BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Just wanted to share an outsider's view ... As you can tell by my pic, my allegiances lie with Bradley University. However, as a resident of St. Louis now for three years, I'm looking for local college hoops instead of driving three hours ... for what is now improving, yet still mediocre basketball. I love college basketball, but watching on TV is as good as live to me. That said, I do like to attend a live game. Anyways, I'm attending my first SLU game tonight. Bought the Living Social deal. I picked up my ticket this afternoon, and was surprised, after returning to the office and checking the location of my seat, that the single ticket I purchased is in the upper bowl corner ... with a face value of $32. Granted, I didn't spend $32, but two seats and an aisle over paid $10 for his seats and a section over paid $6 for his. I understand there's not a bad seat at Chaifetz. But $32 for upper bowl, corner is excessive. As I said, I'm a Bradley fan first and foremost. I'm a regular on many of their boards. Taking a look through this board is like reading the Bradley boards, replacing Bradley with SLU and Braves with Bills ... Conference discussions, be it aligning with a new conference or positioning the University for the changes bound to happen; We're just a few players away; Why don't students/community support this team? Look at how good they're doing. That last one is a biggie. Happens at Bradley too (we blame it on the off-site arena. reading a view posts here about the on-campus arena was interesting, btw). Perhaps that $32 price point for an upper bowl corner ticket has something do with it. I'm invested in Bradley. I'm an alum, former employee, and former season ticket holder. I'd spend $32 to see a decent opponent at Carver Arena, even if it meant upper bowl. But I didn't attend SLU. Didn't grow up watching SLU basketball. The program was loosely on my radar before I moved to St. Louis. And when I came to St. Louis, I wasn't seeking out SLU results. I can assure you, I wouldn't spend $32 for a upper bowl ticket to see anyone ($12 for an upper bowl ticket would be pushing it tonight). Now, if the lower bowl is filled, I can't say much about the seating, other than it being over priced. But if the box office is giving upper bowl tickets when the lower bowl has plenty of seats available ... it'll be tough to come back. And, I'm kinda thinking, based on the comments I've read thus far, the lower bowl will have an empty seat or two. Again, outside's view ... take it FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Just wanted to share an outsider's view ... As you can tell by my pic, my allegiances lie with Bradley University. However, as a resident of St. Louis now for three years, I'm looking for local college hoops instead of driving three hours ... for what is now improving, yet still mediocre basketball. I love college basketball, but watching on TV is as good as live to me. That said, I do like to attend a live game. Anyways, I'm attending my first SLU game tonight. Bought the Living Social deal. I picked up my ticket this afternoon, and was surprised, after returning to the office and checking the location of my seat, that the single ticket I purchased is in the upper bowl corner ... with a face value of $32. Granted, I didn't spend $32, but two seats and an aisle over paid $10 for his seats and a section over paid $6 for his. I understand there's not a bad seat at Chaifetz. But $32 for upper bowl, corner is excessive. As I said, I'm a Bradley fan first and foremost. I'm a regular on many of their boards. Taking a look through this board is like reading the Bradley boards, replacing Bradley with SLU and Braves with Bills ... Conference discussions, be it aligning with a new conference or positioning the University for the changes bound to happen; We're just a few players away; Why don't students/community support this team? Look at how good they're doing. That last one is a biggie. Happens at Bradley too (we blame it on the off-site arena. reading a view posts here about the on-campus arena was interesting, btw). Perhaps that $32 price point for an upper bowl corner ticket has something do with it. I'm invested in Bradley. I'm an alum, former employee, and former season ticket holder. I'd spend $32 to see a decent opponent at Carver Arena, even if it meant upper bowl. But I didn't attend SLU. Didn't grow up watching SLU basketball. The program was loosely on my radar before I moved to St. Louis. And when I came to St. Louis, I wasn't seeking out SLU results. I can assure you, I wouldn't spend $32 for a upper bowl ticket to see anyone ($12 for an upper bowl ticket would be pushing it tonight). Now, if the lower bowl is filled, I can't say much about the seating, other than it being over priced. But if the box office is giving upper bowl tickets when the lower bowl has plenty of seats available ... it'll be tough to come back. And, I'm kinda thinking, based on the comments I've read thus far, the lower bowl will have an empty seat or two. Again, outside's view ... take it FWIW. thanks for the input. $32 for an upper bowl corner seat is ridiculous. And I guarantee you can sneak down to center court, probably 4-5 rows up. Those will be empty. Actually, i would implore you to do so because it's embarrassing to see those seats empty on the television broadcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Pelican Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 First, we've discussed the empty seats in the lower bowl here before. Some will only be sold as season tickets (with large lugs attached) and