What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

[northwest iowa panther]

Many people on this board have been critical in the past of ticket prices charged at UNI for not only basketball but football.

Now consider this--You have the defending regular season and tournament conference champions, five starters returning, lose only one senior, your team reflects the work ethic of our state and to a player consider themselves students first, your nonconference home schedule includes Siena, Iowa, Wyoming, you have a 7,000 seat arena, 12,000 person student body, 100,000 people within 50 miles and you as the marketing director have to arrive at a ticket price for the 2009-2010 men's basketball season. What would be a fair price that you can charge?

Make sure you also consider the following:

Returning season ticket holders that have had those tickets for years and they will pay most any price.
Student alotment based on past attendance figures ranging from a few to over a 1,000. Do you average this number or do you use the high only, the low only? Remember the student number determines the number of nonstudent tickets you can sell.
Cedar Valley interest. Add in bandwagon jumpers that are not truly UNI fans and refuse to pay more than a few dollars.
You need to maximize income for what is needed to cover budget cuts.
You need to maximize income to pay for all the other sports UNI offers.
Stay away from charging too much for premium games like Iowa so that true fans will patronize UNI for the remainder of the season.
You need to determine the effects of TV coverage knowing that too much coverage hurts attendance, not enough doesn't build a fan base.
You will need to consider the possibility of holding tickets for those that have not, will not and never will pay the cost of a ticket to a UNI event, but will come to the Mac if given a free ticket to make the crowd look better for a tv game.
You will need to determine the best start time for a game staying away from midweek, Church nite, Cedar Falls high school activities, UNI student study nites and weekend UNI student partying time. Never mind that the MVC sets the conference schedule.


Now having considered all that UNI has returning and all possible factors what would you charge for a men's basketball ticket for next year. Don't you dare think about scheduling games only on 50 to 70 degree winter days to help maximize attendance thus driving up the cost of your ticket! That wouldn't be fair!

I myself think $15 plus tax and handling is a fair price to see the preseason favorite to win the MVC for 2009-2010 season.

[williebat]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

$5 and sell beer

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

Tickets, minus the ISU game, this past year were $15 dollars plus the 2 dollar facility fee and people *****ed up and down about that.

[GoCatz!]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

I complained about the fee, but because I was sent a letter saying the fee was for a ticket reselling service that was never available. If I was told it was a "facility fee" or a "eff you, we're taking your money fee" I honestly wouldn't complain.

I was pi$$ed that I was told I was paying for something that I never got, that just rubs me the wrong way.

As far as prices are concerned, keep them the same ($15/game) give season tix a fair discount, move the empty "sold" corporate seats up to a corner where they aren't seen on camera and start working on putting together some better promotions.

Side note- listened to a Black Hawks ad this morning talking about a huge ticket promo (sounded like a car dealership ad) and when they call out prices all they were promoting is $5 student tix (which they do almost every weekend) and family 4-pack tix (which they have all the time), Found it funny, but they were "selling" it like a huge sale.

[GoCatz!]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

$5 and sell beer

$10 and FREE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

I complained about the fee, but because I was sent a letter saying the fee was for a ticket reselling service that was never available. If I was told it was a "facility fee" or a "eff you, we're taking your money fee" I honestly wouldn't complain.

I was pi$$ed that I was told I was paying for something that I never got, that just rubs me the wrong way.

As far as prices are concerned, keep them the same ($15/game) give season tix a fair discount, move the empty "sold" corporate seats up to a corner where they aren't seen on camera and start working on putting together some better promotions.

Side note- listened to a Black Hawks ad this morning talking about a huge ticket promo (sounded like a car dealership ad) and when they call out prices all they were promoting is $5 student tix (which they do almost every weekend) and family 4-pack tix (which they have all the time), Found it funny, but they were "selling" it like a huge sale.

Understandable about the reselling service. I've not heard of that other than on here. In the system it shows as a facility fee that goes for the maintenance of the buildings, janitorial staff, etc...


That fee is on every athletic ticket sold. A lot of the complaining is over the fee, because people think it is the first time it has ever happend, and when marketing sends out promo's and information they never print the price for what it will actually cost. They print the "technical" ticket price but never add that fee's are included in it.

[TravelingPanther]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

They print the "technical" ticket price but never add that fee's are included in it.

That is changing. The fee will be included in the price in the future.

[achrist70]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

What do Iowa tickets go for, UNI tickets are more valuable than those.

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

That is changing. The fee will be included in the price in the future.

That needed to be done. I can't even count how many phone calls I took that people complained when they heard that their ticket was $17 instead of $15 or $12 instead of $10 on certain promos.


The marketing/PR/athletic department do not proof read anything they send out, and double check the information with the ticket office at all, which causes almost all of the problems.

[BCPanther]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

They just need to add the phrase 'plus applicable fees' like ticketmaster does...

[UNIpanther99]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

What do Iowa tickets go for, UNI tickets are more valuable than those.

They were selling them at $10/each by the end of the season.

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

$12 per game basketball, $195 season tickets assuming 18 games.

$20 per game game football, $99 season tickets assuming 6 games.

No hidden fees or other adders, including drop the $5 charge for ordering by phone.

When the venues are full for every game or most, then raise prices.

Can't drop the phone fee.

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

Why not, besides the fact it is probably a huge revenue source? It's just another hidden fee. It doesn't cost the TO any more to sell a ticket by phone than it does to a walk up.

They should be doing whatever they can to encourage out of town ticket buyers instead of discouraging them, since it's obvious the Cedar Valley on it's own is not very supporting of UNI athletics.

Again, like everything else I have explained, the ticket office doesn't set the prices, fees, events, etc... they only enforce the prices. Contact TicketsWest if you have a problem with it. It isn't hidden, you clearly know about it.


If you come in in person and get your tickets the tickets are printed and out of the office. Over the phone, since you don't know this, there is a series of things that are done to get them to where they need to be.

[clenz]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

This thread is about what should be the price of tickets, nobody is claiming the TO is responsible for setting that or what extra fees are charged. You are too sensitive. Just because it is known doesn't mean it isn't hidden. Any extra that is not included in the advertised price of tickets is hidden.


Series of things? You still print them the same way and stick them in the will call box, not really any extra effort or expense. If it is somehow being made more complicated than that it is the fault of the TO management. If you are mailing them then charge those people extra to cover postage and handling, that is a real extra cost, but don't charge for the phone call.

Again, the fee isn't hidden, it is known, and when people ask what their total is it is broken down by "This is what your tickets are and these are the fees". There is no hiding the fee.


Again the ticket office doesn't set those prices, and has no control over them. If you have that big of a problem with it contact TicketsWest or the athletic department.

[jegbomb52]

Re: What should be the price of a basketball ticket be?

Beat Iowa and Iowa State and people (students especially) will show up, regardless of a $17-$20 ticket. Lose to Iowa and Iowa State (espcially when they are bad and we get emberrassed like we did this year) people will not show, even with a $8-$10 ticket. It is not up to the ticket prices, its up to the team.