The Official Prudential Center, Surrounding Area and Season Ticket Thread

[NJDevs26]

This thread is for information regarding the Rock (policies, FAQ's, etc). This is NOT for selling tickets. You can find ticket sales here.

Info about the Prudential Center

FAQ's regarding the Prudential Center (including camera info)

Restaurant Info

Directions/Parking

Pre-Paid Parking

Mass Transit Info

Box Office Info

Seating Chart (Devils shoot twice towards the right - section 2-4)

3D Seating Chart

Official Newark Visitor's Guide

Local Watering Holes:
Hell's Kitchen
Market Street Grill
Sagres Bar & Grill
Edison Ale House
McGovern's Tavern
Taste Venue
Dinosaur BBQ
Mmm Bellos
The Monk Room
Mercato Tomato Pie

Hotel Information:
Marriott Courtyard Hotel (outside Prudential Center)
Hilton Hotel in Newark
Robert Treat Hotel
Hampton Inn in Harrison
*The Prudential Center is not far from Newark Airport, so you can always find hotels near there as well.*

Autograph Information:
For Devils autographs it's on Lafeyette Street, walking towards Broad Street, right before the VIP parking garage. You'll probably see a bunch of people standing out there.

For visiting teams it's on Edison Street, walking towards Broad Street, right past the Devils Den (directly opposite from where the home team comes out).

The last Pru Center thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1742021

NEW: A link to the directory of the new food stands: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=91981831&postcount=989
And a link to the menus of said food stands: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=91133597&postcount=578
**
Mod Note:
Tickets can be bought/sold for personal use.
HFBoards.com is not a forum you can use to sell tickets for profit.
HFBoards also does not sponsor/endorse any deals . Buyer beware.

Click to read more...

 

[wellonegm05*]

@Cowbell

I suppose you do not care, (nice change of tune from "lets argue about attendance" a few posts ago), but yes as a fan of the team I do care about attendance as well as the overall direction of the team. Seeing the arena 30% empty (more like 60% where I've sat the past 2 years), is not good anyway you cut it. The next few years should be important as we start seeing all the younger kids who watched those 90's and early 2000s teams; hopefully they will start being in the position to become ticket holders, something we ve already seen bits of over the past 5 years. If, as you said rather clearly, you dont care what the vibe is from your couch, or your seat, that is fine. But as a fan I do, and there isnt really a spin you can put on the attendance so far this year. 3rd worst in 20+ years for the team itself, 5th worst overall in the league, etc, etc. Yea, don't worry, the Giants and Jets having monster seasons is really the reason for the decline...

 

[BigBlueAndRed]

If anyone wants to be extremely generous and gift me a club ticket for one game, I will upgrade my post from most of the menus to all as the club menus and the old stands are the ones I still need to get.

 

[Cowbell232]

@Cowbell

I suppose you do not care, (nice change of tune from "lets argue about attendance" a few posts ago), but yes as a fan of the team I do care about attendance as well as the overall direction of the team. Seeing the arena 30% empty (more like 60% where I've sat the past 2 years), is not good anyway you cut it. The next few years should be important as we start seeing all the younger kids who watched those 90's and early 2000s teams; hopefully they will start being in the position to become ticket holders, something we ve already seen bits of over the past 5 years. If, as you said rather clearly, you dont care what the vibe is from your couch, or your seat, that is fine. But as a fan I do, and there isnt really a spin you can put on the attendance so far this year. 3rd worst in 20+ years for the team itself, 5th worst overall in the league, etc, etc. Yea, don't worry, the Giants and Jets having monster seasons is really the reason for the decline...

I'm still saying that your wrong, because the facts you tried to use are incredibly titled in your favor right now, and I said why. I'm not arguing about attendance, because so far you haven't actually proven me wrong. As a side note, I also told you that I don't care. But you seem to be awfully riled up...

 

[Cowbell232]

if anyone wants to be extremely generous and gift me a club ticket for one game, i will upgrade my post from most of the menus to all as the club menus and the old stands are the ones i still need to get.

Ygpm.