some just go unused. That said, I THOUGHT upper corner seats cost 12 bucks. I'm a season ticket holder at one (upper) end and my seats are 10 bucks a game but a non-season-holder would pay 12 I think. And then they add what I think are some awfully high convenience fees. Or maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 I hoped someone would suggest that, because my next question is: why didn't I just purchase the $6 ticket and move down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 First, we've discussed the empty seats in the lower bowl here before. Some will only be sold as season tickets (with large lugs attached) and some just go unused. That said, I THOUGHT upper corner seats cost 12 bucks. I'm a season ticket holder at one (upper) end and my seats are 10 bucks a game but a non-season-holder would pay 12 I think. And then they add what I think are some awfully high convenience fees. Or maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Via the Chaifetz Arena website: SIU-E vs. SLU tickets I'm in section 201. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Pelican Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 You just answered my question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Pelican Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Via the Chaifetz Arena website: SIU-E vs. SLU tickets I'm in section 201. Holy cow! I didn't know those were 32 bucks and 40 along the court! I sit in an end cuz I'm cheap. No wonder we don't get much walk up business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Holy cow! I didn't know those were 32 bucks and 40 along the court! I sit in an end cuz I'm cheap. No wonder we don't get much walk up business.That is ridiculous. Should probably be lowered. Then you wouldn't have to do these living social or groupon deals so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 That is ridiculous. Should probably be lowered. Then you wouldn't have to do these living social or groupon deals so often. But if you do these deals through LS or Groupon, get those people in good seats. I mean, I have to believe the idea to use these services is to increase the fan base. Get people who otherwise would not pay for a ticket to come to a game. Get them in the door, show them a good time in a good seat and they're more likely to come. At this point, I should've bought the $6 ticket, arrived 45 minutes before the game, spend $2 on a beer, $2 on nachos and I'm still out of the door for less than the $16 I paid ... and more than likely, I'll end up in the same lower bowl seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 First, we've discussed the empty seats in the lower bowl here before. Some will only be sold as season tickets (with large lugs attached) and some just go unused. Missed this the first time through ... So let me see if I've got this right: There's four seats in the lower bowl meant for season ticket sales. Those seats don't sell before the season starts, or even two weeks into the season. Are you telling me those seats won't go into the general admission pile for the rest of the year? To be clear, I'm not expecting two rows up, center court tonight. I did expect to be walking down a few steps and not up a few steps ... probably in a corner or along a baseline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Missed this the first time through ... So let me see if I've got this right: There's four seats in the lower bowl meant for season ticket sales. Those seats don't sell before the season starts, or even two weeks into the season. Are you telling me those seats won't go into the general admission pile for the rest of the year? To be clear, I'm not expecting two rows up, center court tonight. I did expect to be walking down a few steps and not up a few steps ... probably in a corner or along a baseline. I believe most of those seats are purchased by season ticket holders, but the ticket holders are likely corporations and don't often get to games or otherwise fill the seats. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a center court seat within the first 10 rows. I came in for the big X game last year on senior night and my buddy and I were able to sit 4-5 rows up, center court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Pelican Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Apparently the dark blue seats are ONLY sold as season tickets and carry a very large fee. (Those are in yellow and dark blue on the seat map you linked to.) SOME of the rest of the lower bowl also requires a fee similar to a seat license but I think CAN be bought on an individual basis. But I guess I was assuming since they sold you an upper bowl ticket (with the price of some lower sections) that the lower bowl was sold out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 -wow on those ticket prices, wow, I wouldn't pay that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 First of all, welcome to the board BeBrave. SLU and Bradley have a history together and I for one am glad you are interested in the Bills. As someone who was in college in Kansas City when Bradley beat KU in the NCAAs, I have a special place in my heart for the Braves right next to Bucknell. I hope you decide to come to a few more games after this one. Individual game ticket prices are pretty ridiculous. However, it is my understanding that they are much more reasonable for season ticket holders and there are even discounted 4 game ticket packs available. Plus they usually do Groupon/Living Social deals for the lesser opponents and then prices are about where they should be. I assume SLU still wants to get top