2024 Season Ticket Renewals / Playoffs

[9911]

Makes those Stanley Cup Finals tickets at centre ice in the first row of the blues for $27.50 in 1990 look pretty good.

Yup. I have a ticket stub from the '83 Smythe finals for 16.00..

 

[mkatcherin00]

$1,633 for each game in the final round. Wow.

I would pay that for a finals game if we were ahead in the series or a clinching game lol

Going to a finals game is rare

 

[Drivesaitl]

Before somebody says normal inflation I bought SC final tickets in 83, 84, 85 for ONE HOUR of pay. 24bucks.

Anybody here making 1600bucks/hr?

This is to put it into perspective.

Not sure if this is too accurate but wow. Like who actually is buying these tickets?

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Trade-Salary--in-Alberta#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20a%20Trade,Alberta%20is%20%2427.42%20an%20hour.

Theres no working salary that can afford any of this.

 

[Drivesaitl]

This part too. Now that everything is through ticketmaster and e tickets in this Milennium its allowed Ticketmaster and teams, entertainers to see exactly what people for some reason are willing to pay. This kind of thing has been closely watched for decades.

When transactions were through scalpers on paper tickets it was more unknown what people were paying for resales. Of note people were also not paying the absurd transaction fees. (but many of you LOVE e tickets for some reason)

So that the amount of people willing to pay 1K for resale tickets have obviously caused this pricing dynamic. Something to think about.

The Oilers and any team want the cut of the pie that resale tickets are going for. They have no interest in their STH fans having that margin. The Oilers just took it, they took all of it.

These are STH ticket prices for playoffs. What kind of markup other than none are STH going to be able to have after Ticketmaster fees, arena levy fee etc on resales?

Judging from online comments a lot of STH are just going to say no to the playoff tickets.

What is the real chance that this is so high priced that the games won't even be sold out. Wondering.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

This part too. Now that everything is through ticketmaster and e tickets in this Milennium its allowed Ticketmaster and teams, entertainers to see exactly what people for some reason are willing to pay. This kind of thing has been closely watched for decades.

When transactions were through scalpers on paper tickets it was more unknown what people were paying for resales. Of note people were also not paying the absurd transaction fees. (but many of you LOVE e tickets for some reason)

So that the amount of people willing to pay 1K for resale tickets have obviously caused this pricing dynamic. Something to think about.

The Oilers and any team want the cut of the pie that resale tickets are going for. They have no interest in their STH fans having that margin. The Oilers just took it, they took all of it.

These are STH ticket prices for playoffs. What kind of markup other than none are STH going to be able to have after Ticketmaster fees, arena levy fee etc on resales?

Judging from online comments a lot of STH are just going to say no to the playoff tickets.

What is the real chance that this is so high priced that the games won't even be sold out. Wondering.

They will sell out.

 

[Sra1974]

This part too. Now that everything is through ticketmaster and e tickets in this Milennium its allowed Ticketmaster and teams, entertainers to see exactly what people for some reason are willing to pay. This kind of thing has been closely watched for decades.

When transactions were through scalpers on paper tickets it was more unknown what people were paying for resales. Of note people were also not paying the absurd transaction fees. (but many of you LOVE e tickets for some reason)

So that the amount of people willing to pay 1K for resale tickets have obviously caused this pricing dynamic. Something to think about.

The Oilers and any team want the cut of the pie that resale tickets are going for. They have no interest in their STH fans having that margin. The Oilers just took it, they took all of it.

These are STH ticket prices for playoffs. What kind of markup other than none are STH going to be able to have after Ticketmaster fees, arena levy fee etc on resales?

Judging from online comments a lot of STH are just going to say no to the playoff tickets.

What is the real chance that this is so high priced that the games won't even be sold out. Wondering.

