Cheap Eats
The Reds are going with a dollar menu at Great American Ballpark this year:
It might seem just like a fast-food restaurant when you walk into Great American Ball Park for a Reds game this season.
The Cincinnati Reds’ concessionaire is launching a value menu, offering a few food and drink items for a dollar.
“We realize the need to create more value,” said Don Dierig, general manager for Sportservice at Great American.
Fans will be able to pay a buck for any of six items: hot dog, soda, peanuts, popcorn, ice cream or Redlegs Chew candy, Dierig said. The items are smaller than the standard that sell for $3.50 or so. For example, the hot dog is “one size smaller” than the standard dog, Dierig said. It’s one-tenth of a pound, vs. the standard size that’s one-sixth of a pound and sells for $4.50 at the stadium.
I’ve been beaten up around here in the past for screwing up on math, so tell me if I mess this up, but the way I figure it, the Reds will be charging 78% less than the original price for a hot dog that is 40% smaller than the typical size. That’s a real deal, so unless they limit the number of Value Dogs per person, they may eliminate the market for their full priced dogs. If they do limit the number, however, it may create a Value Dog black market.
So I guess what I’m saying is, there will be uncontrolled chaos at Great American Ballpark this summer.
Well, I don’t know what Cincinnati is like, but, at Miller Park at least, there’s a big difference in taste between the $1 hot dogs they sell on certain days and the day-to-day dogs and brats you can otherwise get. It may not be as bad as going from Alex Rodriguez at third base to Cody Ransom, but you might be able to say it’s like going from (healthy) Ben Sheets pitching to Braden Looper. You would definitely prefer the healthy Ben Sheets, but having a couple of Braden Looper’s for cheap may be worth it.
Of course, this is Milwaukee and we do make some tasty sausage here, so the trade-off may be different elsewhere.
Dusty sez: “Clog your arteries, not the bases.”
“So I guess what I’m saying is, there will be uncontrolled chaos at Great American Ballpark this summer.”
You sound like Dusty Baker talking about Wily Taveras. As a Reds fan, I think I just threw up in my mouth….
C’mon, Craig – Don’t you remember “The Change Bank?”
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/first-citywide-change-bank/229045/
How do we make money? Volume.