Ridiculous Ticket Prices: Hockey
Don't know how many people have a twitter and follow @MichiganHockey from Michigan Hockey Net, but he has been lighting up Dave Brandon about these recent ridiculous ticket prices for hockey.
Apparently for tonight against #4 BC, it is $65 for a ticket. $38 for an endzone seat.
Now I can kind of understand a somewhat higher price for a big time opponent like BC who we rarely see here, but a ticket for center ice against Niagra? $42.
I've been one of the biggest Dave Brandon defenders on here, but I've had it. This is absolutely ridiculous. His crusade to price the true fans out of the building in favor of coporations is awful.
What say you?
October 10th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
October 10th, 2013 at 1:17 PM ^
...it was being "corrected" last year, with entire sections unfilled for large portions of games. As someone who grew up watching U-M hockey -- even sneaking into games through the south end in the late 80s -- it's sad to see attendance waning. Granted, last year wasn't a normal year. But I truly hope this isn't a continuing trend. High ticket prices can only make it worse.
October 10th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
But it's not that simple. As a two-time alum I should be someone that is considered a potential donor both to the AD and the University as a whole. However, you can sure as hell bet I'm not about to donate a dime to the athletic department because they gauge me not just on ticket prices, but on water ($4 a bottle...), food, t-shirts, and anything else they can.
Sure, supply and demand. But building a happy customer/donor base is important too.
October 10th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
Maybe I just missed the boat on this, but what corporations benefited from the increase in ticket sales?
October 10th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
Since I can't edit it again, the two guys who told me they paid $815 for their tickets left out the detail it was for two season tickets, not one. So now I have to play damage control and reverse the argument. Ugh. That averages to about $23/ticket per game for end zone seats, which is still a bit steep for the end zone but more reasonable than $45/ticket.
But for those who can't afford season tickets or are only looking to take in a game here or there, yeah, it's grossly high to buy a single game ticket at regular price. I posted three examples of that on Twitter earlier. For instance, if I want to buy a center ice area ticket online for the Niagara game, it's $42 ($30 ticket, $2 fee, plus another $10 order charge). $10 order charge for one ticket? Really? (to their credit, someone from U-M said they will look in to the fees because even they admitted that seemed steep--woo, success!). I know, StubHub, blah blah... I'm just looking at what U-M is charging for the price of the ticket, not what you can find on StubHub. If you walk up to the door to buy a ticket at the window, you're going to pay quite a bit.
It's just sad to see what was once always sold out and had thousands on a waiting list have no waiting list and struggle to pack the old barn. To go from like 2,000 fans on a waiting list to zero in a decade's time...there's a problem in there somewhere. They can't even sell out what should be an easy sell out against Boston College. Two of the biggest programs in college hockey going at it. 7,000 fans attended their game at Yost in 2005. Now they're offering last minute deals to try to sell it out.
Look at last season, too. Michigan opened CCHA play with a big series against Miami at Yost. They had 5,000 fans at the Friday game (well below sold out) and just over 4,000 Saturday. There was a football game at Nebraska that night, but still that's embarassingly low for such a big hockey game. And just like football games, the student section is hardly ever filled at the start of games and if you saw any games on TV last year there's typically a big empty section or half section on one end.
I talked to one person within the hockey program the other year about it and he realizes the stands are getting more empty at the start of each year, too. He realizes ticket prices are going up and people can't afford to go to games as much anymore. The decline has been ongoing for the past handful of years. There's definitely a problem and they haven't done anything to stop the bleeding.
October 10th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^
If you want some exact numbers for your arguments, MHNet:
I spent $825 for a pair of season tickets in the end zone (section 12). For that $825, I received 36 tickets (2 each to 18 games).
14 tickets are marked $35 face (the 7 "premium" games, including today's game).
18 tickets are marked $25 face.
4 tickets are marked $15 face (the 2 exhibition games).
So if you add up the face values, you get exactly $1000. Since I spent $825, that's obviously a 17.5% discount from face value for season tickets. If you apply that to this game in proportion to the face values printed on the tickets, I spent ($70x($825/$1000)) = $57.75 to get 2 tickets to tonight's game. It appears that if I wanted 2 tickets in that section and bought individual game tickets, it would be $86 ($70 face plus $6 fees plus $10 "delivery" charge for me printing them up on the computer).