Pretty confident the playoffs will sell out, have to remember you are talking 2-4 games per round at most. There’s still enough demand I think for that, but you are bang on about the rest. They have almost all of the data necessary to set prices where they get all the money and resale is tough. As a sth on one hand its frustrating but it’s also not my product so I don’t have much of a claim to making a profit. Also anything that hurts the actual profit scalpers doesn’t hurt my feelings, if there any of those guys left. Ticketmaster and their fees can burn in hell though.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Pretty confident the playoffs will sell out, have to remember you are talking 2-4 games per round at most. There’s still enough demand I think for that, but you are bang on about the rest. They have almost all of the data necessary to set prices where they get all the money and resale is tough. As a sth on one hand its frustrating but it’s also not my product so I don’t have much of a claim to making a profit. Also anything that hurts the actual profit scalpers doesn’t hurt my feelings, if there any of those guys left. Ticketmaster and their fees can burn in hell though.

This is the thing. E tickets are not about convenience, they are not a service. It provides yet another means to gouge the public. Its basically data surveillance. It provides its own data collection so that it could be carefully determined just how much people will pay. This is not a consumer driven or benefit thing. It benefits the entertainment conglomerate only, it benefits ticketmaster only.

But people accepted this paradigm readily saying how great and convenient it was for them. With all the tracking, all the data just being used to manipulate and gouge the consumer. Experts saw this coming miles away and warned about the acceptance of such practice.

With STH some are upset that any ability to leverage already high ticket prices by selling them off is being taken away. Now understanding that Katz and the Oilers can do whatever they like, it is their business. But upsetting your customer base is seldom a good idea. I could say people will remember this sort of thing but entertainment customers prove time and time again that they won't and they'll just keep ponying up, they'll keep buying the 16 buck movie popcorn because data surveillance says they will..

Extrapolate if this kind of rollout occurred with necessities, with food, and a loaf of bread would be 50bucks or a Jug of milk 50bucks. We're fortunate such obscene pricing rollouts hasn't occured to the same extent with necessities.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Playoff Ticket prices are insane. I get the trepidation. If we win a cup it’ll be worth it though. If we lose - I’ll scream lol.

 

[Drivesaitl]

They will sell out.

Could be. One of my fascinations always in studying such things is what is the breaking point of what some people will pay. Judging from Taylor Swiftian dynamics there are none. One born every minute...

My breaking point was 50 buck tickets. lol. Or 20buck movie tickets. f*** that, wait till it comes out on TV.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Could be. One of my fascinations always in studying such things is what is the breaking point of what some people will pay. Judging from Taylor Swiftian dynamics there are none. One born every minute...

My breaking point was 50 buck tickets. lol. Or 20buck movie tickets. f*** that, wait till it comes out on TV.

Concert ticket prices are getting insane. I do know when my Oilers ticket contract is up I won’t renew. I am going to try to offload the contract actually as I won’t be around for nearly as many games next year. I called my ticket rep as I’ve been told there’s a huge wait list for tickets in my section but they don’t facilitate contract changes. I’m on my own…. Why help a 40 year customer and create a very happy new customer?

I went on the Facebook page I found that people can move their tickets but you have to have been on Facebook for 2 years which I haven’t.

Not sure where to go now. I don’t think people read classified ads anymore and Kajiji doesn’t allow ticket sales even if I’m moving the entire contract.

 

[bellagiobob]

Concert ticket prices are getting insane. I do know when my Oilers ticket contract is up I won’t renew. I am going to try to offload the contract actually as I won’t be around for nearly as many games next year. I called my ticket rep as I’ve been told there’s a huge wait list for tickets in my section but they don’t facilitate contract changes. I’m on my own…. Why help a 40 year customer and create a very happy new customer?

I went on the Facebook page I found that people can move their tickets but you have to have been on Facebook for 2 years which I haven’t.

Not sure where to go now. I don’t think people read classified ads anymore and Kajiji doesn’t allow ticket sales even if I’m moving the entire contract.

