Northwestern to implement "Purple Pricing" for UM and OSU games

Submitted by Murph on

Looks like the econ whizzes at Northwestern have convinced the athletic department to sell tickets for their big games via "Purple Pricing". http://www.nupurplepricing.com/ Not totally sure how it will work, but it seems somewhat like a dutch auction where the price will start high and go down based on demand.  If you are an early buyer, you will receive a refund if the price goes down.  There is also a way to "bid" to automatically purchase if the price hits your bid.  Preliminary starting price for sideline for UM will be around $190 and for OSU will be around $240.  Not sure what NU is thinking - it might be a way to maximize revenue, but they run a danger of ending up with unfilled seats for their biggest games.  They will have a tough decision a week or two before the game having to decide to lower the price or not.  Lowering the price of each ticket a few dollars would cost them thousands in refunds, unless they sell them through back channels like stubhub.

Unfortunately, our days of filling Ryan stadium with Chicago-area UM fans cheaply and easily may be over.

GoBlueInNYC

July 27th, 2013 at 7:39 PM ^

I don't know, it's not like they had a huge demand from their own fanbase. I'm guessing that raising the prices won't bring the NW* fans in any more than their cheap tickets were.

*EDIT: Sorry Northwestern, you no longer get to be "NU," that's Nebraska's now. You get the (in my opinion much cooler) "NW" in the era of the new Big10.

rbgoblue

July 27th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^

Exactly.  This hardly affects their own fans who don't show up anyway.  They are just attempting to gauge UM and OSU fans who buy >50% of the tickets in their stadium anyway.  I'm sure they will make a lot of money this way.  Good for them.

gwkrlghl

July 27th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^

because they're probably as good now as they have been in, what? The last 20-30 years?

I do love playing a home-away-from-home game there though

EricTheActor

July 27th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^

I bought them through the M ticket office for $70 each. I wonder what they're planning on doing since they already charged me for my 8 tickets.

LSAClassOf2000

July 27th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^

Danny Ecker at Chicago Business wrote a piece on this during their basketball season earlier this year actually - (LINK). Northwestern apparently implemented "purple pricing" for their basketball games against Ohio State and Penn State in February and March respectively. Per the story, this was indeed pitched by two economics professors. From the story:

"The goal is to fight back against secondary market sites like StubHub or Craigslist, like the increasingly popular dynamic pricing model that dozens of pro teams use: get fans to go to the school first to buy tickets, not to just assume that they'll get a better deal elsewhere. Unlike dynamic pricing, however, which lets teams lower or raise prices based on demand, "purple pricing" only can reduce prices. "(Dynamic pricing) complicates the decision for fans about when to buy," Mr. Baliga said. "This sorts that out."

GoBlueInNYC

July 27th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^

I don't understand why more of their students don't go to their games. Northwestern is fun as hell to watch. I guess riding that razor's edge that is 2nd half Northwestern football might be too much of a rollercoaster for all but the most sturdy hearted.

Defo

July 27th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^

I think about the same percentage of NU students go to the games as UM students, its just a much smaller school.  There are definitely kids at both schools who don't realize there is a game and are in the library all saturday...that's been my experience having attended both schools.

GoBlueInNYC

July 27th, 2013 at 7:35 PM ^

That's true. I forget that the student body is so much smaller than other Big10 schools. If I had to guess, I'd think that NW is probably the smallest school in the Big10 by a fairly significant margin*. Still, watching those nerds ball can make for a hell of a fun game.

*Confirmed: NW has an enrollment just shy of 15K, the next highest enrollment is Nebraska at 24K. LINK

Vote_Crisler_1937

July 27th, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^

I would bet that 15k # includes grad school. The law school and med school, as well as others are downtown. With Chicago traffic that is a long way up to Ryan Field. Not a draw for busy grad students. Also NU has a couple home games before the students arrive on campus due to the quarters system they run.

Vote_Crisler_1937

July 28th, 2013 at 10:05 AM ^

My one time GF "Hollywood" created the free student tickets while she was in student gov. Every student pays a quarterly "activities fee" for the privilege so NU actually makes money on the deal because all of the students who would never buy tix and come to games still must pay that fee.

Bando Calrissian

July 28th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^

Grad student do not get tickets. As far as I know, there is no way to buy a student ticket as a grad student for football, but for basketball, there are (I think) $10 tickets you can order if you manage to know they exist. There is no advertising whatsoever, and I tend to think most NU grad students don't even think about going to sporting events. It's completely bizarre.

EDIT: I stand corrected. Graduate students may buy the same ticket packages offered to "young alumni." Last year, the price was $134 for the whole crappy schedule. No single-ticket option.

http://www.nusports.com/tickets/young-alumni-season-tickets.html

 

Twin Otter

July 28th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^

You posted 1 minute before I did. I didn't know that was an option. They could do a better job communicating that to grad schools.



Ross has an informal session for international MBAs to give them an overview of American football and the importance of Michigan football to the university. I think it's a really good idea.

Bando Calrissian

July 28th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^

I'm at NU for a program right now. It's baffling to me. You will receive positively nothing from the graduate school or professional programs when it comes to tickets and sports promotions. They pretty much assume we just don't care. 

I wish they would at least offer individual game tickets to grad students for football, because so many of us went to schools that are on their schedule and don't have the time/money to buy tickets and attend every game. And, of course, you'd never be able to resell the ones you don't intend to use. It's a waste.

Twin Otter

July 28th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^

Agreed, Bando. Nothing could replace Michigan, but I like football (particularly college football). The Northwestern AD's bio talks about how he increased ticket sales and attendance. Sending out an email to grad students costs you incrementally nothing and is high margin for anyone who bites. I don't get why they don't do that it publicize the tickets you found (first I heard of it).

Zone Left

July 27th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^

So the goal is just to charge visiting fans more when they fill Ryan Field? I guess, but this assumes enough demand to push early buying. I hope the Econ profs aren't just doing an experiment at the expense of the athletics budget...

Rhino77

July 27th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^

My other half ordered tickets for me via StubHub back in May. 

6th Row, 3 tickets at $65 a pop. She is a NW grad, so I will have to eat crow if Michigan loses...and I mean that literally, with crow being one of her favorite dishes. Feakin Belgians.

Perkis-Size Me

July 27th, 2013 at 10:31 PM ^

There are still plenty of UM alums in the Chicago area that will happily pay to see this game and pack the stadium.



I guarantee we will still outnumber Northwestern "fans."

clarkiefromcanada

July 27th, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^

Somewhere, right now, Dave Brandon is drinking Chivas and laughing maniacally.

First he gets me for the seat fees (on top of the tix)...

If this works you have to know Michigan implements a variation.

Hate it.

goblue16

July 28th, 2013 at 2:42 AM ^

Don't understand this one bit. Even though half the stands would be filled with road fans at least they'd be filled. I don't think they have ever had more than 30000 actual NW fans attend a game.

Wolverines Dominate

July 28th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^

I cannot wait until we beat their asses in Evanston. I hope Ohio loses to them, but I just don't see it. NW is overhyped.