Are season tickets a dying business model?
Hey all:
I gave up my season tix when I moved to Chicago for my career in the 90's. Truth be told, it was one of the hardest decisions of my life. The very idea of Michigan Football not being a permanent fixture in my life. My not seeing the same smiling faces every week -- it felt foreign. Even disloyal. But my family came first so I let go of the tix.
Fast forward to today, I'm back in the Detroit area, and I'm frequently asked if I have season tickets -- and where do I sit? My answer is always the same. "I go when I like. I sit where i want." The StubHub mobile app has changed the game for me. Entirely.
With the mobile app, I can:
- Assess a wide swath of available tickets in the days leading up to the game and choose as I like based on my needs (i.e. How many? What seats? Etc.)
- Remove the commitment of purchasing whole seasons when I know quite well I won't be able to attend all the games
- Remove the scalper interaction and the threat of "invalid" tix
- And if you're slightly daring (I usually am), you can show up on game day morning and purchase last second tix at a fraction of the cost
The only hurdle to the StubHub strategy is the necessity to print the tickets. I'm told the Michigan Stadium attendants will soon be able to scan your smartphone, but for now -- there are several FedEx/Kinkos to choose from.
So other than getting to know the people around my season tickets, and having the (perceived) comfort that comes from already having tickets to each game, tell me what the advantage is to purchasing tickets ahead of time in the long-run? Am I the only one who has completely switched his thinking on this?
Only 1,000 seats are left until we are down to only scattered singles for UNLV. Limited options still remain: http://t.co/DR82tjvSkq #GoBlue
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) July 26, 2015
It's early, so the weather will be good, and we'll probably beat the piss out of UNLV. I think that's a great game to go to, especially if you have young kids. I'd rather see that game than Rutgers in November.
We'll probably beat the piss out of Rutgers and it will count as a conference win.
Hence my comment about taking the kids. I'd go to the Rutgers game myself, but I wouldn't take my preschool age son. He can barely sit still as it is.
You have an almost in college and preschooler? Wow.
Big gap. I was almost home free!!
At least you have time to replinish the bank account between college expenses.
Don't jinx it WD. I was at the game last year and it still gives me nightmares. Embarrassing. *shudder*
I was there too... sigh. At least we had NYC for a day.
Current CHEAPEST Stubhub prices:
Oregon State - $84
UNLV - $47
BYU - $70
NW - $78
MSU - $167
RU - $42
OSU - $190
Total - $648
Season Ticket Price - $455 plus cheapest PSD ($75) = $530
Theoretical Savings from Season Tickets compared to CURRENT CHEAPEST SH Price = $118
The margins are huge on top-end tickets though. I sold a few OSU tickets and they covered the rest of my tickets.
also... I've said it before, but:
Buy Low, Sell High
Buy Low, Sell High
Buy Low, Sell High
It's still low now so get in before you miss the Harbaugh Dynasty!!
If Harbaugh brings UM back to what we all hope will be a consistent Top 10-15 program, it'll be interesting to see what happens with tickets. The last few years it's really been a no brainer to just go stub hub/secondary market for tickets.
If we start seeing matchup's like #12 MSU vs #6 UM or #3 OSU vs #5 UM in the big house, secondary prices are going to be through the roof. Even the less marquee games will see their demand increase.
-1 for no future hypothetical better than a #5 UM...When speaking hypothetically about JH UM FB...go big.
Well, if you want to go to the big games (OSU, MSU, at one time ND) you save quite a bit of money vs. scrounging on Stubhub for tickets. Especially when the team is good...those are extremely hot tickets on a market vs. paying your $100 or whatever per seat. Plus you can always sell/give away the games you don't want to go to.
That said I have just used Stubhub the last three years and gotten fairly good results. Printing them isn't that big of a hassle. I've done it downtown at the library before. Not going to this year because of student tickets and I imagine if I live in Michigan after graduation I'll buy them, but Stubhub has always been pretty good to me.
The one benefit you have listed that I would possibly dispute is the last one you listed. Doesn't stubhub shut down sales an hour or so before the game?
Yeah, I think that's right. I usually purchase that morning for a 12:00 game.
Yeah I was trying to remember how close you can cut it. I think I've done a couple hours prior for a Tigers game before.
Which I don't really understand because StubHub is losing out on a lot of $$$ from last minute ticket buying.
If you want to sit in premium seats, i.e., Victors or Valiant in a good row, then you'll pay through the nose if you buy through the secondary market. Season tickets can help protect you against that, especially if our team starts to perform well again.
I had season tickets for many years that were between the 45-50 yard lines, row 40. I gave them up when my last kid finished at Michigan. They were not cheap, but they offered two very nice things.
First, I had what I thought were great seats. Not all seats are equal and I like to watch the game from a vantage point where I generally don't have to watch the scoreboard to see a play.
Second, over the years I had them, I got to know many people in my area well and really enjoyed the time we spent talking. Some of us became friends beyond game day Saturday.
I still go to all the games, but the experience is different. Fans are always friendly, but it is not the same as sitting in one section for an extended period of time. Over the last few years, getting seats was easy. In the future, with what I expect to be some very good seasons with Harbaugh at the helm, seats will command a premium.
Each to their own.
I like Stubhub and it works very well with Michigan games because there is a lot of inventory. On the other hand, sometimes you try to go to a concert or a show and Stubhub is not very good because there is not much inventory and the prices are unrealistic.
There's also something to be said for having "your seats". My family has had seasons for like, 50+ years (they've gone from my grandparents to my parents to my cousin, as people moved away from Michigan). One of the things I loved about games wasn't just going to watch michigan, but bantering with the other season ticket holders nearby, people I'd been effectively going to games with for a decade+. There's a camraderie there that you don't get by stubhubbing and getting random seats for each game.