Maybe have a family member or friend who has been on FB for more than 2 years post them for you? I don’t have an acct, and anytime I want to sell something/give it away, I just get a family member to do it, works quite well. For me anyhow.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Maybe have a family member or friend who has been on FB for more than 2 years post them for you? I don’t have an acct, and anytime I want to sell something/give it away, I just get a family member to do it, works quite well. For me anyhow.

That’s a good idea but they are anal about it being the exact person. I guess people have been ripped off. With the so-called waiting list I’ve been told about I figured the Oilers would want to re-issue them to a new contract holder but I guess that makes too much sense for the idiots in management over there.

 

[Da McBomb]

For these prices... they better sure as hell be re-signing McDavid and Draisaitl. I already know quite a few people that are not going to be renewing for next season. It's really too bad that your average Joe can no longer afford to go to these games anymore.

 

[K1984]

This is the thing. E tickets are not about convenience, they are not a service. It provides yet another means to gouge the public. Its basically data surveillance. It provides its own data collection so that it could be carefully determined just how much people will pay. This is not a consumer driven or benefit thing. It benefits the entertainment conglomerate only, it benefits ticketmaster only.

But people accepted this paradigm readily saying how great and convenient it was for them. With all the tracking, all the data just being used to manipulate and gouge the consumer. Experts saw this coming miles away and warned about the acceptance of such practice.

With STH some are upset that any ability to leverage already high ticket prices by selling them off is being taken away. Now understanding that Katz and the Oilers can do whatever they like, it is their business. But upsetting your customer base is seldom a good idea. I could say people will remember this sort of thing but entertainment customers prove time and time again that they won't and they'll just keep ponying up, they'll keep buying the 16 buck movie popcorn because data surveillance says they will..

Extrapolate if this kind of rollout occurred with necessities, with food, and a loaf of bread would be 50bucks or a Jug of milk 50bucks. We're fortunate such obscene pricing rollouts hasn't occured to the same extent with necessities.

There are many sides to this coin and you're only looking at one of them.

I like the fact that I can pay true market rate for a ticket at any time in a seat of my choosing. The best part? That works both ways. From January - April 2010 - 2015 I went to a TON of games for less than $20 per ticket, sometimes against opponents with premium players as well.

Now that the team is good and tickets are exceeding face value on resale? If you're a season seat holder you won because you get to go to the games for below market. If you're not, you STILL get to go to the games, but with the added benefit of seeing exactly how much each seat is available on the market and determining which seat is the best value for you.

I like both of the above a lot more than walking up to the door on game day with a wad of cash and a hope that a scalper has what you want. Or scouring kijiji to call random people and meet them in a back alley with a wad of cash.

On your last point - that's already happening in almost any major money business. There is no longer such a thing as a major entity in a billion$+ business that doesn't intimately know through analytics how much people are willing to pay for certain things dynamically.

 

[Drivesaitl]

There are many sides to this coin and you're only looking at one of them.

I like the fact that I can pay true market rate for a ticket at any time in a seat of my choosing. The best part? That works both ways. From January - April 2010 - 2015 I went to a TON of games for less than $20 per ticket, sometimes against opponents with premium players as well.

Now that the team is good and tickets are exceeding face value on resale? If you're a season seat holder you won because you get to go to the games for below market. If you're not, you STILL get to go to the games, but with the added benefit of seeing exactly how much each seat is available on the market and determining which seat is the best value for you.

I like both of the above a lot more than walking up to the door on game day with a wad of cash and a hope that a scalper has what you want. Or scouring kijiji to call random people and meet them in a back alley with a wad of cash.

On your last point - that's already happening in almost any major money business. There is no longer such a thing as a major entity in a billion$+ business that doesn't intimately know through analytics how much people are willing to pay for certain things dynamically.

Ok I don't know how you did this. With ticketmaster fees on transactions alone I didn't see any ticket at the time around that price. Where were you buying them? which sites? I'm a luddite as you know about such things.

