the lengthy and well thought-out commentary. I don’t know that I can respond with the thoroughness or eloquence which you possess, but perhaps I can clarify a few points.
(1) The cups were not on display prior to purchase and unless you opted for both a small and a large beer, you would never know what the size of the other glass was.
(2) Given the shapes of the cups, even possessing both cups was not sufficient to make it clear the relative volumes contained.
(3) I think that if the price-per-oz was readily displayed to purchasers, this would seem much less of a scam.
(4) Personally, I prefer the first sip of a beer far more than the last, because it tends to be much colder, and it is a stark difference from my prior state of thirst; whereas the last sip is warm and comes shortly after I just drank most of a beer.
So, I agree that the Pirates have not completely backed themselves into a corner. There is no conclusive “proof” of intentional deception, yet I still think the circumstances depict a move to make extra money off people looking for a “larger” beer, while not really providing them any value for the extra money they charge.
@ Conall
Thank you for your illuminating reply to my previous comment. After due consideration, I am willing to stipulate premise #1 (ie, the fair price of beer-per-ounce is either constant or is subject to the law of diminishing marginal returns), and your recent comment has now convinced me of the truth of premise #2 (beer-purchasers at Pirates Stadium are unaware of the price-per-ounce being charged when purchasing the small cup as opposed to the large cup). That leaves us with premise #3. I suppose the truth of that premise rests on the sensibilites of the Pirates’ beer-purchasers. It strikes me as a plausible assumption that most beer-purchasers at Pirates stadium would be perfectly happy to drink double-fisted if it meant getting a better price-per-ounce. And so, I shall grant your conclusion: the Pirates are indeed scamming their fans. Thank you for resolving my concerns in this matter and keep up the good work!
@ Michelle
Absolutely! And thank you for the in-depth review of the situation from an objective third-party point of view. We appreciate your comments!