Arizona has not sold out game 1 of the NLCS

[cincy_]

Don't try to tell me that you can run a business, by paying employees more & more every year, without having to raise prices somewhere.

You don't HAVE TO raise prices ... I said as much:

NY Knick payroll is the highest in the league, yet Knick ticket price were lowered two years ago because of bad play by the team

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and

But don't fool yourself into thinking that George Steinbrenner said, "I'll pay them the higher salaries FIRST and then raise the prices" The higher prices are what lets George pay more for salaries.

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It's the chicken and the egg problem ...

 

[viking611]

this is no surprise...they didn't sell out a single game of NLDS or NLCS when they won the World Series either.

 

[RDENBOER]

Cincy, I see your point there.... and that is up to the business (team) to decide what the key numbers are for supply & demand.

In Boston & NY, you have a high demand, so raising ticket prices there will not hurt the attendance at all for a playoff game. However, if AZ tried it, it most likely would kill them. The demand clearly is not there. Which, btw, baffles me as they have a recent Championship under their belt. You'd figure they'd be in a frenzy to add another one.

Ironically, they'd have 2 in a period of time that the Yanks have none..... with a minute portion of the payroll the Yanks have.

 

[docmercer]

Regular season parking (where we park anyway) at Dbacks games = $5
NLCS parking = $20

Nothing like a 400% spike to let you know how the team appreciates the fans.

 

[RDENBOER]

You don't HAVE TO raise prices ... I said as much:

NY Knick payroll is the highest in the league, yet Knick ticket price were lowered two years ago because of bad play by the team​

and

But don't fool yourself into thinking that George Steinbrenner said, "I'll pay them the higher salaries FIRST and then raise the prices" The higher prices are what lets George pay more for salaries.​

It's the chicken and the egg problem ...

I understand what the Knicks did, but you can't tell me they didn't lose their ass that year. Every business will sacrifice for a short period of time, to try to gain revenue for the longer haul. GM & Ford offering 0% financing for a limited time.... trying to get customers in the door.... is a good example. No way could they afford to do that forever. Sames goes for that Knick example. You simply can't run a business by not raising your prices.

Gas costs more, milk costs more, groceries cost more, as well as anything else in life. Costs of goods go up, prices to the public go up.

Maybe once in a blue moon (like the Knicks example), prices will drop, but you can bet your ass they won't stay there!

 

[cincy_]

this is no surprise...they didn't sell out a single game of NLDS or NLCS when they won the World Series either.

Then the team hasn't effectively marketed the area ... and the public doesn't like the product enough.

There used to be a time when General Motors could roll out shit cars and blame for the public for not supporting "American" cars over "Japanese" cars ... and tried to equate buying GM as a sign of "nationalism" ... and that didn't last very long ...

Baseball will try the same thing ... they try to tell people that not selling out is an embarrassment for the city ... it isn't ... it's an embarrassment for the product that MLB is showcasing.

 

[cincy_]

Nothing like a 400% spike to let you know how the team appreciates the fans.

Now that is a great line ... the team wants the city to support the team ... but they don't do much to show any appreciation of the support shown.


Support me ... that allows me to screw you.

 

[RDENBOER]

Cincy's right.... It's the number 1 growth metropolitan area in the US, and yet they can't market their team well enough to sell out a MLB playoff game. Pitiful......

 

[cincy_]

You simply can't run a business by not raising your prices.

If you can't sell tickets, you have to lower prices, and you have to lower costs, and you have to lower salaries ... you really have no choice.

That is what happened with the NHL ... the costs were getting too high to support the salaries ... they had a strike, they got the cap, they made an adjustment.

If MLB keeps showing playoff games that end at midnight, and the generation of old farts dies off, and the current generation X becomes 50 years old and they show no interest in baseball, you can bet your ass that MLB will have to go through the same correction.

 

[Objection]

I don't know how quickly Rockies tickets sold out, but the morning after the win against the Padres there were tickets widely available to every game of the NLCS and NLDS plus parking passes for each game on the Rockies website.

 

[RobFunk]

Support me ... that allows me to screw you.

This is the cold hard truth. Terrefic quote cincy_.

 

[cincy_]

Cincy's right.... It's the number 1 growth metropolitan area in the US, and yet they can't market their team well enough to sell out a MLB playoff game. Pitiful......

