Ticket Resale Warning

[Aircrew]

Glad to see this.

 

[Silver Hawk]

Interesting. I am a 12 who bought tickets from another 12 online today. Giddy up!

 

[SoulfishHawk]

They're talking about 3rd party sales.

 

[MD5eahawks]

The advent of the internet has had a disastrous effect on ticket prices and distribution to any event. It has created the ability to buy tickets to an event you are no where near for the sake of a resale profit. I like that the Hawks are doing this. Small as it may be in the grand scheme, it shows they care.

 

[RiverDog]

The advent of the internet has had a disastrous effect on ticket prices and distribution to any event. It has created the ability to buy tickets to an event you are no where near for the sake of a resale profit. I like that the Hawks are doing this. Small as it may be in the grand scheme, it shows they care.

I'm not so sure that the Hawks are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, that they are overly concerned about exploding ticket prices for Joe 6-Pack as much as they are that they realize that the 3rd party resale process has robbed them of their home field advantage.

And while the NFL/Seahawks may not be the primary beneficiary in the 3rd party re-selling of tickets, they have benefited greatly by the increase in the popularity of their product that this process has enhanced.

So, let's not blow too many kisses in the Hawks direction. After all, Paul Allen was the owner of Ticketmaster when he bought the Hawks. IMO they want the benefits that 3rd party sales has given them, and they want their home field advantage back. They want to have their cake and eat it, too.

The NFL/Seahawks could stop this today if they wanted to by completely banning the resale of their tickets to 3rd party marketers and break off their relationship with Ticketmaster, StubHub, et al.

 

[LudwigsDrummer]

I have a problem with this. Living in Phoenix, I will be in attendance for both PO games.
STH’r since 1987. In our fabulous 1992 season enroute to a 2-14 season, one could not give your tickets away…for free! So, the team gets the sellout at STH’r expense. Plus, I paid thousands for 2 PSL licenses at Lumen.
My two cents.

 

[RiverDog]

I have a problem with this. Living in Phoenix, I will be in attendance for both PO games.
STH’r since 1987. In our fabulous 1992 season enroute to a 2-14 season, one could not give your tickets away…for free! So, the team gets the sellout at STH’r expense. Plus, I paid thousands for 2 PSL licenses at Lumen.
My two cents.

I agree. In the past 13 or so years, I've gone to at least one away game per season following the Hawks. Since my wife can't/won't travel very much, it's the one thing that I can do that gives me a chance to see the country. This would not be possible, at least as far as seeing the away games goes, if not for the secondary ticket market.

I was once a STH, too, for about 10 years in the late 80's/early 90's just before Paul Allen bought the team. Like you said, I couldn't give tickets away during that period of time.

So I have mixed feeling about this. On the one hand, I would like to see ticket prices kept reasonable for Joe 6-Pack and that mostly Hawks fans buy tickets for the home games. Maybe there's a compromise, but it's hard to envision one that's practical.

 

[NoGain]

I agree. In the past 13 or so years, I've gone to at least one away game per season following the Hawks. Since my wife can't/won't travel very much, it's the one thing that I can do that gives me a chance to see the country. This would not be possible, at least as far as seeing the away games goes, if not for the secondary ticket market.

I was once a STH, too, for about 10 years in the late 80's/early 90's just before Paul Allen bought the team. Like you said, I couldn't give tickets away during that period of time.

So I have mixed feeling about this. On the one hand, I would like to see ticket prices kept reasonable for Joe 6-Pack and that mostly Hawks fans buy tickets for the home games. Maybe there's a compromise, but it's hard to envision one that's practical.

Yup. That's my biggest gripe about this world we live in now. Change happens so fast and people just accept it, or go with it, and then there's suddenly no turning back on it because its prevalence becomes firmly established. This is happening so fast in so many ways its more than a little frightening to me.

The only way I can really see an answer to your dilemma is for teams/franchises to take control of much of the resale market, to largely divorce itself from the current and prevailing resale market, assert collective control over the process as much as possible, and become the chief resellers of tickets at cost that aren't personally resold by ticket holders to buyers through league determined acceptable channels or exchanges. In other words, make it a pain in the arse for sellers who attempt to profit from such resales. Or something like that.

But I don't see anything of the kind happening for all sorts of reasons. I'm coming to reluctantly accept that there are cats you just can't get back in the bag.

 

[IndyHawk]

I like it, if you can't afford tickets or you're selling to fatten your wallet,
there are many thousands on the Pride waiting list waiting for years to
have a spot that wouldn't sell their tickets to a third party.
I hope they weed all the fake fans out.

 

[RiverDog]

Yup. That's my biggest gripe about this world we live in now. Change happens so fast and people just accept it, or go with it, and then there's suddenly no turning back on it because its prevalence becomes firmly established. This is happening so fast in so many ways its more than a little frightening to me.

The only way I can really see an answer to your dilemma is for teams/franchises to take control of much of the resale market, to largely divorce itself from the current and prevailing resale market, assert collective control over the process as much as possible, and become the chief resellers of tickets at cost that aren't personally resold by ticket holders to buyers through league determined acceptable channels or exchanges. In other words, make it a pain in the arse for sellers who attempt to profit from such resales. Or something like that.