Even now ticketmaster, even when tickets are low demand and team struggling, like beginning of season, ticketmaster requires minimum price. They won't allow sellers to go below face for instance.

in anycase it seems clear I was right all along the purpose of e tickets was data surveillance on what people were prepared to spend, and taking all that. I never ever had a problem with a scalper and it was so easy to just flip a 20 in the 90's and just get whatever ticket. I'm not too picky though about where to sit. Always been king of a just get in kind of guy. Not at all against SRO either. Its how I went to so many playoff games.

 

[K1984]

Ok I don't know how you did this. With ticketmaster fees on transactions alone I didn't see any ticket at the time around that price. Where were you buying them? which sites? I'm a luddite as you know about such things.

Even now ticketmaster, even when tickets are low demand and team struggling, like beginning of season, ticketmaster requires minimum price. They won't allow sellers to go below face for instance.

in anycase it seems clear I was right all along the purpose of e tickets was data surveillance on what people were prepared to spend, and taking all that. I never ever had a problem with a scalper and it was so easy to just flip a 20 in the 90's and just get whatever ticket. I'm not too picky though about where to sit. Always been king of a just get in kind of guy. Not at all against SRO either. Its how I went to so many playoff games.

I was buying off Stubhub back in those days. They have fees too, but I think they are indexed to the ticket price. Basically any weeknight game that wasn't against the Penguins, Capitals or Original 6 team at the time was there to be had for around $20 at the very low end way up in the bleeders. Regardless, point still stands that if your team stinks you can get in the door for well below face value, even with the $13 Ticketmaster fee or whatever it is now.

The thought of scrounging together a random amount of money, driving to the rink, negotiating with a scalper for a seat you can't even see and then leaving and going back home if you don't like what you hear is horrifying to me, but to each their own.

 

[Sra1974]

This is the thing. E tickets are not about convenience, they are not a service. It provides yet another means to gouge the public. Its basically data surveillance. It provides its own data collection so that it could be carefully determined just how much people will pay. This is not a consumer driven or benefit thing. It benefits the entertainment conglomerate only, it benefits ticketmaster only.

But people accepted this paradigm readily saying how great and convenient it was for them. With all the tracking, all the data just being used to manipulate and gouge the consumer. Experts saw this coming miles away and warned about the acceptance of such practice.

With STH some are upset that any ability to leverage already high ticket prices by selling them off is being taken away. Now understanding that Katz and the Oilers can do whatever they like, it is their business. But upsetting your customer base is seldom a good idea. I could say people will remember this sort of thing but entertainment customers prove time and time again that they won't and they'll just keep ponying up, they'll keep buying the 16 buck movie popcorn because data surveillance says they will..

Extrapolate if this kind of rollout occurred with necessities, with food, and a loaf of bread would be 50bucks or a Jug of milk 50bucks. We're fortunate such obscene pricing rollouts hasn't occured to the same extent with necessities.

I am not really upset as a sth on the fact they are nailing their prices. No other business sells to me at below market price just so I can profit, don’t really expect this one to either. We do ok on resale.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I was buying off Stubhub back in those days. They have fees too, but I think they are indexed to the ticket price. Basically any weeknight game that wasn't against the Penguins, Capitals or Original 6 team at the time was there to be had for around $20 at the very low end way up in the bleeders. Regardless, point still stands that if your team stinks you can get in the door for well below face value, even with the $13 Ticketmaster fee or whatever it is now.

The thought of scrounging together a random amount of money, driving to the rink, negotiating with a scalper for a seat you can't even see and then leaving and going back home if you don't like what you hear is horrifying to me, but to each their own.

I used to work all over the city and I would just coordinate so my last appointment was on Northeast area. Used to work a lot around there. So it was not trouble at all just getting off last appt, parking at Borden park for free and just walking up to game. usually 10mins to faceoff and get a ticket right by the LRT entrance. Rexall was great for that. Plus I knew every section of Rexall and what tickets were like soon as saw them.

