The Sharks for the first time are now able to "research the sales history and current demand for each individual seat" at SAP Center as a "guide for pricing," according to Jody Meacham of the SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL. The Sharks have found it is "not unusual for two side-by-side seats to have radically different desirability," but so far they are "only using this new business intelligence on a row-by-row basis." Still, this season's 16 different ticket prices "will multiply to 32 price levels" for the '17-18 season. Club seats -- the ones at the "bottom of the lower bowl, excluding only a handful of sections at the Zamboni end of the rink" -- will increase 8% on average, while "lower level non-club seats" will increase 2.5% and upper level 2.8%. The biggest change is to the "first three rows in the club section called Premium Glass seats, which sold for $137 to $222 per game last season and included access with other club seat ticket holders to what is now called the Alaska Airlines Club and its higher-end food and beverage offerings." Premium Glass-level ticket holders next season "will pay $300 to $400 per game but it will include access to a new club, called the Chairman’s Lounge, with food and drinks, parking and a dedicated arena entrance already priced into their tickets." The Chairman’s Lounge will "replace the 300-seat Arena Grill restaurant," once called George’s Grill after original Sharks co-Owner George Gund III. The Sharks may spend up to $1M "remodeling the space into more of a stand-up-and-schmooze area that will open before the main building and close when the third period begins" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/10).