 

[Brick City]

@Cowbell

I suppose you do not care, (nice change of tune from "lets argue about attendance" a few posts ago), but yes as a fan of the team I do care about attendance as well as the overall direction of the team. Seeing the arena 30% empty (more like 60% where I've sat the past 2 years), is not good anyway you cut it. The next few years should be important as we start seeing all the younger kids who watched those 90's and early 2000s teams; hopefully they will start being in the position to become ticket holders, something we ve already seen bits of over the past 5 years. If, as you said rather clearly, you dont care what the vibe is from your couch, or your seat, that is fine. But as a fan I do, and there isnt really a spin you can put on the attendance so far this year. 3rd worst in 20+ years for the team itself, 5th worst overall in the league, etc, etc. Yea, don't worry, the Giants and Jets having monster seasons is really the reason for the decline...

Again, attendance is historically at its lowest between the home opener and the December holidays (excluding a bump for any games in the Thanksgiving break vicinity). There is no valid comparison between the attendance average of October 2014 and previous entire seasons.

I already did the work of gathering the figures for the first 4 games of prior seasons and re-posted it in the last page of the previous thread - there is no significant variance between early season attendance in previous seasons from the present one.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Again, attendance is historically at its lowest between the home opener and the December holidays (excluding a bump for any games in the Thanksgiving break vicinity). There is no valid comparison between the attendance average of October 2014 and previous entire seasons.

I already did the work of gathering the figures for the first 4 games of prior seasons and re-posted it in the last page of the previous thread - there is no significant variance between early season attendance in previous seasons from the present one.

Yep, no different this season than any (aside from the lockout season which obviously did not start in October).

The only 2014 upcoming games that have a chance of being pretty full are vs Detroit the day after Thanksgiving and Pittsburgh on 12/29.

The others will vary from 12.5 to 15k, as usual from October to December.

 

[indfin]

Yep, no different this season than any (aside from the lockout season which obviously did not start in October).

The only 2014 upcoming games that have a chance of being pretty full are vs Detroit the day after Thanksgiving and Pittsburgh on 12/29.

The others will vary from 12.5 to 15k, as usual from October to December.

And while the fact that the Jets and Giants seasons are pretty much over already, the NFL's popularity is so overwhelming in this area (and there are now games 3 days/week) that a lot of folks don't think about hockey until at least January 1.

Throw in a fan base this had grown accustomed to cheap tickets and (until very recently) playoff-caliber teams every years, and you are going to have a collective yawn to start the season. Just the way it is and many of the other changes (food options, 3-D technology) are being made with an eye toward giving people a reason to come to a game ... any game ... even early in the season against middling opponents.

The alternative is to give away tix to fill the building, and the new owners are trying to get away from that ... recognizing that, once you do that, it is VERY difficult to condition people to pay "full price" any time soon.

 

[NJDevs26]

You also can't compare this season to five years ago because of tiered pricing. Tiered pricing DESTROYED the attendance for the Ranger game. On the flip side five years ago you also had ridiculous flat single-game and sth prices upstairs that made the 100's a ghost town.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The alternative is to give away tix to fill the building, and the new owners are trying to get away from that ... recognizing that, once you do that, it is VERY difficult to condition people to pay "full price" any time soon.

Both strategies are failures. Giving away free tix does not a successful business make.

Nor is the new owner's pricing strategy, which will generally fail until they change it (EXHIBIT A: Rangers game). Instead of all these ridiculous pricing games that they're playing they should just set the prices at an optimal pricing strategy that would come close to filling the building most nights.

Yes, you'd leave a bit of $$$ on the table, but the trade-off is you're investing in the future of the fanbase with a positive/attractive game experience, increased STH desirability, and will make some of that $$$ up in the form of ancillary revenue.

Do that, and the ticket price increases will come in a healthy manner, by BUILDING a market, rather than attempting to manipulate a market, which will always result in failure.

 

[GhostofKenKlee]

Devils seem to have wood for the brokers/STH. They should take a page out of the Phillies book, they sell all their tix to bulk buyers and the market take care of itself. Now the market is softening for Phillies tix as the team starts to stink.