dollar for the premium games and doesn't want to piss off season ticket holders by charging less for individual games, which is why they do the Groupon/Living Socials deals rather than just lower prices. Even with all that I still don't understand SLU's pricing strategy. They have overpriced tickets since the opening of Chaifetz. I assume the thinking was that with a shiny new arena people would pay a premium. This failed miserably IMO. The better strategy would have been to charge a reasonable amount for tickets and sell out the arena right away. Establish a fun atmosphere of a packed arena and then gradually increase ticket prices as the team had success and people enjoyed going to games in a sell out atmosphere. Additionally, I am not sure why SLU bothers with the online deals, they should just have tiered pricing for games like the Cardinals do. Go cheap for the mid-week games against non-premium opponents, reasonable for weekend games, and pricey for games against premium opponents. They also need to allow you to print the tickets at home and establish a relationship with StubHub to allow fans to sell online and allow the buyer to print at home. This would create a secondary market for tickets and allow season ticket holders to re-coup some of their investment on games they cannot make it to while putting more butts in the seats which means more parking/concession revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Pelican Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 -wow on those ticket prices, wow, I wouldn't pay that I'm glad the OP gave us the view of an outsider. I knew I was sitting in the cheap seats but I had no idea that those seats along the sides upstairs were so expensive. I realize that the building and the program have to be paid for (and it's not my problem to make the business model work) but to an average St. Louisan who just wants to go to a game, that seems awfully high. It's not like anyone is just beating down the doors at Chaifetz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp18 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 First of all, welcome to the board BeBrave. SLU and Bradley have a history together and I for one am glad you are interested in the Bills. As someone who was in college in Kansas City when Bradley beat KU in the NCAAs, I have a special place in my heart for the Braves right next to Bucknell. I hope you decide to come to a few more games after this one. Individual game ticket prices are pretty ridiculous. However, it is my understanding that they are much more reasonable for season ticket holders and there are even discounted 4 game ticket packs available. Plus they usually do Groupon/Living Social deals for the lesser opponents and then prices are about where they should be. I assume SLU still wants to get top dollar for the premium games and doesn't want to piss off season ticket holders by charging less for individual games, which is why they do the Groupon/Living Socials deals rather than just lower prices. Even with all that I still don't understand SLU's pricing strategy. They have overpriced tickets since the opening of Chaifetz. I assume the thinking was that with a shiny new arena people would pay a premium. This failed miserably IMO. The better strategy would have been to charge a reasonable amount for tickets and sell out the arena right away. Establish a fun atmosphere of a packed arena and then gradually increase ticket prices as the team had success and people enjoyed going to games in a sell out atmosphere. Additionally, I am not sure why SLU bothers with the online deals, they should just have tiered pricing for games like the Cardinals do. Go cheap for the mid-week games against non-premium opponents, reasonable for weekend games, and pricey for games against premium opponents. They also need to allow you to print the tickets at home and establish a relationship with StubHub to allow fans to sell online and allow the buyer to print at home. This would create a secondary market for tickets and allow season ticket holders to re-coup some of their investment on games they cannot make it to while putting more butts in the seats which means more parking/concession revenue. You are dead right on all points. I couldn't agree more. Great post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 First of all, welcome to the board BeBrave. SLU and Bradley have a history together and I for one am glad you are interested in the Bills. As someone who was in college in Kansas City when Bradley beat KU in the NCAAs, I have a special place in my heart for the Braves right next to Bucknell. I hope you decide to come to a few more games after this one. Individual game ticket prices are pretty ridiculous. However, it is my understanding that they are much more reasonable for season ticket holders and there are even discounted 4 game ticket packs available. Plus they usually do Groupon/Living Social deals for the lesser opponents and then prices are about where they should be. I assume SLU still wants to get top dollar for the premium games and doesn't want to piss off season ticket holders by charging less for individual games, which is why they do the Groupon/Living Socials deals rather than just lower prices. Even with all that I still don't understand SLU's pricing strategy. They have overpriced tickets since the opening of Chaifetz. I assume the thinking was that with a shiny new arena people would pay a premium. This failed miserably IMO. The better strategy would have been to charge a reasonable amount for tickets and sell out the arena right away. Establish a fun atmosphere of a packed arena and