Pro sports teams in the U.S. have priced "Joe Fan ...
right out of his seat," according to E.M. Swift of SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED, who writes, "'Ridiculous' doesn't begin to
describe the escalation in ticket prices" for pro sports
events. Since '91, ticket prices to the four major pro
leagues have increased an "outrageous 80% -- four times
faster than" the Consumer Price Index. Additionally, a
study conducted by the NHL "revealed the average household
income of fans attending games" was $81,000, which puts them
in the top 15% of North Americans. Vanderbilt Univ.
economics professor John Siegfried said the "dramatic
increase in pricing comes from some people's willingness to
pay. The growth we've had in this country has been enjoyed
by a few at the top." T'Wolves Senior VP & CMO Chris
Wright, on the "dwindling" demand for tickets: "We all
should be tearing down our businesses, analyzing everything
we do, then building them back up. I think there's a core
NBA fan who sits in the lower level and will stay there
until he's called to the grave. What we're all trying to
figure out is, Who is the new NBA fan?" Univ. of OR Warsaw
Sports Marketing Center Dir Rick Burton said because of
player salary-to-revenues ratios, the NHL "doesn't have much
pricing flexibility. ... I worry most about baseball and
hockey because they're not propped up by TV. The NFL and
the NBA have kept salaries in line with [TV] revenues."
Burton and his Univ. of OR colleague Dennis Howard
"concluded" in a article that appeared in Marketing
Management magazine last year that the "current attendance
trends aren't a short-term blip." Burton & Howard: "It is
highly plausible to suggest we are seeing the start of a
long-term erosion scenario." But NBA Commissioner David
Stern said the attendance trend is a "subject that should be
entitled Not Taking Your Customers For Granted. Could we
lower ticket prices and increase attendance? We're going to
do consumer research on that. We have to find ways to sell
tickets better" (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 5/15 issue).
