Agreed. The only reason why I have tickets at all is because of the price in 108. I feel sports tickets in general are overvalued in America, but the Rapids are pretty fairly priced when it comes to season tickets. If the cost per game for season tickets in 108 goes up much higher though, I probably won't get them anymore. I'm enjoying them while they last.
It's interesting...sports tickets are expensive...but aren't most tickets? Say for the "major league" stuff, top pro level. Music's a bit different as a lot of it isn't commercial enough to draw big demand and big prices, but still, popular music acts, Denver Center theater, the symphony, major league sports...$50-100 and up is not unusual. I figure the Rapids seem themselves as still affordable in that context, esp. given the size of the stadium. (Compare lower bowl seating at the Avs or Nuggets.)
You are correct. I just think all of that is overvalued. When you compare prices for many things in the US to a lot of the world (or maybe just continental europe), it is shocking how much we pay for equal or lesser quality. Things like broadband speeds, cell phone minutes/data, season tickets for sports, other entertainment expenses, etc.
None of you are mentioning the fact that these prices changed after we failed to make the playoffs and got rid of some key talent on the pitch. If I thought the Front Office was good at ANYTHING, I'd consider season tickets. Why reward incompetance?
On the flip side, season ticket prices actually went down IIRC (or at least stayed the same) after we won MLS Cup. They may be doing ti backwards, but they're consistently doing it backwards.
Was it that the full season packages remained the same price but were less/game when you consider the change to a 34-game season? This year: "Oh, you want us actually to scout guys like Edu and Henao instead of just looking them up on FIFA13?"
It's hysterical that we already see (almost) walk-up prices dropped to $13.20/seat ($17.95/seat including Ticketscam "convenience" fees). Wonder if I can go to the box office and avoid the $4.75/seat "convenience" charge? Are season tickets in the north corners or south as low as $13.20/match? If not, seems the Rapids have learned nothing.
Convience fees are one of the biggest ripoffs on the planet. As far as I can tell, it takes a program to track sold seat locations and a bar code to print... Maybe the paper and a stamp to mail it, but they already charge you for that part. It's not like the old days where there is a small army staffed in strategic locations so they could press the right buttons and print a ticket. If they had more warm bodies on game night and more gates open, I could see charging a couple of bucks, but when the fee is north of ten bucks per ticket its more than a little bit annoying. I get the feeling that many people are going to go to their one game like they always do, get multiple tickets for each family member family, but walk away feeling close to $50 lighter in the wallet then they had in the past and have an easier time not going out to that second game.
That might have been the case. I know when the renewals for 2011 came out in Aug/Sept they included a notable price increase and damn near nobody renewed. The team was in the midst of its mid-summer swoon and was looking like it might miss the playoffs for a 4th straight year. Eventually the Rapids dropped the pice by $100, back to the 2010 price if not lower, in order to get people to renew before the October cutoff, which many people including myself did. Then the team got hot, made the playoffs, and won MLS Cup. If there was ever justification to raise ticket prices it was then and into the 2012 season after making the playoffs in 2011, and they didn't.
This seems logical. So it makes me wonder what they have up their sleeve. The only thing I can think is that alienating the walk-up fan is not a good idea unless you have assurances that the package deals (season, partial season, 4-pack plus stuff, etc) are in fact making a difference in ticket sales. I wonder if "butts in seats" is a little like newspaper subscriptions for a daily. Get your subscription rate up and you can charge more for advertising (sell a fan 4 games or more, not just one). An x-percentage increase in ticket sales may mean only x+10 in revenue increases but it means x squared for advertising $. Dunno but some one posted the link to the new czar of marketing (or whatever), so this may be an attempt by this guy to make his mark. I hope it works. I would love to see Rapids attendance go up, but I don't see the Rapids fan base as big and diverse enough yet to really respond to this latest scheme. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Anybody remember that (failed) experiment they tried by jettisoning partial season packages? The logic was that if even a portion of the "partial season" people would commit to a "full season" package, they would make up the revenue. Of course, hilarity ensued when virtually none of those people actually made the upgrade. The biggest problem this increase creates is a higher barrier of entry for new prospective fans in the supporters section. And of course, as was pointed out earlier, that the matchday experience is largely unchanged from previous years.
