Well, today I received my request from the Penguins to renew my season tickets in section 201. And boy is my ass sore! Per seat my tickets are going up from $49.50 to $53.50 each! That is an 8% increase!

Look, I know Mario and his crew live a life of champagne wishes and caviar dreams, but an eight freaking percent increase? Seriously? You know, I got a raise this year. It was 2.1%.

I do not know how much longer the Pens can keep these yearly astronomical and out of line with the rest of the nation price increases up. But at the rate things are going soon my pair of seats are going to be close to $10k.

Looks like as a season ticket holder I will be going to even fewer games next year. Maybe 10 at most. The rest will have to be sold just so I can do that and afford to see some games in the playoffs too.

Hey Mario, just a suggestion. You know, from the little people. Next time before you stick it to the season ticket holders how about a little warning and at least offer up some lube?

Now I know!  The Pittsburgh Penguins today released ticket prices for season ticket holders for the upcoming 2011-12 season.  And once again we are going up, up and away faster than Superman!

My tickets in section 201 behind the cut point where the price jumps even higher for center ice tickets are going to be $4,257.00 for a full season of 41 games plus two preseason games.  Last year was $4,042.00 and the year before that was $3,848.50.

After a 5.03% raise this year we get another 5.32% this year and a per game price of $49.50 per ticket.

Come on Mario!  Can’t you at least buy me dinner first?

Now for some pics of the ice. Here is the view from the upper concourse.

Center Ice from second level of Consol Energy Center

As for the second concourse, people with these tickets are definitely further back than at the old arena respectively.  Our seats are a good two to four rows back further which is, I suspect, a result of the placement of the boxes between the first and second levels and the decision to not overhang the second level completely over these boxes.

We are in section 201, Row H seats 3 & 4:

Section 201 Row H

Here is the view of the ice from our seats which are tucked closer to the red line where as at the Igloo we were closer to the blue line:

View from Sect 201, Row H, Seats 3 & 4

Here is my son Magnus (age 10 months) testing out a seat:

Magus checks out a Consol Energy Center Seat

Here is my daughter Charlotte (age 3 years) chilling in another:

Charlotte relaxing in one of the Consol Energy Center's seats

A couple comments on the seats if I might.  First, THANK YOU for the wider seats!  This is a definite improvement that I could feel immediately upon sitting down.  Secondly, but really, couldn’t you give us a little more leg room to the row in front of us?  At the old Igloo I could put my feet flat on the floor and not have my toes hit the back of the seat in front of me.  But at the Consol Energy Center with my feet flat on the ground my toes are right up against the seat in front of me.  In fact I have to pull my feet back just to fit.  This means it will be harder for people to get in and out of the row if you ask me.

Also, really?  No cup holders?  Haven’t we all had enough bad experiences with spilled drinks on the ground due to tight quarters at the Igloo to understand how important these are?  The Penguins dropped the ball on this one.  Sorry.

Up next, Part III including views from the lower bowl …

Well, now we know what the 2010-11 season ticket prices for the Penguins are going to be.  It sure took the Penguins long enough to tell us since asking us for a deposit months BEFORE releasing this data.  Today I finally received information on my new seats in the Consol Energy Center and we are looking at a reasonable 5% increase in ticket prices.  I say reasonable considering we are getting a nice new arena although I think that it is time for the Penguins to hold the line on prices after this year for a couple years considering they have been increasing the past couple of years.

Anyway, this year I paid $44.75 per ticket for two seats in D7 (Row F seats 3 & 4).  Next year, and I hope that I am reading this right, my new seats in Section 201, Row H (seats 3 & 4) are going to be $47 a piece.  $47/$44.75 = 5% increase.

Although I did have a shock at first because I misread the pricing chart.  The Penguins have added some new pricing tiers to what would be D section in the new arena and section 202, just to our right, will be paying $59 a seat.  I saw that and am glad I am where I am although we appear to be pushed further down towards the goal line where as right now we are closer to the blue line which I like because I can see the ice very well.

According to the 3D seating chart provided by the Penguins this is what our view will look like:

First impressions are that we seem a bit further from the ice than before but I will have to check that out with actual photos from the actual locations.

All in all, tickets that last year ran me $3,848.50 will be be $4,042 this year.

Here is some more pricing info for other areas:

Club Seats  FS – $152    HS – $158

First Row Glass  FS – $110    HS – N/A

Lower Bowl Double Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 104, 110) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower BowlDouble Attack End Coners  (Sec 105, 109) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 106-108) FS – $82    HS – $88

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 114-115, 121-122) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners  (Sec 116, 120) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone Rows B-R (Sec 117-119) FS – $75    HS – $81

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 117-119) FS – $64    HS – $70

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides Rows A-E (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $47    HS – $53

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $42    HS – $48

Upper Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 207-215) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 224-232) FS – $29    HS – $35

Forgive me if some of this info is a little off, I have been transcribing in from the brochure.  And if you are confused but all this variation in pricing from end to end you are probably not the only one.  Several other season ticket holders I have talked to were likewise a little taken back until they figured it all out as well.