Dynamic Pricing to Result in ~$5 Million Revenue
The Michigan athletic department expects to make approximately $5 million from the implementation of dynamic pricing.
Approximately 20% of Michigan football tickets are available and they expect about half of such allotment to be included in the dynamic pricing roll-out (i.e., less than 10,000 tickets).
“There’s so much money to be made in the whole college football ecosystem that to think that they would not maximize revenue is a bit naïve frankly,” Lawrence said. “It is business, even though it’s a collegiate program. They’re obviously dedicated to making as much profit as possible.”
Further, there may be a tweak that could result in additional revenue for Michigan - the athletic department may withhold a certain allotment of tickets on the first day of sale in order to control the amount of supply so that they could sell some of the tickets as the prices rise higher.
The athletic department is set to release tickets on July 31 to the public, at which point it could decide to withhold a percentage of those tickets for a later time. Lawrence said he estimates that the athletic department could make up to another million dollars should they hold on to the tickets while the price goes up.
“If they wanted to be as greedy as possible, they probably would have jacked it up higher than that,” Lawrence said. “The market would have dictated that the demand would be enough to absorb the prices.”
Honestly I think we are already at the tipping point for the dud games. Without doing the ticket bundles anymore I really don't see those games selling out at that price. You'd have to be an idiot to pay that much for just 1 of those games. That was the whole idea with the bundles. We'll see...
The same way they're doing it this year. Package those tickets with the Ohio State (or Nebraska) 3-pack. One mediocre Big Ten opponent (Minnesota or Indiana), one baby seal (CMU or Akron), and your choice of Ohio State or Nebraska. The school gets face value for each of the games, dynamic pricing does not apply to the packages, which you're willing to pay because if you wanted to get those OSU or Nebraska* tickets individually you'd probably still be paying more than the $245 it costs you to get all 3 of those games.
* Probably a stretch to say Nebraska tickets will be $245; but if you assume you could sell your Minnesota/IU ticket for around face and CMU for half price, the math still works.
I picked up three tickets for $70. IU 3 for $60 and EMU 4 for $34. I missed the ND game that year, but didn't pay face for any tickets including Nebraska and OSU. It helped that OSU was Thanksgiving weekend.
I believe you, but that doesn't mean that's the average ticket price, either. You're obviously good at getting the lowest price possible, but not everyone buys and sells at that price point. As a season ticket holder, I occasionally need to sell my tickets and have not yet gotten under face value for my tickets against B10 opponents, and in only a couple instances have I gotten dramatically less than face against baby seals (I usually get $50-$60 each for these -- the exception being $30/each for EMU in 2009).
And I know my results aren't atypical because I look at the actual prices where the bulk of transactions are taking place and that's generally where I price my tickets.
The other way is apparently the "Coke Zero Football Family Pack." Where, if you are willing to pay face value for 4 tickets to Central Michigan or Akron, they throw in t-shirts, food, drink, and game programs for free. Personally, I don't think that's a great deal since it brings the effective cost of the ticket to $50, which is probably still too much for CMU or Akron, but more power to the school if they can sell it. If you were otherwise going to buy all that crap, it may not be dramatically more expensive than what you'd pay buying the tickets on the corner.
So, now that they admit that they are maximizing income, and that the main purpose of football is to create revenue, how come it's illegal to buy a player a fucking pizza?
College football turns me off more and more. The players at FBS schools are getting pimped. I'm happy to watch games on TV. Admins better not kill the golden goose.
They'll charge what they charge and you can pay or find a more suitable alternative. For me, the costs for live attendance are already way above what I am willing to pay. I have a flat sceen at home, with better seats, food, drink, etc. And, to be honest, the more I hear about the concussion stuff...makes me want to spend more time on my other hobbies anyway.