The questions I'd have are all in regards to demand... Do the Rapids sell out the stadium Are there sections of the stadium that do sell out Do season ticket holders use all their tickets In order to reach last years numbers did the team have to resort to deals... group sales, coupons, packaged tickets. Does an increase in price increase demand in an environment where excess supply exists? This seems like a pretty grand experiment.
Yep. Online merchant software is relatively cheap, and once it's written, it runs with just some updating of products/schedule/tickets as needed. I can see one fee per transaction, but per ticket is just a ripoff. And Kroenke owns TicketHorse. It pisses me off, because I know the fees turn people off. This year, my seat partner and I upgraded to full season tickets. Like many others, we had been buying partial packages and then just getting tickets online or at walk-up. I went to 14 home games last year. It was never a problem to get tickets, except for July 4, which is included in the packages. The Rapids offered us an upgrade from half season to full at the same per ticket price that our half game package was, so we decided to go for it. 106, btw. I assume that's one reason the walkup prices have been increased. Question is, will it turn fans away, or will they be able to convert walkups to at least small packages? Maybe they should consider "micro" packages of 2 games, w/hotdogs & a bev at a better ticket price than the walkup window price? A way to get a larger commitment. Who knows? Back to work. I'd like to see more butts in the seats, and not just hear sales of 15k, while it's fairly obvious the stadium is half empty.
They've been doing a variety of promos like this for the two March games. One combined with a Nats ticket, one just on their own.
Unrecognized by the FO were (are) the reasons behind the purchase of partial season tickets. IMO these factors determine their purchase. They are: 1) Price & overall cost. 2) Disposable cash. 3) Climate expectations. 4) Work commitments & schedule. 5) Family commitments & responsibilities. 6) Other commitments & responsibilities. 7) Commitment to soccer in general. 8) Commitment to the Rapids specifically. 9) Less than a full slate of matches slakes their thirst for the Rapids. 10) etc. Because of these factors partial season ticket holders will not likely ever purchase full season tickets. Moreover, if match tickets were scarce the coalescence of all factors may still be an insurmountable obstacle for many to become full season ticket holders.
Out of curiosity, where have you seen the Nats ticket deal? I see the 5280 deal for each of the March games.
A relative of one of the ticket reps is in Class VI and posted that there were deals on the (now defunct) Class VI Facebook page. I passed it on to a couple of non-season ticket holder soccer fans in my office. One of them called the ticket rep and found out about it. $90 gets you tickets to all 3 games at the ends of the East or West sides.
That seems like a great deal considering what we paid for the USMNT game alone. Unfortunately, several people I asked were not even interested in the US game due to the cold.
And for those who can't afford, or are otherwise unable to attend all the games (or want to be sure they can see away games), MLSLive is starting to look like something worth investing in. I didn't do it the last couple of years because it didn't seem the value was there, but seems like they are upgrading their product to be more mobile friendly: http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/...30-mls-matches-your-computer-mobile-or-tablet
Local blackout still applies, but at least they give access 24 hours after the initial local broadcast. That's a lot better than pushing Saturday games to Monday.
Will Alitude TV be covering all Rapids games this season? Would be a deciding factor for me. Also, aside from the new 24 hour delay for local broadcasts, I see little improvement over previous years. Many games are still blacked out and the "new mobile access" stuff is just window dressing. Live coverage is what matters.
Update regarding tickets... C38 has been granted exclusive rights to all tickets in both the terraces and section 108. The means we are the sole owner and seller of all tickets in those areas. What does that mean? It means single game tickets now have no fees attached. For example, tickets in the Terraces will be $20 instead of $29. Tickets in section 108 will be $30 instead of $40. The supporters get to keep all the money and funnel that back into all the cool stuff we do.
That's great. So your saying that I should not go though my ticket rep to get an extra ticket in 108 for the opener? How do I purchase single game tickets though C38? How much "profit" do we (C38) have on a $20 ticket in the Terraces?
So it is as if (or actually is) C38 has 'rented' those spaces for every game for a flat amount and now is sub-leasing them by the match to as many additional people as will legally fit into them?