Thing is in the 90's there was always a lot of seats available. Even till the lockout there was. The the Oilers got popular again with Pronger then the bottom fell out again.

Yeah, see your point though.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I am not really upset as a sth on the fact they are nailing their prices. No other business sells to me at below market price just so I can profit, don’t really expect this one to either. We do ok on resale.

Well, maybe the market could behave like a market in all ways then. For instance not also sucking the taxpayer for portions of funding and for ticket and other levies like CRL. Pro sports and entertainment industry is full of avarice. Please build all these shiny Arena/Stadia for us just we'll charge excessive ticket costs. I have a hard time seeing it as benefit. But then I got into pro sports and entertainment at a time prices were great.

You think you'll do OK on resale when tickets after ticketmaster and other surcharges are going to be about 500minimum already? Its a market I can't even comprehend with my fiscal reasoning. Translation cheap when it comes to such stuff.

 

[mitrovicaman]

Well the OEG can find another sucker as I am out after this season. I expected an increase but mine increased 14%. My two tickets this year in lower bowl attack twice cost me $370 a game. Now I am not sure about most people but that is already a lot. Now increase by 14% then add on Ticketmaster fees for resale and my tickets become $500 on TM just to break even. Oh well this retired guy is out. My wife will be happy as more money for travel.

 

[Fourier]

Rightly or wrongly, the prices are most likely intended to thwart STH profiting off of resale. Even so I think it will only do so to a degree. Imagine what the secondary market would be for a game where the Oilers are potentially going to win a cup. Even back in my days I could have sold my tickets for 20 times what I paid for them, but to do so I had to do it through a scalper.

On one hand it is a perfectly reasonable thing for a business to want to get full market value for its product. On the other hand, businesses like hockey team rely on having as many fans as possible feel connected to their team. So the high prices could easily backfire and turn off enough people that in the end the team loses other revenues that they may otherwise have had.

Bottom line is that it is a shame that NHL games have become so expensive. I would never have been able to afford them had they been comparably expensive in the 80's. And I wounder if I had not had the pleasure of seeing those wins live if I would be nearly as invested in the team today as I am now. I suspect that I would not.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Rightly or wrongly, the prices are most likely intended to thwart STH profiting off of resale. Even so I think it will only do so to a degree. Imagine what the secondary market would be for a game where the Oilers are potentially going to win a cup. Even back in my days I could have sold my tickets for 20 times what I paid for them, but to do so I had to do it through a scalper.

On one hand it is a perfectly reasonable thing for a business to want to get full market value for its product. On the other hand, businesses like hockey team rely on having as many fans as possible feel connected to their team. So the high prices could easily backfire and turn off enough people that in the end the team loses other revenues that they may otherwise have had.

Bottom line is that it is a shame that NHL games have become so expensive. I would never have been able to afford them had they been comparably expensive in the 80's. And I wounder if I had not had the pleasure of seeing those wins live if I would be nearly as invested in the team today as I am now. I suspect that I would not.

Its what I said earlier. However every STH I've spoken to in this millennium says that they sell off a portion of tickets to ward off the already sticker shock prices of STH. So that in STH consideration they are trying to mitigate expense of even having the tickets. Not like they are profiteering over this. One could cay profiting on the individual game sales but overall being down to the house.

I think we agree it is a shame that NHL games in Canadian cities, particularly Edmonton are priced out of range of typical viewer or of working class. I would say especially the case with hockey unfortunate as the sport has such working class roots in Canada.

The bolded is the saddest thing and my dad, maybe your dad would not have introduced us to NHL if it was so price dissociated from its roots.

Your bolded reminded me of Mark Messier saying multiple times how much he appreciated being able to see the greats, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull etc going to games and Mark started going to WHA games same time we did. He said without that he would not have had such a passion for the game and that for a kid seeing the greats while being a kid was such an important part of what he saw as passing the torch to the next generation. What was left unsaid was how todays superstars are passing the torch in pro rinks in Canada mostly bereft of kids as they've been priced out of the rink. Want to see the stars now, have to see the Skills comp. Reality is I never would have gone to a game as a kid or youth at todays prices.

