Concession Prices & Why People Won't go to LCA

[emu steve]

http://thefalconswire.usatoday.com/2...dium-revealed/

Really interesting article about Fan First Pricing that the NFL's Atlanta Falcons are introducing for their new stadium. The food and beverage pricing is "GASP" more than reasonable. a couple bullets on how it works:

• Pricing is set at reasonable amounts, no upcharge. The Falcons do not outsource the vendor contract, rather are a partner in this.
• Local restaurants are welcome to serve food at the stadium, provided their is no upcharge over pricing at their actual brick and mortar.
• Free pop refills

This kinda got me thinking about LCA and how we are accustomed to paying out the nose for, lets be honest, garbage food and drink options. Yes, in the past few years we have finally started to see some outside options introduced at JLA and Comerica Park. But at that, we all know a $5 Hot N Ready is not $5 at either of those venues and a round of beer for your 4 buddies might run you close to $50.

This concept to me works both for fans and ownership, in that:

• The Wings & Pistons, well, suck. And probably will for awhile. And that new arena shine wears off a lot quicker when a team is 11-35 at the All Star Break. Attractive concession price points will be attractive to more fans who might not be willing to shell out big bucks to watch hot dumpster fire garbage on the ice/court.
• Volume. There are a lot of people who refuse to spend money once inside JLA/Comerica because of the pricing. How much money is Illitch & Co. losing by pricing those people out? If the pricing was in line with the Falcons model, you would attract those individuals to purchase goods/food, as well as probably increase the spending of those already buying items in the arena.
• It makes going to a game economically doable for a family. Most middle class families can no longer afford to go to a game. After dropping a couple hundred on tix [[don't start quoting stories where you found 4 tix to a game on a Tuesday night in February in the nosebleeds at the last second for below face value), most people can't handle the ancillary costs of parking, dinner, concessions. You could be looking at a $400-$500 night, which is insanity. You are attracting more disposable income that might overlook you from the onset.

Obviously, it's a tough sell to ownership. But I think as a society we are starting to view sports as less important. The incentive to go to a game and watch it live has been marginalized by the fact that A) 60" HDTV TV's cost a fraction of what they used to, so anyone can buy one B) Security crack downs make getting into a venue a long painful process C) You can eat, drink what you want D) Use you own bathroom E) Pause tv, replays, multi camera angles to make the viewing experience better.

I think we are almost at the tipping point where people are going to start revolting and not attending games anymore. We are already seeing it at the NCAA level with half full stadiums and ticket renewal packages plummeting [[seat license garbage partially to blame). And when you have an on field/court/ice product that is lacking in viewability and excitement, why would I want to blow $300-$400 when I can use that for a multitude of other things I'd get much more enjoyment out of?

Obviously the Lions are a different animal with the NFL, but I think people are getting to that point in the near future.

I'm wondering where people are at on this. I'm very curious to see how this model is going to work and if other teams will eventually move to this model. You would think with public funding going into all these new arena's now, it would be a "good will" or public relations thing to say "Hey, thanks for helping fund this thing, we are going to cut you a break when you come".

Thoughts?

My feelings about sports and I do attend.

It isn't the price so much as it is the quality of the product [[team).

Most cities can fill their stadiums/arena with high priced tickets and concessions IF the product ON THE FIELD [[not necessarily the hot dogs) is good.

To the teams and the 'law of supply and demand' there are enough patrons with sufficient financial resources to pay exorbitant prices for an event they want to see. Do folks with more modest financial resources get priced out? Yes. But what are the teams to do? If they sold Lions lower level tickets for $50, folks would buy them and re-sell them for $150. There are very strong primary and secondary markets for tickets [[e.g., StubHub).

I was stunned looking at the price of tickets for the NBA playoffs. It almost seemed that there was no limit as to what could be charged.

This is also true in the NFL. Last Thanksgiving i paid almost 200 bucks for a lower level ticket [[around the 10 - 20 yard lines) for the Vikings. The game sold out. I don't even remember how much my burger cost so it couldn't have been too crazy.