But I don't see anything of the kind happening for all sorts of reasons. I'm coming to reluctantly accept that there are cats you just can't get back in the bag.

It's not going to happen because teams are making money. They don't want to limit access to tickets because it's bad for business as it will severely limit their exposure. Making it a pain in the ass for someone like me who wants to watch the Seahawks in Chicago or Atlanta isn't going to help the NFL's product.

The secondary market, with all its warts, is here to stay. I suppose if I had to choose between what it was like 30 years ago when I was a STH and gave them up because it was impossible for me to even give away tickets for games I couldn't go to and what the situation is like today, I'd choose today's environment. I just wish we hadn't given up those tickets.

 

[NoGain]

It's not going to happen because teams are making money. They don't want to limit access to tickets because it's bad for business as it will severely limit their exposure. Making it a pain in the ass for someone like me who wants to watch the Seahawks in Chicago or Atlanta isn't going to help the NFL's product.

The secondary market, with all its warts, is here to stay. I suppose if I had to choose between what it was like 30 years ago when I was a STH and gave them up because it was impossible for me to even give away tickets for games I couldn't go to and what the situation is like today, I'd choose today's environment. I just wish we hadn't given up those tickets.

Oh I get the obvious "Nos" about it. But it would be nice for someone like you to either get your resale tickets from the team at cost, or through one of their determined channels or exchanges at cost. Easy and cheaper.

 

[DTiempo81]

Oh I get the obvious "Nos" about it. But it would be nice for someone like you to either get your resale tickets from the team at cost, or through one of their determined channels or exchanges at cost. Easy and cheaper.

Resale tickets at cost? Even in a perfect world, that seems like a stretch.

 

[NoGain]

Resale tickets at cost? Even in a perfect world, that seems like a stretch.

I'm saying it could be done. It won't be, but could be.

 

[RiverDog]

Oh I get the obvious "Nos" about it. But it would be nice for someone like you to either get your resale tickets from the team at cost, or through one of their determined channels or exchanges at cost. Easy and cheaper.

Actually, I'm not hugely bummed about the cost of the game tickets. By the time I get through buying airline tickets, a couple night's stay at a hotel, eating at restaurants, etc, the cost of the game tickets isn't that big of a deal for me, probably represents about 20% of the total cost of the trip.

What I'm concerned about is Joe 6-Pack. How can someone who lives in Ballard and on a middle-class income take a family of 4 to a game nowadays?

 

[NoGain]

Actually, I'm not hugely bummed about the cost of the game tickets. By the time I get through buying airline tickets, a couple night's stay at a hotel, eating at restaurants, etc, the cost of the game tickets isn't that big of a deal for me, probably represents about 20% of the total cost of the trip.

What I'm concerned about is Joe 6-Pack. How can someone who lives in Ballard and on a middle-class income take a family of 4 to a game nowadays?

Yup. It's a big problem. The shrinking middle class. So many things are becoming increasingly unaffordable for half the country's population.

 

[RiverDog]

Yup. It's a big problem. The shrinking middle class. So many things are becoming increasingly unaffordable for half the country's population.

Well, there's always baseball. You can go to a Mariners game for as little as $11. And that's via the same Ticketmaster and Stub Hub that sell Seahawk tickets.

Of course, to go to an M's playoff game is a little more spendy.

 

[trharder]

I'm not so sure that the Hawks are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, that they are overly concerned about exploding ticket prices for Joe 6-Pack as much as they are that they realize that the 3rd party resale process has robbed them of their home field advantage.

Of course that's the reason. It's obviously the reason. And its the best possible reason. Thank you, Jody!

 

[mikeak]

The advent of the internet has had a disastrous effect on ticket prices and distribution to any event. It has created the ability to buy tickets to an event you are no where near for the sake of a resale profit. I like that the Hawks are doing this. Small as it may be in the grand scheme, it shows they care.

While I don't disagree a little known fact is that

Seattle Seahawks was the FIRST team in the whole NFL to utilize the dynamic pricing to benefit themselves.

They held back tickets to games and sold via TM at market rates. First one to do it when it began being allowed.

So the team uses the third party market to make more money while letting fans be the scapegoats for 3rd party market ticket sales

 

[mikeak]

I like it, if you can't afford tickets or you're selling to fatten your wallet,
there are many thousands on the Pride waiting list waiting for years to
have a spot that wouldn't sell their tickets to a third party.
I hope they weed all the fake fans out.

They created the environment by significantly raising prices every single year. They made it so that real fans gave up their seats or put themselves in a spot where you sell multiple per year to afford to go to some games.

This was created by the NFL and Seahawks

 

[mikeak]

I have a problem with this. Living in Phoenix, I will be in attendance for both PO games.
STH’r since 1987. In our fabulous 1992 season enroute to a 2-14 season, one could not give your tickets away…for free! So, the team gets the sellout at STH’r expense. Plus, I paid thousands for 2 PSL licenses at Lumen.
My two cents.

I really wonder about legality for pulling PSLs and the potential reimbursement for the licenses