This all has ramifications. It amounts to kids taking up other sports instead, as we've seen, and identifying with other sports even within Canada.

Well the OEG can find another sucker as I am out after this season. I expected an increase but mine increased 14%. My two tickets this year in lower bowl attack twice cost me $370 a game. Now I am not sure about most people but that is already a lot. Now increase by 14% then add on Ticketmaster fees for resale and my tickets become $500 on TM just to break even. Oh well this retired guy is out. My wife will be happy as more money for travel.

Sounds like its a good decision though. Welcome to the board. I could say welcome to the club too among people that have said no to the current Pro sports pricing.

 

[Simby]

Its what I said earlier. However every STH I've spoken to in this millennium says that they sell off a portion of tickets to ward off the already sticker shock prices of STH. So that in STH consideration they are trying to mitigate expense of even having the tickets. Not like they are profiteering over this. One could cay profiting on the individual game sales but overall being down to the house.

I think we agree it is a shame that NHL games in Canadian cities, particularly Edmonton are priced out of range of typical viewer or of working class. I would say especially the case with hockey unfortunate as the sport has such working class roots in Canada.

The bolded is the saddest thing and my dad, maybe your dad would not have introduced us to NHL if it was so price dissociated from its roots.

Your bolded reminded me of Mark Messier saying multiple times how much he appreciated being able to see the greats, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull etc going to games and Mark started going to WHA games same time we did. He said without that he would not have had such a passion for the game and that for a kid seeing the greats while being a kid was such an important part of what he saw as passing the torch to the next generation. What was left unsaid was how todays superstars are passing the torch in pro rinks in Canada mostly bereft of kids as they've been priced out of the rink. Want to see the stars now, have to see the Skills comp. Reality is I never would have gone to a game as a kid or youth at todays prices.

This all has ramifications. It amounts to kids taking up other sports instead, as we've seen, and identifying with other sports even within Canada.


Sounds like its a good decision though. Welcome to the board. I could say welcome to the club too among people that have said no to the current Pro sports pricing.

Yes, kids are getting priced out of NHL games and it's very noticeable as it's mostly adults now, especially at the prime expensive games. However, the face value or STH cost of tickets has nothing to do it with it. The face value could be $1 or $500 but if the market is willing to pay $200, that is going to be the price per ticket.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Sold my pair of tix to the Leafs game for $2000 net. No idea what they paid as TM inflates my net price. Avs game coming up (not this past one) for $1000. 4-5 other games for $700. Coyotes $500.

No problem getting these prices.

 

[Fourier]

Sold my pair of tix to the Leafs game for $2000 net. No idea what they paid as TM inflates my net price. Avs game coming up (not this past one) for $1000. 4-5 other games for $700. Coyotes $500.

No problem getting these prices.

Don't take this the wrong way since I appreciate the amount STH's do to make it possible for there to still be a team in Edmonton. But this is why teams are pricing things so high. They know that there are some games that draw secondary prices like these and they want the money rather than letting STH's use them to recoup part of the cost of having to pay for a Yote's game at 8:00 on a snowy Tuesday in February.

For years now when I go to a game I try to sit in about row 10-15 in the lower bowl on the end the Oilers shoot twice. Several years before the pandemic I was going to about 5-7 games per year. For a couple of those years I sat in one of the same two or three seats which it seems were always for sale. When I was a STH I never sold a single ticket in almost a decade. The very few games I missed I just gave my tickets to a relative or friend. But at $8-14 bucks per ticket it would not have been worth the trouble of trying to sell them. The thing was that almost everyone around me was the same. I hardly ever saw a strange face near me. And if you did it was someone with with someone who had ST's. Now things seem to be different. I wonder how many STH's go to even half the games.