I remember in 2002, there was a Monday Night Football game between the 0-5 Redskins and the 1-4 Cowboys ... the score was like 7-6 or 10-9 or something ... just a shitty game.

At the same time, the Yankees and Oakland were playing Game 5 of the ALDS ... an elimination game with the biggest media market in contention.

The football game still had far better ratings than the baseball playoff game ... but how would MLB spin that one as "disgraceful" for the fans?

 

[tkf18ny]

this isnt 1920
if you think most of the yankees revenue comes from ticket sales you're crazy

 

[Railbird]

pretty funny that they got 180,000 for the FBR golf on the Saturday {day before the superbowl} in Scotsdale. They even got 90,000 for the Final Sunday of the LPGA in March. Phoenix is a golf town not baseball. Meanwhile Las Vegas Frys open is free admission last year and they only got about 10,000 for there Sunday PGA final.

 

[Railbird]

Goes to show Oscar Goodman is dreaming if he thinks Vegas can support a pro franchise.

 

[terps1313]

I cant ever fault people for not going to games. I am as diehard a sports fan as there is, and would much rather watch my team play on TV. The advantages to watching on TV greatly outnumber advantages of being there. Good cheap beer compared to $8 a piece, a solid bathroom, not having to deal with traffic, sitting next to some guy cramping you. I could go on and on. This all being said I still go to my fair share of sporting events.

 

[arniesarmy]

You also have to consider that a lot of the population in the Phoenix area are transplants who lived most of the lives somewhere else. That is why you had a large Cubs-fan contingent at their two games there...those people lived most of the lives in the Chicago area. In my limited experience visiting friends down there, I didn't get a sense of true community spirit. Golf probably is big there because of all the snowbirds who move down there to play it. There is no rooting interest usually at golf tournaments. You just go to watch guys drill 330-yard drives and plant wedges from 120 yards away to within a foot or two of the cup.

 

[texansfan]

Someone should buy up the tickets and give them out to kids who have never seen a playoff game. You have to start young if you want to build fans.

 

[HuskerFan1]

hey $9 seats are $9 seats...they are way out in no mans land and thats fine...but dont say Boston doesnt have cheap seats either...they do...upper bleachers are $12bucks...regular bleachers just got bumped from $20 to i believe $26 and SRO are $20...so fenway does have affordable seats for the fan who cannot afford to spend the insane amount the Monster/FieldBox etc seats costs....the problem is here YOU CANT GET THEM...you have to win a LOTTERY just to have the opportunity to purchase TWO TICKETS and if you win the ALDS you cant win the ALCS/WS if you dont win the ALDS your still alive to win either ALCS/WS should they make it that far...its total insanity here its as simple as that..AZ fans dont care, their are probably more RedSox and Patriots fans in that state than DBack/Cardinal fans...

i have friends who live in Phoenix AZ and Redondo beach CA and both places are loaded with Boston fans who moved out there...if the redsox play the dbacks in the WS it will sell out and it will be a 65-35 (it might even be 60-40) ratio of Dback fans to RedSox fan (MARK IT DOWN)

 

[ivyconniver]

Ummm, get a clue. At least research your opinion before you shoot off about it. Ticket prices are 95% of the revenue generated at the stadiums. Take a look at this table. The Yankees have one of the highest average ticket price, and it's just coincedence that they have the highest payroll, too?

As for raising prices, but reducing demand.... Well, you tell me when Yankees or Red Sox have not sold out a playoff game. Raising prices will not reduce demand..... that is... as long as a city demands it's team signs the top talents. You can't bitch, piss & moan about your team not trying to sign the huge names, then also bitch, piss & moan about high ticket prices.

Your table has nothing to do with your conclusions. Average ticket price has little to do with the average fan being able to go to the game. Tickets can be had to Yankees and Red Sox games for UNDER TWENTY DOLLARS. That is plenty cheap. Sure there are luxury boxes that sell for thousands of dollars pushing the average up, but we are discussing the average fan.

As for the revenue, the Yankees took in over $300M in revenue last year. Under 1/3 of that was from ticket sales. That figure doesn't include what Steinbrenner made from the YES network, which is substantial and the league doesn't see. It's one hand feeding the other. The bottom line is that the Sox and Yanks can make millions more than other teams in revenue, but the average person can still buy tickets for under $20.

Hate the scalpers, not the teams.