NHL Fan Cost Index 05/06
- Thread starter polarslam
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ColoradoHockeyFan
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While not taking away from your overall point, which is still valid, please be aware that this particular team marketing page is an absolute joke when it comes to actual average ticket prices. As has been discussed before on these boards, they rely on what the teams report, and some teams--very notably, Colorado--provide a completely artificial "average ticket price" that in no way reflects the actual prices in the building. I have actually contacted the owner of the page to speak to her about it. Colorado has been right at the top when it comes to ticket prices for years now (second only--perhaps--to Toronto), and yet during that same time, not only have they shown up lower than that on this TMR list, they have shown up below the league average! And it's due to horribly deceptive reporting, which then gets used by this TMR. Again, not taking away from your original point--that the NHL is priced extremely high as a whole--just making a side point that this list should NOT be used to compare ticket prices between teams. Colorado is the most prominent example of this inaccuracy.polarslam said:
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Indeed. Beers at the Corel Centre are significantly more than $4.18 USColoradoHockeyFan said:
But seriously, you're right. Two other things lept out at me:
- The disclaimer at the bottom claims that they use the season ticket rate for determining tickets, which seems to be a pretty strange way to do it, when the rest of the costs are single-game oriented. Specifically, I don't know of many people who buy season tickets and then by a hat at every game.
- Who makes the distinction between premium and non-premium? "Premium" could mean anything from a club seat to any seat not in the upper deck.
StevenintheATL
Registered User
Looking at that spreadsheet, one think popped out at me in regards to the Atlanta prices. $10 parking are in lots that aren't even in spitting distance to Philips. The $10 lots used to be $8, and the $12 lots used to be $10. Heck, $10 to park if your a family of four is still cheaper than taking MARTA (It would cost a family of four $14 to ride MARTA, but I guess if you factor the gas costs, for some folks it'll be cheaper to drive to the nearest MARTA station to them than it would be to drive downtown.). The program price is incorrect, as they no longer sell gameday programs (And IIRC, they were like $5 back when they sold them), just the annual one. The gameday programs are free. The concession prices are in general correct though.
CarolinaCapsFan
Registered User
polarslam said:
Um, as far as I can tell the only sport cheaper on average than hockey is baseball which isn't saying alot when you consider the difference in the cheap seat at a baseball game versus the cheap seat at a hockey game (in terms of view, distance from playing surface, etc)?
CarolinaCapsFan said:
Baseball of course also plays to more fans and is clearly the second most popular sport after the NFL in America. The NHL has ticket prices on average that bring it into the same orbit as the NFL and NBA, meanwhile the NHL is a fringe sport in most of North America and even in many of it's own markets lagging behind NASCAR, Arena Football, and with televsion ratings of a WNBA level. The NHL owners are charging a premium rate and hoping that makes the NHL a premium leauge.
SuperUnknown
Registered User
There are fewer seats in a hockey arena and therefore they are at a premium, especially those with the best views. Its easy to be cheap when you have 60 thousand seats to fill. Id also say that a hockey game is a more friendly atmosphere than a football game or a baseball game. Then again there is the fighting and such, which might not appeal to casual families but hockey families know its a part of the game and could care less. I really dont think sporting events are geared towards whole families anyways. I wonder if this report takes into account family packages?
Edit: 22oz beer in Buffalo for $5!!!
Edit: 22oz beer in Buffalo for $5!!!
I dunno how realistic this actually is, but I just finished reading "The Little Red (Sox) Book" and the author is a former baseball player and he was saying if sports teams, instead of contracting with major corporations like Budweiser, Miller, Saags, Oscar Mayer, etc..., were to get things like beer and food from local breweries, family farms that grow peanuts, local makets, etc...that the price of food and beer would decrease by a substantial margine while also helping out the community...any thoughts?
