Concert fiasco

[bork]

So who takes the black eye on this one? They schedule the Ed Sheeran concert on a potential postseason date. Granted they didn't know the Brewers would get that close, but then they wait until 2 days before the concert to reschedule, even though the Brewers aren't playing. So I imagine there were a lot of tickets refunded or resold.

 

And I just heard from my wife that it's an hour past start time and people can't even get into the parking lots. Google maps show the entire area is gridlock.

[bucks2281]

Do we know why the traffic was so awful? Did they not have enough people working the parking lots?

[bork]

Do we know why the traffic was so awful? Did they not have enough people working the parking lots?

 

Yeah, I wonder that too. Most people didn't make it in until 8:30 for a 7:00 concert. Could the last minute date change have affected staffing? I imagine it also made it harder for people to get there early when you can't change your work schedule.

[FVBrewerFan]

Only one explanation. Stupid Counsel.

[502 to Right]

I have no sympathy for someone who voluntarily attends an Ed Sheeran concert.

[Bombers]

My reaction is they changed something with parking this year. I felt it was bad all year

[bani1717]

Driving to the Bucks game tonight it seemed like pretty much everyone was on 94 east getting off at Mitchell Blvd. I assumed people just didn't know exactly which way to go (since you probably had a lot of people who don't usually go to Miller Park going to the concert) and they all went the same way. Thankfully i managed to only lose a few minutes on my trip based on knowing thw area and Google Maps.

 

On the way home the general parking lot north of 94 seemed totally empty while cars were still leaving the preferred lot, so I wondered if they didn't have all the parking lots open for some reason.

 

I was admittedly what time the concert started when I saw how thick traffic was on 94 east after 8:00

[Outlander]

I think Miller Park is under utilized so glad they added another concert even though I wouldn't go to see Sheeran. My sisters went and they never go to Brewers games, probably need to do better with the parking if they want people to come back to these type of events. Would like to see a stadium wrestling show in the summer like they did at County Stadium 30 years ago. Probably need to avoid October shows going forward.

[bork]

One thing I'm not sure about is if they have regular and preferred parking for concerts, or if everyone is the same. I hate parking fees, but you can't have 40,000 people trying to park in the preferred lot.

 

They also have a limited amount of times that they can schedule these. They either have to pick a summer date during a long road trip or right after the season ends. I imagine November could get dicey temperature wise, since they can only heat 30 degrees above the outside temperature.

 

I know there have also been rumors of trying to do basketball, including a final four. They would have to figure out extra heating, plus the timing would be tough with them trying to get the field ready for opening day. It might also be a drawback that they don't have any hotel rooms right by Miller Park.

[Baldkin]

My reaction is they changed something with parking this year. I felt it was bad all year

 

They did. They started using electronic machines full time, so, instead of handing you a ticket once you paid cash (as your receipt) they had to wait for the machine to process your transaction and hand you a physical receipt.

 

So, instead of it taking 5 seconds per car -- hand cash, change, ticket. It took 30.

[TURBO]

I have no sympathy for someone who voluntarily attends an Ed Sheeran concert.

 

[MrTPlush]

I know there have also been rumors of trying to do basketball, including a final four.

 

I can tell you that rumor is complete BS. Miller Park doesn't hold nearly enough to even think about hosting a final four. There is a reason it is always in a football stadium. Let me know when Miller Park can hold 70k. I think you could make a weird configuration to get 50k or so...maybe

 

And it doesn't make sense to do any lesser games in the tourney because they have a pro basketball arena in town that already has enough seats without having to do a weird setup.

[bani1717]

One thing I'm not sure about is if they have regular and preferred parking for concerts, or if everyone is the same. I hate parking fees, but you can't have 40,000 people trying to park in the preferred lot.

 

I'm guessing this was part of the issue. From an article I read, it sounds like the cost for parking was the same in all lots, so you probably had a lot of people going after the Preferred lots. And I'm guessing the street parking was relatively open as well given the likely lower number of Miller Park regulars attending.

