Boycott The Lots: The Dodger Fan's Guide To Avoiding Frank McCourt
Categories: Sports
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| Dodger Stadium |
But there's a rat in the punchbowl: Frank McCourt will partner with Johnson's group to own and develop the parking lots. He's not going away.
What should Dodger fans do, if they still want to express their disapproval of McCourt?
Easy: Boycott the lots.
Dodger fans can show their love for Magic and the Dodgers by attending the games. But they can also vent their disdain for Frank McCourt by walking, biking, taking a cab, getting dropped off, or taking public transportation. Anything to avoid spending $15 on a parking space.
Imagine a full stadium and an empty parking lot on Opening Day. That would send a message.
How do you do it?
Dodger Shuttle. The easiest way is to take the Dodger Stadium Express bus from Union Station. The shuttle is free if you show your Dodgers ticket. Fans can park at Union Station for $10, or they can use any of the other park-and-ride lots on the Metro system (marked with a "P" on this map) and take the train to Union Station.
Coming from the Valley? Park at the North Hollywood Red Line station. Coming from the San Gabriel Valley? Park at Sierra Madre Villa. From the Westside? Park at the La Cienega Expo Line station, once it opens on April 28.
Fans can also get to Union Station by bus, Metrolink and Amtrak.
Last year, 116,000 fans used the express bus to Dodger games (or about 1,400 per game). Express buses leave Union Station every 10 minutes, starting 90 minutes before the game, and they drop fans off right outside the stadium entrance.
Bike. As Streetsblog demonstrated a few years back, they don't make it easy to bike to the games. There is only one bike rack, and it is well hidden. But if more people started bicycling to games, the Dodgers would have to respond.
Walk: When Frank McCourt jacked up the parking fee a few years ago, a lot of fans opted to park in the surrounding neighborhoods and walk into the stadium. This is not good fan behavior. The people who live in the neighborhoods don't appreciate it. But if you do live in the area, it is possible to walk to the games. The Dodgers could make it easier by providing more and better sidewalks.
Any means necessary. Get a friend to drop you off. Hail a cab. Stick out your thumb. Just don't park in the lots.
Would this actually hurt Frank McCourt financially? No. McCourt is on his way to being a billionaire. Nothing can hurt him financially. But it would send a message that he is still unwelcome.
Many -- perhaps most -- Dodger fans may feel that the message has been sent, and that it's not worth going to all this trouble to keep sending it. That's a valid point of view. But for those holdouts who still want nothing to do with McCourt, there is an option.
Further reading: Here's much more on McCourt and the parking lots.
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