MarkZackKarl
Registered User
dpetri2000 said:
That could be said for every type of business, from a fast food place to a hockey arena. But the globalized world of mega corporations and the numerous deals and sponsorships and corporate owners makes that a quaint call for a time that has passed. Small producers have been priced out of the market, Wal-Mart and the big boys don't want to deal with small farmers. They want to buy from a factory farm conglomerate. The small producers you talk about now serve a niche market of organic food buyers, or micro-brewed beer fans and their prices reflect that.
garry1221
Registered User
dpetri2000 said:
while it would save money, it'd lose a sponsor or two at least, meaning less money in the long run, granted most microbrewries are better than most mainstream beers, but still the loss of sponsor money would hurt too much to let go.
ColoradoHockeyFan
Registered User
Precisely. And what's worse is that a team can choose to not only define premium seats however they want, but also to interpret their meaning in ticket price reporting. In other words, a team can decide that they just want to exclude all "premium" seats from their "average" ticket price calculation--the result being an aritficial reported "average" that's based only on a subset of seats in the building (largely comprised of the least expensive ones). Again, see Colorado. It simply invalidates the list.jamiebez said:- Who makes the distinction between premium and non-premium? "Premium" could mean anything from a club seat to any seat not in the upper deck.
Balk
Healthy Scratch
This is wrong or their exchange rate is way off. I just went to the Habs-Florida game and two beers were $15.75 CDN 
I thought is was rediculous. But at the same time my ticket was 27.96 CDN. With the Bell Center being the largest building in the league and the Habs top price being nowhere near the high charging teams, I don't see how they got that for the Habs average price.
I thought is was rediculous. But at the same time my ticket was 27.96 CDN. With the Bell Center being the largest building in the league and the Habs top price being nowhere near the high charging teams, I don't see how they got that for the Habs average price.I like how they converted the c$8 to park in Calgary to $8.50 American. Yet the c$7 to park in Edmonton translates to us$4.25. How does that work? It's hard to believe this report with such obvious errors.
However, even as dubious as this report is, it is interesting to note that Calgary and Edmonton have moved from having the cheapest ticket prices two years ago to league average now, despite the fact that neither team has raised ticket prices since 03-04. The rise in the Canadian dollar has significantly increased the apparent cost of going to a game in the six Canadian cities, even as the real cost has not changed.
As far as the cost to go to a game goes, the average family does not buy two programs, nor do they buy two hats. They use unrealistic purchases to come up with that $247 figure.
Also, the report does not take into account the fact that most families coming to a game are not season ticket holders, and therefore are not paying season ticket prices. Also, they often are not paying the average ticket price.
In the case of Calgary, for example, the only hope a family of four has of getting tickets is in the 300's, or $23.50 a piece. Parking is $8, Two beer at $5.50 each, four sodas at $3.50 each, four hot dogs at $3.75, ONE program at $5 comes out to c$147. Using their conversion rate, the realistic cost of attending a game at Calgary is us$124.95 for a family of four, not $246.53.
Quite the difference.
However, even as dubious as this report is, it is interesting to note that Calgary and Edmonton have moved from having the cheapest ticket prices two years ago to league average now, despite the fact that neither team has raised ticket prices since 03-04. The rise in the Canadian dollar has significantly increased the apparent cost of going to a game in the six Canadian cities, even as the real cost has not changed.
As far as the cost to go to a game goes, the average family does not buy two programs, nor do they buy two hats. They use unrealistic purchases to come up with that $247 figure.
Also, the report does not take into account the fact that most families coming to a game are not season ticket holders, and therefore are not paying season ticket prices. Also, they often are not paying the average ticket price.
In the case of Calgary, for example, the only hope a family of four has of getting tickets is in the 300's, or $23.50 a piece. Parking is $8, Two beer at $5.50 each, four sodas at $3.50 each, four hot dogs at $3.75, ONE program at $5 comes out to c$147. Using their conversion rate, the realistic cost of attending a game at Calgary is us$124.95 for a family of four, not $246.53.
Quite the difference.
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