This whole you must use 50 percent of your tix is truly redic.

They are taking this zero sum game approach, where they are pricing tickets to top demand and there is a very small aftermarket to the point where they have killed it outside of the Rangers and some Flyers and Penguins a bit.

 

[Brick City]

...The alternative is to give away tix to fill the building, and the new owners are trying to get away from that ... recognizing that, once you do that, it is VERY difficult to condition people to pay "full price" any time soon.

That includes the secondary market as well. Stubhub right now has 586 seats left with a get in price of $16.43. Earlier today, there were ~850 or so with a bunch of seats parked at the familiar get in price of $17.47. The race to $5-10 prices, which may have helped clear the market in the past, appears to be gone.

However, I generally only look at the market from my perspective as a $23 section STH. A brief glimpse at other sections suggests other STHs are getting undercut to a greater degree (e.g. center mezz can be had for $22, not sure what those run for STHs with the variable pricing). The pendulum will likely swing the other way during the holidays and after New Years of course as secondary market pricing increases and exceeds the better priced seats STH rates.

 

[indfin]

Both strategies are failures. Giving away free tix does not a successful business make.

Nor is the new owner's pricing strategy, which will generally fail until they change it (EXHIBIT A: Rangers game). Instead of all these ridiculous pricing games that they're playing they should just set the prices at an optimal pricing strategy that would come close to filling the building most nights.

Yes, you'd leave a bit of $$$ on the table, but the trade-off is you're investing in the future of the fanbase with a positive/attractive game experience, increased STH desirability, and will make some of that $$$ up in the form of ancillary revenue.

Do that, and the ticket price increases will come in a healthy manner, by BUILDING a market, rather than attempting to manipulate a market, which will always result in failure.

Agree entirely ... not sure if they: a) don't get that; b) get that but are still trying to find those price points; or c) don't care, as they are looking to maximize near-term revenue (and not alienate any sths in the process).

Let's say that 60% of the seats are sold to sths ... and that at current pricing they are sell half of the balance, so 20% of the (non-suite) seats are unsold . Does anyone really believe that they could sell them all at prices 20% below what they are currently asking? For many of these games, they would have to cut prices by close to 50% to sell them all, at which point they have alienated sths (as well as those who bought individual tix at "full price"). If they simply had those lower prices to start, then they fill the building but get less ticket revenue.

Yes, they pick up a few $$$ on concessions, parking, etc. for the additional tickets sold ... but maybe it's just not enough to offset the cost (economic and sth relationship)?

They need to generate DEMAND for the product first ... how many times do we hear about sths struggling to (practically) give away seats. DEMAND will increase (first and foremost) with a winning team ... and (secondarily) by improving other aspects of the in-game experience. Folks may disagree about some of that stuff (like whether anyone cares about the 3-d video ... or whether the change in the goal song is causing people to stay home), but clearly that's what management is trying to do here.

 

[Devils Dominion]

The only thing that dampered the atmosphere tonight was the lackluster, slow, boring Devils team that genereated little to no excitement.

Crowd deflating flatness in the first period.

 

[Devils Dominion]

They did hand out a concession stand map to fans last night.

Nice job there.

 

[Colin226]

The only thing that dampered the atmosphere tonight was the lackluster, slow, boring Devils team that genereated little to no excitement.

Crowd deflating flatness in the first period.

Doesn't exactly make the casual fan (hell, any fan) leave the building eager to come back and spend more money.. Last nights prices were good and attendance was decent, aside from lower down and clubs as they looked fairly empty on TV.. But a family of 4 paying $30 a ticket plus parking and food/merchandise could probably think of less-expensive activities to kill a Tuesday night

 

[BenedictGomez]

Agree entirely ... not sure if they: a) don't get that; b) get that but are still trying to find those price points; or c) don't care, as they are looking to maximize near-term revenue (and not alienate any sths in the process).