then gradually increase ticket prices as the team had success and people enjoyed going to games in a sell out atmosphere. Additionally, I am not sure why SLU bothers with the online deals, they should just have tiered pricing for games like the Cardinals do. Go cheap for the mid-week games against non-premium opponents, reasonable for weekend games, and pricey for games against premium opponents. They also need to allow you to print the tickets at home and establish a relationship with StubHub to allow fans to sell online and allow the buyer to print at home. This would create a secondary market for tickets and allow season ticket holders to re-coup some of their investment on games they cannot make it to while putting more butts in the seats which means more parking/concession revenue. Thanks for the welcome, RUB. I was a year out of my undergrad when Bradley made the Sweet 16. Fun times in Peoria. I agree with everything you said. The only thing I'd add is to the last paragraph ... in addition to printing tickets at home, be at the forefront of technology and offer your season ticket holders the option to download tickets to their smartphone. Or use a "fan card" of sorts to have your season ticket package on a single card, the card also gives you discounts at the team store and/or concession stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Thanks for the welcome, RUB. I was a year out of my undergrad when Bradley made the Sweet 16. Fun times in Peoria. I agree with everything you said. The only thing I'd add is to the last paragraph ... in addition to printing tickets at home, be at the forefront of technology and offer your season ticket holders the option to download tickets to their smartphone. Or use a "fan card" of sorts to have your season ticket package on a single card, the card also gives you discounts at the team store and/or concession stand. While I agree that downloading tickets to a smartphone or having a "fan card" would be great, you will notice that there are quite a few dinosaurs in the seats at Chaifetz (and on this board). They like their pre-printed paper tickets. As long as they can still get those and the rest of us can download, then everyone is happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Granted, if we still aren't even doing print-on-demand tix, these last two words won't be realized for another decade or so. Perhaps our new marketing guy can accelerate the process. We can but hope. Anyway: Dynamic pricing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 While I agree that downloading tickets to a smartphone or having a "fan card" would be great, you will notice that there are quite a few dinosaurs in the seats at Chaifetz (and on this board). They like their pre-printed paper tickets. As long as they can still get those and the rest of us can download, then everyone is happy. While I agree that downloading tickets to a smartphone or having a "fan card" would be great, you will notice that there are quite a few dinosaurs in the seats at Chaifetz (and on this board). They like their pre-printed paper tickets. As long as they can still get those and the rest of us can download, then everyone is happy. Bradley and SLU are more similar than I knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARon Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Holy cow! I didn't know those were 32 bucks and 40 along the court! I sit in an end cuz I'm cheap. No wonder we don't get much walk up business. Seats in that section are $25 per game as season tickets. Still maybe a bit high but unlike other sections there is no "gift" required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARon Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Thanks for the welcome, RUB. I was a year out of my undergrad when Bradley made the Sweet 16. Fun times in Peoria. I agree with everything you said. The only thing I'd add is to the last paragraph ... in addition to printing tickets at home, be at the forefront of technology and offer your season ticket holders the option to download tickets to their smartphone. Or use a "fan card" of sorts to have your season ticket package on a single card, the card also gives you discounts at the team store and/or concession stand. I lime these idea though understand what people are saying about the median age of our fanbase and the general slowness to adapt to the times of the program. What I would do is set up a way that season ticket holders (especially the corporate don't-show-up-half-the-time types) could signal to the ticket office that they won't be using their tickets a given night. Give them a rebate, maybe 25%, for doing so. Then turn around and sell those tickets on-demand for say 50-60% of the original value. More money and more butts in the good seats. This would take some real work both business and technology-wise. But we have a sports business program in the business school along with IT and project management classes. These folks need real world experience in their studies. So why not utilize them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 There's a gift for sitting in this seat. It's called getting robbed. I'm five rows from the top of the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 There's a gift for sitting in this seat. It's called getting robbed. I'm five rows from the top of the building. Plenty of open seats down low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBrave Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Which makes it all the more mind boggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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