Fans being priced out a problem everywhere | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Fans being priced out a problem everywhere

WhereistheDove? said:
The silver lining is that I can now watch a 4K broadcast on my 75” TV. The difference in experience between live and at home now is MONUMENTALLY less than what it used to be.
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To me the advantages of a live game are 1) the energy of the crowd and 2) sharing an experience with a friend or whomever you go with. Those are great, but strictly as a fan viewing the game, TV beats live from any seat in any venue.
 
thekollieman said:
To me the advantages of a live game are 1) the energy of the crowd and 2) sharing an experience with a friend or whomever you go with. Those are great, but strictly as a fan viewing the game, TV beats live from any seat in any venue.
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Yeah, it’s really the whole thing. Lunch and drinks before, going out after etc. The event is only half of it. I really enjoyed game days with my friends, especially in my 20’s. We had a lot of great days built around games.

Now, I’m not sure why people over 40 would even want to pay big bucks for seats. I only want to do it once in a while and that’s only to let one of my kids experience it or because I miss campus or something. I find football games to be a better in person event anyway. That was especially true when we were good. Basketball on a cold winter night isn’t all that to me anymore. I like TV for it. I’m glad people are filling the building though.
 
Hoophound said:
Yeah, it’s really the whole thing. Lunch and drinks before, going out after etc. The event is only half of it. I really enjoyed game days with my friends, especially in my 20’s. We had a lot of great days built around games.

Now, I’m not sure why people over 40 would even want to pay big bucks for seats. I only want to do it once in a while and that’s only to let one of my kids experience it or because I miss campus or something. I find football games to be a better in person event anyway. That was especially true when we were good. Basketball on a cold winter night isn’t all that to me anymore. I like TV for it. I’m glad people are filling the building though.
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For sure. I coached middle school basketball and managed to parlay that into a nice deal on a block of tickets as a field trip for the team. That was priceless (although each kid had to pay like $30, so not literally). Other than something like that or going with my mom or someone else who I share a UConn bball bond with to a game, at this point I’d prefer to watch from home and not have to drive an hour each way lol.
 
Hoophound said:
Yeah, it’s really the whole thing. Lunch and drinks before, going out after etc. The event is only half of it. I really enjoyed game days with my friends, especially in my 20’s. We had a lot of great days built around games.

Now, I’m not sure why people over 40 would even want to pay big bucks for seats. I only want to do it once in a while and that’s only to let one of my kids experience it or because I miss campus or something. I find football games to be a better in person event anyway. That was especially true when we were good. Basketball on a cold winter night isn’t all that to me anymore. I like TV for it. I’m glad people are filling the building though.
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As a season ticket holder for close to 60 years I hope to never lose the desire to see UConn games in person.
 
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thekollieman said:
... TV beats live from any seat in any venue.
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depends on the arena, imho ... case in point MSG, check out the Chase Bridge (again, on game day when tickets usually can be had a pennies on the dollar) Madison Square Garden Chase Bridges - RateYourSeats.com

MSG Wknd2.jpg

MSG Wknd.jpg
 
Palatine said:
With every team being able to pay players, you can't get Chris Mills for a thousand bucks any more. Yes, I know it was Kentucky who paid Mills. But he is a great indicator of player inflation.
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Kentucky never paid Mills. Was a complete setup by a UCLA booster. How does a sealed Fed Ex envelope with cash just suddenly open up at the correct time?
 
WhereistheDove? said:
The silver lining is that I can now watch a 4K broadcast on my 75” TV. The difference in experience between live and at home now is MONUMENTALLY less than what it used to be.
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Generally agree but it depends on the sport. If I lived in Connecticut I would probably get season tickets for men's basketball because I love the program so much and there's not much going on in Connecticut in the winter. I would also go to every Big East tournament, it's about as good as it gets in live sports. I only go to UConn vs. DePaul now and will make a trip to Milwaukee or hopefully Indy to see them play at Hinkle. Also praying for the Huskies to make the final four in Indy this season.

I like going to around 8-10 mlb games a season between the Cubs and White Sox because being at the ballpark and having a couple beers outside is always a good time when it's not sweltering and then we go out after. It's the one sport where I really enjoy being there but I watch very little of the game. Haven't even been to a single game this season though, have a couple Cubs games locked in for September but that's it.

NFL games in person stink as far as I'm concerned and I would never pay what they charge for them. Only times I've gone are when they're free and I would still rather watch at home or at a bar.

