Michaelperry's Blog

Attendance dropping, but sport ticket prices aren't

By Michaelperry | View all Posts
Posted Wednesday, August 05, 2009 10:11 AM   10 comments
With the way the economy is at the present moment, you are seeing many people give up their season tickets to their favorite sports teams.
 
The Detroit Pistons reported that over half of their season ticket holders decided not to renew for the upcoming season. It seems to me that for the most part, teams aren't being proactive in finding ways to get more people at their games, and are staying stagnant with their ticket prices.
 
I have no problem watching more games at home these days.
I mean HDTV is such a better product than what we had just a few years ago.
 
Sports franchises need to make more of a concerted effort to try and show people that they realize that in today's world, its not as
economically feasible to go to a sporting event, and are willing to work with the fans.
 
For instance, the teams need to have agreements set it place with advertisers (ex: food and drink companies) or other retailers
(ex: sports apparel shops) where if people buy items from these
companies, that they get free or reduced prices for tickets.
 
The people who run these teams know that they make an unbelieveably good return on investment on concessions during a game, so the more people they have at their games the more moolah they make.
 
Have you seen a reduction in prices for sporting events where you live?
Please let me know.
 
Michael Perry is an oddsmaker with Logans.com.
10 comments
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woopdurritis says:
08/05/09 10:17AM
Michael, I agree with you and hopefully something is done to reduce the cost of tickets.  Another major problem has been people buying seasons tickets just to sell them off for a profit and have no interest in the team or the games. 

 

I am not sure about the rest of the country, but in the Northeast prices are as high as ever.  I have been looking to get some Red Sox Yankees tickets and the prices are astranomical.  And the majority of people selling on stubhub are trying to get 5 or 6x the face value for a ticket.  (Bleacher seats going for 350 a pair) 

 

The prices for food/drinks at the games are ridiculous as well.  The funny part is they force you to throw out all food/drinks before entering the stadium.  I used to go to multiple games a year but it is more like 1 or 2 a year now. 

 

I even won the "lottery" for NCAA tournament basketball tickets... a chance to buy them directly from ticketmaster at face price.  For the East Regionals at Syracuse where I would be seeing a total of 4 games, $250 a ticket.  $500 a pair.  It is definitely out of hand... I think attendence will be way down in the near future unless something is done.  Like you said HDTV is great... and 99.9% of the time you get a better view from home than at the game unless your willing to fork over 250+ for a single game!

D-Town says:
08/05/09 10:42AM

 

 

sean2114 says:
08/05/09 01:14PM
actually the opposite, the sabres just took a 3% increase on season tickets. However I will give them credit for having already been dirt cheap. I knew it had to end sooner or later.
Megamaniak says:
08/05/09 02:51PM
Dodgers actually slashed ticket prices this year. They understand that their bread and butter fanbase stems mostly from the working folk.

They also have had games this year where parking was free, and that doesn't happen often.

I don't see the Lakers following suit any time soon.

larojoes says:
08/05/09 04:19PM
Just exchanged e-mails with a friend in the U.S. today about this situation. He lives near Cincinnati and told me he refuses to pay to get into Reds games. Small-market club, and they charge over $1200 for seats behind home plate. He also complained about the price of food and drink at the stadium. I in turn vented my disgust over "season ticket license fees," which I know have caused an uproar among Giants/Jets fans who might have thought about seeing games at the new stadium they're building. I don't know where clubs get off charging you extra for the "privilege" to be a season-ticket holder. I also think it's incredibly lame that you can no longer bring your own food/drinks into the stadium. I went to Shea Stadium last September and paid $22.50 for 3 bottles of shitty Budweiser. I love how NFL executives whine about being affected by the economic downturn. I'm sure they're all really suffering and struggle to find their next meal.
MaineRoad says:
08/05/09 05:39PM
Many (most?) sports have basically priced the common fan out of the equation, but who's going to fill those seats when the phony fan loses interest, or otherwise can't afford to go?  I have never understood why teams feel compelled to gouge their customers.  I even wrote the Indians a long letter about that when they were selling-out every night - why not sell 20,000 hot dogs at $2, instead of 13,333 hot dogs at $3, and buy yourself a little love and loyalty in the process?   Aren't you better off getting a team cap on the head of every 10-year-old you can find?  Heck, the ballpark ought to be the CHEAPEST place to get something like that.  But, no.

 

The ticket resale market has begun to swallow regular old ticket sales.  The NFL has basically gone into the scalping business, and many pro teams are attempting to follow suit.  I swear there are more LSU home tickets available on EBay right now than actually exist! 

 

vegasdennis says:
08/05/09 05:47PM



AKA your broke ass can't afford it
MaineRoad says:
08/05/09 05:48PM

At the risk of agreeing with Vaughn, I think that's basically true.  I go to a bunch, but hardly pay for any.  Might take the family to one Pirates game a year, and that's still pretty cheap.  Otherwise, my Delaware, Virginia, LSU and Pens tickets are always free.  I don't really go to much else.   

vegasdennis says:
08/05/09 05:52PM
same vaughn trying to act like a bigshot
woopdurritis says:
08/05/09 07:13PM


I know for instance Duke has a policy where if any season ticket holder is caught selling their tickets, they immediately lose their rights to season tickets.  That is why everyone selling them on ebay won't listen a row or seat number... usually just a section.  That way they can charge $500 for a $50 seat and no one will ever find them out... I think the school should buy up those tickets just to expose the people doing it...
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