For baseball fans, the Baltimore Orioles have a deal where one can get a monthly general admission pass to see the games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards downtown for a set fee. You don't get to sit with the swells down in the box seats, or the corporate people who don't even watch the games from their perches on the Club Level, but that's all right. You'll be out there in the bleachers or the standing area beyond center field and you'll be catching home run balls - and this year, it will be the Orioles hitting them!
And for moviegoers, if you remember the MoviePass deal, well, it went bankrupt in 2020, but it's coming back, with a "tiered price system and credits to use toward movies each month."
Their original sales slant was "Any movie, any theater, anytime you want, for 10 bucks a month" and that sort of tipped the company into the red, with all the movie buffs sitting through "Paul Blart, International Spy" 007 times a day.
Now, MoviePass CEO and co-founder Stacy Spikes says it's going to be better this time. The monthly fee will be $10, $20, or $30, depending on location (obviously seats are higher-priced in New York City than in York, PA), and the credit system...we'll let Spikes explain that...
..."And so, if I want to go only on Friday night of opening weekend, I'm probably going to use the maximum number of credits, if you think of peak and off-peak pricing. But let's say I don't have a problem going to see that movie a few days later on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night. I can use far fewer credits because the theaters are more open to allowing a lower price."
Makes sense. And who wants to be packed in on opening night for "Ratatouille, Jr" when we can just as easily go on Monday night?
Spikes goes on to say that MoviePass has changed their business model, too.
Used to be, they paid full price for the tickets they were selling to subscribers, but now, they are cutting deals with theater chains for lower prices.
"Even prior to launch, we've negotiated partnerships with more than 25% of all the theaters. If you take out AMC, Regal and Cinemark, we've got 40% market share outside of the big three," says Mr Spikes.
Now, I'm just a simple man. I don't understand where anyone gets the money to live the way they do in most cases. I see people online hollering that they can't afford to fill their gas tank or their belly, and yet they have cigarette money, tattoo money, trip-to-the-beach money...
So even though movie business went kablooie during the pandemic, people who make the latest movies starring Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, and Chris Pratt figure we'll have MoviePass money left over too.
"People like to escape. It's still the least expensive form of out-of-home entertainment there is," Spikes says. "Going to a sporting event or to a Broadway play or to the opera is still going to be a $100-plus ticket. So we think it's a wonderful time to get started again."
My favorite entertainment is still going down to the Try 'N' Save and watching them unload the freight trucks. They'll let you do that for free. And if a case of Hawaiian Punch breaks open, they might even let you have a bottle or two.
The MoviePass website will let you get on the waiting list until tonight at 11:59 PM. After that, they'll start selling passes on or about September 5.
See you in the balcony! I'll bring the Hawaiian Punch!
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