ticket quantity controversy
not since chef morimoto was beaten in the iron chef cook off of 2003 has there been such a dividing controversy as the number of tickets the sounders are making available, or not making available as it were.
as you know, the next 3 games are now sold out, and i bet the next few after that are getting close as well. so the questions in the blogosphere, in comments in the papers, in general fan conversation is this “why does qwest not open up more seats!!!!!!!” some people are quite pissed about it too.
it is a simple enough question, but with not so simple an answer.
first of all, i am a season ticket holder, so you have to take my opinion in light of that… but i am in full support of how the front office are handling this, and here is why.
what this appears to be, is not much more than a basic supply and demand problem. currently, the demand is greater than the supply, and that is a good problem for the party doing the supplying. you always want more demand for the supply b/c it then results in what we are seeing, games down the road selling out. if none of these games were selling out, people would not be buying in advance knowing that they can then walk up and buy day of.
adrian hanauer noted…
We will weigh our estimated supply and demand, we will consider revenue opportunity, we will consider how this might affect season ticket renewals for next season. There are probably several other factors that different departments within our organization will want to discuss. I would assume that in the very near future… we will have a conversation about this internally.
but, you say, that isn’t happening, they are indeed selling out, so why not open the ~5k more seats that are available then? well these games are not selling out THAT far in advance yet. we just sold out the next three, but is that proof enough that we can continue that pace? some say yes, and some say no. the front office is obviously not 100% convinced that this will continue, so rather than take the risk of creating a situation that i just described, they are taking a bit of wait and see approach.
ok, so lets entertain a scenario where if they opened up the other 5k for the next 3 games that are sold out. would all 5,000 seats sell out? i don’t know if they would, and if they don’t, well you have just given everyone on the fence a reason to NOT buy a ticket down the road. most of the people that WANT to go to sounders games are, or they are buying tickets for future games to ensure that they eventually will. not until you create a buzz about selling out do you get that extra push to sell out.
then there is the whole “value” problem. this is complicated by the fact that there are better seats and varying prices. if every seat was as good as the next, and every ticket cost the same, then opening up more seats is pretty much a no brainer (other than some internal logistics maybe). but now, if you open up more seats, especially since they are going to be cheaper than most of the rest, it creates a scenario where those people that bought expensive season tickets this year may think… well i will just buy the available cheaper tickets next year on the games i want to go to. i won’t need a season ticket. i don’t fall into this category (as i am all but guaranteed to buy for the whole season again next year) and you may not be, but i bet there a lot of people that are. even if a 1/3 of season ticket holders feel this way, then you could see a significant drop off in season ticket purchases for next year, and then you have a downward spiral of no sell outs and loads of people buying only the day of. now maybe i am being a little dramatic, but this is the exact scenario that the FO want to avoid.
now let me comment on the idea that FO is alienating the fans. there are many people out there saying that the FO is alienating the common fan that want to get into following the sounders but don’t have a chance. well, to that i have to say…. BS. i count about 9 games left that are not sold out at this point in time…. please go buy some tickets to 1 or all of them. you have a chance to go, you just aren’t taking that chance. if every game was sold out, and there were seats that the stadium could easily open, i would agree with you, but that is not the case. and, if we do get close to selling out every game anywhere in the near future, you can be sure that the FO will open more seats.
another thing i hear is… well, the FO isn’t letting more fans go see the games… let’s see how we react when the team has a stinker of a season. if you are a fan that is talking like that? well, you aren’t a fan. now i know that the attendance numbers will go down during a crap season, i don’t pretend to think that seattle is full of die hard fans that will shell out money no matter what the product on the field is (yes i know that there is a very simple counter argument to this in that team that plays at Safeco), but i don’t have time to listen to that finicky fan who only wants to go if the team is winning. so please stop your talking.
so unless the FO doesn’t open up those remaining 5k seats after all the other games get sold out, well then i really have to agree with how this is being handeled.
oh, and if you didn’t know, the hawks nest will never be open. xbox owns that space and it will remain tarped off as long as they are the sponsor under the current deal.
sorry for the long one. i have read and re-read it a few times and it isn’t the most eloquent easy read that i have written
now, if you disagree and i haven’t pissed you off too bad, let me know where i am wrong.
OR, you can forget everything i have said and go put a smile on your face by watching this video below…
if this doesn’t put a smile on your face well to you i say, you have no nervous system. heck, you might not even have a soul.
GoSounders Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 10:13 am
The club would most certainly lose- if those people just “want to go to the game” they’re not going to buy a $25, 35, 50, 60+ ticket for a future game.