I used to go to a fair amount of regular season Bulls games when they were good but NBA regular season is only good if you're close to the action and I would never pay the prices now. Playoffs are too much money for me and the playoffs are a foreign concept to the Bulls these days anyways. I'm probably done going to any NBA games.

NHL and International Soccer are much better in person and I would pay a good amount to watch them even though I don't follow the sports.

I also remember tennis being awesome in person but those memories are from when I was a kid and went to the US Open early rounds, New Haven tennis center, indoor at the Civic Center and some qualifier events.

Big time college football is great in person for the pageantry/spectacle of it all but actually watching the game is better on TV, IMO. I've seen some good ones but not really hankering to do it again.

I've been to golf at Traveler's and Medinah but it was a lot of walking/jogging around and then being stuck in a mass of people with nowhere to go. I don't even like golf so I was wondering what I was doing there.
 
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superjohn said:
Generally agree but it depends on the sport. If I lived in Connecticut I would probably get season tickets for men's basketball because I love the program so much and there's not much going on in Connecticut in the winter. I would also go to every Big East tournament, it's about as good as it gets in live sports. I only go to UConn vs. DePaul now and will make a trip to Milwaukee or hopefully Indy to see them play at Hinkle. Also praying for the Huskies to make the final four in Indy this season.

I like going to around 8-10 mlb games a season between the Cubs and White Sox because being at the ballpark and having a couple beers outside is always a good time when it's not sweltering and then we go out after. It's the one sport where I really enjoy being there but I watch very little of the game. Haven't even been to a single game this season though, have a couple Cubs games locked in for September but that's it.

NFL games in person stink as far as I'm concerned and I would never pay what they charge for them. Only times I've gone are when they're free and I would still rather watch at home or at a bar.

I used to go to a fair amount of regular season Bulls games when they were good but NBA regular season is only good if you're close to the action and I would never pay the prices now. Playoffs are too much money for me and the playoffs are a foreign concept to the Bulls these days anyways. I'm probably done going to any NBA games.

NHL and International Soccer are much better in person and I would pay a good amount to watch them even though I don't follow the sports.

I also remember tennis being awesome in person but those memories are from when I was a kid and went to the US Open early rounds, New Haven tennis center, indoor at the Civic Center and some qualifier events.

Big time college football is great in person for the pageantry/spectacle of it all but actually watching the game is better on TV, IMO. I've seen some good ones but not really hankering to do it again.

I've been to golf at Traveler's and Medinah but it was a lot of walking/jogging around and then being stuck in a mass of people with nowhere to go. I don't even like golf so I was wondering what I was doing there.
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Just to be clear, I’m not saying sports are better on TV than in person, just that the dropoff is far less than it’s ever been.
 
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superjohn said:
The market is what people will pay and people are willing to pay a tremendous amount to attend sporting events and concerts. It's considered a luxury and shouldn't be compared to grocery store prices, everyone needs to eat.
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Yes, but markets can vary significantly based on restrictions and regulations. There currently are none in the sports ticketing business. Whether there should be, I don't know.

But even if you discard the food analogy, my point is that the market for sports or concert tickets isn't really comparable to any other market because in every other market, there are no restrictions on how many people can consume the product. If everyone decides they want a pair of Levi's jeans, the company simply makes more of them. With a venue like Fenway or MSG, there is a finite number of people that can consume a given event.

It's the pricing structure that's changed. Whereas in previous generations, die-hard fans could camp out for hours or even days at a time to secure tickets, they're now reduced to refreshing the page every 15 seconds to compete with bots and ticket brokers looking to make a quick buck. And once those kinds of things begin to infiltrate the process, it's no longer an accurate reflection of basic supply and demand IMO.
 
champs99and04 said:
Yes, but markets can vary significantly based on restrictions and regulations. There currently are none in the sports ticketing business. Whether there should be, I don't know.

But even if you discard the food analogy, my point is that the market for sports or concert tickets isn't really comparable to any other market because in every other market, there are no restrictions on how many people can consume the product. If everyone decides they want a pair of Levi's jeans, the company simply makes more of them. With a venue like Fenway or MSG, there is a finite number of people that can consume a given event.

