Avoiding some costs at games

--

Don

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are much more pliable.
~ Mark Twain

"Gerry Myerson" <gerry.RemoveThis@maths.mq.edi.ai.i2u4email> wrote in message
news:gerry-96AA05.08355710042008@sunb.ocs.mq.edu.au...
> In article <fthi72$c8e$1@naig.caltech.edu>,
> raj.RemoveThis@alumnae.caltech.edu (Roger Moore) wrote:
>
> > It's still an interesting read if you see the full table. The range
> > of prices is surprisingly large, but relative prices vary. Some teams
> > have cheap tickets and try to make it up with expensive concessions.
> > Others have cheap concessions but expensive parking or souveniers.
> > Some teams sell premium seats for less than twice the price of
> > ordinary tickets and some for more than five times as much.
> >
> > FWIW, here are the highs and lows:
> >
> > Cheapest Most Expensive
> > Item Team Price Team Price
> > Ticket ARI $15.96 BOS $ 48.80
> > Premium Ticket COL $36.50 LAN $222.38
> > Beer KCR* $ 4.00 STL** $ 8.50
> > Soft Drink BAL $ 2.00 LAN $ 5.00
> > Hot Dog PIT $ 2.25 SFG $ 5.50
> > Parking TBA $ 0.00 BOS $ 27.00
>
> Is there any parking at all at Wrigley?
>
> My recollection from the one time I went there
> was that local residents charged you $50 to park
> in their driveways - if you wanted to pay less than that,
> you parked a mile away & walked.
>
> --
> Gerry Myerson (gerry@maths.mq.edi.ai) (i -> u for email)
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

"Gerry Myerson" <gerry.RemoveThis@maths.mq.edi.ai.i2u4email> wrote:

> Is there any parking at all at Wrigley?

> My recollection from the one time I went there
> was that local residents charged you $50 to park
> in their driveways - if you wanted to pay less than that,
> you parked a mile away & walked.

There is a Catholic church a couple of blocks from Wrigley
that sold parking during Cubs' games at a reasonable price.
Anyone know if they still do?

--
Don

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are much more pliable.
~ Mark Twain
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

Gerry Myerson wrote:
> In article <fthi72$c8e$1@naig.caltech.edu>,
> raj.RemoveThis@alumnae.caltech.edu (Roger Moore) wrote:
>
>> It's still an interesting read if you see the full table. The range
>> of prices is surprisingly large, but relative prices vary. Some teams
>> have cheap tickets and try to make it up with expensive concessions.
>> Others have cheap concessions but expensive parking or souveniers.
>> Some teams sell premium seats for less than twice the price of
>> ordinary tickets and some for more than five times as much.
>>
>> FWIW, here are the highs and lows:
>>
>> Cheapest Most Expensive
>> Item Team Price Team Price
>> Ticket ARI $15.96 BOS $ 48.80
>> Premium Ticket COL $36.50 LAN $222.38
>> Beer KCR* $ 4.00 STL** $ 8.50
>> Soft Drink BAL $ 2.00 LAN $ 5.00
>> Hot Dog PIT $ 2.25 SFG $ 5.50
>> Parking TBA $ 0.00 BOS $ 27.00
>
> Is there any parking at all at Wrigley?
>
> My recollection from the one time I went there
> was that local residents charged you $50 to park
> in their driveways - if you wanted to pay less than that,
> you parked a mile away & walked.
>


Maybe we can have a discussion on cheap/free parking. Here is my
contribution.

Pacbell Park- On Sundays there is unrestricted parking on 3rd St. and
the vicinity starting a few blocks north of the park. On other days park
on the streets adjacent 3rd St 1/2 mile or more south of the park and
walk or take the T line at $3 round trip. Also, after 6 p.m. the garage
the Ellis-O'Farrell garage near Union Square has a $6 rate. One block to
Muni Metro and a $3 round trip.

Oakland-Free parring across the freeway but it is a long walk. On
street parking is available near the BART station and if the BART police
are actually looking for criminals instead of following people from cars
to see if they get on BART you can use the free lot. Also you can
sometimes get a free space ,especially for night games, at the San
Leandro station which is a few minutes away and a $3 round trip
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 05:06:18 +0000 (UTC), raj.DeleteThis@alumnae.caltech.edu
(Roger Moore) wrote:

>I'm not overly happy about tiered pricing, but I'm enough of a realist
>to view it as a net positive. If teams don't charge more for premium
>games, ticket brokers will. I'd much rather see that extra money wind
>up in the hands of players and owners who really deserve it than watch
>a bunch of slimeball scalpers profit from others work.

Why are they "slimeballs"? If the owners don't understand how to
price their product, and scalpers step in to correct the discrepancy,
where I come from we call those people "entrepreneurs," not
"slimeballs."
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

kahn RemoveThis @nospam.panix.com (James Kahn) writes:

>I wouldn't be so negative about the scalpers either. What they do
>is not terribly different from lots of other economic activities that
>we never think twice about. They're not hurting anyone, it's all
>voluntary.

The problem is that teams and ticket brokers have different interests.
Teams may want to price their tickets in a way that maximizes their
long-term interests, while brokers are always going for short-term
profits. For instance, teams often have some tickets that are sold
for very cheap as a way of attracting families and other people who
wouldn't be able to make it to a game if every ticket were sold for
the most the team could get. That doesn't help their short-term
bottom line, but it helps to build the fan base and hence boost
long-term profits.