So yes, season tickets are expensive, but the bigger problem is that the charges and fees for single-game buyers are ridiculous...
October 10th, 2013 at 10:37 PM ^
If you sold all of your tickets on StubHub, would you come out ahead, or woefully in the red, after having purchased your season tickets?
I expect that especially in hockey (with no "Notre Dame UTL" game to sell for a big one-time profit), season ticket purchases are a losing proposition in comparison to the free market.
October 10th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
I have never sold tickets on stubhub (I go to the games), but I'm pretty confident that you are correct and the answer would be "woefully in the red." Even with the 17.5% season ticket discount, I'm probably paying a premium in exchange for having the same seats every game, year after year.
October 10th, 2013 at 1:14 PM ^
MHNet - Been following you for years and appreciate all you do for M-Hockey and the fans. The sad realization to all this is? Yep you guessed it, hockey is dying. It's not just due to the rise in ticket prices or the economy. Non Die-hard hockey fans just aren't interested. To the faithful and loyal hockey people we can't see forest for the trees.
There's no more excitement in hockey these days and well Michigan hasn't put a championship product on the ice in years. Wins excite people and get them into the game. Again I'm talking about non-hockey people.
NHL has no major deal with ESPN and that hurts exposure too. I really don't like to admit it, but hockey is dying and may cease to exist some day.
As for season tickets I dropped down from 4 to 3 this year but asked for section 3 instead of section 1. I get a UM discount on the first two seats, but anything after that I have to pay full price. I think the total for all 3 was just short of $1300.00 for the year. This is section 1 top of the faceoff circle just a few rows up from the glass. They're good seats, but section 3 is better.
October 10th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
you see articles fairly often about how hockey is really taking root in Texas and Arizona nowadays. Michigan hockey is slowly dying with basketball's resurgence and Yost's gradual sterilization.
Hopefully TV deals and big name non-con opponents will kick some life into college hockey as a whole.
October 10th, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
I don't know if hockey is dying, per se. Growing up and living in CA, I've definitely noticed many more people seem to be interested in the sport (at least when the Kings are doing well)...but in the case of Michigan hockey, at least last year, they weren't very good. Subsequently, the arena was less crowded and enthusiasm for the team was quelled. It's no different than when men's basketball was pretty bad: the arena was empty and excitement for the sport was nil. If hockey produces championship-caliber teams again, the arena will fill back up.
Also, you've got to figure that a material percentage of Michigan's student population is not from Michigan (undergrad and grad). Many of us grew up in areas where hockey is not huge - - - or, at least, not as popular as football and basketball. So, there's a bit of a curve associated with attracting people like me to the sport because - admittedly - I don't understand the rules nor do I have an affinity for the sport.
October 10th, 2013 at 3:01 PM ^
"Michigan hasn't put a championship product on the ice in years."
Really guy? Do you not remember the 2010-11 season where Michigan was a waved off goal away from a national championship?
October 10th, 2013 at 3:07 PM ^
They haven't won a national championship in 15 years. I think it's silly to think that doesn't eventually make a difference.
October 11th, 2013 at 2:03 AM ^
Let's face it, Michigan has pretty much made a program out of flaming out in the tournament since the 1998 championship. It's not hard to argue that Red has done infinitely less with more talent than just about any coach in D1 hockey once the tournament rolls around. You look at guys like Jack Johnson or Kevin Porter, Carl Hagelin, TJ Hensick, the fact that none of those guys have a ring with the teams they played on...
And that's not even taking into account that Red's teams have consistently mailed it in for the first half the season more often than not over the last five years. This program is not one that should need to work its way back into the pairwise come late January.
It's not PC to question Red around here, and I get that. He's earned a certain amount of leeway. But aside from riding an unprecedented momentum wave to the NCAA final in '11, it's been a constant barrage of inexplicable flameouts and wasted potential since the magical years in the mid-90s.
October 10th, 2013 at 8:11 PM ^
Unfortunately, sports are more about bringing in money than actually enjoying a pasttime. It was a rite of passage for many children to go to a ball game with dad. Fewer and fewer families get to enjoy that experience every year. But the sports are making money, so that's all the seems to matter.
October 10th, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^