......... Does anyone really believe that they could sell them all at prices 20% below what they are currently asking? For many of these games, they would have to cut prices by close to 50% to sell them all, at which point they have alienated sths (as well as those who bought individual tix at "full price"). If they simply had those lower prices to start, then they fill the building but get less ticket revenue. ........They need to generate DEMAND for the product first ... how many times do we hear about sths struggling to (practically) give away seats.

It's 'C'. By watching their behavior, 'C' is the only answer that makes logical sense.

And 'C' is the correct way to run most businesses, but not IMO a hockey team that sells "fun" and "excitement". An arena with swaths of empty seats does not feel exciting even when the game is exciting. As you said, they need to build demand. Badly. And the easiest way to do that is with a reasonable pricing strategy.

Back when Eric was allowed to post in this thread, I told him directly that his ticketing "strategy" was simply an attempt to manipulate what is a fairly liquid market, and that it would result in failure. It did.

Rather than the Devils learning from that lesson, my sense is that the new folks are increasingly trying to create an artificial support level for prices by decreasing ticket liquidity. This too, will predictably fail.

The Devils should hire some people who have worked on Wall Street where their paycheck was literally dependent on fully understanding Supply & Demand pricing, rather than a guy with a BA in Sports Management who ran ticketing for some AAA baseball team or whoever the hell is currently in charge etc...

 

[Marv4Life]

The only thing that dampered the atmosphere tonight was the lackluster, slow, boring Devils team that genereated little to no excitement.

Crowd deflating flatness in the first period.

Wonder if a trade for someone who is skilled and can excite the crowd would help, ala Semin.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Doesn't exactly make the casual fan (hell, any fan) leave the building eager to come back and spend more money.. Last nights prices were good and attendance was decent, aside from lower down and clubs as they looked fairly empty on TV.. But a family of 4 paying $30 a ticket plus parking and food/merchandise could probably think of less-expensive activities to kill a Tuesday night

I noticed fans were excited pregame, wanting something to cheer about.
But the Devils sucked the life out of the crowd pretty much early on and put them to sleep.

There were quite a few groups at the game last night, stinks that they were not treated to a good hockey game by the home team.

 

[Brick City]

FYI, received an email today from my rep confirming the STH benefits I selected. However, no word about revised point totals and changes to the benefit values yet.

 

[Colin226]

FYI, received an email today from my rep confirming the STH benefits I selected. However, no word about revised point totals and changes to the benefit values yet.

Got the same email about a week ago. I guess they are really trying to get the new(er) system right before they announce it this time

 

[aero8279]

Got the same email about a week ago. I guess they are really trying to get the new(er) system right before they announce it this time

that's perfectly fine but they clearly said in the previous e-mail that we would be notified "next week" about the points etc...this was 2 weeks ago. this is what makes zero sense with this organization. just simply say in the next few weeks. they did this back in april to with the buy back program and reward system. as we know the weeks was actually months.

 

[Colin226]

that's perfectly fine but they clearly said in the previous e-mail that we would be notified "next week" about the points etc...this was 2 weeks ago. this is what makes zero sense with this organization. just simply say in the next few weeks. they did this back in april to with the buy back program and reward system. as we know the weeks was actually months.

Absolutely agree on this one. It's like they feel the need to rush the good news, and then can't deliver on it. Same as how they rushed to tout their expanded sales and fan experience teams, then the same issues with slow responses and misinformation arose and it left everyone like "what has changed?".

I don't expect things to happen overnight and I don't even need promises like this, but if you're going to promise a deadline, please stick to it. If this new program addresses all the issues though, I'll be fine with the delay. The food and beverage cards are really the only thing that need to be out ASAP.

 

[Sascha Goc]

Very interesting chart to look at. The cost index is cost for a single fan by an average-priced ticket, one beer, one soft drink, one hot dog, and half the cost of parking at the stadium. Devils are the 12th most affordable team in the league to go see based on this metric from Business Insider.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/...rson-1.2824136

 

[NJDevs26]

They're sending the new points letters/details out now. Apparently I spiked from 7000 to 19000, and they strongly hinted they're going to have ways to increase the point total (attendance at games and other things)