Fans being priced out a problem everywhere

[CL82]

Lol, my buddy got one of those deals from Verizon, and they kept trying to incentivize him to change his plan. He was like "the math ain't mathing". It made more sense to buy his phones himself and keep his dirt cheap plan.

 

[QDOG5]

I live 15 miles west of Chicago. Here is my yearly average of live events attended.
UConn mbb 3 regular season games(Marquette, DePaul, one other road game) BET once every four years
Cubs/Sox 10 games
Bears 2 games Always 1 away game
Bulls 1 game
Blackhawks 1game
Concerts 8-10

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I feel for everyone who can't afford tickets but simultaneously sports at the highest level is a rich person's business. In the end, I'd rather have my teams great and decide I can only afford a game or two than have them stink and be able to choose my seat in an empty arena.

 

[husky8273]

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.

The Giants PSLs at Met Life resell these days for about 25% of the original cost

 

[superjohn]

I feel for everyone who can't afford tickets but simultaneously sports at the highest level is a rich person's business. In the end, I'd rather have my teams great and decide I can only afford a game or two than have them stink and be able to choose my seat in an empty arena.

I've done White Sox season ticket packages in the past where I pay $7 per game and pick all the games I want and sit wherever I want to watch them play the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox etc. and they would throw in a crosstown game against the Cubs. It's pretty nice paying so little to watch good teams in an empty stadium.

 

[HooperScooper]

The Giants PSLs at Met Life resell these days for about 25% of the original cost

That's what happens when you stink for so long. A good friend of mine has Giants season tickets and he still complains about how much he had to shell out for PSLs.

 

[DogMania]

I do have some sympathy for the guy and wish TN could have tried to work something better out, at least get him a seat somewhere in the upper part of the lower level for a slightly increased price. With that said, large yearly price hikes is the new normal throughout most sports.

I used the share season tickets until I moved further away from both venues, and before the cost of doing so increased dramatically. I do miss live action and the roar of the croud...well at least when the the lazy spoiled fans managed to rip their hands from beneath their asses.

I'm fine catching most of the games on my large flat screen TV, where I can watch replays, rewind the action whenever I want to, stuff my face with as many snacks for a 10th of the cost and hit pause whenever I don't want to wait for a commercial break when I need to hit the porcelain thrown. And of course, I'm all tucked in and cozy in my bed before most fans circle their way out of the parking garage.

It's great that there are plenty of fans that can afford the tickets, parking, etc. and want to watch every home game, and even some who travel to catch them on the road. Big time props to all of you who do that.

 

[Lafayette]

I got to see my Angels play the A's last season in Oakland. For $8 I got a bobble head Canseco and was 2 rows behind the 1st baseman.

There's always going to be opportunities, but while the Universe delivers, it's timing is not gonna fit everyone's schedule.

 

[Lafayette]

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.

True that - probably every 4 years will do but then it's accessibility. On Fox and CBS a good HD antenna and a 4k/8k screen is great..but they tend to send these games to streaming only like Peacock and Fox Sports and then you get into paying streaming services more.

 

[nomar]

I became enraged when the cost of a Knicks ticket went up to $7.50. Haven’t been since.

My understanding is that they cost a lot more now despite my absence. We can only do what we can.

$7.50 now gets you a bottle of water. Cap not included.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Waquoit]

LOL! This is nothing. It was over 20 years ago when Lew Perkins kicked Phog Allen's grandson out of his seats in the Phog Allen Fieldhouse. He could have kept them it he ponied up.

 

[Flipside]

... Live is better even in a sub-optimal seat. I was in nosebleed in Tampa 1999, nobody at home had it better than me.

I watched the game alone in my apartment in Durham, NC while going to Fuqua/Duke ... was too broke to go to make the trip, but kinda glad I didn't

... watching the disassembly of the campus pre-configured bonfire on TV, was pretty satisfying

 

[HuskyHawk]

It was inevitable once the court cases came down declaring college sports some some huge multi-billion dollar business. The truth is that it's marketing for colleges and loses money. Now that schools must pay up to the athletes, beyond what they already did with tuition, room and board, coaching, uniforms, medical, nutrition, facilities and more it had to be funded somehow. It's not "greed" because the schools still lose money on these sports. The court cases didn't really address the factual reality that fans cheer for the laundry and now we're paying for it. Make smart choices on what you spend.

As for concerts, the whole music industry did a 180. My father in law was part of it and saw it coming. A concert used to be a way to promote record sales. They didn't make any real money from the shows, they made money selling records (Dead being maybe the exception). Once music went digital to CDs, copying killed record sales and streaming was the nail in the coffin. Now, almost nobody makes any real money off of recordings, it all comes from live shows. So yes, that concert that was $12 in the 80s is now $180 because it has to fund everything.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Greed isn't new in college sports. Tennessee has just quit pretending otherwise | Estes

The University of Tennessee pricing 88-year-old Thomas Bailey out of basketball tickets is just another example of what really rules college sports.

www.tennessean.com

beerfan- - -When I was in HS (1960-1964) I got season tickets to the NY Football Giants at Yankee Stadium.
I gave them up in 1965 because I went to College in MO.
I paid $49.00 for season tickets, with seats 20 rows back from the Yankee dugout in the end zone! Seven home games at $7.00 a game!
You can't go to the men's room for $49.00 today at Giants Stadium!

 

[Mr. French]

beerfan- - -When I was in HS (1960-1964) I got season tickets to the NY Football Giants at Yankee Stadium.
I gave them up in 1965 because I went to College in MO.
I paid $49.00 for season tickets, with seats 20 rows back from the Yankee dugout in the end zone! Seven home games at $7.00 a game!
You can't go to the men's room for $49.00 today at Giants Stadium!

That’s “normal” inflation - no one would expect 60 years to pass and no price increase. Not QUITE what’s going on here.

 

[willie99]

After 60 years, when the men's basketball team is finally decent, he gets the axe

Seems to me there should be some sort of loyalty program, it should carry more weight, but it doesn't. My arguments fall on deaf ears too

 

[beerfan]

That’s “normal” inflation - no one would expect 60 years to pass and no price increase. Not QUITE what’s going on here.

That is about $500 in today's dollars, still a pretty good deal