Brokers don't care about building the fan base; they only care about
squeezing out the maximum price for every ticket. If those brokers
buy up all the cheap seats and sell them at a profit, it interferes
with what the team is trying to do. Teams can try to get around the
broker problem- e.g. by selling cheap tickets only on the day of the
game- but I don't see why they should have to. The sleaziest broker
behavior is concentrated more on concerts than sporting events, but
it's bad enough that I think that the brokers are fully worth
criticizing.

--
Roger Moore | Master of Meaningless Trivia | (raj@alumni.caltech.edu)
There's no point in questioning authority if you don't listen to the answers.
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

Roger Moore wrote:
> kahn.DeleteThis@nospam.panix.com (James Kahn) writes:
>
>> I wouldn't be so negative about the scalpers either. What they do
>> is not terribly different from lots of other economic activities that
>> we never think twice about. They're not hurting anyone, it's all
>> voluntary.
>
> The problem is that teams and ticket brokers have different interests.
> Teams may want to price their tickets in a way that maximizes their
> long-term interests, while brokers are always going for short-term
> profits. For instance, teams often have some tickets that are sold
> for very cheap as a way of attracting families and other people who
> wouldn't be able to make it to a game if every ticket were sold for
> the most the team could get. That doesn't help their short-term
> bottom line, but it helps to build the fan base and hence boost
> long-term profits.
>
> Brokers don't care about building the fan base; they only care about
> squeezing out the maximum price for every ticket. If those brokers
> buy up all the cheap seats and sell them at a profit, it interferes
> with what the team is trying to do. Teams can try to get around the
> broker problem- e.g. by selling cheap tickets only on the day of the
> game- but I don't see why they should have to. The sleaziest broker
> behavior is concentrated more on concerts than sporting events, but
> it's bad enough that I think that the brokers are fully worth
> criticizing.


Last year the Yankees threatened to revoke season tickets from people
selling them anywhere besides the teams web site. They said they wanted
to discourage scalping but in reality they wanted to have a monopoly.
There used to be a broker in SF who, if a playoff game was not played
would take back the tickets for full value instead of forcing customers
to absorb the premium. He said that he was in business for the long haul
and would make it up in repeat business. Whenever Someone O knew needed
tickets I told them to call that broker.
>
> --
> Roger Moore | Master of Meaningless Trivia | (raj@alumni.caltech.edu)
> There's no point in questioning authority if you don't listen to the answers.
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

Hank Gillette <hankgillette.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> writes:

>> Beer KCR* $ 4.00 STL** $ 8.50

>Don't they make beer in St. Louis? You'd think it would be cheaper
>there.

The real thing to note is that the "small" beer in St. Louis is 24oz,
which makes the $8.50 price tag a little bit more reasonable. I don't
know what you're supposed to do if you don't want quite that much.
That's why I also noted the price for a couple of other parks were the
small beers were a lot smaller and only a little bit cheaper.

I assume that the other listed prices have some of the same caveats.
Not all small sodas or hot dogs are the same size, not all programs
and caps are of equal quality, and not all "premium" seats have the
same perks. It's an inherent problem with trying to do this kind of
comparison.

--
Roger Moore | Master of Meaningless Trivia | (raj@alumni.caltech.edu)
There's no point in questioning authority if you don't listen to the answers.
 >> Stay informed about: Avoiding some costs at games 

In <fto2lg$q95$1@naig.caltech.edu> raj RemoveThis @alumnae.caltech.edu (Roger Moore) writes:

>kahn@nospam.panix.com (James Kahn) writes:

>>I wouldn't be so negative about the scalpers either. What they do
>>is not terribly different from lots of other economic activities that
>>we never think twice about. They're not hurting anyone, it's all
>>voluntary.

>The problem is that teams and ticket brokers have different interests.
>Teams may want to price their tickets in a way that maximizes their
>long-term interests, while brokers are always going for short-term
>profits. For instance, teams often have some tickets that are sold
>for very cheap as a way of attracting families and other people who
>wouldn't be able to make it to a game if every ticket were sold for
>the most the team could get. That doesn't help their short-term
>bottom line, but it helps to build the fan base and hence boost
>long-term profits.

>Brokers don't care about building the fan base; they only care about
>squeezing out the maximum price for every ticket. If those brokers
>buy up all the cheap seats and sell them at a profit, it interferes
>with what the team is trying to do. Teams can try to get around the
>broker problem- e.g. by selling cheap tickets only on the day of the
>game- but I don't see why they should have to. The sleaziest broker
>behavior is concentrated more on concerts than sporting events, but
>it's bad enough that I think that the brokers are fully worth
>criticizing.

That's an interesting scenario, but I doubt that's the primary
reason tickets are sometimes underpriced. It would be pretty easy to
come with other ways to get families in cheaply if that's the goal, like
having low-price tickets for kids. And it doesn't explain why rock
concerts and all sorts of other events are underpriced too.

The usual theory for why tickets are underpriced is to get people in
to the park will they're a captive audience and will buy all the
overpriced stuff inside. Not a motive I'm going to lose sleep
over when it's undermined by ticket brokers.
--
Jim
New York, NY
(Please remove "nospam." to get my e-mail address)
http://www.panix.com/~kahn
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