It's the pricing structure that's changed. Whereas in previous generations, die-hard fans could camp out for hours or even days at a time to secure tickets, they're now reduced to refreshing the page every 15 seconds to compete with bots and ticket brokers looking to make a quick buck. And once those kinds of things begin to infiltrate the process, it's no longer an accurate reflection of basic supply and demand IMO.
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The last paragraph here is spot on. Tickets these days are both too scarce and too available at the same time. There's basically only 1 source still for an official ticket at a given "face value", but unless you buy tickets regularly across different leagues, sports, and cities, it's nearly impossible to keep track if the official tickets are through Ticketmaster or Paciolan or Seatgeek or some other new sites that seemingly pops up at random. The volume of third-party resellers these days means there's almost always a ticket available for a given game, it's just a matter of what value someone places on that ticket.

For someone like me who travels regularly out of state for games, I have to be more willing to pay a face value price to secure a ticket to a game that serves as the main reason I'd be traveling somewhere to know I have a ticket at a price I'm comfortable with and not speculate on the secondary market. For others who live locally to their favorite team and can drive 20 minutes or take a 30 minute train ride to scalp or hang out at the venue until the game is nearly starting to watch secondary prices drop dramatically, their acceptable price is probably much lower.

I completely agree that ticket prices are crazy these days, but unfortunately there's plenty of people (myself included) willing to still pay the asking prices for the games I want to attend.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
Just to be clear, I’m not saying sports are better on TV than in person, just that the dropoff is far less than it’s even been.
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to me, games are much better on TV (commentary, replays, etc.)

I go to the games for the friend meetups and surprise reunions ... e.g. Boston 2024, bumped in to a childhood friend (not seen in decades) and his wife during the pregame party ... arranged to meetup during halftime - we were having such a great time catching up out at a concourse bar, we missed 1/2 of the 30-0 second half run, ha
 
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This started maybe 10 years or so ago when ticketmaster created "platinum" seats which are seats from the box office as resale prices. It did not seem as egregious at the time as they were there but it wasn't many. Also around this time, dynamic pricing became a thing and that raised prices significantly putting face value from the box office closer to resale prices. They would lower if the event wasnt selling, as i have seen first hand with concert and WWE tickets. From here it has morphed to in some cases sections being labeled as platinum from the on-sale. Comparing Husky home game tickets to other sports and events is a bit difficult as the model is completely different, but the big picture os the same as they also coat more than before. The sticking point is that the prices have gone up a lot, but if you have season tickets you do not need to deal with the platinum nonsense as you do for other events. The game in Boston will be interesting in terms of how many seats are sold. I find the get in price of $103 to be too high. Last year vs Gonzaga at MSG, we were in for under $100 a ticket, that is the barometer I am using. I can see a promotion closer to game time with those prices to move seats.

The big takeaways from ticket sales I think are pretty clear cut:
-Many concerts and sporting event tickets were actually being sold for less than they commanded previously. This goes back to the point someone made earlier about waiting to camp out for tickets the day before they went on sale. Those tickets could be resold for multiple times face value in many instances showing the promoter left alot of meat on the bone in terms of the box office price. Ticketmaster wised up and adjusted accordingly. Smart business, awful for the consumer.
-Since 2020-2021, people seem more eager to go to events. To me that level of engagement has not dropped back to pre-2020 levels, thus keeping prices up.
-One segment I look at is WWE for tickets. They traditionally were a great value for a family to go to, outside of major shows which would be expected to me more expensive. The prices for a seat now are more in line with concerts. You may get lucky and get a deal closer to the event, but overall you are paying a lot more. Wrestling is unique as it's a cyclical business and business is hot at the moment. We will see when the business has a cooling off period how tickets move.

Can we also talk about the ridiculous consession prices? The worst 2 venues for a beer are Gampel and the what, $12 or $14, 16 oz Miller Lites? This was outdone by the Meadows where 2 beers was $43 with tax. Then again, there were folks with lines of cans under their seats so price meets demand.
 
Flipside said:
to me, games are much better on TV (commentary, replays, etc.)