[paul253]

And I'm guessing the street parking was relatively open as well given the likely lower number of Miller Park regulars attending

 

Does “street parking” for Miller Park really exist? If you park on the steeet you have to walk at least a mile to get to the stadium. It’s part of the reason they can get away with charging thirty friggen dollars to park in the lots. Parking at MP is, and always has been an absolute racket.

 

My question is whether the regular bar shuttles were running. My wife went and she said the parking was insane. I suggested she take a shuttle but I’m not sure they were even up and running.

[bani1717]

You're right that most of the better street spots are close to a mile away. But a lot of people do park on the street. Depending on the situation, I often do, not just because it's free, but also because it's generally more predictable game to game than traffic to get into the parking lots. On a nice day, if I'm not tailgating and don't have kids along, I'd rather park on the street and then take a 15-20 minute walk than potentially sit in traffic and still have to walk 5-10 minutes from the parking lot into the stadium. You also are basically guaranteed to have no traffic leaving the game... I heard about and witnessed people parking on the street 1.5+ miles away for playoff games, and I still would've likely opted for that over parking in the lot and dealing with traffic before and after the game (since I heard leaving the playoff games was a pretty long wait for a lot of people).

[owbc]

You're right that most of the better street spots are close to a mile away. But a lot of people do park on the street. Depending on the situation, I often do, not just because it's free, but also because it's generally more predictable game to game than traffic to get into the parking lots. On a nice day, if I'm not tailgating and don't have kids along, I'd rather park on the street and then take a 15-20 minute walk than potentially sit in traffic and still have to walk 5-10 minutes from the parking lot into the stadium. You also are basically guaranteed to have no traffic leaving the game... I heard about and witnessed people parking on the street 1.5+ miles away for playoff games, and I still would've likely opted for that over parking in the lot and dealing with traffic before and after the game (since I heard leaving the playoff games was a pretty long wait for a lot of people).

 

We parked on the street for the NLCS. I'm surprised more people don't do it, there is plenty of space and if you are at the back of the general lots you have a long walk anyway. I believe the closest street with no restrictions is 52nd or 53rd (south of National). If you cut through the VA it's approximately 3/4 of a mile to the RF entrance, which has the further advantage of never having a line for security. Plus you can spend your parking money on a drink at 4th Base on the way in. Easy out after the game in any direction.

[JimH5]

This has to fall on the stadium operations people. The Brewers actually made a formal apology statement today:

 

"We are aware that there was significant congestion on several major routes as people traveled to Miller Park last night, and the process of moving cars into the lots was slower than anticipated. Our goal is to always provide the best fan experience possible and for many fans last night, we did not deliver. There are several factors related to hosting a concert that are different than a baseball game that created challenges. Regardless, we need to do better and we apologize for the inconvenience."

 

Part of my not renewing my ticket package next year is all about this kind of stuff. The traffic in and out of Preferred Parking from the west is frequently terrible, and getting into the stadium (especially when there is a giveaway) is unacceptably slow. Add in the overpriced, inconsistent food and pricey merchandise and it's much less fun than it could be.

[bork]

 

My question is whether the regular bar shuttles were running. My wife went and she said the parking was insane. I suggested she take a shuttle but I’m not sure they were even up and running.

 

Yes, there were bar shuttles running, but they were stuck in traffic, too. I knew some people who were in a shuttle going nowhere fast, so they just got out and walked.

[totmachen]

I'm on 54th and can confirm the shuttles were running but just got stuck like everyone else. My normal commute home from work is 4 minutes using Bluemound, took 27 minutes to get home in this mess. I then walked my dog, made it all the way down to 68th and traffic was backed up past this both on Bluemound and Wisconsin. All this was between 6-730PM but I noticed backups were still happening after 8PM. Not sure why this was so bad, I've rarely seen backups like this even for Opening Day.

 

As for street parking, anything the Story Hill neighborhood starts to fill up around 2 hours before a game and either people use a shuttle from the bars or do the ~15 minute walk. I walked to each NLCS game and its not bad at all.

[bork]

I read that they had about a third of the usual police and parking staff because they wanted to save money after paying so much extra for the playoff games.