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Ok, shouty....
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Am I missing something or is there an issue specific to Michigan Stadium that prevents scanning directly from the StubHub app?
I haven't been to a football game in a few years but had no problems scanning from my phone at Crisler and Yost last winter.
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The benefit is the value you get for buying the season > individual games. Until we started sucking (for lack of a better word), tickets were much more expensive and hopefully become that way after Harbaugh threatens (and wins) the B1G yearly.
If you take our current home slate, OSU good-ish seats could go for $300+ and MSU for $200+ (and would have until 2007). That's $500 for 2 games. Throw in homecoming (maybe $100) and the rest and it's worth it.
Again, this value proposition goes away when we suck, which is why last year's attendance was so bad (and Brandon resorted to Coke give-a-ways).
The appeal to seasons tickets has always been 1. Guaranteed a consistent seat 2. @ a consistent price and 3. And guarantee access to the best games.
Stubhub is great for the occasional sporting event, specifically ones like Baseball with a lot of games and a lot of tickets availible. But when it comes to say games against OSU and MSU -- you're going to spend about as much on those two games alone on Stubhub as I've spent on a single season ticket that includes those and 5 or 6 others.
Exactly right!
ONE OR TWO TOP GAMES COST AS MUCH AS SEASON TIX. And we have those top games coming up in future schedules so you got to get in now! [FYI - I don't work for the Michigan Ticket Office, but I am a Michigan Homer. LOL]
2015: MSU; OSU
2016 Wisconsin; Penn State
2017: MSU; OSU
2018: Arkansas; Nebraska; Wisconsin; Penn State
2019: Arkansas; MSU; OSU
2020: Va Tech [Rest are TBD]
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Well, yes, that is a relatively new development. Having the MSU and OSU games alternating was great for season ticket holders. Though, PSU on the schedule every year should be good in the near future.
Is one of the 2018 or 2019 years away for Arkansas? Or did we just strike an epic deal with them and we have them at home for 2 years?
I forgot about teh great home and home games coming in the next few years. Should make season tickets even more worth it.
Just 18. 19 is away for that one. Typo.
I have never once purchased season tickets for any team and never will. I don't mind going to a game here and there, but prefer to watch at home on my 80" screen.
I think you listed why they are NOT a dying business model in your post. The riskier game-by-game approach was always an option. It's true stubhub makes it easier, but the same tradeoffs exist. People like security, status, loyalty, routine, tradition, etc.
I would also add that if you're an optimist (as many fans are) you are more likely to envision a scenario where OSU/MSU tickets are $300 plus a pop (or far more for good seats) and therefore the season tickets become a bargain. After you tally up the value of the 2-3 marquee games you've already 'paid' for the season tickets and the rest of the games are 'free' - a bonus asset you can use or give away to friends/family/business associates or attend, as you see fit.
This is why I hate the argument that cupcake games bring in $[stadium capacity x ticket face value]. If you disentangled those games from season tickets (and with them the underpriced marquee games) as you should - that wouldn't be true. The market value of cupcake games is well established at below face.
I've had season tix since I graduated in '99 even though i've lived on the west coast most of that time. The initial benefits were nearly guaranteed access to west coast games (UCLA, etc) and west coast bowl games (remember the rose bowl?).
So yeah, not so much lately. Crappy Bowl tickets basically are available to anyone now, and I had to find other means for the Bama game tix. Utah this year? Shut out. I haven't even looked into any 'guarantee' of Big 10 champ tickets because of the pipe dream.
Contrast that to my MLB baseball tickets, where i'm guaranteed playoff /world series tickets, and special events (batting practice on the field, etc). Easier when there aren't 100k tickets for sale I guess.
The big thing about UM for me is the tailgate and the entertainment lifestyle that doesn't exist in any other sport. You know what you're doing 7-8 times / year. If you have friends that you tailgate with, its pushes everyone to get together, which I love. Financially I think you're correct, if you're only going to a few games it'll be a wash or you'll end up ahead.
I don't see season tickets dying just because the amount of effort athletic departments put into keeping them. Where I'm at we are always trying to grow our season tickets. You want to have that core to know there will be people in the seats. The prices are cheaper and we provide many things for season ticket holders. The model just makes sense for both parties.
Glad to see your job at Stub Hub has worked out and that you got promoted to marketing.
/s kinda
The real problem with Stub Hub is that it allows visiting fans to invade season ticket holder sections. It does allow the University to charge another fee on the same seat, but it greatly diminishes the experience of the actual fans who buy season tickets year after year. Wonder who signed that deal?
LOL. Good one. I guess I should have used "secondary market" a little more than referencing ub-stay ub-hay, huh?
Point well taken :-)
Your post did read as if you were some StubHub employee sent to make a post in praise of the product. However, you joined in 2011 and I don't think corporate America is that patient. So, yeah, just playing.
Still, I hate Sub Hub as it allows visiting fans to swoop in. I have literally been surrounded by OSU fans the last few years. It was to the point that the Buckeye behind me could not believe that he was in a season ticket section. To me, the Stub Hub thing was the first sign that Brandon was interested in revenue rather than the fans who had been buying tickets year after year.
Ridiculous reply.
Of course Michigan had an increase in season tickets. We're coming back from the lowest ticket levels in 40 years, with a losing record and ineffective leadership. And now we get to show off our new, shiny Harbaugh. Really? Season tickets increased? Ya don't say.
My point stands that given the choice between purchasing season ticket packages and engaging the secondary ticket market, the StubHub mobile app model has made the decision to NOT buy tickets easier. My post simply inquired if I was the only one swayed in that same manner.
Get over yourself. And put some thought in before replying.