I go to the games for the friend meetups and surprise reunions ... e.g. Boston 2024, bumped in to a childhood friend (not seen in decades) and his wife during the pregame party ... arranged to meetup during halftime - we were having such a great time catching up out at a concourse bar, we missed 1/2 of the 30-0 second half run, ha
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So it’s your fault we didn’t best Flórida last year. :) You need to be sure to drink with your buddy at all future Ncaa games to sustain those scoring streaks !!
 
mjmoney23 said:
This started maybe 10 years or so ago when ticketmaster created "platinum" seats which are seats from the box office as resale prices. It did not seem as egregious at the time as they were there but it wasn't many. Also around this time, dynamic pricing became a thing and that raised prices significantly putting face value from the box office closer to resale prices. They would lower if the event wasnt selling, as i have seen first hand with concert and WWE tickets. From here it has morphed to in some cases sections being labeled as platinum from the on-sale. Comparing Husky home game tickets to other sports and events is a bit difficult as the model is completely different, but the big picture os the same as they also coat more than before. The sticking point is that the prices have gone up a lot, but if you have season tickets you do not need to deal with the platinum nonsense as you do for other events. The game in Boston will be interesting in terms of how many seats are sold. I find the get in price of $103 to be too high. Last year vs Gonzaga at MSG, we were in for under $100 a ticket, that is the barometer I am using. I can see a promotion closer to game time with those prices to move seats.

The big takeaways from ticket sales I think are pretty clear cut:
-Many concerts and sporting event tickets were actually being sold for less than they commanded previously. This goes back to the point someone made earlier about waiting to camp out for tickets the day before they went on sale. Those tickets could be resold for multiple times face value in many instances showing the promoter left alot of meat on the bone in terms of the box office price. Ticketmaster wised up and adjusted accordingly. Smart business, awful for the consumer.
-Since 2020-2021, people seem more eager to go to events. To me that level of engagement has not dropped back to pre-2020 levels, thus keeping prices up.
-One segment I look at is WWE for tickets. They traditionally were a great value for a family to go to, outside of major shows which would be expected to me more expensive. The prices for a seat now are more in line with concerts. You may get lucky and get a deal closer to the event, but overall you are paying a lot more. Wrestling is unique as it's a cyclical business and business is hot at the moment. We will see when the business has a cooling off period how tickets move.

Can we also talk about the ridiculous consession prices? The worst 2 venues for a beer are Gampel and the what, $12 or $14, 16 oz Miller Lites? This was outdone by the Meadows where 2 beers was $43 with tax. Then again, there were folks with lines of cans under their seats so price meets demand.
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And to think we used to go to nickel night and damned be the person who got up from their stool. $1.25 covered a couple of us for hours.
 
Waquoit said:
Not for me. It's pass/fail. Live is better even in a sub-optimal seat. I was in nosebleed in Tampa 1999, nobody at home had it better than me.
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So you’re saying if you don’t go in person, you don’t watch at all?
 
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NJHusky said:
So it’s your fault we didn’t best Flórida last year. :) You need to be sure to drink with your buddy at all future Ncaa games to sustain those scoring streaks !!
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I understand it now (Lethal Shooter IYKYK) ... will try not to miss another

Gainsville.jpg
 
Waquoit said:
Of course not. I said "live is better". It's right there in black and white. Should I have put it in bold?
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Sorry, your response disagreeing with me that the TV product now being better than it has been and being “pass/fail” was confusing. Don’t think bolding would have helped but appreciate the offer.
 
I had season tickets for the Jets in the old Meadowlands. Then they wanted to force seat licenses onto us as they built Metlife. I said no thanks. Like these mega rich greedy NFL owners need to get a loan from me, and further more want me to carry the risk. I bought a great flatscreen. Turns out not getting the seats was the best investment I never made.
 
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cordeodato said:
I had season tickets for the Jets in the old Meadowlands. Then they wanted to force seat licenses onto us as they built Metlife. I said no thanks. Like these mega rich greedy NFL owners need to a loan from me, and further more want me to carry the risk. I bought a great flatscreen. Turns out not getting the seats was the best investment I never made.
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I think a big issue there is the JETS asking you to pay 10s of thousands to watch them vomit on themselves weekly.

I bought a PSL for the new Bills stadium after thinking I wouldn’t because it was only about 2k stretched out over 2 years and I’ll be damned if I miss them open next season as Super Bowl champs in their new digs.
 
cordeodato said:
I had season tickets for the Jets in the old Meadowlands. Then they wanted to force seat licenses onto us as they built Metlife. I said no thanks. Like these mega rich greedy NFL owners need to a loan from me, and further more want me to carry the risk. I bought a great flatscreen. Turns out not getting the seats was the best investment I never made.
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This! You can refresh your a/v tech in your man cave every year for the price of any one of these events. That’s a huge difference than in the past.
 
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