Even Niners fans are getting priced out!

[PromoTheRobot]

We worry about the impact of rapidly increasing ticket prices in the new Highmark stadium pricing out long time fans. It's even happening in one of the wealthiest markets in the NFL: San Francisco.

 

https://abc7news.com/post/49ers-season-ticket-holders-feel-stiffed-organization-ticketmaster-after-struggling-sell-more-expensive-seats/15493947/

 

Sports team owners are drunk on team valuations. (e.g. the Sabres valuation going over a billion!) But the money spigot is not going to flow forever. They can't keep jacking prices without regard to fans being able to afford them.

Edited November 3 by PromoTheRobot

[HardyBoy]

Curious if it's similar to LiveNation and Ticketmaster.

 

Like livenation owns all the various venues...wondering if teams outsource operations to a company that basically runs all the operations at a bunch of stadiums and they are able to set the prices 

[TD716]

20th year season ticket holder this year. Fan since the 70’s . Saw OJ at Niagara University training camp. Seats now are at the 45 yard line 20 rows up Bills sideline. I have been priced out of the market. Just don’t think the new sanitized environment will be worth the much increased price.  Interesting note, someone from the Bills went on my Linked In profile when I wasn’t answering their calls about the new stadium. Rep was asking themselves does he have money, should I keep trying to sell him. 

[Don Otreply]

Greed is a thing,

[nedboy7]

Who do we blame corporate greed on?  We seem to not understand inflation in this country.  Someone must be blamed!  

[BarleyNY]

23 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

We worry about the impact of rapidly increasing ticket prices in the new Highmark stadium pricing out long time fans. It's even happening in one of the wealthiest markets in the NFL: San Francisco.

 

https://abc7news.com/post/49ers-season-ticket-holders-feel-stiffed-organization-ticketmaster-after-struggling-sell-more-expensive-seats/15493947/

 

Sports team owners are drunk on team valuations. (e.g. the Sabres valuation going over a billion!) But the money spigot is not going to flow forever. They can't keep jacking prices without regard to fans being able to afford them.

Greed seems to get every good thing eventually. 18 games. Thursday Night Football. Increasing difficulty in properly refereeing games due to ever increasing judgement calls. Homogenization of offenses and defenses. Invitation of private equity funds into ownership. Partnership with legalized gambling. Sanitation and homogenization of announcers. Prioritization of spectacle over substance. And the crusade for every last nickel from fans, networks and the government subsidies. The product is getting worse and worse overall, but is still buoyed by the stars on the field. I love the game, but it’s getting more and more difficult to watch and enjoy. 

 

Side note: The trickle down impact to college football is even more stark. The money got too great and it is now shared with the players (as it should be IMO). But there used to be a great variety of offenses run and I always enjoyed that. I’d try to make a point to watch GA Tech once a year just because they ran the triple option. Now they just run a crappier version of the same offense 95% of college runs. Now it’s about talent acquisition and execution. But the lack of variety has killed my desire to watch a lot of games. It’s simply watching the same thing over and over with varying degrees of quality.

 

I liken it to walking down the cereal aisle and seeing that all of the boxes are now some variant of Frosted Wheats. A great cereal to be sure, but no other option. No Frosted Flakes. No Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No Fruit Loops. No granola. Just FMWs of varying quality and flavors. At some point I’m going to eat a lot less cereal than I used to. 

[Maynard]

19 minutes ago, TD716 said:

20th year season ticket holder this year. Fan since the 70’s . Saw OJ at Niagara University training camp. Seats now are at the 45 yard line 20 rows up Bills sideline. I have been priced out of the market. Just don’t think the new sanitized environment will be worth the much increased price.  Interesting note, someone from the Bills went on my Linked In profile when I wasn’t answering their calls about the new stadium. Rep was asking themselves does he have money, should I keep trying to sell him. 

How much have they now gone up for you? 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Greed seems to get every good thing eventually. 18 games. Thursday Night Football. Increasing difficulty in properly refereeing games due to ever increasing judgement calls. Homogenization of offenses and defenses. Invitation of private equity funds into ownership. Partnership with legalized gambling. Sanitation and homogenization of announcers. Prioritization of spectacle over substance. And the crusade for every last nickel from fans, networks and the government subsidies. The product is getting worse and worse overall, but is still buoyed by the stars on the field. I love the game, but it’s getting more and more difficult to watch and enjoy. 

 

Side note: The trickle down impact to college football is even more stark. The money got too great and it is now shared with the players (as it should be IMO). But there used to be a great variety of offenses run and I always enjoyed that. I’d try to make a point to watch GA Tech once a year just because they ran the triple option. Now they just run a crappier version of the same offense 95% of college runs. Now it’s about talent acquisition and execution. But the lack of variety has killed my desire to watch a lot of games. It’s simply watching the same thing over and over with varying degrees of quality.

