What's Up With MSG Attendance Figures This Season?

[613Leafer]

Price of a game is to much. I've told the story here about how when I was in Edmonton last Christmas we thought about going to see an Oilers game. Tickets would be $275 each. For 4 people that would have been 1100 dollars. High ticket prices are happening everywhere. Why pay the price of a ticket and parking and food when you can watch the game at home?

That's an absurd price for a regular season game. Add parking, food, and beer prices on top of that, all of which are typically overinflated in price at a sporting event, and you're looking at ~$1250-1300.

You could spend $200 total to take four people to a really good sports bar that has a good atmosphere, get food, beer, etc. I just don't see how physically going to a game is that much better than watching at home or at a sports bar. It's an experience, sure, but not worth that price difference.

 

[willy702]

I know this sort of flies in the face of tradition, but in reality a business is maximizing its revenue if its not selling out every game. From a purely business, not PR, standpoint you want ticket prices to be so high that some seats don't sell. Especially if those seats are upper level and not really made obvious by the TV cameras. Where things look terrible is when your best seats are empty all game, sort of the Florida/Arizona problem. Those seats you want filled. Seems like Ranger games have little problem filling those premium seats since so many are tied to corporate purchases.

If you are a .500 or so team and you have priced your building so that you are still sold out, where's the benefit of being a top of the league team? Further if you look on the secondary sites and see most of your season ticket holders are selling at a good premium over what you priced your seats, from a purely economic standpoint that's a lost opportunity and will drive most teams to consider raising prices.

 

[rent free]

hockey is boring to nyers. its boring to this generation as it doesn't move at a fast pace

 

[LeHab]

I know this sort of flies in the face of tradition, but in reality a business is maximizing its revenue if its not selling out every game. From a purely business, not PR, standpoint you want ticket prices to be so high that some seats don't sell. Especially if those seats are upper level and not really made obvious by the TV cameras. Where things look terrible is when your best seats are empty all game, sort of the Florida/Arizona problem. Those seats you want filled. Seems like Ranger games have little problem filling those premium seats since so many are tied to corporate purchases.

If you want to maximize revenues from seats that is the way to go for sure. Moving to dynamic pricing a la airlines would be even better. But to maximize overall revenues may not be always optimal. I think some teams are deliberately keeping a portion of tickets at lower prices than market to allow a larger pool of people to have a chance to experience a live game. Nurture more interest to make them ultimately watch games on TV, buy merchandise...in short become more engaged fans. With this strategy secondary resell markets are particularly frowned upon as the bar is set higher for ordinary fans to get tickets.

For example Montreal season ticket waitlist is know to be many years. Why not simply open more tickets for season ticket holders if you want to ensure butts in the seats?

 

[njdevil26]

Rangers ticket prices are honestly insane.

Ranger fans have made fun of Devils fans for 30 years for our attendance... but I'll be honest, you can go to almost any Devils home game and find lower level seats for under $50 each. I'll take that any day over not being able to go to my favorite team's games. The Rangers have a very high corporate ticket base followed by a loyal season ticket holder base. There is a small amount of public tickets available for each game. They know they can charge whatever they want and someone will buy them. With HD TV, bars, and the Rangers cup window closing (sorry guys), fans are going to be less willing to spend that kind of money.

Teams should start worrying about beefing up the game day experience. Find ways to get fans in the building early, staying late, and spending money on things other than tickets. Ticket prices should be lowered league wide. Just get the people in the building.

 

[trueblue9441]

Rangers ticket prices are honestly insane.

Ranger fans have made fun of Devils fans for 30 years for our attendance... but I'll be honest, you can go to almost any Devils home game and find lower level seats for under $50 each. I'll take that any day over not being able to go to my favorite team's games. The Rangers have a very high corporate ticket base followed by a loyal season ticket holder base. There is a small amount of public tickets available for each game. They know they can charge whatever they want and someone will buy them. With HD TV, bars, and the Rangers cup window closing (sorry guys), fans are going to be less willing to spend that kind of money.

Teams should start worrying about beefing up the game day experience. Find ways to get fans in the building early, staying late, and spending money on things other than tickets. Ticket prices should be lowered league wide. Just get the people in the building.

agreed on game day experience, but in regards to the top part I just don't know. over the last few years especially, the rangers have started to get a crowd filled by tourists much like the knicks do. I have europeans sitting in my row more games than not these days.

 

[rkhum]

They really must have changed the way they account for tickets, because I was there last night. They claim it was 17600 and change, but it looked every bit as full as when I have previously gone with the crowd announced as a sell out. What gives?

 

[NorthCoast]

Supply and demand, I guess.

Same deal in every market.

I can't justify the high cost of Leafs tickets in my budget -- and I have a good income. They just cost way too much.

I'm sure it's the same in a lot of other places -- New York, Ottawa . . .

Hey, get with the narrative. Micro-economic rules of supply and demand might apply in every other market but in Ottawa the only reason is a bad fanbase.


In all seriousness. You honestly have to wonder at what point competition for fans/corporate entertainment dollar outpaces inflation and market growth to the point where ticket prices begin to fall.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Been told many a time when a team doesn't sell out everygame it's due to "bad fans" and not prices of tickets

 

[Tawnos]

They really must have changed the way they account for tickets, because I was there last night. They claim it was 17600 and change, but it looked every bit as full as when I have previously gone with the crowd announced as a sell out. What gives?

How does a person by eye even tell a difference of 400, unevenly distributed, out of 18000?

 

[stator]

In my almost 10 years of season tickets located in two adjacent sections, I've notice a slow, but steady rise in the amount of corporate ticket sales. Most who attend around me receive the tickets from their employer, and are more interested in joining in on a corporate freebie then watching hockey.

Not leaning forward, not standing up and leaving their seats (or returning) until there is a stoppage in play is a foreign concept for them. So is climbing the concrete stairs with their beer, popcorn, and hotdog without tripping and spilling over the people sitting on the isle.

My view is that corporate purchasing of tickets is one of the reasons why NHL owners are able to raise prices well beyond inflation.