 

I liken it to walking down the cereal aisle and seeing that all of the boxes are now some variant of Frosted Wheats. A great cereal to be sure, but no other option. No Frosted Flakes. No Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No Fruit Loops. No granola. Just FMWs of varying quality and flavors. At some point I’m going to eat a lot less cereal than I used to. 

 

All cash cows are eventually slaughtered.

[US Egg]

The NFL sells hype better than anyone. They “Vince McMahon’d” their product. The crowds look more WWE than ever. So do the refs.
 

But, everybody has their price. What yours? 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

We worry about the impact of rapidly increasing ticket prices in the new Highmark stadium pricing out long time fans. It's even happening in one of the wealthiest markets in the NFL: San Francisco.

 

https://abc7news.com/post/49ers-season-ticket-holders-feel-stiffed-organization-ticketmaster-after-struggling-sell-more-expensive-seats/15493947/

 

Sports team owners are drunk on team valuations. (e.g. the Sabres valuation going over a billion!) But the money spigot is not going to flow forever. They can't keep jacking prices without regard to fans being able to afford them.

 

Wanna bet?!?! See Major League Baseball, who continuously allow franchises to put out low payroll teams on the field not caring one whit about their fans. The park could be empty for the entire season and the Pirates owner would make countless millions in revenue sharing money, for example.

Edited November 3 by EasternOHBillsFan

[BullBuchanan]

1 hour ago, nedboy7 said:

Who do we blame corporate greed on?  We seem to not understand inflation in this country.  Someone must be blamed!  

Just spitballing here, but the corporations seem like maybe a good place to start.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

1 hour ago, Don Otreply said:

Greed is a thing,

 

[Chicken Boo]

1 hour ago, nedboy7 said:

Who do we blame corporate greed on?  We seem to not understand inflation in this country.  Someone must be blamed!  

 

You blame it on those who benefit the most.  You know, the ones recording record profits year after year. 

[WotAGuy]

1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:

 

 

I liken it to walking down the cereal aisle and seeing that all of the boxes are now some variant of Frosted Wheats. A great cereal to be sure, but no other option. No Frosted Flakes. No Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No Fruit Loops. No granola. Just FMWs of varying quality and flavors. At some point I’m going to eat a lot less cereal than I used to. 

This rant sure went off the rails.  Where the hell are you shopping that you see one type of cereal?  🤣🤣. There’s a place called Wegmans - check it out!

[MJS]

So far, the evidence shows that they CAN keep increasing prices.

 

Prices are not just set arbitrarily. They do a lot of market research. They are going to continue increase prices if their research shows they can. People being priced out is not much of a concern. In fact, it might be a benefit because it will keep the rowdiest, drunkest fans out of the stadium, on average.

[Don Otreply]

33 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

 

I did get a chuckle out of that, 😁👍
 

Motivation is good, greed on the other hand..

[paulmm3]

Supply and demand. Inflation always comes from government increasing the monetary supply while the supply of goods isn't increasing nearly so much. Data don't support the greed narrative as producer price inflation (price companies pay) is up just as much as consumer price inflation (price we pay).

Edited November 3 by paulmm3

[BarleyNY]

21 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

This rant sure went off the rails.  Where the hell are you shopping that you see one type of cereal?  🤣🤣. There’s a place called Wegmans - check it out!

 

Simile: noun

definition: a word or phrase that compares something to something else, using the words like or as.

[Don Otreply]

2 hours ago, nedboy7 said:

Who do we blame corporate greed on?  We seem to not understand inflation in this country.  Someone must be blamed!  

One blames those that through their actions cause hardships on others, when there is no need to cause said hardships…, it’s called greed, 

 

😁👍🍸🚬

 

GO BILLS!!!

[BarleyNY]

17 minutes ago, MJS said:

So far, the evidence shows that they CAN keep increasing prices.

 

Prices are not just set arbitrarily. They do a lot of market research. They are going to continue increase prices if their research shows they can. People being priced out is not much of a concern. In fact, it might be a benefit because it will keep the rowdiest, drunkest fans out of the stadium, on average.

 

Trouble usually stems from focusing too closely on short term financial gains at the expense of long term ones. TNF is a great example. Extra revenue from an additional prime time game during the week. But the TNF product is relatively poor and it can cannibalize the viewership of other games. The lower quality of product can also have other negative impacts such as hurting the overall brand. It was a good short term play, but I think the jury is out on whether it is a good longer-term one.